MP fury over killer

THURSDAY JUNE 8. 10AM.

MP Iain Duncan Smith has written to the Home Secretary over reports that killer Richard Fielding is 'living the life of Riley' at Rampton secure hospital.

Fielding admitted manslaughter in an arson attack in which three Woodford Green children died last year.

The Woodford Green MP has written to Jack Straw saying that unless the punishment fits the crime then the public's faith in the judicial system will be undermined.

Last week relatives reacted furiously to the news that 21-year-old Fielding from Walthamstow was said to be playing bingo, canoeing, learning cookery and having table tennis lessons in the mental unit.

It was also alleged that he was being given free run of the prison with his own key letting him in and out of his cell as and when he wants.

And there were claims that the killer was taking part in social nights, drinking non-alcoholic beer and wine, and joining gym and pool activities.

Mr Duncan Smith said: 'I am extremely concerned about these reports and certainly appreciate how distressing they must be for Mr Day and Kelly Himpfen.

'They lost their families because of him and it now seems he is enjoying himself at Her Majesty's pleasure.'

The killer was sent to to the secure unit two weeks ago after he admitted seven counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The Old Bailey heard he was insane and a paranoid schizophrenic.

Mum Kelly Himpfen lost her three children, Maddison, Rhiannon and Reece, alongside ex-partner Lee Day, his mum Sandra, his grandmother Kathleen and Lee's girlfriend Yvonne.

She said: It sounds more like Butlin's than Rampton. It is a joke.

And sole survivor of the fire on the Chingford house Brian Day, husband of Sandra, said of the news: There seems to be no punishment there at all.

'We are the ones suffering for what he has done ? not him.

'He has killed seven people and he is living his life like he is on a holiday camp. It's like the life of Riley for him.

'He said he would get away with it and he has. This is not justice.'

Staff at the hospital in Nottinghamshire would not comment on individual cases but denied they run a 'liberal regime.'

They say all wards in the hospital provide 24-hour therapeutic care, which means that patients have access to staff on a continual basis rather than spending long periods locked in their own rooms.