Echo Comment on prospect of early release for Dana Carr

In December 2023, Carr was sentenced to nine years in jail for allowing her daughter’s death and to six years in jail for child cruelty. The two sentences are to run together, so the maximum she could serve is nine years.

In April 2025, the Court of Appeal agreed that this sentence was not unduly harsh.

However, due to the overcrowded nature of Britain’s prison, the 2026 Sentencing Act allowed prisoners not convicted of murder or violent sexual offences to be released having served just a third of their sentences as long as they had shown good behaviour and would not pose a risk to the public.

It is generally understood that the government had to do something to alleviate the problem of overcrowded prisons in the short term before more cells could be built, and early release was therefore a solution.

But the public imagined it would apply to petty criminals who had managed to kick their drug habit and so stood a chance in the outside world when released early.

Carr did not kill little Maya – her partner, Michael Daymond was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years – but child cruelty and permitting the death cannot surely be viewed as crimes that are suitable for the earliest possible release? What does that suggest about the value of Maya’s life?

The penal system should not be vindictive against offenders, but, equally, it should not inflict distress upon the families of victims. The Ministry of Justice really should think long and hard before embarking on a route that is bound to do so.