A British stalker who slit his ex-girlfriend’s throat and stabbed her 50 times “for pleasure” is set to be released from prison after just 11 years.
Alan Daulby was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Avril Flanagan, from Ireland in July 2012 at his flat in Spain.
The now-35-year-old, from Bootle, Merseyside, was convicted three years after her body was found at his Costa Blanca home.
The killer spent three hours using a mop and bleach to wipe up her blood, showered, changed his clothes and tried to stuff her body into a suitcase.
When that failed, he wrapped Avril in an old duvet and plastic sheeting and left her body under his couch where it was discovered by her horrified mum, Barbara Flanagan, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Despite the overwhelming pain, Barbara was able to take a crumb of comfort in the belief the monster who brutally took her daughter’s life would be locked up for 19 years – near the maximum sentence in Spain at the time.
But on Thursday – on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Avril’s 2009 murder – she was left feeling “sickened and cheated” to hear Daulby was being released from a British prison on licence in October.
Barbara, who divides her time between Spain and Swords, County Dublin, described how she only found out by chance last year that Daulby had been transferred from a Costa Blanca prison to a UK jail.
She said: “I’ve been told by a liaison officer in England that the law stipulates he serves half his sentence in prison and the other half in the community on licence and the jail sentence imposed in Spain cannot be increased.
“I only found out through a friend in March last year that he had been transferred to a UK prison around a year earlier.
“It was news to me and Avril’s dad Gerry. We were shocked and angered we weren’t consulted or informed.
“Finding out a man who’s done such awful things to another human being is going to be back on the streets in October, sickens and outrages me whatever the law says.
“It’s wrong. He’s still a young man and I definitely believe he still poses a danger to others.
“I’m speaking out now because I want people to know what sort of man is going to be let out into the community and I am Avril’s voice.”
The former receptionist, whose ex-husband Gerry still lives on the Costa Blanca with one of their two sons, has written an emotionally-charged letter to the UK Home Office “on behalf of Avril” criticising Daulby’s release and trying to get it reversed.
The time he spent in prison on remand has been taken into account, meaning he will have served just over 11 years of his sentence by the time he is released.
Barbara moved to Spain with former bus engineer husband Gerry and their children in 2006 to open a pub in Orihuela Costa, near Alicante, where Avril worked as a barmaid.
Avril finished her year-long relationship with twisted Daulby around two weeks before he murdered her.
His trial heard how he stalked her after she split up with him, harassing her to the point she broke her mobile phone SIM card so she did not have to receive calls from him.
Daulby finally confessed to killing her at the end of his trial after more than three years of silence, but falsely claimed he had confused her with an intruder after binging on drink and drugs and panicking when he woke up to find her dead.
At the time Spanish Judge Gracia Serrano said: “The number of stab wounds Avril received was very high.
“The majority of them weren’t either fatal or necessary for Alan Daulby to fulfil his intention of killing Avril.
“He did not therefore just commit an evil crime.
“He also committed other equally intentioned wrongdoing by taking pleasure in causing Avril additional suffering.”
“Even worse we later found out he spent hours cleaning his apartment, had a shower and left.
“I am telling you this because it went to court in Spain and he received a 19 year prison sentence.
“He spent 10 years in prison there and was then transferred to England to complete his sentence as we found out to our horror.
“We have been informed he will be released in in October this year on a conditional release date after serving only 11 years behind bars.
“As a family we are so upset that Alan Daulby will be out on the streets again and he could do the same to another family
“Avril was our youngest child and only girl. She was only 20 years old with her whole life in front of her .
“She had two brothers who are trying their best to carry on without their sister.
“It can’t be right that this person can be released after such a violent crime.
Life sentences now exist in Spain following a change in the law, but were not an option when Daulby was arrested and tried.
In the UK, murder carries an automatic life sentence and anyone convicted is only eligible for parole after serving the full minimum prison term imposed by the sentencing judge.
Barbara, who has now remarried, said: “What I didn’t put in the letter was that the judge said when she sentenced Daulby that he took pleasure in inflicting pain on Avril which is horrendous.
Signs of domestic abuse
- Is your partner excessively jealous and possessive?
- Is your partner charming one minute and abusive the next? Does your partner have sudden changes of mood – like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
- Is your partner stopping you from seeing your family and friends? Do you feel isolated?
- Is your partner constantly criticizing you and putting you down in public?
- Does your partner embarrass you, often in front of family and friends, so that you are seen in a bad light?
- Does your partner play mind games and make you unsure of your own judgment?
- Does your partner tell you you’re useless and couldn’t cope without them?
- Does your partner control your money?
- Does your partner tell you what to wear, who to see, where to go, what to think?
- Does your partner pressure you to have sex when you don’t want to?
- Are you starting to walk on eggshells to avoid making your partner angry?
- Does your partner monitor your movements? Or check up on you via your email, Facebook, Twitter or by looking at your text messages?
- Does your partner use anger and intimidation to frighten you and make you comply with his demands?
- Has your partner ever threatened you, or intimidated you by using violent language or smashing up the furniture?
- Are you forced to alter your behaviour because you are frightened of your partner’s reaction?
- Are you blamed for their behaviour e.g. they say you were “asking for it” or deserved the abuse?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you may be experiencing domestic violence.
Abuse is a crime and it is never your fault.
“It may be something people don’t remember but I certainly do.”
She added: “The last I knew he was at Cardiff Prison at Wales.
“I can’t believe he’s going to be let out because I feel he definitely could do this to another family. He’s still a young man.
“Just because the law says he can’t be kept in prison doesn’t mean it’s right.
“It was only after I found out through a friend that he had been transferred from Spain and wrote to the governor in Cardiff Prison that I was contacted by a liaison officer at the UK National Probation Service.
“If I hadn’t wrote that letter, I think we as a family would still be in the dark.
“It feels as if Avril has no rights and she does have rights. In America Daulby would have got the death penalty.
“I’m still heartbroken. We all are. We talk about her and get upset. Avril will have never her babies, she’ll never have her wedding day. It’s just not right. I might be doing great and then one day I’m just in tears. I might see her picture or hear a song.
“I have a good life. But I’d give it all up just to have our Avril back.138208672551
“That can’t obviously happen. But what I can and need to do is let people know that this guy who did all these horrific things to my daughter, and could do them again to another young woman, is going to be back on the streets very soon.”
A Ministry Of Justice spokesman said: “We understand the distress caused to victims when an offender is released and our sympathy is with the family of Avril Flanagan.
“Anyone released from prison faces strict licence conditions, such as curfews and exclusion zones, and can be returned to custody if they breach them.”