THE man jailed for stealing schoolboy Ben Bellamy's bank card before he was murdered has been released from prison.

The decision to grant freedom to Andrew Rafferty, who was originally convicted of manslaughter but later cleared by appeal court judges, follows a parole hearing at Swimfen Prison in August.

Rafferty, now thought to be 22 years old, and formerly of Humphrey Street, Mount Pleasant, was made the subject of an indeterminate sentence of custody after being found guilty in 2006 by a jury at Swansea Crown Court of unlawfully killing Ben.

Cleared of murder, he was told he would have to serve at least five years behind bars for manslaughter before becoming eligible to apply for release on parole.

But the following year, after overturning the manslaughter charge, Lord Justice Hooper also quashed the indeterminate sentence at the Court of Appeal, and replaced it with a seven-year sentence, with an extended licence period of ten years, meaning Rafferty could apply for release at the half way point after serving three-and-a-half years.

No one from Ben Bellamy's family was available to comment.

Ben, from Sketty Park, was killed on his way home from a night out in Mumbles in September 2005.

Joel Taylor, formerly of Taliesyn Road, Townhill, and Joshua Thomas, formerly of Llewellyn Road, Penllergaer, were found guilty of his murder and jailed for life.

The 17-year-old Olchfa pupil drowned in Swansea Bay after being beaten up on the foreshore near the Cenotaph.

Taylor and Thomas put Ben in the sea at 5am after stripping him to create the impression he had drunkenly gone for a swim.

It took place when Rafferty had left the scene to try to use the debit card stolen from their victim.

During the trial, Rafferty pleaded guilty to robbing Ben of his debit card, but was not sentenced separately for this.

The Court of Appeal in Rafferty's case considered whether he was criminally liable for events that took place after he left the scene.

His release will be on licence, and he is subject to recall.

A parole board spokesman said: "It is not the policy of the parole board to comment on individual cases. However, in general terms, when a prisoner serving an extended sentence reaches the half-way stage of the custodial term, he can apply to the parole board for release on licence. The parole board will not authorise release at this stage unless satisfied that his continued detention is no longer necessary for the protection of the public."

"The board will take into account the nature of the index offence, the prisoner's offending history, the prisoner's progress in prison, any statement made on behalf of the victim or victims, psychologist's reports, probation officer's reports, prisons officer's reports, any statistical risk assessments that have been completed. There must also be a comprehensive resettlement plan in place".

Details of Rafferty's licence conditions have not be revealed, including whether he has been given a change of identity funded by the tax-payer.

But a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "A change of identity is extremely rare and granted only when the police assess that there is clear and credible evidence of a sustained threat to the offender's life on release into the community."

nino.williams@swwmedia.co.uk

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