Detective father of murdered teenager speaks out

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Torbet was speaking after a judge decided Dellwyn James, murderer of 19-year-old Rae Torbet, was to be kept behind bars until at least 2017.

Ms Torbet, 19, was stabbed 15 times by rejected James in her Cantelupe Road home, in March 2003, but only now has her family heard he cannot apply for parole for 10 more years.

Mr Torbet said: "From my perspective, there is only one sentence he should have got and we don't have that in this country.

"There's no forgiveness, there's no retraction from anything I said immediately after he was sentenced.

"In absence of that sentence, I still want him to serve his life in prison, to rot and die there, and to never walk the streets again."

He added: "It would have been a lot less painful now if this had been settled three years ago, after the sentencing.

"For a relative of a victim to have it all brought back like this is not the best way to assist them through the tragedy. It has opened up lots of wounds."

Ms Torbet's mother Zoe Marfleet, of Park Lane, said: "I felt whatever he got would never be enough because it will never bring my daughter back.

"But, by the same token, I have been told if he is not in the frame of mind to be released, he won't be released. I am keeping that in mind.

"My family and myself feel we have got a life sentence and there he is, just in prison."

Reviewing the case at London's Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Justice Grigson described how James harassed Ms Torbet with phone calls and text messages after their seven-month relationship ended.

The judge said: "She was 19 years old and James could not accept that she had rejected him.

"He told a friend he could not bear the thought of her being with anyone else.

"The evidence from the family is that Rae's murder has had, and continues to have, a devastating effect upon their lives."

Forklift truck driver James, formerly of Chiltern Drive, Hastings, used two knives to kill Ms Torbet.

Her body was discovered the next day by a colleague who had been worried when she had not arrived at work.

James had argued for a lower tariff, stating the murder was not premeditated, that he was of good character and that he suffered from mental illness.

In setting the tariff, the judge considered the personal witness statement made by Ms Torbet's father.

DCI Torbet said this week: "That was written as a parent. Having sat through the trial and having known him beforehand, I raised four points.

"I felt he was feigning a mental illness, that he was a risk because he had been violent in previous relationships - something we didn't know until the trial - and therefore remained dangerous, and that he had shown no remorse.

"Those points still stand. The judge addressed them in a public document, for which I am grateful.

"I know 15 years is all I could have realistically seen given but any person in my position would want, more, more, more."

The judge agreed James, who claimed he was not responsible for the murder, had shown no remorse but said it was for the Parole Board to decide whether it is safe to free him once his tariff expires.

He noted that no evidence was called at the trial to prove that James' responsibility for the crime was diminished by his mental condition.

Arguing for a lower tariff, James claimed the murder was not premeditated, that he was of good character and there was evidence he suffered from mental illness.

Even after his sentence expires James will only be released if he can persuade the Parole Board he poses no risk of harm to members of the public.

When freed, he will remain on perpetual 'life licence,' subject to prison recall if he puts a foot wrong.

When James' tariff expires he can apply for parole.

When freed, he will remain on life licence, to be recalled to prison if he re-offends.

DCI Torbet is now working at Lewes headquarters in the professional standards department.

Rae's mother is a teaching assistant at Pebsham Community Primary School.

She said this week: "It's the children that keep me alive."