‘The Man Who Destroyed My Childhood Could Walk Free Early,’ Survivor Says as Fresh Outrage Erupts
When Jade Belgrove finally saw the jailing of the man who raped her as a child, she thought her fight was over.
After waiting a decade to report the abuse she suffered as a 14-year-old, she believed justice had finally been served when Simon Tyler was jailed for nine years in 2024.
Now, after being told her attacker could be released years early under government plans to ease prison overcrowding, the 30-year-old from Coventry – who spoke to the BBC having waived her right to anonymity – said victims were being “let down all over again”.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it understood “the distress victims will feel” but added prisons could run out of spaces in November “without this action”.
Figure caption,
Jade Belgrove said hearing her rapist could be released early made her “feel disgusting”
That, the MoJ continued, could leave the “justice system unable to jail serious offenders at all”.
Belgrove has launched a petition – signed by more than 85,000 people – that calls on ministers to exclude violent sexual offenders from the early release scheme.
Image caption,
Simon Tyler was jailed for nine years after being convicted of rape
Belgrove said she believed she was groomed from the age of 12 by her father’s friend Tyler, a man whom she thought she could trust.
“He would act like he was my friend,” she said.
“He’d say ‘do you want a bit of alcohol’ or ‘do you want some cigarettes’? He worked his way into a position of trust. As a teenager I thought ‘he’s like a cool, older brother’.”
Two years later, he raped her in her family home while everyone else was asleep, before attacking her again during a family holiday, Belgrove explained.
She kept what had happened secret for 10 years until reporting it to the police in 2022.
Tyler, from Kenilworth, was convicted of three counts of rape and one sexual assault offence before being sentenced to nine years in prison in November 2024, when he was 38.
Image caption,
Jade was only 14 when she was attacked by Tyler
Last month, Belgrove received a letter explaining her attacker could be eligible for early release under changes being introduced through the Sentencing Act, external.
“It makes me feel disgusting and like I don’t matter,” she said.
“It’s heartbreaking all over again. We fought with everything we’ve got and it’s like it’s just being ripped away from us.”
She said she believed violent sexual offenders should not be considered for early release, and feared the consequences could extend far beyond her own case.
“I understand they’ve inherited a prison system that is in trouble,” she said of the government.
“But it’s their job to solve it and keep us safe, not to release people and make the streets even more of a disaster.
“I think it’s petrifying. There’s going to be more victims. We know the reoffending rates already and the probation service is already completely broken.”
Image caption,
The early release scheme was launched to tackle overcrowding
The changes, due to come into force in September, have been designed to ease overcrowding across England and Wales’ prisons by reducing the amount of time some offenders spend behind bars before being released on licence.
The MoJ said the Labour government was “fixing the prison crisis [it had] inherited” by creating 14,000 new prison places and “reforming sentencing so we can always lock up dangerous criminals”.
“This is a horrific case and our thoughts remain with Jade,” a spokesperson said.
“Public and victim protection is our priority which is why we are toughening community punishment, investing more than half a billion pounds in victim support and have driven convictions for child sex offences to record levels.”
But Belgrove said crime survivors should not be paying the price for challenges within the prison system.
“It will affect me because my sense of justice will be completely stolen from me,” she said of the early release scheme.
“I already live with a life sentence from what he’s done to me. I will just be made to feel worthless and unheard and dismissed like I don’t matter all over again.”
