A serial predator who raped a mother just a day after being released from jail for sex offences has been cleared to be moved to an open prison where he will be eligible for day release.
Stephen Gale was 33 when he was jailed indefinitely for the savage attack on a woman he followed from a train at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on February 1, 2007.
Maidstone Crown Court was told that he pounced on the woman in a Morrisons supermarket car park in Vale Road, close to the town’s railway station.
Just hours earlier Gale, who has spent the past 11 years in and out of prison for sexual offences, had signed on the sex offenders’ register at Tonbridge police station.
The victim had a knife held to her stomach throughout her ordeal and feared she would die.
Stephen Gale was 33 when he was jailed indefinitely for the savage attack on a woman he followed from a train at Tunbridge Wells
At his sentencing in May 2007, the judge jailed Gale under a rare ‘protection of the public’ order, with a minimum term of five years and 261 days.
Judge Andrew Patience QC said at the time that it was ‘hard to foresee a time’ when Gale would be considered safe to be released.
Gale’s minimum term expired in February 2013. He has so far spent an additional ten years in jail.
In his last parole hearing in 2021, the Parole Board recommended Gale be sent to a Category D open prison to prepare him for an eventual return to freedom.
However, the Justice Secretary rejected the recommendation and ordered Gale stay locked up in a closed prison.
Despite this, following a hearing in April, Gale, now 49, has again been recommended for transfer to an open jail in his sixth parole hearing.
The Justice Secretary had 28 days to step in but did not do so.
The Parole Board rejected Gale’s appeal to be released on licence.
Maidstone Crown Court was told that he pounced on the woman in a Morrisons supermarket car park in Vale Road (pictured), close to the town’s railway station
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: ‘The Parole Board refused the release of Stephen Gale but recommended a move to an open conditions prison following an oral hearing in April 2023.
‘This was a recommendation only and the Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions.
‘We will only make a recommendation for open conditions if a Parole Board panel is satisfied that the risk to the public has reduced sufficiently to be manageable in an open prison and if a transfer to open prison is considered to be essential to inform future decisions about release.’
MailOnline has obtained the written summary of the Parole Board.
Under a heading of ‘risk assessment’ it states: ‘At the time of his offending, these risk factors had included his early life experiences, the difficulties he had in his relationships, and his misuse of drugs and alcohol.
‘Mr Gale would think about sex a lot and he was prepared to commit offences to meet his sexual needs. He believed that men should dominate women and he had difficulties in managing extreme emotions.’
Referring to the decision to overturn the recommendation that Gale be moved to an open prison, the board states: ‘In 2021, the Parole Board reviewed Mr Gale’s case and recommended that he should be transferred to an open prison.
‘The Secretary of State rejected that recommendation, with his officials considering that there was a need for Mr Gale to complete further work in a closed prison.’
The summary adds that Gale had continued his progress in jail with sex offending courses, and had worked with jail psychologists to help him deal with his problems.
It concludes: ‘After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that Mr Gale was suitable for release.
‘However, on considering the criteria for recommending placement in open conditions, the panel recommended that Mr Gale should be progressed in this way.
‘It is now for the Secretary of State to decide whether he accepts the Parole Board’s recommendation.’
At his trial, the court heard that Mr Gale, who had shaved his body hair to his knees, and the woman travelled on the same train and arrived at Tunbridge Wells at 9.30pm.
Anne Phillips, prosecuting, said as the woman left the station, Gale ‘matched her pace for pace’. She walked up stairs knowing that Gale was behind her.
At one point, Mr Gale walked past her. But as she approached her car Gale went towards her. He blocked her path and warned: ‘Do exactly as I say or I will kill you.’
Mr Gale pressed a red-handled knife into her stomach. He became more forceful, before moving her back towards the foyer area of the stairwell and lifts.
He then raped her. Mr Gale stroked her face and grabbed her hair, forcing her onto her knees, before ordering her to perform a sex act on him.
Without warning, he said: ‘I’m bored with all this’ and walked off. The woman ran to her car and drove to Tunbridge Wells police station. Mr Gale admitted rape and assault by penetration.
Andrew Patience QC said: ‘Such wicked, cruel and degrading conduct as you made your victim suffer on that night deserves only the severest penalty, both to punish you and to deter and serve as a warning to others,’ he added. ‘You are, in short, a danger to women.’
His victim said the attack had ruined her life. ‘I am no longer the same mother,’ she said.
Speaking after the court hearing, Det Ch Insp Tony Thomas said: ‘Stephen Gale’s victim has been incredibly brave and I hope that she may now get some comfort from knowing that he is behind bars and unable to hurt anyone else.
‘Gale is a dangerous man and we are all very pleased that he cannot pose a further threat to women.’
Mr Gale will be eligible for his seventh parole hearing in 2025.
