A MOTHER says she is devastated to learn a man who killed her son with a 12 inch blade is set to be released from prison less than six years later.

Danny Jones, a 21-year-old trainee accountant from Chirk, was killed by an ornamental Lord of the Rings replica sword during a fight with Richard Adam Reece on April 24, 2013 in Oswestry.

Reece, originally from the Mid Wales area but living in Oswestry at the time of the incident, had denied murdering the father-of-one.

Aged 19 at the time, he was convicted in November of the same year of manslaughter by a Birmingham Crown Court jury after a two-and-a-half week trial and was sentenced to 12 years in jail.

Reece appealed against the sentence at the Court of Appeal in London in December 2013 and it was rejected in April 2014.

Mr Jones’s mother, Samantha McNeil, known as Lisa, says her family has been informed that Reece is set for release in May, having served half of his sentence.

She said the information has left family members “devastated” as they feel he should have served longer.

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“He is going to be released in May ,” she said.

“You can imagine the upset and devastation this has caused to our family.

“We knew this day would come but how anyone can think a six year jail sentence is long enough for taking such a precious life is beyond me.”

Mrs McNeil added: “Danny had his whole life ahead of him at the age of 21.He was training for a career as an accountant.

“It was a life he loved, with friends and family he adored, which was all taken from him because of the actions of someone else.

“And now six years on he’s going to rebuild his life. Tell me how is that fair?

“My son will never walk back through our front door. Our lives have been totally destroyed until the day we take our last breath. Where is the justice in that?”

Mrs McNeil said Probation Service staff had notified her about a release date.

“The only reason we were notified was because my husband Lee had phoned to update some of our details and they had realised we had got lost in there system. So I had a phone call the following day to say he is due to be released and could they arrange to come out and see us? I did ask if there was anyway of me appealing and the answer to that was no.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said they could not comment on individual cases.