Supporters of David Blagdon jailed for life at Oxford Crown Court for setting fire to a pair of church curtains at a south Hinksey church 22 years ago are planning a protest demonstration outside Wellingborough prison later this month, writes George Frew.

The Northamptonshire jail is where Blagdon, 49, is currently serving what his supporters hope will be the penultimate year of his jail term, before he is transferred to an open prison, possibly before Christmas.

He would then have to serve a further 12 months before being finally released. Since the Oxford Mail highlighted David Blagdon's story with a series of exclusive prison interviews and stories over the last two years, support has grown for the man many feel should never have been imprisoned in the first place.

He has described his crime as 'a cry for help' committed shortly after the death of both his foster parents within days of each other in 1977.

Now his many friends on the outside are hoping that the Parole Board will finally order Blagdon to be transferred to an open prison, where he can begin to plan for a new life as a free man. One of the organisers of the protest, Steve Roads, 44, who has been visiting Blagdon in prison since he read of his plight in the Oxford Mail, said: "The point of the demonstation planned for September 12 is simple. We are saying that David Blagdon should be freed.

"We think it is disgusting the way he has been treated. Even the judge at his trial now says he regrets the sentence.

"David still will have to do a further 12 months whatever happens and yet you look round and they're releasing IRA and loyalist terrorists.

"The authorities have bided their time with David Blagdon for long enough, but now they'll have to let him out. It's just a matter of time."