We hope you have heard of David Blagdon.

He is the man who, consumed with grief at the loss of his parents, set fire to a church.

He didn't make much of a job of it - in fact the damage was minimal, just a curtain.

But the quality of mercy was more than strained and the judiciary saw fit to give him a life sentence.

You see, to some destroying property is as great a sin - if not greater - than taking life.

That was 20 years ago. Jim Callaghan was still in Number 10 and you hadn't even been elected MP for Blackburn.

Since then murderers have come before the courts, been sentenced, served their time and set free to pick up the pieces of their lives - which was more than their victims could do. But not David Blagdon. He sets fire to church curtains.

It seems God has forgiven him. So have the parishioners of South Hinksey whose lives he disturbed for a brief moment in time.

His fellow inmates have said en masse that he should not be among their number while only one per cent of those who took part in a television phone-in poll felt he should still be inside.

But even if this weight of public opinion was not on his side, surely common humanity demands he should be set free.

It is now agreed that his case should come before the Parole Board in November. We suppose that is some progress.

But it isn't good enough. His case should be brought forward. He should be freed as soon as possible and spared the anxiety of waiting until the board sees fit to discuss his case.

Of course, there are those who will say he blew his chances by absconding for seven weeks. But how else was he to make his point? Only a few people knew of the injustice - or cared.

Well we care, Mr Straw. We ask you to do the same.

David Blagdon is a danger to no-one - he never was. He is a victim of an archaic law that puts possessions before people.

You cannot give him back his 20 years, but you have the key to his prison cell and his route to freedom.

*Full background: See Features

Story date: Thursday 04 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.