In what will undoubtedly come as a great relief to Sarah, Duchess of York, her former dresser Jane Andrews has been refused parole.
"For the time being, she's staying behind bars," says Rick Cressman, whose brother, Thomas, was stabbed to death by Andrews at the house they shared in Fulham, west London, after being clubbed unconscious with a cricket bat.
Mandrake disclosed in March that Andrews, who was a close friend as well as an employee of Fergie for nine years, would appear before the parole board at Send prison, near Guildford in Surrey.
A source at the parole board said Andrews could have been "released back into the community" this month if her parole hearing was successful. Rick says: "As a family, we're relatively relieved to hear that she's not being hurried out, bearing in mind her lack of remorse."
His sister, Cathy, spoke to the members of the parole board to make the family's feelings known. "We find it hard to see how social experts can suggest she is rehabilitated when she has shown no remorse," he says.
"We question her stability of character, but are hopeful there is a way for her to find that remorse and, perhaps, eventually rejoin society. As far as I know, she's not being moved to an open prison."
Andrews, 43, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, which took place in 2000. Cressman had refused to marry her.
In 2009, she absconded from HMP East Sutton Park. The Crown Prosecution Service said that, having considered psychiatric reports on Andrews, she would not face charges for walking out of the open prison. She was returned to custody two days later after being found at a hotel a few miles away.
A Parole Board spokesman would not comment on Andrews, but said: "Once a life-sentence prisoner's minimum tariff has been served, the only legal question which has to be answered is whether or not the prisoner is a risk to the public.
