Killers who commit the most disgusting crimes can expect a life sentence to mean LIFE
WITH the sentencing of killer nurse Lucy Letby this week, we saw her receive a whole life order from the judge for the horrific crimes she was found guilty of.
This means she should live out the rest of her days in prison.
I cannot begin to imagine the pain felt by the families of the defenceless babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital who were murdered or seriously harmed by someone whose very job it was to care for them.
I am sure Sun on Sunday readers would agree, for the innocent lives taken, a sentence to a life lived out behind bars is what she deserves.
She joins a string of the country’s most dangerous offenders now spending their whole life in jail.
They include serial killers such as Rose West, who with husband Fred murdered at least ten women including their own daughter.
Sadistic conduct
Plus Milly Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield and Wayne Couzens, who was behind the death of Sarah Everard.
Thankfully such killers are very rare, but every few years our headlines are dominated by their abominable crimes.
Currently, whole life orders are normally only imposed in certain specific circumstances, such as cases involving multiple killings or premeditated child murders.
But like the Prime Minister, as the Victims and Sentencing Minister, I think it is right to go further.
That’s why we are changing the law to help ensure the public are better protected from criminals who commit the most disgusting and appalling crimes.
Our proposals mean we will expect any killer who committed a murder with sexual or sadistic conduct to also spend their lifetime behind bars.
Our aim is simple — to ensure that dangerous offenders such as Jordan McSweeney, who received 38 years for brutally murdering law graduate Zara Aleena in a random and sexually motivated attack, would face no prospect of release by the Parole Board.
They should not walk free again and should spend the rest of their days locked up.
Sun on Sunday readers will share this Government’s commitment to cutting crime, ensuring prisoners are properly punished for their actions and to doing all we can to keep the public safe from lawbreakers.
Crime is down by more than half since 2010, when you exclude fraud, with violent offences down 41 per cent and burglary down over 50 per cent.
And with more bobbies on the beat — an extra 20,000 police officers recruited since 2019 — we’ll catch even more offenders and put them behind bars.
Like other criminals, Letby leaves victims in her wake.
Parents living with the loss of their children for the rest of their lives. Parents caring for severely harmed children she attempted to kill.
That is why this Government is and always will be on the side of victims of crime.
We’ve quadrupled the amount of money we spend on support services compared to 2010.
And as the Minister for Victims, I want to ensure they feel listened to and supported as well as treated fairly, properly and with dignity by police, prosecutors and in the courts.
That’s why the Victims And Prisoners Bill I am currently taking through the House of Commons strengthens in law the rights and help that victims of crime are entitled to.
People want victims to get the support they need, and they deserve no less.
People also want clarity and honesty in sentencing.
That’s why we have ended the automatic halfway release for the most dangerous sexual and violent offenders so that the public are better protected and for longer.
We’ve increased the maximum penalty for causing death on the roads to life in prison for those driving dangerously and on drugs or drunk.
Vile murderers
Our tougher rules for burglars and knife carriers mean repeat lawbreakers are rightly being given prison sentences.
Offenders are serving sentences that are, on average, more than 50 per cent higher than in 2010 because of these and other reforms we have made.
The principles behind these changes — public safety, support for victims and making punishments fit the crime — are simply common sense.
Yet it is worth noting that Labour voted against the Police, Crime, Sentencing And Courts Bill becoming law in 2022, in doing so voting against the sensible measures in it that help keep dangerous rapists and violent criminals behind bars for longer.
The changes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and this Conservative Government are now making to whole life orders should leave no one in any doubt — particularly the vile murderers who commit these horrific crimes — as to what the sentence means when the cell door slams shut.
Life should mean life.