The respondent had been convicted of thirteen murders and eight attempted murders. He had claimed to have been acting in response to a divine voice heard when he worked in a graveyard. He was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic. The murders had created a climate of terror over many months over a wide area and he was assessed to be very dangerous. The judge had recommended a tariff of thirty years imprisonment, but none had been set.
Held: A whole life tariff was imposed and early release provision should not apply.
Mitting J said: ‘My task is to assess, by reference to the factors set out in Schedule 21 and the recommendations of the trial Judge and the Lord Chief Justice, what the minimum term should be. Having done so, if I conclude that the appropriate term is a whole life term, I must not set such a term unless I am of the opinion that the Home Secretary would have set a whole life tariff under his practice before December 2002.’
Though it was not possible to discern clear policy from the 28 whole life tariffs set by the HS between 1996 and 2002, it was quite clear that this case came right at the top: ‘Only Rosemary West and Dennis Neilsen approach the number of victims murdered. Even they did not reach the total number of the Respondent’s victims. The conduct of Brady towards his three victims and of Ireland towards his five victims included greater sadism than that demonstrated by the Respondent. Childs, a contract killer with six victims, may have been more ruthless. But none of them could reasonably have been regarded by the Home Secretary as more deserving of retribution than the Respondent. In my opinion, it is more likely than not that if the Home Secretary had set a tariff for the Respondent, it would have been a whole life tariff. On that premise, I am not forbidden by paragraph 8(b) of Schedule 22 to set a whole life term.’
Judges:
Mitting J
Citations:
[2010] EWHC 1741 (QB)
Links:
Statutes:
Criminal Justice Act 2003 269, Crime (Sentences) Act 1977 28(5)-(8)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Pitchfork, Regina v CACD 14-May-2009
The defendant had been convicted of two rapes and murders in 1988. He was found to have a psychopathic disorder. His minimum term was first set at 25 years, then altered on review to 30 years. He now sought review of the period.
Held: Judge . .
Cited – Caines, Regina v, Regina v Roberts CACD 23-Nov-2006
The prisoners appealed the review of the recommended minimum terms they must serve on that term being reviewed by the court, saying that the court should have made allowance for the exceptional progress to rehabilitation made in prison.
Held: . .
Original Appeal – Regina v Sutcliffe (Peter) CACD 24-May-1982
The defendant appealed against his conviction for 13 murders and 7 attempted murders saying that his plea of diminished responsibility should not have been rejected.
Held: The appeal failed. Lord Lane CJ said: ‘The psychiatrists all . .
Cited by:
Appeal from – Coonan (Formerly Sutcliffe), Regina v CACD 14-Jan-2011
The claimant, formerly known as Peter Sutcliffe, had been convicted in 1981 for thirteen murders and 7 attempted murders. His plea of diminished responsibility was rejected. The judge had recommended a minimum term of 30 years for the life sentence, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 06 February 2022; Ref: scu.420952
