Issue 308  26th August 2023

The serial killer nurse, Lucy Letby, will never be released from prison after she was sentenced to a rare whole-life term for the “sadistic” murders of seven babies. Letby, who is Britain’s worst child serial killer, refused to leave the court cells as the parents of her newborn victims described the horrifying impact of her crimes... The judge, James Justice Goss KC, described Letby’s crimes as a “cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the smallest and most vulnerable of children”...

... Lord chancellor Alex Chalk tweeted: ‘Lucy Letby is not just a murderer but a coward, whose failure to face her victims’ families – refusing to hear their impact statements and society’s condemnation - is the final insult. We are looking to change the law so offenders can be compelled to attend sentencing hearings.’

However Bill Waddington, of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association, warned that forcing someone to come to court could bring a ‘whole host of problems’. He added: ‘Nobody can force [defendants] to listen or force them not to disrupt proceedings if they were to do so. If a defendant were to disrupt proceedings, the judge would instantly say we will carry on the rest of the hearing without you. It is very difficult to see how any sort of change in the law could force people to come and sit in court if they choose not to do so. One suggestion I have seen is that if they refuse to come, they are forced to watch it via video link but again there is a problem. They can be muted so nobody can hear what they are saying but nobody can force them to keep their eyes open or stop them messing about on screen. It is extremely difficult it seems to me'...

Kirsty Brimelow KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, told the media: ‘The actual presence of a defendant during their trial and during their sentencing is the right of a defendant. What used to happen was that if you had a defendant who was refusing to come to court there would be a huge discussion over whether the trial could carry on in their absence and so the law was changed to enable trials to carry on in their absence. Essentially, if somebody is refusing to come to court [you] could start to look at the technology. We’re in very different times post-Covid to where we were before, we have live links to prison all the time so you could look at extending the technology to include a feed, so that the court proceedings are transmitted to a person’s cell. As for a two-way, so you see the expression, I would be very cautious about that. There is a lot of assumptions there that you’re going to get an expression that is somewhat satisfying to the family. Unfortunately, at this stage I have seen it very often with defendants I have been in court [with] being sentenced for the most grave crimes, the families are dissatisfied by how they reacted and they haven’t actually got much comfort out of their presence actually in court. But, of course, they should be there.’

A crown court has been shut for the foreseeable future after potentially dangerous concrete was found. The Ministry of Justice says reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found at Harrow Crown Court in north-west London during improvement works. RAAC is lighter and less durable than traditional concrete, and was used until the mid-1990s. The Health and Safety Executive says RAAC is now beyond its lifespan and may "collapse with little or no notice"...

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the closure was temporary and cases would "be heard at alternative sites to minimise disruption while we address the issue as quickly as possible"...

A leading King’s Counsel will conduct the review into three Criminal Cases Review Commission investigations into Andrew Malkinson’s rape conviction, the Terms of Reference published today have confirmed. The CCRC twice declined Mr Malkinson’s applications before referring a third application in January 2023. His conviction was subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeal in July 2023.

Independent King’s Counsel (KC) Chris Henley will have sole responsibility for the review’s findings and recommendations. Mr Henley is Head of Chambers at Mountford Chambers and a former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, and has a wide range of relevant experience in the most serious criminal cases. He will have full access to the CCRC’s records on each of the investigations, and to assist Mr Henley the CCRC will request additional material from the courts, police, Crown Prosecution Service and forensic scientists. All CCRC Commissioners and staff involved in the reviews who are still in post will be available to contribute to the review...

An inquiry has been announced into one of the worst miscarriages of justice in modern times. Andrew Malkinson spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit. He was declared innocent last month after the Court of Appeal heard allegations of major failures. The justice secretary said the inquiry would examine the actions of the Crown Prosecution Service, Greater Manchester Police and the Criminal Cases Review Commission over the past 20 years. Alex Chalk added that it would be a non-statutory investigation, meaning it could not compel witnesses to give evidence, but it would be led by a senior legal figure and all the agencies involved in the case had promised full cooperation. The chair will be appointed in the coming weeks in the hope that a report can be finished and published by the end of the year...

Prisoners released on licence after serving time under an abolished and much-maligned indefinite sentencing scheme in England and Wales could have the period in which they can be recalled to prison halved under new rules. The changes to the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme would mean that IPP prisoners could in theory have their licence period in which they can be recalled terminated five years after release rather than the current 10 years.

The Howard League said it was “a positive step forward” but the government could go further and accept the recommendations of a justice select committee inquiry to remove the “stain” of IPP from the system. The committee’s inquiry, published last year, called for the almost 3,000 IPP prisoners behind bars to be resentenced, but the government has rejected this. IPPs were scrapped in 2012, and as of 30 June there were 2,909 IPP prisoners, more than half of whom – 1,597 – had been recalled to custody. The committee said there was a need to end the “recall merry-go-round” and recommended halving the time period after which the licence is reviewed. This was rejected by the then justice secretary, Dominic Raab, but his successor, Alex Chalk, is expected to accept the recommendation...