The new law could see criminals compelled to attend sentencings - but not everybody thinks its for the best
Killers and other criminals will now be forced to attend their sentencing hearings under new plans set out in the King's speech.
Bryn Hughes, the father of murdered police officer Nicola Hughes, has previously branded calls for the law to change as a 'knee-jerk reaction,' urging ministers to consider the practicalities of forcing criminals into the dock. “I’ve carried people into the dock who are biting, spitting and shouting abuse and within two or three minutes of the judge speaking to deliver a sentence they’ve started again and the judge has just said ‘take them back downstairs’.
Two high-profile cases this year The law change comes after two high-profile cases this year which have seen child killers refuse to take the dock to learn their fate. Now known as the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history, Lucy Letby refused to attend court and face the families whose babies she murdered when she was sentenced earlier this year.
The cowardly killer, 34, was unanimously found guilty of murdering the schoolgirl by a jury on Thursday, March 30. His trial heard how he “lay in wait” with two guns to attack Joseph Nee, 36, but shot Olivia after Nee ran towards her front door.
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