UK's most notorious murderers given chance of freedom after 'whole life' sentences ruled against human rights
9 Jul 2013 10:34
Almost 50 child murderers, rapists and serial killers were told it was against their human rights to be locked up for life
Rose West is the only woman still serving a whole-life tariff
Britain's most notorious killers were given the chance of freedom today in a bombshell ruling by European judges.
Almost 50 child murderers, rapists and serial killers - responsible for more than 150 brutal killings - were told it was against their human rights to be locked up for life.
The ruling, by judges at the European Court of Human Rights, sparked fury in Westminster - and means paedophile killers like Ian Brady, Mark Bridger and Rose West now have the chance of walking free.
Psychopath Moors murderer Brady killed five children with Myra Hindley in the 1960s.
West, now the only woman left serving a whole-life sentence after Hindley’s death in 2002, killed 10 children with her husband Fred, but could now have her sentence reviewed.
Bridger, the internet abuse addict who butchered five-year-old April Jones last year, is the last child killer to be sentenced to die behind bars.
But today’s Strasbourg ruling opens the door for dozens of such killers to launch their bid for freedom - including depraved murderers Jeremy Bamber, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore who launched the legal fight against the punishments.
Wife killer: Douglas Vinter murdered his partner in February 2008
North News
Bamber, 51, has been behind bars for more than 25 years for shooting his adopted parents June and Neville, his sister Sheila Caffell and her six-year-old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas at their farmhouse in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex.
He was sentenced to die in jail after being convicted of the murders in October 1986.
In a blog in his website, multiple killer Bamber - who still protests his innocence - dismissed his “hollow” victory over the Government.
He said: “The verdict today seems in so many ways to be hollow, as I am still serving a prison sentence for a crime I did not commit.”
Vinter was released from prison after serving nine years for the 1995 murder of work colleague Carl Edon, 22 - but just three years later he stabbed his wife Anne White four times and strangled her.
Welsh serial killer Moore was convicted in 1996 of killing four gay men over four months.
In the wake of today’s ruling all three killers will now have the chance of being released within years - after the European judges ruled sentences should be looked at again after 25 years at the very latest.
By 16 votes to one, the judges ruled that giving murderers no hope of being released was “cruel and degrading”.
The Grand Chamber of the court said for a life sentence to remain compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights there had to be both a possibility of release and a possibility of review.
Under current UK law, whole-life tariff prisoners will almost certainly never be released - as they can only be freed by the Justice Secretary, who can give discretion on compassionate grounds when the prisoner is terminally ill or seriously incapacitated.
The Ministry of Justice has refused to release a definitive list of prisoners being held on a whole-life tariff but there are believed to be almost 50 killers on it.
Sadistic: Peter Moore killed four gay men for his sexual gratification
The ruling sparked fury in Parliament - and will add to the growing calls on the Tory backbenches for Britain to pull out of the European Court.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling launched a furious attack on the European judges.
Mr Grayling said: “The British people will find this ruling intensely frustrating and hard to understand.
“What the court is saying is that a judge can no longer tell the most appalling criminals that they will never be released.
“I think the people who wrote the original Human Rights Convention would be turning in their graves at this ruling.
“I profoundly disagree with the court and this simply reinforces my determination to curtail the role of the Court of Human Rights in the UK.”
Tory MP Priti Patel, whose constituency of Witham was where Bamber committed his crime, said: “Europe’s judges have once again proven themselves to be out of touch and make ridiculous decisions which undermine justice and show no respect for victims of crime.
“It is disgusting that the European Court of Human Rights believes that those responsible for the most vile and heinous crimes should have the prospect of release.
“Life should mean life and it is a disgrace that Europe can over-rule the decisions made by courts in this country. The Government must put an end to this nonsense from Europe.”
Home Secretary Theresa May said the public would be dismayed by the ruling. She has previously called for the Human Rights Act to be “scrapped”.
Earlier this year, Mrs May vowed to give all cop killers a minimum whole-life jail term - a pledge thrown into disarray in light of the ECHR’s ruling.
Police killer Dale Cregan is the last murderer to receive the now-banned punishment after executing WPCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes last year.
Downing Street said David Cameron was “very, very disappointed” at the ruling.
“He profoundly disagrees with the court’s ruling. He is a strong supporter of whole life tariffs,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
AGAINST EUROPEAN COURT RULING
David Blunkett, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004: “In 2003 we changed the law so that ‘life’ really meant life when sentencing those who had committed the most heinous crimes.
“I pushed this through Parliament in response to the overwhelming demand of the British people for clear, transparent sentencing and for certainty that what starts out as a clear and unambiguous punishment will in the end be carried out.
“Whatever the technical justification the Strasbourg court may have, it is the right of the British Parliament to determine the sentence of those who have committed such crimes, and for democracy - which chose such a sentence many years ago as an alternative to capital punishment - to have the will of the people implemented.
“To do otherwise can only lead to disillusionment, mistrust of, and a dangerous alienation from, our democracy itself.”
FOR EUROPEAN COURT RULING
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust: “Restoring the principle of review of whole-life sentences would help restore balance to a penal system distorted by the 2003 Criminal Justice Act.
“Rehabilitation is a purpose of sentencing alongside punishment.
"Reinstating the possibility of review, albeit with little prospect of release, puts a degree of hope into the lives of those very few people serving whole-life tariffs and affirms prison staff in their work to enable prisoners to progress even the longest of sentences.
“In fairness, it might be better if the prime minister were a strong supporter of rehabilitation and redemption rather than the eternal punishment and damnation that is a whole-life tariff with no prospect of review.
“When it comes to honesty in sentencing life does mean life.
"It’s important to realise that any life sentence handed down by the court means that the offender will usually serve a number of years in custody and the reminder of their life under supervision by the Probation Service.”
9 Jul 2013 10:34
Almost 50 child murderers, rapists and serial killers were told it was against their human rights to be locked up for life
Britain's most notorious killers were given the chance of freedom today in a bombshell ruling by European judges.
Almost 50 child murderers, rapists and serial killers - responsible for more than 150 brutal killings - were told it was against their human rights to be locked up for life.
The ruling, by judges at the European Court of Human Rights, sparked fury in Westminster - and means paedophile killers like Ian Brady, Mark Bridger and Rose West now have the chance of walking free.
Psychopath Moors murderer Brady killed five children with Myra Hindley in the 1960s.
West, now the only woman left serving a whole-life sentence after Hindley’s death in 2002, killed 10 children with her husband Fred, but could now have her sentence reviewed.
Bridger, the internet abuse addict who butchered five-year-old April Jones last year, is the last child killer to be sentenced to die behind bars.
But today’s Strasbourg ruling opens the door for dozens of such killers to launch their bid for freedom - including depraved murderers Jeremy Bamber, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore who launched the legal fight against the punishments.
North News
Bamber, 51, has been behind bars for more than 25 years for shooting his adopted parents June and Neville, his sister Sheila Caffell and her six-year-old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas at their farmhouse in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex.
He was sentenced to die in jail after being convicted of the murders in October 1986.
In a blog in his website, multiple killer Bamber - who still protests his innocence - dismissed his “hollow” victory over the Government.
He said: “The verdict today seems in so many ways to be hollow, as I am still serving a prison sentence for a crime I did not commit.”
Vinter was released from prison after serving nine years for the 1995 murder of work colleague Carl Edon, 22 - but just three years later he stabbed his wife Anne White four times and strangled her.
Welsh serial killer Moore was convicted in 1996 of killing four gay men over four months.
In the wake of today’s ruling all three killers will now have the chance of being released within years - after the European judges ruled sentences should be looked at again after 25 years at the very latest.
By 16 votes to one, the judges ruled that giving murderers no hope of being released was “cruel and degrading”.
The Grand Chamber of the court said for a life sentence to remain compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights there had to be both a possibility of release and a possibility of review.
Under current UK law, whole-life tariff prisoners will almost certainly never be released - as they can only be freed by the Justice Secretary, who can give discretion on compassionate grounds when the prisoner is terminally ill or seriously incapacitated.
The Ministry of Justice has refused to release a definitive list of prisoners being held on a whole-life tariff but there are believed to be almost 50 killers on it.
The ruling sparked fury in Parliament - and will add to the growing calls on the Tory backbenches for Britain to pull out of the European Court.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling launched a furious attack on the European judges.
Mr Grayling said: “The British people will find this ruling intensely frustrating and hard to understand.
“What the court is saying is that a judge can no longer tell the most appalling criminals that they will never be released.
“I think the people who wrote the original Human Rights Convention would be turning in their graves at this ruling.
“I profoundly disagree with the court and this simply reinforces my determination to curtail the role of the Court of Human Rights in the UK.”
Tory MP Priti Patel, whose constituency of Witham was where Bamber committed his crime, said: “Europe’s judges have once again proven themselves to be out of touch and make ridiculous decisions which undermine justice and show no respect for victims of crime.
“It is disgusting that the European Court of Human Rights believes that those responsible for the most vile and heinous crimes should have the prospect of release.
“Life should mean life and it is a disgrace that Europe can over-rule the decisions made by courts in this country. The Government must put an end to this nonsense from Europe.”
Home Secretary Theresa May said the public would be dismayed by the ruling. She has previously called for the Human Rights Act to be “scrapped”.
Earlier this year, Mrs May vowed to give all cop killers a minimum whole-life jail term - a pledge thrown into disarray in light of the ECHR’s ruling.
Police killer Dale Cregan is the last murderer to receive the now-banned punishment after executing WPCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes last year.
Downing Street said David Cameron was “very, very disappointed” at the ruling.
“He profoundly disagrees with the court’s ruling. He is a strong supporter of whole life tariffs,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
AGAINST EUROPEAN COURT RULING
David Blunkett, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004: “In 2003 we changed the law so that ‘life’ really meant life when sentencing those who had committed the most heinous crimes.
“I pushed this through Parliament in response to the overwhelming demand of the British people for clear, transparent sentencing and for certainty that what starts out as a clear and unambiguous punishment will in the end be carried out.
“Whatever the technical justification the Strasbourg court may have, it is the right of the British Parliament to determine the sentence of those who have committed such crimes, and for democracy - which chose such a sentence many years ago as an alternative to capital punishment - to have the will of the people implemented.
“To do otherwise can only lead to disillusionment, mistrust of, and a dangerous alienation from, our democracy itself.”
FOR EUROPEAN COURT RULING
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust: “Restoring the principle of review of whole-life sentences would help restore balance to a penal system distorted by the 2003 Criminal Justice Act.
“Rehabilitation is a purpose of sentencing alongside punishment.
"Reinstating the possibility of review, albeit with little prospect of release, puts a degree of hope into the lives of those very few people serving whole-life tariffs and affirms prison staff in their work to enable prisoners to progress even the longest of sentences.
“In fairness, it might be better if the prime minister were a strong supporter of rehabilitation and redemption rather than the eternal punishment and damnation that is a whole-life tariff with no prospect of review.
“When it comes to honesty in sentencing life does mean life.
"It’s important to realise that any life sentence handed down by the court means that the offender will usually serve a number of years in custody and the reminder of their life under supervision by the Probation Service.”
