Latest news with #LadyChiefJustice
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
Bid to raise triple killer's sentence to whole-life term set to be heard
A triple murderer could have his sentence increased to a whole-life order when the Solicitor General's bid to have his minimum term raised is heard at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. Nicholas Prosper was jailed for a minimum term of 49 years, less 188 days already spent in custody, in March after admitting killing his mother, Juliana Falcon, 48, and siblings Giselle Prosper, 13, and Kyle Prosper, 16, at their family flat in Luton, Bedfordshire, on September 13 2023. The 19-year-old also admitted weapons charges after plotting a mass shooting at his former primary school in the town. The Solicitor General referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal as 'unduly lenient' in April, with a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office claiming that it believed Prosper 'ought to have been given a whole-life order'. The hearing before the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Wall is due to begin at 10.30am at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. After shooting dead his siblings and mother, and stabbing his brother more than 100 times, Prosper hid for more than two hours before flagging down police officers in a nearby street and showing them where he had hidden a loaded shotgun and 33 cartridges near playing fields. He had bought the firearm and 100 cartridges from a legitimate firearms dealer the day before the murders after forging a gun licence. Sentencing Prosper at Luton Crown Court in March, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said that a whole-life term could only be given to an 18 to 20-year-old if a court deemed 'that the seriousness of the combination of offences is exceptionally high'. But she stopped short of imposing a whole-life order in Prosper's case, as he was stopped from carrying out the school shooting, having murdered his family earlier than he intended after his mother woke up. She continued that while he was 'indisputably a very dangerous young man', the risk to the public was met with a life sentence. She continued: 'Despite the gravity of your crimes, it is the explicit joint submission of counsel that a lengthy, finite term will be a sufficiently severe penalty, and this is not such an exceptionally serious case of the utmost gravity where the sentence of last resort must be imposed on an offender who was 18 at the time and is 19 today.' As well as the murder sentences, Prosper also received concurrent jail terms of life with a minimum term of 18 years for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, three-and-a-half years for buying the gun and one year for possession of a kitchen knife, to run concurrently. Whole-life orders are reserved for the most serious offences, with those handed the tariffs including Louis De Zoysa, who murdered Metropolitan Police Sergeant Matt Ratana in 2020, and Kyle Clifford, who murdered his ex-partner Louise Hunt, her sister Hannah Hunt and mother Carol Hunt last year. Rules were changed in 2022 to allow younger defendants aged 18 to 20 to receive whole-life orders in exceptional circumstances, but no-one in that age bracket has received the sentence since then.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Bid to raise triple killer's sentence to whole-life term set to be heard
A triple murderer could have his sentence increased to a whole-life order when the Solicitor General's bid to have his minimum term raised is heard at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. Nicholas Prosper was jailed for a minimum term of 49 years, less 188 days already spent in custody, in March after admitting killing his mother, Juliana Falcon, 48, and siblings Giselle Prosper, 13, and Kyle Prosper, 16, at their family flat in Luton, Bedfordshire, on September 13 2023. The 19-year-old also admitted weapons charges after plotting a mass shooting at his former primary school in the town. The Solicitor General referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal as 'unduly lenient' in April, with a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office claiming that it believed Prosper 'ought to have been given a whole-life order'. The hearing before the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Wall is due to begin at 10.30am at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. After shooting dead his siblings and mother, and stabbing his brother more than 100 times, Prosper hid for more than two hours before flagging down police officers in a nearby street and showing them where he had hidden a loaded shotgun and 33 cartridges near playing fields. He had bought the firearm and 100 cartridges from a legitimate firearms dealer the day before the murders after forging a gun licence. Sentencing Prosper at Luton Crown Court in March, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said that a whole-life term could only be given to an 18 to 20-year-old if a court deemed 'that the seriousness of the combination of offences is exceptionally high'. But she stopped short of imposing a whole-life order in Prosper's case, as he was stopped from carrying out the school shooting, having murdered his family earlier than he intended after his mother woke up. She continued that while he was 'indisputably a very dangerous young man', the risk to the public was met with a life sentence. She continued: 'Despite the gravity of your crimes, it is the explicit joint submission of counsel that a lengthy, finite term will be a sufficiently severe penalty, and this is not such an exceptionally serious case of the utmost gravity where the sentence of last resort must be imposed on an offender who was 18 at the time and is 19 today.' As well as the murder sentences, Prosper also received concurrent jail terms of life with a minimum term of 18 years for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, three-and-a-half years for buying the gun and one year for possession of a kitchen knife, to run concurrently. Whole-life orders are reserved for the most serious offences, with those handed the tariffs including Louis De Zoysa, who murdered Metropolitan Police Sergeant Matt Ratana in 2020, and Kyle Clifford, who murdered his ex-partner Louise Hunt, her sister Hannah Hunt and mother Carol Hunt last year. Rules were changed in 2022 to allow younger defendants aged 18 to 20 to receive whole-life orders in exceptional circumstances, but no-one in that age bracket has received the sentence since then.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- BBC News
Longer sentences needed for non-fatal strangulation, says victim
Donna Louise Todd is a mother, a businesswoman and an online influencer. She is also the victim of a violent man who strangled her and received a suspended said sentencing for non-fatal strangulation is too lenient, and in her case believes it "wasn't enough, justice was not served"."For victims to go to court and for an abuser to get just a suspended sentence, it's unfair," she Lady Chief Justice told BBC News NI that "there is a perception amongst some that a suspended sentence is a 'let off', however, it acts as a deterrent measure", adding that there is a sentence "hanging over the offender which will be put into effect if they commit another offence". Since 2020, 27 women have been violently killed in Northern strangulation, which became a stand-alone crime in Northern Ireland in 2023, is seen as a red flag for escalating violence in a relationship and an indicator for future risk of murder or attempted is the second most common method of female murder in the UK, after stabbing. 'Enough was enough' Donna Louise said her relationship, which lasted only six months, was both physically and emotionally abusive."It was challenging. It strips you down until there is nothing left and it's left me with a lot of trauma within that short space of time."I knew I had to call the police - enough was enough."I was scared to do so but it also was a way for me to completely disconnect with that person."It was the best thing I ever did."He was charged with a number of offences, including non-fatal Louise said she was prepared to give her witness testimony in court, but at the last minute her attacker changed his plea to guilty and was handed a suspended sentence."He admitted to what he'd done, and it was like a slap on the wrist," she said."I feel like, why was it not taken seriously?" The Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan, said: "The sentencing framework, within which all judges must act, is set in legislation by the Department of Justice."In Donna Louise's case, the Lady Chief Justice said the judge "emphasised the deterrent measure of the suspended sentence by reminding the defendant that he would be sent to prison should he reoffend at any stage in the next three years". The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) made prosecution decisions in 278 cases of non-fatal strangulation from the beginning of April 2024 until the end of March vast majority of those cases were processed through the magistrates' court which has lower sentencing PSNI have charged over 600 people with the offence since it came into force two years John Taggart, a legal expert at Queen's University Belfast, said sentencing in Northern Ireland can be complicated."When judges come to sentence someone for a particular offence, for example non-fatal strangulation, they do have more discretion here, they aren't bound by formal guidance like in England and Wales," he told BBC News NI."That means judges do have a bit more leeway to perhaps incorporate aggravating factors or mitigating factors."The figures are clear that most of these cases are being tried in the magistrates' court compared to the crown court, significantly more cases in the magistrates', invariably that means that cases will attract a lower sentence." Judge Barney McElhom, who retired this year after more than 25 years, described non-fatal strangulation as some perpetrator's "weapon of choice".He said there has been "almost an explosion" in the number of cases he has seen in recent to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, he said he's heard from victims that "this is the most frightening thing you can experience, it's like drowning"."It's a very, very controlling and coercive and domineering tactic" which requires "wider awareness," he Louise said her message for others experiencing abuse is to "get out of that relationship", adding that she felt it was important to speak out."It's not easy, but I'll be a voice because I know what it feels like to lose your voice, to be silenced, and I will not be silenced."
