A woman who participated in the murder of a man with learning difficulties when she was 16 has failed to have her 10-year sentence reduced. Sarah Bullock, now in her 20s, was convicted alongside her boyfriend Darren Stewart and Martin Pollard for the killing of Steven Hoskin in St Austell, Cornwall, in 2006.
Hoskin, 38, was tortured, forced to wear a dog collar, and made to confess to being a paedophile before being taken to a viaduct. There, Bullock stamped on his hands, causing him to fall more than 100 feet to his death. At her trial in 2007, the court heard Bullock was under the 'malign influence' of Stewart.
At the High Court, Bullock's lawyers argued her behaviour in custody had been 'exceptional', citing her remorse, qualifications in computing, literacy, numeracy, hairdressing and horticulture, and £370 raised for charity. However, Mr Justice Mitting ruled her conduct, while 'good, but not perfect', was not exceptional enough to warrant a shorter sentence, adding that this could change in the future.
Bullock and Stewart were convicted of murder, receiving 10 and 25 years respectively. Pollard was jailed for eight years for manslaughter.
