Prisoners who refuse to attend their sentencing hearings will face additional penalties, including up to 21 days of cell confinement and 84 days of lost privileges, under new Ministry of Justice plans. The measures follow several high-profile murderers who refused to appear before judges and victims' families.
New penalties for refusing sentencing
Under the plans, Crown Court judges can impose loss of prison privileges for 84 days, cell confinement for 21 days, loss of social visits for 27 days, and restrictions on social visits to once every four weeks for 84 days. The move comes after killers including Thomas Cashman, who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt Korbel, and Kyle Clifford, who killed the wife and two daughters of BBC commentator John Hunt, refused to face the court.
Officers question practicality
However, prison officers warn the measures are a 'waste of time' and won't happen in practice, as inmates are subject to weekly reviews and are rewarded for good behaviour. One former prison worker at HMP Frankland told Metro: 'Prisons don't want to keep people on that system called "basic privileges", because it simply doesn't look good. Every week, prisoners who are on it get a weekly review, and if they have behaved well, they get moved off it.'
If inmates are unable to move off the system due to the new rules, it also risks causing more behavioural problems. 'If you are a prisoner, knowing you cannot be rewarded for any good behaviour, you are going to being awful,' the former officer said. He added: 'If you are already in trouble, you might as well be in super trouble.'
Minister defends crackdown
Prisons Minister Catherine McKinnell said: 'Criminals should not be able to pick and choose when they face justice. Refusing to turn up to sentencing is an insult to victims and their families, and offenders must face the consequences.'
The victims' commissioner for England and Wales, Claire Waxman, added that criminals refusing to turn up to their sentencing 'compounds trauma and robs families of accountablity'. She said: 'Their determined campaigning, alongside that of Olivia Pratt-Korbel's family, helped ensure that this harm could no longer be ignored.'
