The government has announced 'tough new rules' giving judges further powers to punish criminals who refuse to attend their sentencing hearings, with measures due to come into force next year.
The proposed powers, which will be laid before Parliament on Thursday (October 22), build on reforms already in force that allow criminals to be ordered into the dock to face justice or be fined and jailed for another two years for contempt of court.
Sanctions include cellular confinement and visit bans
If granted, the powers would mean prisoners could be locked in their cells for up to three weeks or banned from social visits for nearly a month. Judges would be able to impose a range of sanctions, including:
- Loss of prison privileges for almost three months (84 days).
- Cellular confinement for up to three weeks (21 days).
- Loss of social visits for nearly a month (27 days).
- Restrictions on social visits to once every four weeks, for almost three months (84 days).
The measures are the latest bid to push killers to come to court, as threats of more time behind bars are unlikely to deter them if they are already facing years of incarceration. The powers will also apply to those who are removed from their sentencing hearing for disruptive behaviour.
Campaigners and high-profile cases
People campaigning for change include the families of murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, law graduate Zara Aleena and mother-of-three Jan Mustafa, whose loved ones' killers were absent from their sentencing hearings. Triple crossbow and knife killer Kyle Clifford and Thomas Cashman, the gunman who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, also refused to face their punishment in court.
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was sentenced in his absence to a minimum of 52 years for the attack in which he murdered three young girls, after he refused to come into the courtroom and had been removed from the dock earlier in the day for shouting.
Reactions and exemptions
Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales Claire Waxman said it was "essential" the powers were used "consistently by courts and prisons, so families receive the justice and accountability they deserve." Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, called for ministers to explain what evidence they have to show such sanctions would increase attendance at sentencing hearings and warned the measures will punish relatives of prisoners who "have committed no offence themselves", adding: "The Government should therefore be clear about the rationale for these sanctions, how their impact will be assessed, and whether they will deliver the accountability that victims' families rightly expect."
Visits from prisoners' children will be exempt. Judges will be able to impose similar sanctions on criminals aged 18 to 20 held in Young Offender Institutions but for shorter periods of time.
The measures will not be able to guarantee prisoners attend their sentencing but are intended to mean they face tougher consequences for refusing to do so, the Ministry of Justice said. Prisons minister Catherine McKinnell added: "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. We committed to change this and we've already strengthened the law so offenders can be ordered into court. Now we're going further, giving judges tougher punishments for those who still refuse – from being confined to their cells for weeks to losing prison privileges and visits."
