The government has revealed intentions to reassess the sentencing of murderers in response to the Nottingham incidents.
Valdo Calocane fatally wounded Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates in June 2023 and was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder owing to his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
In a formal written statement, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood indicated that the approach to homicide has not been evaluated since the early 2000s.
She pointed out that in light of Calocane’s attack, there have been requests for modification in how “diminished responsibility ought to be represented in the categorization of homicide offenses.”
In her written ministerial statement, she remarked: “Following the Nottingham tragedies from last year, the families of those affected have also requested reform in homicide legislation, especially concerning the representation of diminished responsibility within the classification of homicide offenses.
“Our existing sentencing framework for murder was first established over two decades ago, and since then, numerous minor amendments have been applied.
“The Law Commission will evaluate the legislation concerning homicide offenses, encompassing both full and partial defenses to these offenses, and this review will also consider the murder sentencing framework.”
Ms. Mahmood noted that there have also been issues raised about “gender discrepancies in murders occurring within domestic settings”, including “the insufficient acknowledgment of previous abuse in minimum sentences for abusive men who kill their female partners, and disproportionately lengthy sentences for women who murder their male abusers”.
The Justice Secretary announced that in conjunction with the review, she would introduce legislation to establish two new statutory aggravating factors for murder sentencing, requiring judges to weigh harsher prison terms for murders involving strangulation or those linked to the conclusion of a relationship.
A consultation regarding murder sentencing was initially proclaimed by Rishi Sunak’s administration last year, as a facet of its initiative to combat violence against women and girls.
