Labour accused of ‘hiding behind the UN’ after refusing to change the law to give whole-life sentences to young killers on human rights grounds in the wake of Southport slaughter_Nhy
Labour was accused of ‘hiding behind the UN’ today after refusing to change the law to allow judges to jail under-18 killers until they die, on human rights grounds.
Ministers and No10 said they were blocked by international convention from increasing the maximum sentence handed to juvenile offenders, amid demands for action in the wake of the Southport atrocity.
Calls have been mounting for a law change after Axel Rudakubana avoided a whole-life sentence for slaughtering three young girls last July because he was nine days shy of his 18th birthday at the time.
He was instead handed a sentence of 52 years yesterday, which means, while unlikely, he could be freed when he is 70.
The Tories tonight vowed to examine changing the law, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp saying: ‘This Labour government is wrong to dismiss so casually the pleas of bereaved families. The Government is instead hiding behind the UN.
‘Labour must do the right thing to help families and victims of evil crimes get the justice they deserve.’
But Defence Secretary Mr Healey today suggested that this was unlikely to happen.
‘There are limits [under] United Nations law that prevent us from having a court system that would impose unlimited sentences on under 18 year-olds,’ he said.
Calls have been mounting for a law change after Rudakubana avoided a whole-life sentence for slaughtering three young girls because he was nine days shy of his 18th birthday when he carried out his brutal attack last July.
Politicians including Tory leader Kemi Badenoch are calling for the law to be changed to allow whole-life sentences to be handed to minors. But Defence Secretary Mr Healey today suggested that this was unlikely to happen.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UK signed up to in 1991, states that minors should not face the death penalty ‘or suffer other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment’.
‘But in practice I can’t see this man ever coming out of prison, I don’t want to see this man ever come out of prison.’
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UK signed up to in 1991, states that minors should not face the death penalty ‘or suffer other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment’.
It adds: ‘Children should be arrested, detained or imprisoned only as a last resort and for the shortest time possible.’
Mr Healey admitted the country was trying to come to terms with ‘the savagery and the horror displayed by Rudakubana in his attack.
He received one of the highest minimum custody terms on record for the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space in Southport in July last year, when he was 17.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed and harrowing details of the attack were heard at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.
Rudakubana also attempted to murder eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
Due to his age at the time of the attack, he cannot legally receive a whole-life order, a punishment reserved for offenders aged 21 and over or, in rare cases, those aged 18 to 20.
‘I find it hard to catch my breath when I read the reports of what that man did,’ Mr Healey said.
The Tories tonight vowed to examine changing the law, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp saying: ‘This Labour government is wrong to dismiss so casually the pleas of bereaved families. The Government is instead hiding behind the UN.’
‘It is quite clear he would have killed all 26 young girls in that dance class if he could.
‘The judge has sentenced him 52 years in prison, he said it is unlikely he will even come out of prison and for my money I would be happy to see that.’
Describing the minimum term as ‘substantial’, Mr Justice Goose, sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, said he will serve ‘almost the whole of his life in custody’, adding: ‘I consider at this time that it is likely that he will never be released and that he will be in custody for all his life.’
His words were echoed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who said afterwards that the ‘vile offender will likely never be released’.
However, Southport’s Labour MP Patrick Hurley said the sentence was ‘not severe enough’ and he asked the Attorney General to review it as ‘unduly lenient’.
He added: ‘We need a sentence that represents the severity of this crime that has terrorised the victims and their families.’
The Attorney General’s office said the case was referred under the unduly lenient sentence scheme – with just one request needed for it to be considered.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, backed by shadow home secretary Chris Philp, said there was a ‘strong case’ for amending the law to allow for whole life orders to be imposed on people aged under 18 in some cases, which the Tories ‘will start to explore’.
