Face the Family: Sign the petition
A petition calling for tougher sentences for those who fail to appear in court is now LIVE
Last updated 25th Aug 2023
A petition as part of the 'Face the Family' campaign is now live.
The campaign is pushing for new legal powers that would require offenders to appear in court to hear their sentences, preventing them from refusing to be present.
It is urging ministers to change the law so court officials have more power to ensure offenders are present.
It comes in the wake of several high-profile cases in London which offenders failed to appear in court to hear victim impact statements and sentencing.
The men who killed Zara Aleena in Ilford and Sabina Nessa in Kidbrooke both refused to leave their cells, something which has been described by their families as a 'further slap in the face' and 'attack'.
Most recently in Liverpool, Thomas Cashman, 34, refused to come up from the cells for his sentencing hearing. He was sentenced in his absence to 42 years, for murdering 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in her own home in Dovecot.
Cashman's defence barrister, Professor John Cooper KC, told the court that his client was "worried the matter was turning into a circus."
By refusing to appear in the dock, Cashman also deprived Olivia's family the opportunity to tell him the pain he has caused.
This is by no means the first case in which the defendant has refused to come up from the cells to be sentenced. Others include the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi, and the murderers of Zara Aleena and Jan Mustafa in London.
What is the petition calling for?
It is calling for the government to introduce new laws which order an offender to be present in court for sentencing or face further punishment.
Following a number of high-profile cases where serious criminal offenders refused to be in the dock when their sentence is passed down, the petition is for a change in the law so they can be ordered to appear.
It calls for prison and court staff to be given powers to use reasonable force to get offenders into the dock - as they do to transfer them from a court to prison.
Why are there calls for this?
Families are currently being deprived the opportunity of gaining full closure and offenders have the power to deny them that.
They are calling for a shift in the law so that it empowers victims families and gives them every chance to witness justice be delivered.
When and how can I sign the petition?
The official government petition is live now, you can sign it here
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