Victims campaigners welcome whole life sentences for Quyen Ngoc Nguyen killers

Victims' campaigners in Tyne and Wear say sentences handed down to two convicted killers show how important it is that life means life.

Maintenance men Stephen Unwin, 40, and William McFall, 51, were sentenced to whole life tariffs, with no chance of early release, for the murder of Quyen Ngoc Nguyen at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday.

After his daughter was murdered, Jarrow man David Hines founded the National Victims' Association.

He said:

"My reaction to the McFall/Unwin case is that it should never have happened - I believe that they should've had a whole life tariff in the first place.

"The parole board, I believe, has a function for lesser crimes but I don't believe there should be parole for homicide."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said:

“We’re clear that the punishment needs to fit the crime and, under this Government, the most serious offenders are more likely to go to prison and spend longer there.

“Sentencing remains a matter for independent judges, who take into account the facts in each case.

McFall and Unwin angrily rejected the sentences when Mr Justice Morris handed them down.

Throughout the five week trial, the victim's sister Quyhn Ngoc Nguyen was in the public gallery, holding a framed photo of her sibling.

Quyhn told us:

"I believe that if these two people were released at some point in the future, then definitely some innocent people could be harmed.

"I think they should never be released, they are evil.''

Firefighters discovered Ms Nguyen's badly burned body in the back of her Audi after it had been torched beside allotments last August.

Detective Ed Small from Northumbria Police said:

"These were two violent and cowardly individuals who just took what they want from vulnerable victims."

The mother-of-two worked at her sister's nail bar but also helped Vietnamese people find accommodation when she came across Unwin, who worked for landlords maintaining properties.

After the trial, the victim's sister branded the killers "evil'' and said they should never be released.