Sentencing of County Durham toddler won't be referred to Court of Appeal

The pair were jailed last month for the murder of Maya Chappell

Author: Karen LiuPublished 29th Jan 2024

The sentencing of a pair responsible for the murder of a County Durham toddler will not be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Two year-old Maya Chappell was shook to death in September last year at her home in Shotton Colliery.

27 year-old Michael Daymond was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years, whilst her mum was given nine years.

An appeal was put to the Solicitor General thinking the sentences were too lenient.

The Attorney General Office said: "The Solicitor General was deeply saddened by this case and wishes to express his sympathies to the family of Maya Chappell.

"After careful consideration the Solicitor General has concluded that he could not properly refer this case to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case."

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