Domestic killers to face longer jail terms under proposed laws.
An overhaul of sentencing could create US-style first and second-degree murder categories as the justice secretary vows to ‘crack down on violence against women’
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, said a “wholesale review” of homicide law and murder sentencing will be carried out.
An overhaul of murder sentencing laws will result in longer jail times for domestic killers and could also lead to American-style first and second-degree murder.Jealous former partners and murderers who use their hands as weapons to strangle victims face extra years in prison under plans to introduce two new aggravating factors that judges will have to consider when determining a murder sentence.The move is designed to close a loophole in the law that allows domestic abusers who use strangulation to kill, rather than a weapon such as a knife, to avoid a lengthier sentence. It is also designed to target murders connected to the end of a relationship.• Why abusive partners who kill at home get off lightlyThe review will consider the possibility of introducing United States-style first and second-degree murder, drawing a distinction between those who plan to murder and other killings, such as those that result from a fight. Any such changes would be the biggest since the death penalty was abolished as part of the Homicide Act in 1957. (UNTRUE! Bad journalism!) At present, murder encompasses those who intend to kill and those who only intend to do serious harm. Under the proposals, first-degree murder would apply only to those who kill intentionally and it would continue to result in an automatic life sentence.Second-degree murder would apply to cases where the offender intended to do serious injury or where there is a partial defence to what would otherwise be first-degree murder. Sentencing would be left to the discretion of the judge and would still include the option of a life sentence. The change would enable the judge to weigh up aggravating and mitigating factors to impose a punishment more fitting to the specific circumstances of the crime, the defendant and victims.Creating a tiered classification of murder would also enable some forms of manslaughter to be considered as second-degree murder.Two of the families of Calocane’s victims said the proposals for US-style murder classifications would be a “seismic, important change”.Nottingham attacks: “We have no faith in the police. We want justice”Calocane, 33, denied three charges of murder but admitted manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. The judge in his case gave him an indefinite hospital order instead of a prison sentence after psychiatrists agreed he had been suffering a “severe psychotic episode”.Under the changes, killers such as Calocane would be charged with second-degree murder and judges would still be able to give a hospital order. However, the review will consider whether to make it mandatory for judges to give a hybrid sentence, whereby such people would have to be transferred to prison once they were deemed well enough. At present, it is at the judge’s discretion whether to give a hospital or hybrid order.Similar changes were recommended in 2006 by the Law Commission, which advises the government on law reform in England and Wales. It found that bringing in second-degree murder for cases involving diminished responsibility defences was a move strongly supported by campaign groups representing victims’ families.An investigation into the handling of the Calocane case by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) earlier this year said that if the Law Commission’s recommendations had been implemented, his crime “would have been categorised as murder, albeit second-degree murder”.The report, by the CPS watchdog, also said that the term “manslaughter” could be perceived as “underplaying the gravity of what has taken place”.The prime minister Sir Keir Starmer previously endorsed introducing first and second-degree murder when he was director of public prosecutions.The extra aggravating factors will be introduced through secondary legislation next year, which follows the recommendations from an independent review of domestic homicide by Clare Wade KC, whose research found that 30 per cent of murder cases involved strangulation and 40 per cent occurred at the end, or perceived end, of a relationship.• Data analysis: are Britain’s courts really a soft touch for murderers?The review will examine complex issues raised by campaigners, such as how diminished responsibility is considered and whether the sentencing framework adequately reflects the seriousness of murders committed in the home.Announcing the review, Mahmood said: “As part of the government’s plan for change, we are cracking down on violence against women and creating safer streets.“I fully recognise the concerns raised around homicide law and sentencing, but these are incredibly complex issues and previous tinkering is what has led to the current disparities, so it is right that the Law Commission takes a comprehensive look at it.” Times. Blogger: for those who do not understand my reference in the title to ASBOs, I was a senior magistrate when these were introduced. They had failure stamped all over them. I went through the ASBO training with my magisterial colleagues and few of us believed that the '100% who breech will be jailed'. It was sold to us on that premise. The last time I saw a stat for this - 6% were actually jailed! Properly implemented this dealing with murderers is long overdue! 
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