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Child killers could get life with no parole under Conseravatives.

If the Conservatives are elected in December with a majority Child killers could get life with no parole.

The party said it would bring in a new law to make “whole life orders”, however, the final sentencing decision would remain with judges.

Plans similar to this were reported by the Sunday Telegraph in September and were thought to form part of the Queen’s Speech after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered an urgent review into sentencing policy in August – but the policy was not announced.

The Conservatives’ plan would see changes to Schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which provides the starting point for judges considering whole life orders for murderers in exceptionally grave cases.

Currently, for a judge to grant such an order, the rules require the murder to be of multiple children or to be sexually or sadistically motivated.

This happened in the case of Rosemary West, who was given a whole life order when convicted in 1995 with her husband, Fred West, of murdering 10 young women and girls after first subjecting them to horrific sexual violence.

If there is not evidence of these conditions, the offender must still be given a life sentence, but that differs from a whole life order, as a judge can specify the minimum term they must spend in prison before becoming eligible to apply for parole.

This happened in the case of Louise Porton, who killed her daughters – aged three and 17 months – and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 32 years.

The Tories want to extend Schedule 21 to cover any premeditated murder of a child by an adult.

However, judicial discretion will come into play – meaning a judge can decide not to enforce a whole life order when they see fit.

Source: BBC News

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