Prisoners Whose Whole Life Tariffs Have Been Quashed
Roy Whiting, the paedophile who murdered Sarah Payne in West Sussex in July 2000, was told by his trial judge when convicted in December 2001 that his crime (combined with the fact that he had a previous conviction for child abduction and indecent assault) was a rare case for which a life sentence should mean life.In November 2002, Home Secretary David Blunkett ruled that Whiting should serve at least 50 years in prison, meaning he would only receive parole if he lived to the age of 92 or beyond, although this in practice revoked the whole life tariff recommended in court.Whiting appealed against this ruling, his lawyers arguing that Blunkett's ruling had been politically motivated as he was on the verge of losing his powers to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners. Whiting's appeal was heard in June 2010, when the High Court (which by this stage now had the final say on how long a life sentence prisoner should serve before being considered for parole) reduced Whiting's minimum sentence to 40 years.
David Bieber, an American ex-marine who fatally shot an already wounded prone policeman in the head and wounded two others in Leeds on Boxing Day 2003 and was jailed for life in December 2004. The whole life tariff was quashed in July 2008 and replaced by one of 37 years.
Stephen Ayre, who was paroled in 2005 after serving 20 years of a life sentence for the murder of a 25-year-old woman, committed rape of a 10-year-old boy at knifepoint in Bradford within months of his release. He was sentenced to life imprisonment again at his trial in April 2006, and told that he should never be released.
Trevor Hamilton, jailed for life in August 2006 for the murder of 65-year-old Attracta Haron in Northern Ireland in December 2003. Hamilton, who was 21 when he committed the murder and 24 when jailed, had his whole life tariff reduced to 35 years on appeal in June 2008.
Danilo Restivo was convicted in 2011 of the 2002 murder of Heather Barnet. In a second trial Restivo was later sentenced to 30 years in jail for the murder of a teenager in his native Italy in 1993. 2012 saw his term reduced to 40 years as part of a joint appeal by several prisoners with long sentences.
Michael Roberts was convicted in 2012 of numerous offences between 1988 and 2005, including rapes. His sentence was reduced to life with a 25-year minimum at the same appeal that reduced Restivo's sentence.
David Martin Simmons had originally received a whole-life term for rape and false imprisonment. This was reduced to a ten-year minimum when he appealed alongside Restivo, Roberts, and others whose appeals were not successful.
Read more about this topic: List Of Prisoners With Whole-life Tariffs
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