David Blunkett's Ruling
On 24 November 2002, Home Secretary David Blunkett made a landmark ruling. He ordered that Roy Whiting must serve a minimum of 50 years in prison. This would make him ineligible for parole until 2051, when, if he survived that long, he would be 92.
Within 48 hours of the ruling being made, the High Court and European Court of Human Rights had ruled in favour of another convicted of murder who was challenging the right of politicians to decide how long a murderer must spend in prison before being considered for parole.
Whiting's appeal against the ruling was heard on 9 June 2010 at the High Court, which now has the final say on how long a life sentence prisoner must serve before being considered for parole. His lawyers argued that Blunkett's decision was politically motivated, as he knew he was on the verge of being stripped of his powers to decide on minimum terms for life sentence prisoners. The High Court reduced Whiting's minimum term to 40 years, bringing forward his parole date to 2041 and the age of 82.
Read more about this topic: Roy Whiting
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