Those convicted will face 23 hour curfews

As part of planned changes by the Ministry of Justice criminals given community sentences will be under curfew and spending up to 23 hours a day at home.

 

The move is expected to be revealed in a new White Paper on sentencing guidelines and Judges would be allowed to increase the time an offender is ordered to stay at home from 16 to 23 hours. The paper is also expected to double the amount of time a convicted criminal can be placed on an electronic tag from one year to two years.

 

Furthermore, it will outline plans to limit the number of times youth murderers are legally entitled to demand a review of their tariff. A youth murderer, an offender convicted when below the age of 18,  is given a minimum tariff. This is the term set before they can be considered for release.

 

Under current rules they can apply for a tariff review halfway through their sentence and then reapply for a review every two years. However it is understood that the Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is concerned about the distress to the victims' families as they have to provide a statement about their personal feelings on each occasion.

 

Earlier this year the parents of murdered 11-year-old Rhys Jones criticised their son's killer, Sean Mercer, for trying to get his tariff reduced. He was convicted in 2007 at the age of 16 of shooting Rhys in Liverpool and given a 22-year tariff. Mercer, now aged 29, applied in May to have his tariff reviewed, propelling Steve Jones, father of the victim, to insist Mercer should serve the full 22 years.

 

Furthermore teenage killers could spend the rest of their lives in jail after the Justice Secretary announced plans to lower the age at which murderers can be jailed for life without parole from 21 to 18.

 

The new proposals, expected to be announced imminently, could see dangerous drivers who kill also face life sentences. It is also anticipated that longer jail terms for violent sex offenders will be proposed. At present anyone jailed for four or more years is released halfway through and the new rules could see them serve at least two-thirds of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

 

 

The Johnson Partnership

Derby Crime Solicitors