A new law that will force killers to attend sentencing hearings in court will be created as part of the legacy of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
King Charles III has today delivered his first King's Speech at the state opening of Parliament. The speech lays out the Prime Minister and the government's plans for the country.
Among a raft of new government policies, the King's Speech contained confirmation of a government move to try to force offenders to appear in court for their sentencing hearings.
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The campaign for this law to be introduced has been led by Cheryl Pratt-Korbel, whose nine-year-old daughter Olivia was murdered in her Dovecot home by Thomas Cashman in August 2022. Cashman was jailed for a minimum of 42 years for Olivia's murder when he was found guilty back in April.
But in a final insult to Olivia's family, the killer refused to appear in the dock to face up to his actions during the sentencing hearing. Baby killer Lucy Letby was another high profile criminal who refused to appear at her sentencing hearing, causing further anguish for the families of her victims.
The new laws, announced by King Charles on behalf of the government today, will give judges powers to order newly convicted prisoners to attend sentencing hearings.
The law, which will form part of the Criminal Justice Bill, will mean "reasonable force" can be used to make criminals appear in the dock. If offenders still refuse to appear, they could be given an extra two years in jail on top of their sentence.
Speaking about the new law on Good Morning Britain earlier today, Cheryl Korbel said: "I really did want to address him (Cashman) to tell him the pain that he put us through and we're still going through. To have the audacity to be there every day for the whole month and not turn up on the sentencing, it's disrespect to the family and to the judge."
"I know I read my impact statement out and hopefully at some point, he will have heard it but they're changing the law so no other family is going to go through it."
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