Father of Murdered Police Officer Warns of Downside of Forcing Killers to Appear for Sentencing

Bryndon Hughes says murderers who 'disrespect' the law could cause havoc

A custody image of Lucy Letby, taken after her arrest in Hereford, England, in November 2020. Cheshire Constabulary

The father of a murdered police officer has warned of the downside of making it mandatory for convicted murderers and rapists to attend their sentencing hearings.

Lucy Letby, who was convicted of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital on Friday, refused to attend her sentencing hearing on Monday.

It was the latest snub to the criminal justice system with the killers of Sabina Nessa, Zara Aleena, and Olivia Pratt-Korbel all refusing to attend.

On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said he would seek to change the law “at the earliest opportunity” to make sure offenders did not shirk appearing at their sentencing hearings.

But Bryndon Hughes, a former prison officer, said the proposed law change was a political “knee-jerk reaction” which had not been thought through.

Bryndon Hughes—whose daughter PC Nicola Hughes was murdered by Dale Cregan in 2012—shows off his MBE at Buckingham Palace in London on June 13, 2023. PA

Mr. Hughes—whose daughter PC Nicola Hughes was killed along with PC Fiona Bone in 2012 when they were lured to a house in Greater Manchester by Dale Cregan who launched a gun and grenade ambush.

Cregan, a Manchester gangster who had also murdered father and son David and Mark Short in separate gun and grenade attacks in the city, was given a whole life sentence in June 2013.

Mr. Hughes said there was a danger that killers who had nothing to fear would turn up and cause havoc in court during their sentencing hearings.

‘Sociopaths ... Who Feed Off Anguish and Grief’

He told the PA news agency: “Most of the time they’re going to be sociopaths and they feed off that anguish and grief. If they can see families in the dock they’re going to shout abuse, they’re going to play up, start fighting and anything else, because they can see that pain and anguish on their faces, I don’t think it’s worth going through all that.”

Mr. Hughes, who was a prison officer for 25 years, said: “I’ve carried people into the dock who are biting, spitting and shouting abuse and within two or three minutes of the judge speaking to deliver a sentence they’ve started again and the judge has just said ’take them back downstairs.'”

“It disrupts everything, causes more anguish and it delays things, so it’s a really hard choice and they’re not the type of people to just say to them ’sit down and be quiet,' they’re beyond that, they’ve got total disregard for life and disrespect for law and order,” he added.

Mr. Hughes, who was given an MBE for services to people affected by crime earlier this year, said mandatory appearances for criminals would not help the families of victims who should instead “take comfort” from the sentences which are meted out.

In recent years sentencing hearings in high-profile cases have been televised and, although the camera focuses on the judge, there would be nothing to stop the convicted man or woman from interrupting the judge and shouting or swearing at his victims’ families, police officers or the judiciary.

Prison Officers’ Union Says Ministers ‘Politicising the Issue’

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, accused ministers of “politicising the issue” and said, “There is no legislation that can make someone ultimately produced to court, but the judge already has that power to say to a prison governor if they want an individual to attend.”

“What the judge or the court can’t do is make the governor use force to get them there, that would be unlawful,” he added.

Mr. Gillan said: “So it’s left to the prison staff to give a direct order to the prisoner to say ‘we’ve been in touch with the court, we don’t accept your rationale for not coming, you’re now ordered to attend court.’ If they don’t attend court then reasonable and proportional force can be used.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, a former director of Public Prosecutions, accused the government of “dragging its heels” over changing the law.

When Koci Selamaj was jailed for life for the murder of Sabina Nessa in April 2022 the judge, Mr. Justice Sweeney, called him a “coward” for failing to attend but said he was powerless to prevent him from staying in his cell.

Afterwards the then justice secretary, Dominic Raab, said he was “looking carefully” at changing the law to make appearance mandatory.

Then, after Jordan McSweeney refused to turn up for sentencing in February 2023 after murdering Zara Aleena, Mr. Raab promised to change the law and said “spineless” killers would have to appear in court.

Letby refused to show up for her sentencing on Monday and former justice secretary Robert Buckland said her “cynical refusal” to come to court had added insult to the “already heinous injury” for the families of her victims.

Mr. Chalk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Lucy Letby is not just a murderer but a coward, whose failure to face her victims’ families—refusing to hear their impact statements and society’s condemnation—is the final insult. We are looking to change the law so offenders can be compelled to attend sentencing hearings.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday: “It’s cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims and hear first-hand the impact that their crimes have had on them and their families and loved ones. We are looking, and have been, at changing the law to make sure that that happens and that’s something that we’ll bring forward in due course.”

PA Media contributed to this report.