Murdered Pc’s father says making offenders go to sentencing may cause ‘anguish’

The father of a murdered police officer has said a law change following the refusal of Lucy Letby to attend her sentencing hearing may cause “more anguish” for the families of victims.

Letby did not leave her cell on Monday as she was given a whole-life sentence in prison for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more.

Former prison officer Bryn Hughes, whose daughter Pc Nicola Hughes was killed in 2012 alongside fellow Pc Fiona Bone in a gun and grenade ambush while on duty in Tameside, Greater Manchester, said calls for a law change are a “knee-jerk reaction”.

“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.

“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.”

Mr Hughes, who was a prison officer for 25 years, said making it mandatory for criminals to be present at court will “eat away” at the families of victims, saying they should instead “take comfort” from their sentences.

Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland said Letby’s “cynical refusal” to come into the dock added to “already heinous injury”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of “dragging its heels” over making the change.

The killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa have also not attended sentencing hearings.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA) accused ministers of “politicising the issue”, saying new legislation would make no difference.

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

“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.”