‘I hope she’s proud of what we’ve done’: Mother of murdered Olivia Pratt-Korbel hails new powers to force cowardly killers into court for sentencing as Sabina Nessa’s sister says it is ‘about time’
The mum of murdered schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel says that new legislation forcing killers to attend court for sentencing has been done ‘in her name’ – as the sister of a woman beaten to death by a cowardly murderer who refused to appear said it was ‘about time’ for the change.
Cheryl Korbel, who met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hear the news on Wednesday, has hailed the government’s pledge to introduce new laws requiring offenders to appear in court to be sentenced – after Olivia’s killer, Thomas Cashman, refused to come up to the dock to be jailed for at least 42 years.
Baby killer Lucy Letby, who was given 14 separate whole-life sentences for the murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, also refused to come to court earlier this month to hear the victim impact statements from the families she deprived of children.
Letby is the latest in a growing line of cowardly killers who have refused to face their victims: that list also includes Cashman; Koci Selamaj, who killed Sabina Nessa in 2021; and Jordan McSweeney, jailed for life for murdering Zara Aleena in June 2022.
Sabina’s sister, Jebina Islam, said it was ‘about time’ killers were compelled to face up to what they have done.
Rishi Sunak tweeted a photo of himself with Cheryl Korbel to confirm that the law is being changed so offenders can be forced to attend sentencings
Mr Sunak hugged Olivia’s mother as he told her the news that the law would be changed to compel killers like Thomas Cashman to appear in court in future
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed by Thomas Cashman, 34 – but he refused to appear in court to be sent down for life
Thomas Cashman refused to appear in the dock for sentencing after complaining that the case was being turned ‘into a circus’
Lucy Letby refused to come to court to hear the final guilty verdicts being handed down – or to be sentenced to 14 whole-life terms
Ms Korbel said she hoped that Olivia would be ‘proud of what we’ve done’.
She told ITV: ‘Because at the end of the day, it’s in her name, it’s why we’ve done this.
‘And not only in her name, it’s for every other family out there that has gone through it.
‘We just hope it gets changed so no-one else has to go through it.’
Killers who refused to face justice
Calls for offenders to be forced to face sentencing have been fueled by a series of high-profile cases.
Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot in Liverpool by killer Thomas Cashman on August 22 last year.
Her mother Cheryl Korbel described his absence from court as a ‘kick in the teeth’.
Jordan McSweeney, 29, was handed a life sentence for Zara Aleena’s murder in June last year – but refused to come to court.
An aunt of Ms Aleena suggested putting a camera on criminals and live-streaming their sentencing into their cells if they refuse to attend court.
Jordan McSweeney, 29, was handed a life sentence for Zara Aleena’s murder
Speaking on Times Radio, Farah Naz said reading victim impact statements at the sentencing of her niece’s killer, Jordan McSweeney, without him present ‘felt farcical’. She said they ‘still want to face him’.
Albanian national Koci Selamaj, 36, used ‘extreme violence’ to kill teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, whose body was uncovered underneath a pile of leaves in Cator Park, London.
At a hearing, Selamaj refused to face Ms Nessa’s family. Addressing him in absentia, Ms Nessa’s parents, Abdur and Aziban, told him he ‘had no right to touch our daughter or take her away from us in such a cruel way’.
Ms Nessa’s sister Jabina Islam called school dropout Selamaj a ‘coward’ for not facing up to his crime in court.
Albanian national Koci Selamaj, 36, (left) used ‘extreme violence’ to kill teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, (right) whose body was uncovered underneath a pile of leaves in Cator Park, London
The legislation will be introduced when MPs return to the House of Commons in the autumn, and is expected to be passed with ease with support from Labour, which said it had proposed similar plans 18 months ago.
The promised reforms will give custody officers the power to use ‘reasonable force’ to ensure those awaiting sentencing appear in the dock or by video link – with up to an extra two years in jail for those who refuse to attend.
Jebina Islam, sister of Sabina Nessa, said she was ‘delighted’ with the change, adding that it was ‘about time’ killers were compelled to face up to what they have done.
She told The Mirror: ‘Victims and their families should be at the forefront and their feelings and opinions taken into consideration.
‘We have seen from my sister’s case that there has been a pattern that these animals are not coming to court [for sentencing] and now we have put a stop to this.
‘I hope now that this will bring some sort of comfort to victims and their families that these animals will be made to come to court whether they like it or not.’
However, the father of murdered police officer PC Nicola Hughes has warned against a ‘knee-jerk, headline-grabbing’ response to high-profile sentencing cases such as those of Cashman and Letby.
Bryn Hughes, a former prison officer, said that criminals could not always be trusted to behave themselves in court – and compelling them to attend for sentencing could in fact upset families of victims more.
PC Hughes was killed in 2012 alongside fellow police officer Fiona Bone in an ambush attack in Tameside, Greater Manchester.
Mr Hughes told the PA news agency: ‘I have seen it from both sides of the courtroom.
‘On being the father of someone who was murdered and being in court, and a former prison officer who has actually restrained someone into court, it is difficult.
He said he had seen criminals ‘[shout] foul abuse towards the family, abused the court, turned their back, kicked off, fought, spat, bitten people.
‘They are beyond being told to sit down and be quiet, aren’t they?
‘If you are going to restrain them in court, is it going to involve a Hollywood-style Hannibal Lecter outfit?’ he said, referencing a scene from 1991 film Silence Of The Lambs in which Anthony Hopkins’ iconic serial killer is transported while wearing a metal mask covering his mouth.
Mr Hughes warned it was often very difficult to force people up the often narrow steps from the cells into courtrooms.
He added: ‘In reality it is complex and operationally it is fraught with danger.
‘I wouldn’t want to see them dragged up into the dock shouting abuse about the final moments of your loved one.’
Judges will be able to use their own discretion to decide whether it is ‘in the interests of justice’ to order criminals to attend court.
Chair of the Bar, Nick Vineall KC, said: ‘We welcome the Ministry of Justice’s decision to leave it to judges to decide how to deal with individual cases in the interests of justice.
‘Judges will use their discretion to guard against the danger of allowing a convicted defendant to disrupt sentencing hearings.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Sunak, who met with Ms Korbel on Wednesday to give her the news personally, said it was ‘unacceptable’ that some criminals refused to face their victims.
Cheryl Korbel has welcomed the legislation that could compel killers to face the families of their victims in court
Lucy Letby will never be released from jail after killing seven babies and attempting to kill six others
Zara Aleena, who was killed by Jordan McSweeney, 29. McSweeney was handed a life sentence but refused to leave his cell for sentencing
Sabina Nessa was strangled by Koci Selamaj in what was suspected to be a sexually motivated attack. Selamaj was also absent from court for sentencing
Speaking on a visit to a police station in London this afternoon, Mr Sunak said: ‘Like many, I was appalled that people who have committed awful crimes somehow are able to take the coward’s way out and not appear in court for their sentencing and to hear the impact that their crimes have had on the victim’s families.
‘I don’t think that’s right. There shouldn’t be an easy way out.
‘That’s why we’re going to change the law so that courts could compel these offenders to be present for their sentencing and to hear the impact that their actions have had, but also, if necessary, to use reasonable force to bring those people to court, and also to add time on to their sentence if they don’t appear.
‘I think that’s the right thing to do. People rightly expect criminals to face up to the consequences of their actions.’
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said earlier this year that ministers were committed to changing the law to force criminals to be sentenced in person after the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa refused to stand in the dock.
The aunt of Zara Aleena, whose killer also refused to leave his cell to attend his sentencing hearing and avoided facing his victim’s family, said in February they wanted him to know he ‘completely destroyed’ them.
McSweeney was handed a life sentence and jailed for at least 38 years after admitting sexually assaulting and murdering 35-year-old law graduate Zara Aleena in Ilford, east London, in June last year.
Zara Aleena’s aunt Farah Naz speaking at a vigil marking a year since she was killed by Jordan McSweeney. She has backed the proposals to compel criminals to appear in court
The Mail had pushed for the law to be changed so offenders cannot dodge attending sentencing
Ms Aleena’s aunt Farah Naz said the sentencing would have been McSweeney’s opportunity to be ‘human’ and that she wanted him to hear he had ‘completely destroyed us as a family’ and it will take ‘years and years’ to accept what happened.
Ms Naz told BBC Breakfast at the time: ‘He needed to look at our faces and see how he hadn’t just killed Zara, he had killed a whole family.’
Ms Naz also told the news programme: ‘My mother and myself, Zara’s grandmother, we both made victim impact statements.
‘And we wanted him to hear that, and human to human we wanted him to know the impact that he, his actions, his atrocious, horrendous, horrific actions have left, the mark that he’s left on us, that he’s completely destroyed us as a family and we have years and years of finding a way through accepting what’s happened.
‘And we needed that. And the other side to this is that we also feel that he needed it too, as he needed to face his actions.’
Labour accused ministers of being too slow to introduce reforms to force offenders to attend sentencing hearings.
‘It is disrespectful and grossly offensive to victims that brutal murderers, terrorists and rapists can refuse to face the consequences of their crimes in court,’ shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said.
‘If the defendant doesn’t come and face justice, it’s beyond cowardly and can have a devastating impact on victims and their families. This can be a vital part of seeing justice done.
‘We called for new laws on this back in April last year – but the Conservatives have dragged their feet.
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