Liverpool MP urges government to force killers to face victims’ families in court

A Liverpool MP is fighting for killers like Thomas Cashman to face the loved-ones of their victims in court, after a number of offenders refused to appear for sentencing.

Calls for a new law to be implemented increased after the murderer of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel refused to appear in the dock, back in April.

Cashman, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 42 years but was not present for the sentencing. Mrs Justice Amanda Yip said his absence was ‘disrespectful’ to the court and Olivia’s family, and Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel described it as ‘like a kick in the teeth’.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC, opened a discussion on the topic by saying the Government are committed to bringing the legislation forward. “Offenders who rob innocence, betray lives and shatter families should be required to face the consequences of their actions and hear society’s condemnation, expressed through the sentencing remarks of the judge,” he stated.

Ian Byrne, Member of Parliament for West Derby, is urging for work to begin on changing the law, which could include giving judges the power to impose longer terms on those who stay in their cells. In response, he said: “I recently tabled an early day motion to formally put on record in this house the pain the wilful absence of an offender causes to bereaved families.

“Can the Secretary of State explain why legislation can not be included in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to change this and will he meet with myself and Cheryl Korbel to discuss when legislation will be brought forward?”

He added that grieving families should be at the heart of changing the law, so that no other families have to experience how the loved ones of Olivia Pratt-Korbel felt during Cashman’s sentencing.

The Justice Secretary said there are ‘issues of scope’ but ‘of course I’ll be happy to discuss’ the matter. He added that the Government are committed to ‘legislative progress’.

Shadow Minister Ellie Reeves said the Government has had ‘13 years to compel criminals to attend court to hear their sentences’ and their ‘failure’ to do so, has allowed the killers of Olivia, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa to avoid hearing their sentences in the last year alone.