Victims to get say in sentencing

Victims of crime and the police will have a say in setting what the Home Secretary describes as "more consistent sentences" for criminals under plans published today.

A new body - the Sentencing Guidelines Council - will set a framework for all offences and will include members drawn from the police, probation and prison services and victims of crime, along with representatives from the legal profession.

David Blunkett said that the current system can lead to "big variations" in sentences given around the country. He claimed that in Leeds, 39% of house burglars were sentenced to immediate custody in 2001, for example, compared to 21% in Teeside.

"That is why it is important to broaden the basis on which these decisions are made and deliver greater consistency," he said.

The Sentencing Guidelines Council will be created as soon as possible after the Criminal Justice Bill becomes law.

For the second time in three days, Mr Blunkett has slapped down the judicial system over its sentencing procedures.

On Wednesday, proposals on sentencing for murderers were published providing that "life will mean life" for what Mr Blunkett described as "the most serious offenders".

The new sentencing 'principles' set out that anyone who abducts and murders a child should never be released from prison. Whole life terms could also be imposed for terrorist murder or multiple murders which are premeditated, sexual or sadistic. The tariff for other categories of murder, such as the murder of a police or prison officer in the course of duty, or racially motivated murder, a minimum term of 30 years imprisonment could be passed – an increase of 10 years on current sentencing practice.

Also, under the government's Criminal Justice Bill – which is passing through the Commons at the moment – civil liberties group, Liberty, have raised concerns over measures that will see the right to trial by jury curtailed, the abolition of double jeopardy (where a defendant cannot be tried twice for the same crime), and the admissibility in court of a defendant's previous misconduct.

The Criminal Justice Bill also contains provisions to ensure that dangerous offenders can be kept in prison for as long as they continue to pose a risk to the public.

The head of the judiciary, Lord Irvine, who also sits on the Cabinet, will not welcome further Home Office intrusion into the legal system. Especially after Britain's most senior judge, Lord Justice Wolff, was publicly criticised by Mr Blunkett over his own sentencing guidelines.

Last November, the law lords removed the power of the Home Secretary to set tariffs on how long murders should remain in prison.

(GMcG)