Judges handed more powers to punish killers absent from sentencing hearing

Judges will be given more powers to banish killers to their cells and block prison visits if they refuse to face their victims’ families as they are sentenced.

The measures being laid in Parliament build on reforms already in force which mean criminals can be ordered into the dock to face justice or be fined and jailed for another two years for contempt of court.

It means prisoners could be locked in their cells for up to three weeks, denied privileges for nearly three months and banned from social visits for nearly a month as well as these being restricted further to once every four weeks for almost three months.

Families of murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, law graduate Zara Aleena and mother-of-three Jan Mustafa are among those who previously campaigned for change after their loved ones’ killers were absent from sentencing hearings.

Triple crossbow and knife killer Kyle Clifford and Thomas Cashman, the gunman who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel as he chased a drug dealer, also refused to face their punishment in court.

It is the latest bid to push killers to come to court because threats of more time behind bars are unlikely to deter them if they are already facing years of incarceration.

The powers, due to come into force next year, will also apply to those who are removed from their sentencing hearing for disruptive behaviour.

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was sentenced in his absence to a minimum of 52 years for the attack in which he murdered three young girls, after he refused to come into the courtroom and had been removed from the dock earlier in the day for shouting.

Judges will be able to impose similar sanctions on criminals aged 18-20 held in Young Offender Institutions but for shorter periods of time.

Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales Claire Waxman said it was “essential” the powers were used “consistently by courts and prisons, so families receive the justice and accountability they deserve.”

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, called for ministers to explain what evidence they have to show such sanctions would increase attendance at sentencing hearings and warned the measures will punish relatives of prisoners who “have committed no offence themselves”, adding: “The Government should therefore be clear about the rationale for these sanctions, how their impact will be assessed, and whether they will deliver the accountability that victims’ families rightly expect.”

Visits from prisoners’ children will be exempt.

The measures will not be able to guarantee prisoners attend their sentencing but are intended to mean they face tougher consequences for refusing to do so, the Ministry of Justice said.

Prisons minister Catherine McKinnell added: “Criminals should not be able to pick and choose when they face justice.

“Refusing to turn up to sentencing is an insult to victims and their families, and offenders must face the consequences.”