Dominic Raab says criminals who fail to show up for their court verdict should be considered for tougher sentences

Published

2 years ago

March 17, 2023

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Criminals who fail to turn up in court to hear their judgment should face tougher sentences as a matter of “respect” for victims, Dominic Raab has said.

The justice secretary said it should be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing if someone who commits a crime decides to “snub” the court.

Last year, Jordan McSweeney, who was convicted of the murder of law graduate Zara Aleena, provoked further outcry when he decided not to come to the court to hear the verdict.

Asked whether the government was considering forcing judges to bring people up from their cells, Mr Raab told Sky News: “It’s definitely something I’m looking at, I think both as a matter of respect and recognition of the bereaved of victims, but also frankly, respect for the principle of British justice.

“I think we should look at making it an aggravating factor in sentencing if an individual who committed one of these heinous crimes just snubs the court.”

In the same interview, Mr Raab said it would be “improper” for him to comment on bullying allegations against him.

Mr Raab’s words come following an announcement from the Ministry of Justice that domestic abusers with a history of coercive or controlling behaviour will be given tougher sentences if they kill their partner.

Judges will be asked to consider longer jail terms for people with a history of abuse and aggression, so that coercive and controlling behaviour, as well as the use of excessive violence, will be made aggravating factors in sentencing decisions for murder.

Manslaughter sentencing guidelines around “rough sex” are also set to be reviewed.

The government will also carry out a public consultation on whether a higher sentencing starting point of 25 years should apply in murder cases where there has been a history of controlling and coercive abuse.

At the moment, the 25-year starting point only applies to murders where a weapon has been taken to the scene with intent.

The changes follow a series of recommendations by Clare Wade KC, a leading criminal barrister tasked by the government to carry out an independent review into domestic homicide sentencing.

Ms Wade was the leading defence barrister for Sally Challen, who suffered years of domestic abuse by her husband before she killed him with a hammer in 2010.

Ms Challen was tried and convicted for her husband’s murder but was released in 2019 after the Crown Prosecution Service eventually accepted her plea of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Mr Raab said the government was looking at Ms Wade’s recommendations because we think “sentences should be increased to reflect that slow torment on top of the severity of the crime”.

He said the introduction of a statutory aggravating factor could lift sentences by two years or more.

He added: “Ultimately in all of this I want men who commit these awful crimes to spend longer behind bars, and I want women to feel more confident that the justice system is on their side, reflecting the full appalling nature of the crimes that they suffer.”

World

Israel’s PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Published

6 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel's PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Israel’s prime minister added more detail to his deeply controversial plans for military escalation in Gaza at a news conference with foreign media yesterday – despite the condemnation of the UN Security Council, which met in an emergency session and urged him to rethink.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “fairly short timetable” to establish designated “safe zones” for the one million or so set to be displaced from Gaza City.

He also vowed to seize and dismantle Hamas’s final strongholds there – in the central refugee camps, and in al Mawasi, along Gaza’s southwestern coast.

This, per Netanyahu, is the only way to destroy the terror group, which he claimed “subjugates Gazans, steals their food and shoots them when they try to move to safety”.

Al Mawasi is already home to a significant displaced population, most of whom live in tents cramped up against the Mediterranean Sea, in what is already a designated humanitarian zone.

If members of Hamas live among them, rooting them out will be hugely complicated and will involve significant civilian casualties. If the residents of Gaza City can’t evacuate south to al Mawasi, where will they go?

Netanyahu’s plan is to set up more aid distribution sites through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and to flood Gaza with food.

He claimed his policy was not one of forced starvation – describing particular photos of starving babies as “fake news”, and accusing the media of painting a false picture.

“The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” the prime minister claimed.

I asked Netanyahu how he would go about preventing the kinds of daily killings taking place at aid distribution points in the months since GHF has been operating.

Doctors Without Borders has described these incidents as deliberately orchestrated.

The prime minister said increasing the amount of aid heading into the Strip was the answer.

“And by the way, a lot of the firing was done by Hamas seeking to have a response by our forces,” he added. “And very often they didn’t, they held back. They stayed their own fire even though their own lives were on the line.”

This was Israel’s prime minister trying to get on the front foot in a propaganda war he acknowledged he was losing. He was loath to admit the presence of famine in Gaza.

It took two questions before he acknowledged there was “deprivation”, even if he would not be drawn on whether his 11-week total blockade of the strip earlier this year had played any role.

He recognises that the appalled response of the international community to the human cost of this war, and the accusations of war crimes and genocide which Israel so vehemently rejects, are a terrible look.

This was his attempt to reclaim the narrative.

World

Defiant Netanyahu sets out plan for military escalation in Gaza – and describes photographs of starving babies as ‘fake news’

Published

12 hours ago

August 10, 2025