Alex Chalk , the Justice Secretary, is ‘committed’ to bringing forward legislation designed to prevent convicted criminals from refusing to appear in court when the details of their sentence are announced - Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph/Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph

A law to force offenders to attend their sentencing is to be included in the King’s Speech and laid in Parliament by the end of this year, amid anger over Lucy Letby’s refusal to return to court on Monday.

Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, has said that he is “committed” to bringing forward legislation designed to prevent convicted criminals from refusing to appear in court when the details of their sentence are announced.

The Telegraph understands that Rishi Sunak is planning to include the measure in the King’s Speech on Nov 7 and to lay it in Parliament by Christmas. MPs have expressed fury after it emerged that Letby was refusing to return to her seat in the dock for the remainder of the proceedings, which will end on Monday with her sentencing.

Mr Sunak has championed the proposals to force criminals to attend their sentencing, having pledged during his leadership campaign last year that he would “do everything possible to make sure victims have the chance to look their perpetrator in the eye and witness justice being served”.

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The Prime Minister has suggested that refusing to appear for sentencing is taking “the coward’s way out”.

Mr Sunak’s plan, which was initially worked on by Mr Chalk’s predecessor Dominic Raab, was for refusal to attend court for sentencing to become an aggravating factor, meaning that such a move could provide a legal basis for judges to increase a criminal’s sentence.

Another option being considered is to change the law to create a legal obligation on a defendant to appear for their sentencing.

A new legal duty would provide court and prison officials with the legal protection they needed if they had to use force in order to bring a convicted criminal to face justice in the dock.

Use of reasonable force

Currently, judges can order criminals to appear and prison officers are able to use reasonable force to take them to the court. But a legal source said prison governors and guards are often “reluctant” to use force due to the risk of legal action if they are seen to have overstepped what is “reasonable”, when a defendant is simply insisting on staying put rather than being violent.

Part of ministers’ thinking behind introducing a new measure in law is that it would give additional legal protections to prison officers.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Goss KC, told the court last week that he had no power to force Letby to attend. He said: “The sentencing hearing will take place whether she is present or not. The court has no power to force her to attend… therefore there is nothing I can do about it.”

Courts around the country have reported that increasing numbers of offenders are refusing to attend their sentencing hearings, with a number of high-profile cases prompting anger among the victims of their crimes.

Earlier this year, Thomas Cashman, the killer of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, snubbed the judge and his victim’s family by remaining in his cell after being convicted of murdering the nine-year-old in Liverpool.

Refusing to appear

Other recent cases of convicted killers refusing to appear in the dock include Koci Selamaj, who killed school teacher Sabina Nessa in September 2021.

Her sister, Jebina Islam, described him as a “coward”.

Jordan McSweeney also refused to attend court for his sentencing for the murder of aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena.

In June, Mr Chalk said: “I am pleased to be able to say that we are committed to bringing forward legislation to enable offenders to be compelled to attend their sentencing hearing.

“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.”

Mr Chalk, who, as a prosecutor before becoming an MP, jailed rapists, extremists and fraudsters, said he was concerned that one defendant refusing to appear could be copied by others, “who take the view that that is somehow a way of getting away from the consequences of their actions”.

“We have seen the anguish caused by these actions, so let me make the point that I want to know that when an offender is sitting in a cell, trying to get to sleep when the rest of the world is getting to sleep, the judge’s words of condemnation are ringing in their ears,” said Mr Chalk.

“There are victims who find it hard to ever recover, so why should that defendant ever be able to sleep soundly in their bed?”

New CPS guidance

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued new guidance in September last year on how courts should deal with uncooperative defendants after judges stated that they had no adequate powers to deal with offenders who refuse to attend court hearings.

The guidance outlines the “options available to help the court ensure attendance or for hearings to go ahead without them [defendants]. This does include an option for the defendant to be brought before the court in handcuffs”.

If a defendant refuses to leave prison to attend court, the court must decide whether there are reasonable grounds for their refusal. For example, the defendant could be unwell. If so, the court may order the hearing to continue in the defendant’s absence or for the hearing to be delayed until later.

If there are no reasonable grounds, the prosecution may attempt to persuade a judge to force the prisoner’s attendance in court. If the judge agrees that a defendant should be present, the matter is deferred to the prison governor. The prison governor must then decide what reasonable steps should be taken to secure attendance.

Jonathan Store, deputy chief crown prosecutor with the CPS, said it is important for victims of crime that defendants attend court.

“For many victims, having their impact statement read in court before the defendant is an issue of huge significance. For them to be denied this opportunity can be very upsetting. Non-attendance by defendants also means cases can be delayed, trials disrupted, and justice frustrated,” he said.

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