Face the Family campaign success

National World - LocalTV

New laws have been proposed which will make criminals attend their sentencing hearing. The new rules, proposed by the Ministry of Justice, give judges the power to order criminals to attend hearings, and custody officers will be able to use "reasonable force" to make offenders appear in the dock or via video link.

Transcript

00:00 The mother of Olivia Pratt-Corbell has been praised for her campaigning as new laws have

00:05 been proposed which will make criminals attend their sentencing hearing.

00:10 Olivia's mother, Cheryl Corbell, was among those who'd urged for a law to change after

00:14 the nine-year-old's killer, Thomas Cashman, refused to appear in the dock to be sentenced.

00:19 I think the whole point of the Face the Family campaign, and when I speak to Cheryl and others

00:22 about it, it's about saying, "You've taken something away from me. You should listen

00:29 and hear about what impact that's had on me." And the justice system is such a long

00:34 and complicated system. We don't make it straightforward at all. And this is one small part of it that

00:39 would just give the families that opportunity to feel like they've been heard and to feel

00:44 like their pain and their suffering has been recognised by the person that's caused it.

00:48 And so I think it's, I do think it's really important that we change the system so that

00:52 actually these people are compelled to come and have the, just respect, to listen.

00:57 Speaking to journalists after meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Cheryl said she

01:01 was feeling very proud. She talked about the importance of the campaign on the first anniversary

01:06 of Olivia's death.

01:09 Writing the impact statement was really hard. It wasn't, it didn't take minutes. It was

01:19 days over a matter of weeks. And it's important for the offenders to listen to the pain that

01:28 they've caused, the pain that is ongoing. Going to prison is supposed to be a rehabilitation.

01:39 That first part of call of rehabilitation should be in that courtroom and standing there

01:46 listening to the judge and listening to the family's impact statement.

01:53 To face the family campaign brought people together to pressure the government to accelerate

01:57 a change in legislation. The new rules proposed by the Ministry of Justice give judges the

02:01 power to order criminals to attend hearings and custody officers will be able to use reasonable

02:07 force to make offenders appear in the dock or via video link.

02:12 When you go through a hugely dramatic deal like Cheryl and so many other victims' families

02:17 have, to then have to sit day after day to watch the trial of this person that killed

02:24 your loved one take place, and then for them to not turn up the one day when you have the

02:29 time to tell that person the impact that that has had. And that is an important part of

02:35 that process where the victims and the families get to talk about the impact it's had on them,

02:40 you know, and what this means for them and the life sentence they're going to have because

02:43 their daughter is no longer with them. The fact that somebody can take that power away

02:47 from that family and not turn up and hear that is just wrong.

02:51 Those who do not appear for sentencing could also face an extra two years in jail if they

02:56 ignore a judge's order, with the new penalties applying in cases where the maximum sentence

03:01 is life imprisonment.

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