Twenty-six killers serve less than a decade

 
31 October 2012
WEST END FINAL

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Twenty-six murderers were released in the last two years having served less than a decade behind bars, figures showed tonight.

One killer spent just three-and-a-half years in prison before walking free, the Ministry of Justice said.

The automatic sentence for a murder conviction is life, though sentencing judges decide the minimum length of time - the "tariff" - a killer must serve before they can be considered for parole.

Prisons minister Jeremy Wright said: "No life sentence prisoner will be released before they have served the tariff period in full.

"Release on expiry of the tariff period is not automatic; release will only take place once this period has been served and the parole board is satisfied the risk of harm the prisoner poses to the public is acceptable.

"As such, some life sentence prisoners remain in prison beyond their tariff as they are not considered to present an acceptable risk to the public."

Answering a written Commons question from Tory MP Philip Davies (Shipley), Mr Wright said judges would take into account sentencing guidelines and aggravating and mitigating factors before declaring the minimum tariffs.

Of the murderer who served just three-and-a-half years, Mr Wright added: "Although the offender pleaded guilty and was convicted of murder, it might be described as an assisted suicide and was dealt with apparently sympathetically by the sentencing judge."

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