Vinny the Mackem
Winger
A 27 year punishment part for a 16 year old is very high. Indeed, most murders committed by adults don't usually attract such a heavy sentence. There is clearly, however, a background to this which attracts a much higher tariff than usual.
Basically, what needs to be borne in mind is that an identical offence, committed by a child, will attract a much lower punishment part than that of an adult. With that in mind, 27 years could be viewed as very high for a child.
Against that, however, is the nature of the offence, which was clearly utterly horrendous.
The question for the appeal court will be, therefore, has an appropriate punishment part been applied, bearing in mind the age of the offender, but with the exceptionally serious nature of the offence.
My guess is that they'll reduce it, but only by a small amount. My estimate is 23 or 24 years. I'll probably be wrong!
It's worth considering that whatever the punishment part ends up being, that this is the length of time he'll need to be in jail before he can start the parole procedure. There is no "early release" etc in a life sentence. The parole procedure will take a minimum of a year to get anywhere near a decision to release, so he'll be in for the punishment part, plus another year at least.
Basically, what needs to be borne in mind is that an identical offence, committed by a child, will attract a much lower punishment part than that of an adult. With that in mind, 27 years could be viewed as very high for a child.
Against that, however, is the nature of the offence, which was clearly utterly horrendous.
The question for the appeal court will be, therefore, has an appropriate punishment part been applied, bearing in mind the age of the offender, but with the exceptionally serious nature of the offence.
My guess is that they'll reduce it, but only by a small amount. My estimate is 23 or 24 years. I'll probably be wrong!
It's worth considering that whatever the punishment part ends up being, that this is the length of time he'll need to be in jail before he can start the parole procedure. There is no "early release" etc in a life sentence. The parole procedure will take a minimum of a year to get anywhere near a decision to release, so he'll be in for the punishment part, plus another year at least.