Thomas Cashman: Renewed call to force criminals to attend sentencing

Governments are being asked to pursue plans to force criminals to attend their sentencing hearings.

Another murder victim’s aunt has asked Attorney General Dominic Raab to expedite a plan to force criminals to appear in court for sentencing.

Farrah Naz also hopes that the judge will have the ability to punish those who refuse.

Opposition leader Sir Kiel Sturmer said that Olivia’s family “couldn’t escape Cashman’s horrific crime” and that “he shouldn’t be forgiven”.

On June 26, Nas’ niece, Zara Arena, was attacked by Jordan McSweeney, a 35-year-old law graduate, while returning home from a night out in Ilford, Essex. was sexually assaulted and murdered.

Like Cashman, he refused to attend his sentencing in person, which led Nas to say he erroneously ruled the court.

She said: “It’s the last power we need to take away. [from offenders].

“I think there are other ways to make them face convictions. That’s adding time to their sentences. Or there could be other ways.”

“Otherwise, you can’t deter people from committing crimes. If they’re just moving from cell to cell, there’s no sense of punishment.

“I want Dominic Raab to go ahead with this legislation.”

Nas said he was “really sad” that Olivia’s family could not see the man who “destroyed their lives” get sentenced.

“Surely judgment is part of punishment,” she asked.

“We all wanted to face him as we read out the victim impact statement.

“We wanted to see him see footage of him murdering Zara—what he did to her,” she said.

“As a result, the entire legal process felt incomplete.

“He’s ruled Zara, he’s held power at court, and he felt like he got it,” she said.

“Surely if convicted…will all their rights be removed?”

Cashman, 34, killed Olivia and injured her mother, Cheryl Corbell, on August 22.

Mr. Corbell did not know either Cashman or his intended target, Joseph Nee.

Judge Amanda Yip, who sentenced him in absentia at the Manchester Criminal Court, said drug dealer Cashman’s refusal to appear in court was “disrespectful” to Olivia’s family.

She said he “wasn’t a good character before”, revealed that he was a criminal, and “didn’t show remorse”.

“The fact that he didn’t appear in court is evidence of that,” she said.

Mr Raab murmured“Spineless criminals like Cashman hiding from sentencing prolong the suffering of victims and their families.

“As I have already made clear, I plan to change the law to force offenders to face their actions so victims can You can see the justice you deserve.”

The BBC understands that the government is looking to introduce new legislation ahead of the next general election.

Following McSweeney’s sentencing, Raab said in February that judges were considering whether they could impose longer terms on those who refused to appear in court.

Labor leader Lord Kiel said: “We’ve always said we need to change the law to stop this.

“For many victims and their families, there is a sense that there is a gap in the process when the defendant is not actually brought to justice.

“One of the ideas is to allow judges to extend sentences if the defendant fails to appear in court and is not tried.

“We have to consider all options. We need something that works.”

He added: “At the moment there is a deep divide between victims and their families and we need to do something about it.

“We have been asking for this for some time and the government has said it is interested.”

Marie McCourt’s 22-year-old daughter Helen was murdered in 1989 in St. Helens, Merseyside, by pub landlord Ian Sims.

She said she was shedding tears for Olivia’s family.

“I think it’s wrong…they allow the sentence to stay in the cell without them appearing in court.”

“Thank God, Ian Sims didn’t. He was raised, but when they were convicted, they were of people there to see what happened.” …and they have to stand up to them for what they did.”

Other criminals denied access to the docks include Kochi Seramaji, who murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa in a park in southeast London in 2021; Including Zahid Younis, who kept the , and Hashem Abedi, who helped his brother Salman kill 22 people in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.