Kyle Clifford (Image: Hertfordshire Police)
It comes after cowardly Kyle Clifford became the latest high-profile killer to refuse to attend court to hear their punishment meted out.
On Tuesday, Clifford, 26, received three whole-life sentences at Cambridge Crown Court for the murders of former girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother Carol, 61, at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last July.
At a trial the week before, at which he also did not appear, he had been found guilty of raping Louise before killing her.
Other killers who have refused to attend sentencing include Thomas Cashman, 35, who shot dead Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, in Liverpool in August 2022, serial child killer Lucy Letby, 35, and Jordan McSweeney, 31, who sexually assaulted and beat to death Zara Aleena, 35, in Ilford, east London, in June 2022.
After Clifford’s refusal, Farah Naz, Ms Aleena’s aunt, gave a radio interview saying new powers must be brought in.
But judges already have the power to make an order for prison staff to use “reasonable force” to get defendants to attend any part of a prosecution, including sentencings.
In August 2023, following public outcries, ’s government announced laws that would give a “new power for judges to order offenders to attend sentencing hearings”. It added “offenders who refuse could be forced into the dock by prison staff or receive an extra two years in jail”, although that part of the shake-up has not yet been passed.
If a judge orders the production of the defendant, prison staff must make all attempts to persuade them to attend, including giving a direct order. Force can only be used as a last resort if “necessary, reasonable and proportionate”.
But a judiciary source said that judges are reluctant to use the powers for fear of the potential spectacle of a defendant wrestling with staff in the dock.
An example of the powers emerged during a terrorism case at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this month, when an 18-year-old from Lancashire, charged with six terrorism offences, had refused to attend a preliminary hearing remotely from Wormwood Scrubs jail in west London.
The district judge made an order authorising the prison governor to allow the “use of reasonable force” to produce him on a video link at another hearing two days later. In the end, staff did not force him to attend the video link, and the case was dealt with over a phone and transferred to the Old Bailey.
Former Met Police officer Steve Perkins said: “If powers exist under common law they should be using them where necessary. There’s no need to wait for new laws – use the powers they have.”
And former Met DCI Dave McKelvey, who now runs a private security firm, said: “The courts and the justice system have become far too weak. The power to compel a convicted person to attend their sentencing, especially to hear victim impact statements, is essential to delivering justice. Right now, offenders seem to have more rights than their victims and the public, and that needs to change.”
A judiciary source said: “It’s right judges can order the offender to attend their sentencing hearing and if the defendant refuses that order can result in prosecution.
“This is not often used as there is always a concern the behaviour of the offender in the dock may disrupt proceedings and cause greater distress to victims.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Judges can order a defendant to appear for any hearing if it is in the interests of justice. If defendants refuse, they can be punished, including losing privileges in prison.”
The spokesperson added that the new legislation for an extra two years in jail for non-compliance “will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows”.