Prisoners who skip sentencing 'should lose visits'

Plans to stop prison visits for criminals who refuse to attend their sentencing hearing have been supported by the mother of a murdered nine-year-old girl.

Cheryl Korbel, whose daughter Olivia Pratt-Korbel was fatally shot by Thomas Cashman in Dovecot, Liverpool, in August 2022, said: "If we want to see our loved ones, we have to visit a cemetery but they still have the right to see their family."

Cashman refused to attend court to be sentenced in April 2023, prompting Olivia's family to campaign for a change in the law.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised Ms Korbel, saying her determination to bring about change would be "heard by the whole world".

Olivia was fatally shot by Cashman when he chased a fellow drug dealer into her home on 22 August 2022.

Olivia's Law is part of the Victims and Courts Bill which is progressing through Parliament.

It would mean that criminals who refuse to attend sentencing, or disrupt hearings in England and Wales, could face an additional two years in prison as well as other sanctions, including missing out on family visits.

Ms Korbel told BBC Radio Merseyside: "If we want to see our loved ones that aren't here anymore we have to go to a cemetery, but they still have the right to see their family.

"If they are going to object to coming up (for sentencing) then that sanction should be put in place."

The proposed legislation had its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Her MP Anneliese Midgley, who represents Knowsley, spoke in the debate.

Her speech included the victim impact statement which Ms Korbel read at Cashman's sentencing hearing, despite him not being in court to hear it.

Ms Korbel and her cousin Antonia Elverson were also present for Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, where Midgley asked the Starmer to commit Olivia's Law to the statue books "as soon as possible".

Starmer welcomed Olivia's family to the House of Commons before adding: "I am always humbled by those with the courage to respond to appalling heartbreak by campaigning for change and I know the whole house will pay tribute to her extraordinary courage and resolve."

He thanked Midgley for reading Ms Korbel's victim impact statement "because I know from talking to Cheryl how hard it was for her to make in the first place".

The prime minister went on: "It took a huge amount of courage and grief, and she wanted to read that statement to the perpetrator as she should have been able to do, and I know how visceral the pain is to her of not being able to have done so."

Starmer said: "Cowards who commit these heinous crimes should face the consequences of their actions and that's why we will force offenders to attend sentencing hearings."

Midgley said she wanted to read the statement in full to ensure the words were forever recorded in Hansard, the Parliamentary record.

"They were words she was denied saying to the murderer of her child in court, and spearheaded her campaign to get the law changed," said the Labour MP, adding that she hoped it would bring Ms Korbel "a sense of justice" that "she was denied".

Ms Korbel said hearing her words read in Parliament had been "one of the hardest moments" of her campaign.

Ms Elverson said: "It's so poignant because those words are going to go down in history.

"They will be there for anyone to research and when we are gone for our family to look back on."

She said it had been "really difficult" because "it did take us back" to the time of Cashman's trial.

Midgley said there were provisions in the Bill which would mean that, as well as having their sentence extended, offenders who refused to attend sentencing hearings could face unlimited fines and lose privileges including family visits and social time.

She said the Bill had received cross-party support from MPs.

After more scrutiny, the draft law will return to the Commons for a third and final reading.

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