Cowardly cons who refuse to attend their sentencing to be targeted by 'tough' new powers handed to judges - including being banned from watching TV for just six weeks!
Labour's 'tough' sanctions against criminals who refuse to attend their sentencing in court have faced ridicule after it emerged the new punishments will be imposed for mere weeks.
The Government unveiled new legislation granting judges the power to impose solitary confinement on offenders who fail to attend.
But the measures will impose the penalty for a maximum of three weeks.
Other punishments such as having televisions removed from their cells or being denied extra gym sessions can also be withdrawn under the new law – but only for up to six weeks.
The measures are meant to provide a deterrent to criminals who know they are already facing very long sentences, and are unlikely to be influenced by the threat of extra jail time.
Tory MP Jack Rankin said: 'The idea that taking away TV time or extra gym sessions will deter the country's most dangerous criminals from behaving appallingly is pathetic. This is laughable.
'Labour should stop pretending they're tough on crime and get serious about sentencing.'
The powers in the Victims and Courts Bill, published today , come in the wake of a series of high-profile cases where murderers and other criminals refused to leave their cells to be told their fate.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the Bill's measures meant 'cowardly' offenders 'who attempt to evade justice could be subject to tough sanctions'.
The previous Conservative government published a Bill last year which would have introduced similar powers but it was abandoned due to the general election being called.
Like the Tories' proposals, the new measures will also allow criminals who refuse to attend sentencing hearings to be handed up to two years extra in jail.
Labour's Bill will allow judges to impose the additional punishments on convicted offenders who refuse to leave their cell or whose 'disruptive and disrespectful behaviour results in their removal from the courtroom'.
In January Southport killer Axel Rudakubana refused to come into the dock as he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court, after previously disrupting proceedings repeatedly with claims he felt ill.
He was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for the 'sadistic' murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, last summer.
Likewise, Jordan McSweeney who murdered aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena, 35, in east London in 2022 refused to attend his sentencing hearing. He was handed a minimum tariff of 38 years, later cut to 33 by the Court of Appeal.
So, too, did drug dealer Thomas Cashman who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel when she was caught in crossfire in her home in Liverpool in August 2022. -Cashman was handed a minimum tariff of 42 years.
But Farah Naz, Miss Aleena's aunt, said: 'When someone already has a 30-years plus sentence is this going to make much of a difference? Maybe it will, maybe it won't.'
She urged ministers to consider introducing additional powers to allow sentencing hearings to be broadcast in a criminal's prison cell if they refuse to leave, and for CCTV to be installed so families can watch the offender's reaction to their sentence.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said: 'Justice isn't optional – we'll make sure criminals face their victims.'
But Robby Potter, one of the most seriously-injured survivors of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing - who was blasted through the heart with shrapnel while waiting to collect his daughter - said: 'It's nowhere near enough. For someone given life, an extra two years is a joke.
'For terrorism, they should have no privileges.'
Martin Hibbert, who suffered a spinal cord injury in the same attack, said ministers needed to 'go further' and introduce 'meaningful deterrents' to stop the most serious criminals hiding from victims and their relatives.
In 2020 Hashem Abedi – whose suicide bomber brother Salman Abedi detonated the deadly home-made device – was branded a 'coward' when he hid in his cell as he was given a record 55-year minimum term for 22 counts of murder.
Mr Hibbert, whose daughter Eve suffered severe brain damage in the atrocity when she was just 14, said: 'While I welcome the Government's attempt to make offenders face up to the consequences of their crimes, I remain concerned that the measures in this Bill don't go far enough — especially for the most serious offenders, like Hashem Abedi, who chose cowardice over accountability.
'I was denied the chance to look Abedi in the eye when he was sentenced — a moment I had waited years for.
'That injustice stays with me, and I know I'm not alone.
'The trauma of losing a loved one, or surviving a terror attack, is only made worse when the person responsible refuses to show up, face the court, and hear the pain they've caused.
'Two extra years in prison may sound tough on paper, but for someone already serving a life sentence or a whole life order, it's meaningless.
'The loss of privileges or being confined to a cell for a few weeks won't undo the damage of them refusing to attend court.
'Victims deserve more than symbolic punishments — we need meaningful deterrents.
'This Bill is a step in the right direction, but I urge the Government to listen to victims and go further.
'The justice system must send a clear message: if you commit the worst crimes, you will not be allowed to hide from justice or from those whose lives you've shattered.'
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