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Whole life terms for police killers - home secretary | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Criminals who kill police officers in England and Wales will face compulsory whole life sentences, Home Secretary Theresa May is to propose. | |
She will unveil plans for a change in legislation at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth. | |
The current minimum sentence for a police murder is 30 years. | |
The Police Federation said: "We support any move that means a true life sentence will be applied to anyone who murders a police officer." | |
Mrs May will announce that the government is to propose that the minimum term should be increased to life without parole. | |
The home secretary will tell rank-and-file officers: "To attack and kill a police officer is to attack the fundamental basis of our society. | |
"We ask police officers to keep us safe by confronting and stopping violent criminals for us. We ask them to take risks so that we don't have to. | |
"That is why I am clear that life should mean life for anyone convicted of killing a police officer." | |
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 permits Justice Secretary Chris Grayling - following consultation with the Sentencing Council - to make an order to change starting points. | |
This would permit him to change the starting point in this instance from 30 years to a whole life order, meaning offenders could not be released other than at the discretion of the secretary of state on compassionate grounds - for example, if they are terminally ill or seriously incapacitated. | |
The home secretary will tell officers: "To attack and kill a police officer is to attack the fundamental basis of our society. | |
"We ask police officers to keep us safe by confronting and stopping violent criminals for us. We ask them to take risks so that we don't have to. | |
"That is why I am clear that life should mean life for anyone convicted of killing a police officer." | |
'Risk lives' | |
Police Federation chairman Steve Williams said: "The public need to have confidence that the criminal sentence they read about in the paper is the sentence the offender completes. | |
"There is no hierarchy when it comes to victims of murder, however police officers risk their lives on a daily basis confronting danger on behalf of others. | |
"Would-be offenders must know that they will receive the most severe penalty possible." | |
Mrs May will face a question and answer session after her speech. | |
Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor, who is behind hotly debated changes such as fast-track recruitment and lower annual pay for new constables, will also address officers. | |
On Tuesday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the three-day conference that government plans to withdraw from the European Arrest Warrant agreement would make it harder to catch criminals who went on the run abroad. |