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Thomas Cashman, the drug dealer who shot and killed Olivia Pratt-Korbel at her home in Liverpool, will not have his jail sentence extended, the Government has ruled.
The Attorney General’s office said it had received multiple requests from furious members of the public who felt his 42-year life sentence was too lenient.
They sought to have the case referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, but the UK’s top lawyer ruled against the move in a statement today.
The statement, released to the Liverpool ECHO from Michael Tomlinson KC, the UK’s Solicitor General, concluded that the sentence was not unduly lenient.
Mr Tomlinson KC said that Cashman’s acts “shocked and sickened” Britons, and acknowledged the “strong feelings” the case evoked.
But he said that, after receiving detailed legal advice and having “considered the issues raised very carefully”, he concluded the case “cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal”.
Expanding on his decision, the top lawyer added that prospective referrals must pass a “rigorous legal test” before moving to the Appeals Court “irrespective of the seriousness of the crime or the emotions the offending may evoke”.
He explained the test is only met when a sentencing judge is seen to have “made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range reasonably available in the circumstances of the offending”.
The threshold, which he said is “a high one” was “not met in this case”, he added.
He concluded: “My thoughts remain with Olivia’s family and friends who have shown such immeasurable strength during this devastating time.”
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