Murderer Kyle Clifford must have felt like such a big man as he slaughtered ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, her sister Hannah and their mother, Carol in a grotesque four-hour attack last summer. The former soldier doubtless felt his barbaric actions were justified after being rejected by Louise. We now know this vile monster is also a spineless coward – refusing to leave his cell at Cambridge Crown Court or even appear virtually when the judge pronounced a whole-life sentence on Monday.
In doing so, Clifford followed in the gutless footsteps of so many others, including Southport killer Axel Rudakubana who was also able to dodge court when sentence was passed. That these abhorrent criminals get to choose whether or not to appear at the culmination of their case is a ridiculous kink in our justice system.
Why the hell should they be shielded from the consequences of their crime? Being in court – under the blistering gaze of the bereaved whose loved ones have been needlessly torn from their lives – is part of the punishment.
It also reinforces public accountability and jettisons any notion of secret manoeuvering. Justice is seen to be done.
Keir Starmer has previously vowed to give judges powers to force criminals to appear in the dock for sentencing after meeting with Cheryl Korbel, the mother of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was shot dead in her home in August 2022.
Olivia’s killer, Thomas Cashman, also refused to face the court. Last summer, Lucy Letby, convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital was also absent from sentencing.
If things go to plan the law change is expected to be made in the Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill, which will come before Parliament in the next few months.
It’s vital Starmer is not deterred: not always something which we can guarantee with our weathervane Prime Minister. Not least if his beloved human rights lawyer pals start squawking about potential manhandling of the convicted.
That’s why, until things change, a live video link should be transmitted into the cells of those who refuse to return to the dock.
With the volume ramped up these yellow-bellied killers will have no choice not only to hear their sentence in real-time. And we should have their reaction beamed directly to the courtroom.
We cannot have a justice system which cares more for the sensitivities of the convicted than the feelings of the victims and their loved ones. As a form of moral relativism it stinks.
It is impossible to imagine the devastation suffered by John Hunt and his surviving daughter after the loss of his precious girls at the brutal and pitiless hands of Kyle Clifford.
As the BBC racing correspondent told the court, “Do I really need to detail the impact of having three-quarters of my family murdered?”
If a grain of that impact can be diminished by making the likes of Kyle Clifford a captive audience to sentencing then it must be done. The law must ensure cowards have nowhere to hide.