More than three decades – and 18 Home Secretaries – have passed since the Victim’s Charter was introduced in 1990, the central aim of which was to treat all persons affected by crime with respect.
In particular, it undertakes to keep victims of crime informed of the development of their cases, and urges the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to ‘think very carefully about the victim when deciding where the public interest lies’.
Tell that to the grieving families of the victims of Valdo Calocane, who last week was sentenced for the manslaughter of two Nottingham University students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, as well as school caretaker Ian Coates, who he killed shortly after stabbing the students to death as they walked back from a party.
Instead of going to prison where he belongs, Calocane was sent to a secure hospital indefinitely, but will have the right to regular assessments to see whether he is safe for release – which could be in three years.
The mother of Barnaby Webber sees the manslaughter sentence handed to her son’s killer as a travesty of justice, writes SARAH VINE. Above: Emma Webber
What’s more, the CPS had informed his victims’ families that it had decided not to charge Calocane with murder, but the lesser charge of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. This was despite clear and incontrovertible evidence of pre-meditated planning, including the collection of weaponry.
As if that weren’t enough of a kick in the teeth, it also transpired that the police had known about Calocane’s violent and unstable nature for some time. There was even a warrant out for his arrest at the time of the murders – for attacking a police officer.
Little wonder that Barnaby’s mother Emma spoke out about what she and the other families understandably see as a travesty of justice. She expressed horror at the CPS decision to reduce the charge from murder to manslaughter following a psychiatric assessment. Apparently, Calocane, a diagnosed schizophrenic, ‘had a strong belief that if he didn’t commit extreme violence, something bad would happen to him and his family’. For that reason, he wasn’t charged with murder.
Mrs Webber said: ‘True justice has not been served. The Crown Prosecution Service did not consult with us as has been reported. Instead, we have been rushed, hastened and railroaded. At no point were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder. We trusted in our system – foolishly as it turns out.’
It was the first real glimpse of frustration and anger from this amazingly dignified woman who, along with her husband and the parents of Grace, has shown nothing but restraint in the face of the killer’s appalling crimes.
Barnaby Webber, then aged 18, with his mother Emma and father David on a family holiday in Mallorca
Valdo Calocane, who last week was sentenced for the manslaughter of Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar
Who could blame her?
If it had been me, contemplating the rest of my life without either of my beloved children – both university students, too – I’d have been inconsolable, raging.
Raging that this revolting individual was alive when my child was dead, raging at the triumph of such ugliness in the face of all that beauty and potential, incandescent at the thought of this monster being treated as a sort of defenceless victim of his own mental deficiencies.
He will now have access to all sorts of medications, treatments and therapies, including gardening, music, drama and a gym. He should be rotting in a dungeon. Instead, he’s getting the best medical care money can buy. It’s outrageous.
Meanwhile, his victims’ families are being punished for this man’s crimes. They, whose rights and needs have been ignored and disregarded. They, who are serving a life sentence of pain and sadness.
They have done nothing wrong. They represent the kind of exemplary citizenship we all aspire to. And this is their reward.
Indeed, it seems as though there is a whole industry dedicated to safeguarding the interests of criminals at the expense of their victims and the law-abiding public.
Another example is father-of-five Qari Abdul Rauf, one of the ringleaders of the Rochdale grooming gangs who, in 2012, was convicted of rape, trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children. He was sentenced to six years (in itself pathetic) but freed on licence after just two-and-a-half years in prison. Since then, he has been living in close proximity to his victims’ families. He was supposed to have been deported to Pakistan – but again, he remains in Britain thanks to repeated appeals from his lawyers. What a joke.
And all because of a justice system that, despite all the fine words and lofty gestures of politicians and lawmakers, continues to put the rights of the perpetrator ahead of those of the victims.
No wonder so many of us despair when we witness the way, time and again, criminals get away with murder while good people are left in tatters. Justice is the foundation on which all civil society is built. If it fails the victims, it fails all of us.
I’m not Donald Trump’s greatest fan, but even I fail to see how a jury could order him to pay $83.3million (£65.5million) in damages to a former magazine journalist.
Ok, he called her a ‘liar’ and a ‘whack job’, but I’ve been called far worse in The Guardian (variously, a ‘dead pig’, a ‘blowhole’ and, most recently, ‘superannuated’).
By that standard, I should be in line for my own yacht and a small Caribbean island.
I’m very happy to do my bit for King and country – not that I’d be much use.
I am blind as a bat, have arthritis in my knees and a dodgy shoulder. Still, my children say I have a sergeant-major’s bark. Old Bags’ Army, here I come…
I’m very happy to do my bit for King and country – not that I’d be much use
ITV bosses are said to be keen for ex-weather girl Sian Welby, 37, above, to fill the Holly Willoughby-shaped hole on This Morning. She’s very good and fits in terms of looks and personality.
But I’d still love to see Kate Garraway given a chance.
Not just because after all she’s been through with her late husband she deserves a break, but also because, at 56, she’s one of the few TV presenters as comfortable grilling politicians as discussing lipstick – and has the kind of real-life experiences audiences want.
ITV bosses are said to be keen for ex-weather girl Sian Welby, 37, above, to fill the Holly Willoughby-shaped hole on This Morning. She’s very good and fits in terms of looks and personality
All the hype surrounding The Traitors is depressing. Despite the presence of Claudia Winkleman – always entertaining – the show’s premise is unwatchable for me.
It’s so nasty, and we already live in pretty nasty times. Do people really enjoy watching a bunch of desperate people backstabbing each other?
If that’s your bag, there’s always Prime Minister’s Questions.
Too young to change gender
A four-year-old has been allowed to join a Church of England primary school as a girl despite being biologically male.
Last time I checked, four-year-olds couldn’t get married, drive, own property, look after children or have a credit card.
So why are they deemed able to make an informed decision about what gender they want to be when they grow up?
Last year on Holocaust Memorial Day we remembered the atrocities committed more than seven decades ago.
This year, we only have to cast our minds back to October 7.
n surf brand Rip Curl has dropped as a marketing mascot a woman surfer who lost an arm in a shark attack in favour of a trans woman. Hardly the most charitable behaviour, is it, doing a disabled woman out of a job? A reminder that it takes more than a bikini and a bit of eyeshadow to be part of the sisterhood.