Attorney General's Office

Attorney General welcomes sentence increase for 'clinical' murderer

The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland QC today welcomed the Court of Appeal's decision that a minimum term of 20 years, handed to John McFarlane when he was sentenced to life last November, was unduly lenient, and increased the minimum term to 30 years.

The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland QC said:

"John McFarlane brutally murdered his former friend, Mary Griffiths in an attack which witnesses described as "clinical, deliberate, and like an execution". The assault took place in front of the victim's children. Based on the appalling facts in this particular case, I had no hesitation in referring this sentence as unduly lenient and I am grateful to the Court of Appeal for endorsing my assessment and increasing the sentence. I hope this outcome provides some comfort to the family of Mary Griffiths."

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The Attorney General's Press Office on 020 7271 2440
Or email bernie.caffarey@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk

Notes to editors:
1. Under the Criminal Justice Act of 1988, The Attorney General's Office has the power to refer sentences passed in certain cases to the Court of Appeal for review if they conclude that the sentence was unduly lenient. A sentence will only be unduly lenient if it falls significantly below the sentence that any Judge could reasonably have passed.

2. The Attorney General has the power to refer sentences to the Court of Appeal if she considers them to be unduly lenient. The test needed to apply when deciding if a sentence or a tariff may be unduly lenient is if it falls outside the range of sentence that a judge, taking into account any relevant sentencing guidance and all relevant considerations, could reasonably have considered appropriate.

3. Cases are usually referred to the Attorney General by the CPS but it is open also to victims, their families, members of the public and MPs to ask the Attorney General to consider whether a sentence is unduly lenient.

4. An unduly lenient sentence is one that falls outside the range of sentence that a judge, taking into account any relevant sentencing guidance and all relevant considerations, could reasonably consider appropriate.

5. The number of cases considered by the Attorney General varies from year to year but is around 300 - 400. ULS figures for 2008 show that in 2008, 80% of the 71 sentences referred by the Law Officers and considered by the Court of Appeal were deemed unduly lenient and 73 % of offenders - 52 - had their sentences increased.