Newspapers rally behind law change as Letby refuses to attend sentencing

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. So we need to change the law Sir Keir Starmer While admitting forcing criminals to attend their sentencing may prove difficult, the newspaper’s leader column said: “Like a number of other murderers in recent years, Letby refused to attend court on the final days of her ten-month trial. Writing in the Daily Express, former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland said Letby’s “cynical refusal” to come into the dock added to “already heinous injury”. “I strongly agree that it is better for families to be able to see the defendant and their reaction to what is being said in court, but we should not risk giving any power to the defendant to delay or even halt proceedings.” He aired the option of a live TV link to the prisoner’s cell and increasing sentences for those who refused to attend. “They would be compelled to hear, if not to listen to, the statements of the bereaved and the judge’s sentencing remarks.” The Daily Mail called Letby’s refusal a “last act of cowardice” and said it deprived the families of the chance to “look her in the eye”.