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The sentences of various known criminals are being appealed, Sejal Karia of ITV News reported
Six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes faces “systematic brutality equivalent to torture” that led to his death, the Court of Appeal heard during a review of the prison sentences of five murderers.
Senior judges hear challenges or appeals against convictions for known criminals, including life sentences for former police officer Wayne Cousins and double murderer Ian Stewart.
Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes, who killed Arthur, are also reviewing their sentences.
Arthur suffered an incurable brain injury while caring only for Tustin, who was sentenced to life in prison for a minimum of 29 years after being attacked on June 16, 2020.
Tustin and Arthur’s father, Hughes, who was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter, is appealing the length of their sentences, which are also contested as unjustifiably lenient.
On Wednesday, Tom Little QC, representing the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), said Tustin’s case “deserves at least a lifetime warrant.”
He said: “We accept that this was not just a sentence exercise. The process was obviously painful for all concerned. “
Mr Little said Arthur had been “subjected to the most unimaginable suffering”, adding: “This was an extremely serious example of killing children in the face of this atrocity”.
However, Mary Prior QC, for Tustin, said the sentencing judge had taken “an honest and correct approach in this very difficult case”.
Ms. Pryor said the “toxicity of the relationship” between Tustin and Hughes created a scenario in which they both abused Arthur.
“At the very least, Thomas Hughes encouraged Emma Tustin to be cruel, to attack and abuse her son,” she added.
Tustin and Hughes sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison for the murder of Arthur Credit: PA / West Mids Police
What is the scheme for unjustifiably lenient sentences?
You can ask for someone’s judgment in the Royal Court to be reconsidered if you think it is too low.
The procedure is carried out by the General Prosecutor’s Office. It only applies to serious crimes such as murder, rape and terrorism-related crimes.
Your request must be submitted within 28 days of the verdict. It will then be decided whether the request will be sent to the Court of Appeal.
Judges are also considering sentences handed down to three other known murderers.
Wayne Cousins
The 49-year-old former Pc Couzens was sentenced to life last year for the rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard after he abducted her in south London on March 3, 2021.
Condemning Cousins, Lord Judge Fulford said the circumstances of the case were “devastating, tragic and utterly brutal” and so extraordinary that they required a life sentence.
This was the first time a sentence had been handed down for a single murder of an adult that had not been carried out in the course of a terrorist attack.
Bearded Couzens, dressed in a gray jumper, appeared via video link from HMP Frankland at the start of Wednesday’s hearing before appealing his entire sentence.
Jordan Monahan
Jordan Monaghan Credit: Lancashire Police / PA
Arguments for the sentence of Jordan Monaghan, who received a minimum sentence of 40 years in the Preston Crown Court after killing two of his children and his new partner, were also heard at Wednesday’s hearing.
Monaghan was in jail in December after strangling his 24-day-old daughter, Ruby, while she slept in Moses’ New Year’s basket in 2013.
Eight months later, he strangled his 21-month-old son Logan, and six years later killed his new partner, Evie Adams, with a drug overdose.
Mr Little said the killings or attempted assassinations of Monaghan were “extremely high”, with “no mitigation of responsibility”.
He told the court: “The clear justification or intention behind these crimes is to try to distract his then-partner from his gambling habit and keep control over her despite her repeated attempts to get rid of it.
Mr Little added: and it was done. while under bail by the police. “
Benjamin Myers QC, for Monaghan, highlighted the high bar needed for life, which means the criminal will die in prison.
He told the court: “The life sentence is the ultimate sentence for an extreme level of crime.
“Care must be taken not to apply lifelong orders with a willingness that would escalate their use.”
Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart Credit: Hertfordshire Police / PA
Double killer Ian Stewart, who was convicted of killing his first wife six years before continuing to kill his fiancée, must also appeal his life sentence.
Stewart killed 51-year-old children’s book author Helen Bailey in 2016 and dumped her body in the home’s £ 1.5 million cesspool, which they shared in Royston, Hertfordshire.
Earlier, it was rumored that she was most likely strangled while intoxicated by drugs, and Stewart was found guilty of her murder in 2017.
Following the verdict, police are investigating the death of Stewart’s first wife in 2010, Diane Stewart, 47.
The cause of death was recorded at the time as a sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, but Stewart was found guilty of killing her in February.
Stewart, 61, will try to appeal their orders for life, but did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.
The five judges are expected to give their decisions at a later date.
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