Killers of prison and probation officers could face whole-life orders

Killers of probation and prison officers could face whole-life orders under plans announced by the Justice Secretary in a bid to deter revenge attacks.

David Lammy said the scope for the sentence, which means a prisoner can never be released from jail, will be widened in the wake of the murder of former prison officer Lenny Scott last year.

The father-of-three was shot dead by armed robber Elias Morgan for seizing an illicit phone from his jail cell years earlier while working at HMP Altcourse in Merseyside.

The criminal was jailed for life with a minimum term of 45 years before being eligible for parole in September this year.

Whole-life orders can already be handed down to those who target prison or police officers currently in their roles, but the law change will cover those off-duty or who are no longer serving.

Mr Lammy said on Tuesday: “I’d like to pay tribute to Lenny Scott, who was a dedicated prison officer and much-loved family man.

“In 2020, he seized an illicit mobile phone from a prisoner who took revenge four years later by taking his life in broad daylight.

“Perpetrators of heinous killings like these must feel the full force of the law. I can announce today that we will broaden the starting point for whole-life orders to include murders connected to the current or former duties of a police, prison or probation officers.

“It is the latest step this Government is taking to keep our hard-working prison and probation staff safe.”

The announcement was welcomed by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.

Mr Jenrick added: “It is absolutely right that we extend this to brave prison officers who are killed both in the course of their duties and in the exceptional circumstances that faced Lenny Scott after they have left the service.”

Currently, 74 prisoners are serving whole-life tariffs as of the end of September this year.

Criminals who have been sentenced to whole-life orders in recent years include child serial killer Lucy Letby, Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens, necrophiliac David Fuller, and Ali Harbi Ali, who murdered MP Sir David Amess.

Others include Louis De Zoysa, who murdered Metropolitan Police Sergeant Matt Ratana in 2020, and Kyle Clifford, who murdered his ex-partner Louise Hunt, her sister Hannah Hunt and mother Carol Hunt last year.