Unduly Lenient Sentence request received for Axel Rudakubana
The Law Officers have received a request for the sentence of Axel Rudakubana to be considered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme
Rudakubana was sentenced today to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 52 years, minus time already spent on remand, after being convicted of 16 offences. These included the murder of three young girls, the attempted murder of 10 others (eight of whom were children), as well as the production of ricin and possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual.
The request to review his sentence has been made under the ULS scheme, which allows for the Law Officers to consider whether a sentence is unduly lenient. Under the scheme, the Law Officers have a 28-day period from the sentencing date to decide whether to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.
For a sentence to be reviewed under the ULS scheme, it must meet a high threshold of being considered "unduly lenient." This would typically involve a situation where the sentencing judge has made a gross error or where the sentence falls outside the range of sentences reasonably available for the offences committed.
If the Law Officers decide to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal, the Court will review the case and may uphold the original sentence, determine that it is unreasonably lenient and increase the sentence, or refuse to review it further.
The ULS scheme allows for the review of sentences handed down by Crown Courts in England and Wales, but only in certain types of cases. Offences eligible for review under the scheme include murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and a few other serious crimes. A successful reference for review is rare, as the threshold for demonstrating that a sentence is unduly lenient is high.