Wayne Couzens to appeal whole life tariff

[mbosnz]

Has this piece of filth no shame? Deities rot him.

It's standard legal practice I'm afraid. And I'm surprised people are surprised.

It won't go anywhere.

How about we let this thread rot and die, like him?

@OneTC

I was surprised he went for a guilty plea, there's no real sentencing incentive to do so

I reckon his appeal has some chance, unfortunately

I think he went for it, in the face of overwhelming evidence, in an attempt to avoid the otherwise inevitable whole life order (whole life tariff). I think that'll be the basis of his application - that he didn't get any credit for pleading guilty.

I think the judge covered this at sentencing, though - how he'd left the plea so late, been been manipulative, told so many lies up till that point, put SE's family through hell, been arrogant, was facing overwhelming evidence of his guilt, etc.

But it will have to be considered.

Just to add - he's 48. A minimum term could be up to 40 years, like Huntley's.

The average age of death for those in prison is 56 years compared to the wider UK expectancy of 81 years.

He's dying in prison, while wanting not to be there, whatever happens now.

It's completely natural he would appeal under these circumstances, after all what has he got to lose? It's common in places which still have the death penalty for the sentence to be automatically appealed regardless of whether the convict wants to or not. WC is basically in the same position, dying in prison is no different to being sentenced to death because he will never be released so his life is over compared to normal standards.

If you denied the right of WC to appeal, where do you draw the line? Any murderer? Only specific ones? Who decides and what if the judge got the original sentence wrong? Narrow-minded people who are foolishly opposed to the death penalty cite the fact that people get wrongly convicted as a reason not to have it, but what if an innocent person is convicted of an offence where they can't appeal?

The law allows WC to appeal, that's the end of the matter. It's not as if he's ever going to get out anyway because he'll be looking at 30+ years anyway and he won't survive that long.

I reckon his appeal has some chance, unfortunately putting the fact that even if he did manage to appeal his sentence would still be such that he would spend the rest of his life in prison, if an appeal ever had any chance I would imagine that might happen if he’d waited for say, 15 years or so before launching it.

Right now the case is still too fresh, and no-one would want their name linked to granting him an appeal. But in several years time people will primarily have forgotten. Not because what he did is worth forgetting, but because we live in the here and now, and other crimes and criminals will have happened since now, and while some will remember Sarah Everard, the majority will only remember that she was a woman who was killed by a police officer. Emotion won’t be running quite so high in several years time.

He'll still get 40 years minimum, like Huntley and Whiting. So he'll be 88. And long dead.

As it states in the article - he has nothing to lose from appealing.
It's hardly like he even has any self respect at risk.

Wonder who pays his legal fees?

@mbosnz

I know it's a part of due process. I guess I find the utter lack of shame, remorse, or guilt, for some reason, beyond understanding, in this instance.

Like a PP, I guess I'm surprised that I was momentarily surprised.

Nobody who was capable of feeling any of those things would have done what he did in the first place.

I can't help but wonder what else he has done but just not been caught for.

@VickyEadieofThigh

it goes with the territory - appalling man feels entitled.

Exactly what I thought.

No judge in this land will allow that appeal to go through. It should be purely for the fact he is evil and should remain in prison forever, but can you imagine the negative publicity that judge and the legal system would get. Nope. I reckon his appeal is a no go.

@Ostagazuzulum

No judge in this land will allow that appeal to go through. It should be purely for the fact he is evil and should remain in prison forever, but can you imagine the negative publicity that judge and the legal system would get. Nope. I reckon his appeal is a no go.

They will if there are grounds for appeal i.e there is a genuine argument that the sentence might be incorrect or excessive.

What the public think doesn't come into it and a good judge will ignore the outrage. What matters is the law.

@ThinWomansBrain

As it states in the article - he has nothing to lose from appealing. It's hardly like he even has any self respect at risk.

Wonder who pays his legal fees?

Either he will pay his own legal fees or the barristers will be paid through legal aid.

@mbosnz

Has this piece of filth no shame? Deities rot him.

On the bus so HRTFT….. he’s a cunt and probs his lawyers encouraging him ….. to line their pockets.

A man who is capable of committing a heinous crime such as his, would have the audacity to appeal his whole life tariff.

Thank god he had a defence barrister who did a good job at his trial because it means he won’t win.

@Ostagazuzulum

No judge in this land will allow that appeal to go through. It should be purely for the fact he is evil and should remain in prison forever, but can you imagine the negative publicity that judge and the legal system would get. Nope. I reckon his appeal is a no go.

Sadly as @Lockheart has said, public opinion doesn’t carry much weight. He’s clearly an absolute monster and has done atrocious things but he probably does have an argument that his sentence is excessive…. Sadly

@Stuckhere2021 there's nothing sad about it.
The level of moral outrage whipped up by tabloid media is not a suitable barometer for punishment by the state.

I was absolutely stunned when I read this. I just hope that the powers that be see sense and refuse his appeal.

He kidnapped, raped and murdered a woman in an appalling situation then went to Costa for hot chocolate and bakewell tart. What decency do you think he has? 🤔

Although if I murdered someone, I'd appeal too. Why not? If I'd not cared about the victim's parents while doing the murder, I'm not going to be worried about them after.

I know the law, and the rationales and principles behind them, and agree with them, wholeheartedly.

My initial response wasn't a 'why is this allowed', or 'this shouldn't be allowed', but more 'how much lower can this maggot of a being go?!'

So a visceral, emotional response, not an intellectual one. It's just still so raw - particularly for Sarah Everard's family and friends, and also for his family, who must just want the notoriety to die down.

@OneTC

I was surprised he went for a guilty plea, there's no real sentencing incentive to do so

I reckon his appeal has some chance, unfortunately

I read somewhere that the case and evidence were so meticulously put together that any defence stood zero chance. There was such a collection of forensic evidence, CCTV footage and so on that presumably his legal team felt there would be no point in even attempting a not guilty plea.

I am heartened by reading from some pp here that the judge made his reasoning for the whole life tariff so clear that it will be easy to reject the appeal. I do hope so.

Utter bastard. He’s shown no remorse, only selfishness, entitlement and misogyny all the way through this process.

Men like this should be thrown in to a pit and left there.

How long will it be before we know if he's succeeded in getting an appeal?

I hope to god he doesn't, her family & friends have been through enough!

Basically he is the only person serving a whole life term who isn't a serial killer or terrorist so I’m not in the least bit surprised.
And to be frank it’s possible the appeal court judges think the term is unreasonable

Basically the judge set a precedent and precedents will almost certainly be challenged