Court of Appeal of England and Wales sentences killer to life without parole after declaring minimum of 42 years is too lenient
A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn baby was originally given a minimum of 42 years with no possibility of parole before that time for his evil crime.
Court of Appeal declared the sentence to be too lenient and sentenced him to die in prison
Life without parole is the replacement for the death penalty in England and Wales
A double killer who stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death while on licence for a previous murder conviction was given a whole life order after Court of Appeal judges ruled his sentence was unduly lenient.
Alana Odysseos, 32, died outside her flat in Walthamstow, east London, after being attacked with a kitchen knife in July 2024.
Shaine March, 47, of Surrey Quays, south-east London, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years in October 2025.
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves had referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
In the ruling, Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Cavanagh and Judge Alice Robinson, said: "The sentence was unduly lenient."
"We quash it, and we quash the minimum term order that the judge made, and substitute in its place a whole life order, which means that the offender will never be released."
Had the death penalty not been abolished, March would have been hanged...
A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn baby was originally given a minimum of 42 years with no possibility of parole before that time for his evil crime.
Court of Appeal declared the sentence to be too lenient and sentenced him to die in prison
Life without parole is the replacement for the death penalty in England and Wales
A double killer who stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death while on licence for a previous murder conviction was given a whole life order after Court of Appeal judges ruled his sentence was unduly lenient.
Alana Odysseos, 32, died outside her flat in Walthamstow, east London, after being attacked with a kitchen knife in July 2024.
Shaine March, 47, of Surrey Quays, south-east London, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years in October 2025.
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves had referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
In the ruling, Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Cavanagh and Judge Alice Robinson, said: "The sentence was unduly lenient."
"We quash it, and we quash the minimum term order that the judge made, and substitute in its place a whole life order, which means that the offender will never be released."
Had the death penalty not been abolished, March would have been hanged...
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