European court backs UK’s life sentencing

Killer Jeremy Bamber and two other convicted murderers yesterday lost their appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that whole-life tariffs condemning prisoners to die in jail amounted to “inhuman or degrading treatment”.

The whole-life tariff is not “grossly disproportionate” and in each case London’s High Court had “decided that an all-life tariff was required, relatively recently and following a fair and detailed consideration”, the judges ruled.

Bamber’s legal team, which is also representing convicted killers Peter Moore and Douglas Vinter, submitted the application to the ECHR in December 2009.

But their claims were strongly opposed by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, who has said the Government has been “fighting the case vigorously and defending the principle of the whole-life tariff”.

Under current law, whole-life tariff prisoners will almost certainly never be released from prison as their offences are deemed to be so serious.

They can be freed only by the Justice Secretary, who can give discretion on compassionate grounds when the prisoner is terminally ill or seriously incapacitated.

Bamber has been behind bars for more than 25 years for shooting his wealthy adopted parents June and Neville, his sister Sheila Caffell and her six-year-old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas at their farmhouse in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex..

Vinter was released from prison after serving nine years for the 1995 murder of work colleague Carl Edon, 22. Three years later he stabbed wife Anne White four times and strangled her, before being given a whole-life order.

Moore was convicted of four counts of murder in 1996 after killing four gay men for his sexual gratification.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The Government strongly welcomes this decision.”