Barbaric and planned murder in Lancashire

Crown Court at Preston

The murder of Sadie Hartley (age 60) was "a crime of obsession, of arrogance, of barbarity ..." - Mr Justice Turner.  Sarah Williams (35) and Katrina Walsh (56) were found guilty of the murder at the Crown Court at Preston before Turner J and a jury.

Media reports include Lancashire Telegraph and BBC News 

The Sentencing Remarks of Turner J are available -Sentencing Remarks - and offer a clear example of how, in practice, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Schedule 21 is applied.  The principal offender was Sarah Williams and a minimum term of imprisonment of 30 years was set in her case.  Katrina Walsh was "a fellow spirit and enthusiastic participant" who had engaged in several preparatory acts and also assisted in trying to cover up the offence.  Also convicted of the murder, Walsh received a minimum term of 25 years.

Schedule 21 paragraph 5 deals with cases of "particularly high seriousness" and para. 5(2) sets out some cases which would normally be regarded in that way.  The list in para 5(2) is in no sense an exhaustive list and so it does not prevent other cases being regarded as being of "particularly high seriousness" - see, for example, Griffiths and others v The Queen [2012] EWCA Crim 2822 (Hughes LJ and Ramsey and Irwin JJ).