Wayne Couzens among 5 murderers set to have prison sentence reviewed

Today (Wednesday, May 4) senior judges will hear challenges or appeals to the prison sentences of five killers, including Couzens, double murderer Ian Stewart, plus Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes, who killed six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

Ex-Pc Couzens was handed a whole-life term last year for the rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard after he abducted her in south London on March 3 2021.

The special court of five judges will consider how whole-life orders are imposed.

Sentencing Couzens, Lord Justice Fulford said the circumstances of the case were “devastating, tragic and wholly brutal” and were so exceptional that it warranted a whole-life order.

Emma Tustin and Arthur Hughes were sentenced for killing six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes (West Midlands Police/PA)

It was the first time the sentence had been imposed for a single murder of an adult not committed in the course of a terror attack.

In the case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes being murdered, he suffered an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of Tustin, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years after assaulting the child on June 16 2020.

His father, Hughes, who was sentenced to 21 years in prison for manslaughter, is due to appeal against his sentence.

Both sentences will be also challenged by Attorney General Suella Braverman under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

The minimum 40-year term handed to Jordan Monaghan after he murdered two of his children and his new partner will also be reviewed by the judges.

Double murderer Ian Stewart, who was convicted of murdering his first wife six years before he went on to murder his fiancee, is also due to appeal against his whole-life order.

The hearing before the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Sweeney and Mr Justice Johnson is due to start on Wednesday at 10.30am.

The five judges are expected to give their decisions at a later date.