Cowardly child killer Thomas Cashman refused to enter Manchester Crown Court to be sentenced for the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. It meant the drug dealer wasn't in the dock on Monday, April 3, to face Olivia's family and hear Justice Amanda Yip hand down his sentence of life with a minimum of 42 years in jail.
It also meant he didn't hear victim personal statements read by members of Olivia's family or the words of Justice Yip. The murderer's non-appearance in court was branded a 'disgrace' by Labour's shadow justice secretary Steve Reed, who has previously called for new laws to make sure this cannot happen.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is now under pressure to act to ensure criminals like Cashman cannot avoid appearing in court. Mr Rabb said: "Spineless criminals like Cashman who hide from their sentencing prolong the suffering of victims and their families.
"As I have already made clear, I plan to change the law to compel offenders to face up to their actions, so victims can see the justice they deserve being served."
Here the Manchester Evening News looks at the cases of Cashman and other criminals who refused to enter the dock to face up to their actions.
Thomas Cashman
Thomas Cashman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was shot dead in her own home in one of the most horrific crimes in Merseyside's history.
The 34-year-old, of Grenadier Drive in Liverpool, was unanimously found guilty of murdering the nine-year-old schoolgirl by a jury on Thursday, March 30. Cashman was due to return to court on the afternoon of April 4, but refused to appear in the dock to learn his fate.
Professor John Cooper KC, defending, said his client was "concerned the matter was turning into a circus" and claimed he had heard representatives of the Crown Prosecution Service "loudly" singing 'We are the Champions' after the verdict was delivered.
Justice Amanda Yip described his actions as "disrespectful to the family of the deceased".
Gasps were heard among Olivia's family as the sentence was passed with one man heard to say "yes", while her mum Cheryl was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
Sentencing, Justice Amanda Yip said: "The killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel is an offence that shocked not only the city of Liverpool, but the nation. Olivia’s name is likely to be remembered for many years.
"She should not be remembered only for her dreadful last moments. Her family have spoken today of Olivia in life and of the hopes and dreams for her future, which were so cruelly snatched away.
"It is plain that Olivia was a lovely little girl, who cared for others and brightened the lives of her family and friends. They have suffered an unimaginable loss which they must carry for the rest of their lives."
Hashem Abedi
Families who lost loved ones in the Manchester Arena bombing atrocity branded mass murderer Hashem Abedi a 'coward' for refusing to face his sentence in court. Abedi, 23, the younger brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, was jailed for life in August 2020 with a minimum term of 55 years.
A jury had found him guilty of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiring with his brother to cause an explosion. But Hashem refused to leave his cell to stand in the dock for the sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey in London.
Bereaved families wept and embraced he was jailed. Dozens of family members either sat in court or watched the proceedings from Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow over a live video link.
Speaking in Manchester Paul Hett, the father of victim Martyn Hett, 29, said: "First of all we have spent two days listening to harrowing details of lives that have been shattered, not just the 22, but hundreds of lives changed forever."
He called Abedi a 'coward' who was not 'man enough' to face them and hear from families how the atrocity had affected them.
Joseph McCann
The twisted rapist who attacked 11 victims when he went on a rampage across the UK refused to appear at the Old Bailey as he was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison. A jury had convicted McCann of 37 charges relating to 11 victims who were aged from 11 to 71.
The attacks came after he was accidentally freed from prison too early following a Probation Service error before going on a 15-day rampage in April 2019 fuelled by cocaine and vodka. He abducted, raped and sexually assaulted his victims - in Greater Manchester, Ramsbottom and Watford and London.
McCann refused to attend the trial either, citing a bad back, and also failed to attend his sentencing by video link. Addressing McCann despite the rapist's non-appearance in court, Mr Justice Edis said: "Joseph McCann, you are very dangerous indeed to people who are weaker than you are. Among other things you are a coward, a violent bully and a paedophile. This was a campaign of rape, violence and abduction of a kind which I have never seen or heard of before."
Jordan McSweeney
McSweeney, who murdered 35-year-old Zara Aleena as she walked home in Ilford, east London, on June 26 last year, refused to face her family in court before being jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years last December. Last week Ms Naz told BBC Breakfast criminals should have their sentence extended if they refuse to turn up for their sentencing hearing.
When lawyer Craig Mackenzie, who appeared alongside her, suggested the plan was impractical she claimed there are 'other ways' to implement it that do not involve dragging defendants kicking and screaming into the dock. She added: "Surely the judgment is part of the punishment… we need to see that the process will deter further crime and how can the process feel like a punishment if the convict actually exercises their bit of power?
"It's the last bit of power that needs to be taken away, certainly in our eyes. I think there are other ways to make the convict come to face their judgment and that would be to add time to their sentencing or there can be other ways.
"Otherwise we don't have people deterred from committing crimes if they’re just moving from cell to cell there’s no sense of punishment. I would like Dominic Raab to move forward with developing this law.”
She described McSweeney refusing to attend his sentencing as a 'further slap in the face' and 'another attack from him'. She also said the family had 'anticipated the moment' they would be able to look at McSweeney and give their victim impact statement, adding that it felt like an 'incomplete process' after he refused to turn up.
Levi Bellfield
The 53-year-old serial killer refused to leave his cell as he was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Milly Dowler, 13, in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in 2002. The 20st brute who preyed on lone women refused to enter court to listen to a judge hand down a full life sentence, whingeing through his QC that he was the victim of 'bad publicity'.
As Bellfield, then 39, cowered in cells Shane McDonnell, uncle of murdered Marsha McDonnell, 19, said: "For a man whose victims were all young innocent and female, this last act of cowardice comes as no surprise." Jean-Francois Delagrange, dad of murdered Amelie Delagrange, 22, agreed. He said: "He was a coward in his attacks and he's a coward today."
Kate Sheedy, who Bellfield tried to kill, said: "It shows the kind of person he is. I wanted him never to see the light of day again." Hammer attacker Bellfield, who had a pathological hatred of blondes, bludgeoned Marsha and Amelie to death and tried to kill Kate, then 18, by running her down in his van and reversing over her body.
As relatives wept quietly in the public gallery, Old Bailey judge Mrs Justice Rafferty passed sentence as though the beast was in court.
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