Justice Secretary Alex Chalk was today urged to put cameras in jail cells so killers cannot hide from their victims’ families.
Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, urged the newly appointed Cabinet minister to take action to punish convicted criminals who refuse to attend sentencing hearings.
The senior Tory said Mr Chalk should consider putting cameras in cells “so there’s nowhere to hide” as grieving families tell courts about the impact of their vile crimes.
The Mirror has launched the Face Justice campaign to call for an urgent change in the law to force killers to face their victims' families.
Thomas Cashman refused to leave his cell when he was sentenced for murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool.
Other offenders who have refused to attend sentencing hearings include the murderers of Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa.
Mr Buckland told the Mirror: “We need to try to stop this from becoming more of a trend. You get a lot of copycat behaviour which is the danger and we need to try and dis-incentivise that as early and as quickly as possible.
“Listening to the families and hearing how they feel when the victim's personal statement is read out and they can't see the defendant's reaction really cuts to the core of all of this.
“I think that not just for the families but for wider society, it's important that when justice is seen to be done, it's done in the presence of those who commit the most serious crime.
“And I think, creating a sense of consequences for a wilful refusal to face up to that responsibility is sensible and necessary and right.”
Mr Chalk, who was a criminal barrister before entering Parliament, was appointed as Justice Secretary on Friday as a replacement for Dominic Raab.
Mr Buckland added: “Alex is somebody who understands the system better than most people and I know where his instincts are gonna lie on this.
“He will want to do something to help improve the situation I'm pretty sure. I trust him to seek a solution.”
Mr Buckland urged the new Justice Secretary to look at using the Victims and Prisoners’ bill as a “potential legislative vehicle to change the law".
He said he doesn’t believe there needs to be a change to the law to put cameras in cells.
“I think that ministers working with HMCTS [HM Courts and Tribunals Service] should be able to come up with some flexible solution that allows that to happen at the earliest opportunity,” he added.
Disgraced ex-Justice Secretary Dominic Raab faced angry calls to stop dragging his feet earlier this month after he vowed that he would change the law to force criminals to attend court in February.
He never ended up setting a timescale, saying only it will be before the next election – possibly in 2025 – before resigning last week after a bombshell report upheld bullying claims against him.
Labour last year pledged to give judges the option to force defendants to attend sentencing and suggested punishing no-shows as contempt of court.
Keir Starmer, who as director of public prosecutions put away some of Britain's most prolific criminals, accused Mr Raab of shilly-shallying earlier this month, saying: “If the government wanted to do this, they could have done this a year ago.
“I don't think the problem is what legislation it goes into."
Downing Street declined to give details of how ministers intended to force criminals to attend sentencing or to commit to a timeline for making the change.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "We do think it is important criminals face up to the crimes they have committed, but beyond that I can't at the moment on what action will be taken."
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