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'I was too lenient on killer', judge admits
...he should serve at least another 100 days
Exclusive
By Geoff Fox
A JUDGE has admitted making a mistake after imposing a sentence on a dangerous and violent killer which could have seen him freed just 19 months after the case finished.
But despite taking the unusual step of bringing the case back to court for re-sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Stephen Gullick, has sparked fury among the relatives of victim John Roberts after just 100 days were added on to the original sentence.
Mr Roberts was stabbed to death in his home in Armley by his 24-year-old son David Roberts earlier this year.
Roberts pleaded guilty to manslaughter and, under powers introduced earlier this year, was given an indeterminate life sentence by Judge Gullick.
He ruled that the killer, who has a personality disorder, would be eligible for parole after just one year and 213 days.
However, under the rarely used Slip Rule, Judge Gullick re-opened the case and added an additional 100 days onto the minimum period the killer must serve.
The 52-year-old victim's cousin, Sharon Franks, said: "It's a complete joke. My cousin was such a nice bloke, he didn't deserve any of this.
"I don't know if we would ever be satisfied with the sentence. No amount of years will do for us. It should be a life for a life.
"It's as though he has literally got away with killing someone."
Before using the Slip Rule, which comes under the powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, to put the case back before Judge Gullick, the Crown Prosecution Service had been planning to appeal against the original sentence on the grounds of undue leniency.
Drinking
But a spokesman for the CPS told the YEP: "The CPS are satisfied with the amended sentence and will not be seeking further appeal."
Roberts, of Poplar Court, Bramley, had been on a day-long drinking binge when he visited his father's home in First Avenue. He picked up a sharp kitchen knife and stabbed the father-of-four, penetrating his sternum and heart.
Roberts, who had a series of previous convictions for drink-related violence and criminal damage, was charged with murder. But in October the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter.
• Judge Gullick has previously found himself at the centre of a sentencing row when 16 of the men involved in the Bradford riots launched a failed appeal against the jail terms he imposed.
They were convicted of bringing unprecedented scenes of violence and vandalism to the streets of Bradford and took their cases to the High Court in 2003 in an attempt to have their sentences cut.
geoff.fox@ypn.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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