Sylvia’s fury over sentence appeal
SYLVIA Lancaster has spoken of her relief after the rejection of a sentence appeal by one of the killers of her daughter Sophie.
Ryan Herbert’s bid to reduce his prison sentence reached the High Court - where his lawyers claimed he had made good progress in recent years and started the first year of a degree.
But after a review of the case, Mr Justice Langstaff said nothing he had done would justify an earlier chance of release. Sylvia said she was fuming when she found out that it was coming to court about two weeks beforehand.
She said: “I was absolutely furious. I don’t care how good he has been in the last few years, he shouldn’t be getting any time off. It’s insulting, Sophie never managed to do her degree, that was taken from her and she will never have a family. When I heard his appeal had been refused, I was relieved, I felt justice had been done.”
Sylvia added that the timing of the appeal ahead of this week’s ninth anniversary of Sophie’s death on August 24 was ‘thoughtless’.
Herbert, now 24, was 15 when he and a gang of friends set upon Sophie, 20, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, in Stubbylee Park in Bacup in August 2007.
Herbert, formerly of Rossendale Place, Bacup, admitted Sophie’s murder at Preston Crown Court in 2008 and was ultimately sentenced to a minimum of 15 and a half years.
He initially behaved badly after he was locked up, getting involved in fights and even attacking staff. However, after 2012, he had started to show signs of change, said the judge.
He was described as a “positive young man” who was a hard-worker with a full-time job in the institution. He had taken GCSEs in maths and business studies and started the first year of an Open University degree on social sciences.
The judge said “there is much to be said to his credit”, but added: “The question is whether overall this amounts to ‘exceptional and unforeseen progress’. The reports from those who know him best and can best provide objective assessments of his progress when compared to others agree that the progress does not exceed that which is to be expected.
“Having reviewed the term, in the light of such development and progress as there has been, I have ultimately concluded that the tariff should remain as originally set.”
Herbert will only be released after serving his minimum term if the Parole Board is sure he is not a serious danger to the public.
Rossendale MP Jake Berry said he would fight any cut in the minimum tariff imposed on Sophie’s killers. He told the Free Press: “Everyone who lives in the Valley, like me, will be appalled to think that Herbert is seeking to reduce his punishment for such a vile crime.”
Catherine Smyth, author of The Sophie Lancaster Story, said: “Although a child at the time, Herbert’s crime was very adult. The sentence handed out in 2008 was just and appropriate.”
A charity set up in memory of Sophie Lancaster is asking people to ‘goth up’ to mark the ninth anni- versary of her death.
The Sophie Lancaster Foundation is asking people to wear goth, metal or punk make up, share a selfie on social media and donate to the charity, which was set up following Sophie’s brutal murder for being dressed as a goth.
To donate text SOPH05 followed by the amount you wish to donate to 70070.