‘We need Josh’s Law’
MURDER VICTIM’S MUM WANTS MOVE TO HELP VICTIMS OF CRIME AND THEIR FAMILIES TO KNOW THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS
JOSH Hanson’s heartbroken mum wants a new law to make sure victims of crime and their families are told their rights about appealing the sentence given to an offender.
The 21-year-old from Kingsbury, was murdered at RE bar in Eastcote while on a night out. His killer Shane O’Brien walked up to him, pulled out a Stanley knife and sliced his neck and chest.
Josh and O’Brien did not know each other beforehand and had only spoken for seconds before the brutal attack. O’Brien went on the run for more than three years and was one of the mostwanted men in the world, on Met Police, Europol and Interpol’s mostwanted lists, before he was caught and jailed for a minimum of 26 years in October 2019.
Tracey Hanson wants the government to bring in ‘Josh’s Law’ so victims are told during a sentencing hearing that they have a legal right to oppose the punishment laid down.
The devastated mum only found out she could appeal against O’Brien’s sentence on the last day she was able to lodge an application.
Speaking exclusively to our sister site Mirror Online, Tracey said: “I found out on the 28th day that I could appeal under the ‘unduly lenient scheme’. Why didn’t anyone in the court tell me?
“I think the judge should have to tell victims of crime or their family that they can appeal against the sentence they have imposed.
“Victims deserve to be told in court they can appeal; that’s why I am calling for Josh’s Law.”
The mum-of-two’s world fell apart when Josh was brutally murdered while on a night out with his girlfriend Lucie and some other friends at the bar, where O’Brien had also been drinking. Horrific footage shows Josh with his back to the wall as O’Brien approached and slashed him in the neck with a Stanley knife in October 2015.
O’Brien fled the UK in a private plane and travelled between Germany, Belgium and Czech Republic using fake identities and documents to avoid detection. During that time Tracey and her daughter Brooke were at the heart of a worldwide poster crusade to find him.
“Since the day I lost Josh I have been fighting,” Tracey said. “I had to contact Interpol and Europol to make sure they knew about the case and added O’Brien to their most wanted. We spent thousands of pounds getting posters and T-shirts printed to make sure as many people as possible knew about Josh’s murder and O’Brien being hunted for it.
“I’ve had to plough on the whole time. Where I got the strength from I just don’t know.”
O’Brien was eventually found in Romania in March 2019 and extradited. Last October he was jailed for life, to serve at least 26 years.
Tracey said: “I fought for so many years so get justice for Josh so 26 years is not enough. O’Brien has cost taxpayers hundreds and thousands in police resources and for him to get just 26 years is an insult to the family.
She added: “Other murderers and even drug dealers are jailed for much more than 26 years. If I had my way O’Brien would never ever be freed from jail but as that’s unlikely I want him locked up for as long as possible.”
Tracey, who has just finished a Masters in criminology, said she only found out she could appeal against his sentence after she tweeted Claire Waxman, the London Victims Commissioner, who helped her lodge an application.
She immediately sent an email to the Attorney General’s office only to be told that, despite her sending in her request on the last day of the deadline, it would be rejected because it was ‘out of office hours’.
“This whole 28 day time frame needs to be extended as it doesn’t take into account that it may take a while for a family to feel strong enough to lodge an appeal,” Tracey said. “You hear offenders can lodge an appeal within days of being sentenced but that’s because they have lawyers working on their behalf but victims and their families often have no legal representation.
“What’s also grossly unfair is that there is a time limit for the victims and their family but offenders can appeal against their sentence at any time. With Josh’s Law they will be told immediately after sentencing that they can lodge an appeal and if they feel too traumatised then they can get someone to do it for them.
“The key here is letting families know that option is there.”
So far MP Bambos Charalambous and Ms Waxman have openly supported Tracey regarding the 28-day deadline with the matter being discussed in parliament last week.
But Tracey is determined to take things further with ‘Josh’s Law’.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “Unfortunately we were unable to review this case because the referral was submitted to our office after the 28 day statutory deadline had expired.
“The Law Officers only have until the close of business 28 days from the date of the sentence to submit an application to review it and, before that deadline expires, they must be able to carefully consider whether the application is justified.
“Our online guidance explains, therefore, that requests to refer a sentence should be made as early as possible, within 28 days of the original sentencing.”
Tracey and Brooke Hanson set up a charity in memory of Josh which raises awareness of knife crime and helps anti-knife crime organisations. For more details visit thejoshhansontrust.org.