Prosecutors seeking a stronger sentence after father’s hammer attack

PROSECUTORS ARE to appeal the “unduly lenient” 13-year sentence handed to a father who attempted to murder his three young children and a stepdaughter, leaving them with devastating injuries.

Owen Scott, 29, had been driving with his daughter, aged seven, sons aged 21 months and nine months and his stepdaughter, eight, on August 22 last year when he attacked them with a hammer, striking their heads multiple times.

He then deliberately drove his car, containing the children, at more than 90mph into the stone wall of a pub near Penistone, South Yorkshire. The attack resulted in his seven-year-old daughter losing a large part of her skull, leaving her partially paralysed and needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

Scott, of Fawley, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and dangerous driving at Sheffield Crown Court, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 13 years and 188 days in February.

Scott claimed to have no memory of the incident and the court heard that in the weeks before the incident, he developed paranoia, which was put down to a temporary psychosis caused by his long-term use of cocaine and cannabis.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP will appear at the Court of Appeal in Sheffield tomorrow to “personally argue that his minimum term is unduly lenient”, a spokeswoman said.

She said: “All four children were left with devastating injuries, and medical reports have suggested there may be lasting psychological damage and cognitive impairment.”