Alex has announced that cowardly criminals who refuse to face the consequences of their actions will be ordered into the dock to attend their sentencing – and will face longer behind bars if they refuse to appear.
The reforms will create a new power for judges to order an offender to attend their hearings and make it clear – in law – that force can be used to make sure this happens.
If a criminal continues to resist attending their sentencing despite a judge’s order, they will face an extra two years behind bars.
Alex said:
"The worst offenders who rob innocence, betray trust and shatter families should be required to face the consequences of their actions and hear society’s condemnation expressed through the sentencing remarks of the judge. In the silence that follows the clang of the prison gate, those are the words that should be ringing in the prisoner’s ears. Not least because it is only with that frank acknowledgement of a crime that true rehabilitation can begin."