Knife killers to serve at least 25 years

Knife killers will spend at least a quarter of a century in prison, Jack Straw announced today.

The Justice Secretary said the minimum term for murders committed with a blade will go up by a decade from 15 to 25 years.

A review was ordered amid outrage over the sentences handed to the murderers of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella.

Mr Straw said he was writing to the Kinsella family to tell them the outcome of the review.

He told the House of Commons the changes would be discussed in Parliament before Christmas.

"The loss of a loved one in any circumstances is heart-breaking, and even more so when they are the victim of a senseless and appalling murder," he said.

"It is only right that thugs who carry knives with the intention of using them, potentially to kill should the opportunity arise, go to prison for a long time.

"That is why in June I announced that I would review the minimum jail term available to judges for this, and it is why today I am announcing that anyone who kills using a knife, a knife that they had earmarked for this purpose, should go to jail for a minimum of 25 years.

"I am determined to do everything in my power to tackle the menace of knife crime on our streets. The Government is very clear that if someone is caught carrying a knife there will be serious consequences."

The review looked at bringing laws for knife killers into line with gun killers, who face minimum terms of 30 years.

When the measures become law, judges will use 25 years as their starting point for deciding what sentence to hand down.

Ben, the brother of former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella, was murdered in Islington, north London, in summer last year while out celebrating the end of his GCSEs.

His killers, Juress Kika, 19, Michael Alleyne, 18, and Jade Braithwaite, 20, were given minimum sentences of 19 years at the Old Bailey in June.

Afterwards the family attacked the terms as "simply not enough". Ms Kinsella said after the trial: "We've spoken about it as a family and we all feel it simply wasn't enough.

"The past year has flown by so quickly that those 19 years they have to do is just going to fly by. As much as the judge tried to give as many years as he could, it's just not enough for us as a family."