Killers' life terms breach rights

Jeremy Bamber, who murdered five of his family members, and two other killers were told their whole-life tariffs amounted to a breach of human rights.

The European Court of Human Rights said whole-life sentences were "inhuman and degrading".

ITV News deputy political editor Chris Ship reports:

Read: European court rules that life can never mean life

Conservative MP Dominic Raab has branded the European Court of Human Rights ruling on life sentences as a "gross distortion of the European Convention".

April Jones' father Paul has told ITV News he feels a life sentence should mean life and today's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights is "gutting".

He says the ECHR shouldn't interfere with the British system of justice.

Mark Bridger was sentenced to a whole life tariff for April's murder on May 30, and under the new ruling would be eligible for review by 2048, when he would be 83 years old.

Simon McKay says his client Jeremy Bamber is no longer "consigned to the prospect of spending his whole life in jail" but today's ruling will not result in his immediate release.

Downing Street said that David Cameron was "very, very disappointed" at the ruling over the life terms of Jeremy Bamber, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore.

"He profoundly disagrees with the court's ruling. He is a strong supporter of whole life tariffs," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said he disagrees with the decision by the European Court of Human Rights that life terms handed to three UK murderers are in breach of their human rights.

A statement from Jeremy Bamber, who maintains his innocence to this day, has appeared on his blog, following today's European Court of Human Rights ruling.

It read: "I am the only person in the UK who was retrospectively given a life tariff on a majority verdict that maintains innocence.

"The verdict today seems in so many ways to be hollow, as I am still serving a prison sentence for a crime I did not commit.

"My whole life order has now been given a system of reviews, but there is no provision for someone who is wrongly convicted to prove that they are worthy of release, such hope is in reality, no hope at all.

"Reviews and parole hearings are subject to a risk assessment to gauge dangerousness and this is influenced by the inmate's confession, remorse and rehabilitation for reintegration back into the community. In my case I do not fit the criteria for parole on this basis.

"The justice system, despite the investment in the Criminal Cases Review Commission, still refuses to accept that there are prisoners who are innocent of the crimes they have been convicted of and this comes into conflict with sentence reviews.

"While there are some people who have been released at the end of their sentence and still maintained innocence, such as Eddie Gilfoyle and Susan May, it is unlikely I would ever be released without my conviction being overturned...Simply because of the high profile nature of my case.

"As is always, the law does not apply if it assists me in anyway."

Douglas Vinter's lawyer Simon Creighton has said the European Court of Human Rights' ruling could not be used as a "get out of jail free" excuse for life-term prisoners.

Mr Creighton said the court is telling the Government to return to what it was doing 10 years ago. He said there were "very careful" safeguards in place which must be passed before prisoners can even be considered for release.

"It's now for the Government to respond," Mr Creighton said.

"My client will look forward to their response with interest."

Whole-life jail sentences given to murderers Jeremy Bamber, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore are a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

But the court said the ruling was not intended to give the applicants any prospect of imminent release.

The three men claim condemning them to spend the rest of their lives behind bars is against their human rights.

Bamber, 51, has been behind bars for more than 25 years for shooting his wealthy adopted parents June and Neville, his sister Sheila Caffell and her six-year-old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas at their farmhouse in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex.

He was given a whole-life tariff after being convicted of the murders in October 1986.

Vinter was released from prison after serving nine years for the 1995 murder of work colleague Carl Edon, 22 - but just three years later he stabbed his wife Anne White four times and strangled her, before being given a whole-life order.

Welsh serial killer Moore was convicted of four counts of murder in 1996 after killing four gay men across a period of four months.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled today: "There had to be both a possibility of release and a possibility of review."