R v Shaine March

Where a murder falls within para 2 of Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020, a whole life order is the starting point. The court must then assess aggravating and mitigating factors in a structured way. A whole life order remains a sentence of last resort, but will normally be imposed where aggravating factors substantially outweigh the available mitigation. The category of murder by an offender previously convicted of murder does not require premeditation. Mental impairment carries weight only to the extent that it affected culpability. Lack of premeditation may have limited weight where the surrounding conduct shows preparation or sustained violence. A guilty plea entered only when the offender has no viable alternative defence may attract no substantial weight. Appellate intervention requires a sentence to be manifestly excessive or unduly lenient.

The offender was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court by Mr Justice Murray on 31 October 2025 for murdering Alana Odysseos. He was already serving a life sentence for an earlier murder. The judge imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 42 years and ordered that time spent on remand should not count towards it.

The Solicitor General referred the sentence under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, arguing that the case required a whole life order. The offender applied for leave to appeal on the ground that the sentence was manifestly excessive or wrong in principle, relying on his mental condition, lack of premeditation and guilty plea. The central issue was whether the sentencing judge had properly applied Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020.

1. The offender’s application for leave to appeal against sentence was refused. The Solicitor General was granted leave to refer the sentence under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The reference was allowed: the sentence and minimum-term order were quashed, and a whole life order was substituted.
2. Under para 2 of Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020, the court must first decide whether the murder is of exceptionally high seriousness. A murder by an offender previously convicted of murder normally falls within that category. Paragraph 2(2)(e) contains no requirement that either murder be premeditated.
3. The court followed the structured guidance in R v Stewart and others [2022] EWCA Crim 1063. Once a whole life order is the starting point, the court must assess aggravating and mitigating factors by their potency, without double counting factors already used to engage para 2. A whole life order is a sentence of last resort, but where aggravating factors substantially outweigh the available mitigation it will normally be imposed.
4. The aggravating features were substantial. They included persistent controlling or coercive behaviour, the killing of the unborn child, the presence of the victim’s young daughter, prolonged and serious violence, and the circumstances of the attack. The statutory inclusion of controlling or coercive behaviour in para 9 confirmed its substantial importance as an aggravating factor.
5. The mitigation was limited. The traumatic brain injury was not shown to be a major cause of the offending; the evidence attributed the conduct principally to an antisocial personality disorder. The absence of premeditation was heavily qualified by the offender’s armed journey before the earlier murder and by the prolonged abusive argument before the later killing.
6. A guilty plea may in principle assist in avoiding a whole life order. Here, however, the plea to murder was entered only after the proposed diminished-responsibility defence could no longer be maintained. It should have attracted no substantial weight.
7. The sentencing judge erred by considering matters said to justify avoiding a whole life order before carrying out the required structured assessment. Given the very serious aggravating factors and limited mitigation, the sentence was unduly lenient.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): the offender’s application for leave to appeal against sentence was refused. The Solicitor General’s reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 was allowed; the sentence and minimum-term order were quashed and a whole life order substituted.
• Central Criminal Court: on 31 October 2025, Mr Justice Murray imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 42 years for murder.