Overview
- Shaine March, whose 42-year minimum was reviewed Thursday by the Court of Appeal, was given a whole life order that ensures he will never be released.
- The Solicitor General used the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, which allows the Court of Appeal to increase a Crown Court sentence that falls outside a reasonable range on the facts the original judge had.
- The court said aggravating features outweighed limited mitigation, citing cruel and persistent abuse, the death of the unborn child, and a second murder committed while on life licence for a 2000 killing.
- March stabbed 32-year-old Alana Odysseos multiple times at her Walthamstow home in July 2024; she died at the scene after identifying him, and he later recorded a message admitting the killing.
- Officials welcomed the ruling as removing an extremely dangerous offender, while Ms Odysseos’s family expressed relief and said one child still asks when her mother is coming back.