Nobody is beyond redemption

Ann Maguire, the much-loved Leeds teacher murdered in front of her class, would be the last to agree that her killer, then aged 15, should be dismissed as irredeemable. Her reputation was that she never gave up on any teenager, however wayward. What we know of him, however, puts him at the extreme edge of abnormality. He entirely lacked remorse; he gloated over his crime, and wanted to commit more of the same.

The court was told that he had been diagnosed with a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopaths, who generally lack the capacity for human empathy, are as baffling and disturbing to psychiatrists and lawyers as they are to moral philosophers and theologians, for they appear to lack the conscience that enables ordinary people to distinguish right from wrong. Many psychiatrists regard them as untreatable. But it is surely a matter of faith – Ann Maguire’s faith too – that nobody is beyond redemption.

Mr Justice Coulson said the crime came with a long list of aggravating factors which therefore required an exceptional sentence. He sentenced him to life, and to serve a minimum of 20 years before he could apply for parole, which he was unlikely ever to be granted. There has been some recent research which suggests some psychopaths can actually be taught empathy, and hence to adapt their behaviour to an acceptable degree. But the individual has first to make a decision that this is what he/she wants. If Mrs Maguire’s killer is ever given the opportunity for such a choice, that is surely what she would wish. With the present state of the overcrowded and understaffed British prison service, however, it is optimistic to suppose the chance will ever arrive.

The judge’s decision to allow the defendant’s name to be published will make any effort at rehabilitation inside prison that much more difficult. The reason he gave for doing so, to deter others, is hardly persuasive considering how rare such crimes are. Nevertheless, the criticism of the minimum 20-year sentence – too long, say some penal reformers, for any juvenile offender whatever their crime – overlooks the gravity of the offence and the justified alarm of the public.

It is a hard point to accept, but there is a small group of criminals about whom it is known with a reasonable degree of certainty that they may commit further violent crimes if released into the community. They are being detained, not just for what they have done, but for what they might do in the future. It was for this reason that indeterminate sentences were introduced. They are a device of last resort, but this is one case where a life sentence may have to mean precisely that. The young man, nevertheless, needs our prayers.