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Sentencing: Newcastle-under-Lyme

Asked by Adam JogeeLabourMinistry of JusticeTabled Answered 19 May 2026UIN 900018

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that victims of crime have an adequate amount of time to challenge potentially unduly lenient sentences in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Answered by Jake Richards

We listened to victims and legislated for a statutory duty to notify victims of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, and an “out of time” route for victims and bereaved family members to refer sentences outside of the 28-day time limit, in the Victims and Courts Act.

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