Conservatives set out plans to protect victims and keep dangerous criminals behind bars

Tuesday, 28 October 2025 22:00

Conservatives would expand whole life orders for the murder of police and prison officers Conservatives would introduce a national Child Cruelty Register to protect children and ensure abusers have nowhere to hide Parliament to vote on new amendments to Sentencing Bill Tomorrow [Wednesday 29th October], the Conservatives, subject to Mr Speaker's confirmation, will force votes on amendments on the Sentencing Bill to close a loophole...Request free trial

Conservatives would expand whole life orders for the murder of police and prison officers

Conservatives would introduce a national Child Cruelty Register to protect children and ensure abusers have nowhere to hide

Parliament to vote on new amendments to Sentencing Bill

Tomorrow [Wednesday 29^th October], the Conservatives, subject to Mr Speaker's confirmation, will force votes on amendments on the Sentencing Bill to close a loophole preventing a whole life order for murder of prison or police officer and to introduce a Child Cruelty Register.

Our first amendment would expand whole life orders for the murder of police and prison officers, so they also apply when an officer is killed because of their job and not just while doing their job. At present, the law only guarantees a whole life order when an officer is murdered on duty. That means if they are targeted off duty or after leaving the service, but the motive is clearly revenge for their work, the killer can avoid the toughest sentence.

In February 2024, armed robber Elias Morgan shot former prison officer Lenny Scott six times in a revenge attack for seizing a phone from his cell years earlier. The judge ruled it was a killing “for what Mr Scott did lawfully in his duty,” yet Morgan did not receive a whole life order.

This amendment would close that gap for good. Police and prison officers risk their lives to protect the public and that duty doesn't end when the uniform comes off. Anyone who murders an officer because of their service should face the harshest penalty our justice system allows.

The Conservative are also putting down an amendment to introduce a national Child Cruelty Register, which would require criminals who have served their sentences for serious child cruelty offences to notify the police of key personal details, enabling continued monitoring and risk management beyond their sentence.

Right now, there is no central system to track offenders who have served time in prison for physical or emotional cruelty towards children, leaving children at significant risk. Offenders may be released early but are only monitored until the formal end of their sentence, after that point, there is no oversight at all. Therefore, this reform aims to strengthen child protection and ensure that survivors are not failed by systemic blind spots.

This change has been championed by the Shadow Solicitor General, Helen Grant MP, following the case of her constituent Tony Hudgell, who suffered life-changing injuries from horrific abuse as a baby. Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, has campaigned tirelessly for this reform to make sure those who commit such crimes cannot simply disappear from the system.

The Conservatives have announced plans to hire 10,000 new police officers, backed by £800 million a year, and abolish the Sentencing Council transferring responsibility for sentencing guidance to the Lord Chancellor. Taken together, these measures form a comprehensive plan to strengthen the justice system, protect victims, and restore public confidence in law and order. By closing dangerous loopholes and protecting the most vulnerable, the Conservative Party aim to create a system that is fair, consistent, and focused on public safety.

Dr Kieran Mullan MP, Shadow Justice Minister, said:

“Police and prison officers stand between us and some of the most dangerous people in society. They put their lives on the line every single day, and too often, that risk follows them home. When someone is murdered because of their service, whether in uniform or years after they hang it up, it should carry the harshest sentence our justice system allows.

“The idea that an officer can be hunted down for doing their duty and their killer still avoid a whole life order is indefensible. This amendment is about fairness, respect, and that if you target those who protect the public, you will never walk free again.”

Helen Grant MP, Shadow Solicitor General, said:

“For child cruelty offenders who have completed their sentences there will be no management, no monitoring, no reporting requirements – such as changes of name or new relationships – and their case details will be archived. This leaves a terrible gap in the system.

“The register would operate similarly to the Sex Offenders Register. It's a vital safeguard to ensure those who pose an ongoing risk to children remain visible to authorities.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The Conservative Party plan to restore law and order in our country and keep the British public safe:

We will hire 10,000 extra police officers. To combat Labour's cuts to policing, we would hire 10,000 extra police officers over three years as part of our plan to crack down on crime and support policing. This would cost £650 million per year once fully rolled out.

The Conservative Party plan for sentencing guidance:

The Conservative Party will abolish the Sentencing Council and give the Lord Chancellor the power to issue new sentencing guidance, subject to the assent of Parliament. We will do this by introducing new primary legislation to replace the relevant provisions of the Coroners and Justice Act 2008, amend the duties of the Lord Chancellor, as laid out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and reallocate the power to issue authoritative sentencing guidelines to the Lord Chancellor.

Conservative amendments to strengthen justice:

The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will expand whole life orders for the murder of police or prison officers, including cases motivated by their duties even when off duty.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC16

To move the following Clause—

“Whole life order: murder of a police or prison officer

(1) The Sentencing Code is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 2 of Schedule 21 (Determination of minimum term in relation to mandatory life sentence for murder etc), in sub-paragraph (2)(c), after “duty,”, insert “or if the motivation for the murder was connected to the police officer or prison officer's current or former duties,””

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would expand the circumstances in which it is appropriate to apply a whole life order for murdering a prison or police officer, to include murder motivated by the victim's current or former duties.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

Elias Morgan shot Lenny Scott, a prison officer, six times for seizing a phone from his cell four years after the fact and was not given a whole life order. In February 2024, armed robber Elias Morgan shot father-of-three Lenny Scott, a former prison officer, six times outside a gym in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. The attack was a revenge killing, Four years earlier, in March 2020, Mr Scott had seized a mobile phone from Morgan's cell at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool. Although Mr Scott had left the prison service in 2021, and Morgan had since been released from prison in 2022, the court found the motive was clearly linked to Mr Scott's former duties. Mr Justice Goose described the murder as a “revenge killing” for what Mr Scott “did lawfully in his duty as a prison officer.” Yet because Mr Scott was not serving at the time of his death, Morgan was sentenced to a minimum of 45 years rather than receiving a whole life order. (BBC News, 2 September 2025, link).

The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will create notification requirements for people convicted of child cruelty, analogous to the Sex Offenders Register. This would mean their information and personal details would be kept on record by the police for the purposes of offender management, with the aim of reducing the risk to children from future offences.

To move the following Clause—

“Child cruelty offences: notification and offender management requirements

A person (“relevant offender”) is subject to the notification requirements of subsections (2) and (3) for the period set out in subsection (4) if the relevant offender is convicted of an offence listed in subsection (6).

A relevant offender must notify to the police within the three days of the time of their conviction or their release from custody, and annually thereafter, providing—

the relevant offender's date of birth;

(b) their national insurance number;

(d) their place of residence on the date of notification;

(e) the address of any other premises in the United Kingdom at which, at the time the notification is given, they regularly reside or stay; and

(f) any information that may be prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of State.

(3) A relevant offender must notify to the police, within the period of three days beginning with the event occurring, about—

(a) their use of a name which has not been notified to the police under subsection (2);

(b) a change to their place or residence; and

(4) The dates of discharge from notification requirements under this section are the same as those set out in Section 88B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

(5) The information required by subsections (2) and (3), once received, must be—

(a) monitored regularly by the police and probation service; and

(b) retained for the purposes of offender management.

(6) The relevant offences are—

(a) causing or allowing the death a child or vulnerable adult, or allowing them to suffer serious harm (section 5 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004);

4 / 4

(d) infanticide (section 1 of the Infanticide Act 1938)

(e) exposing children whereby life is endangered (section 27 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861)

(f) an offence under sections 4, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 or 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1860, if the victim is under the age of 16

(g) an offence under any of the following provisions of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003—

(i) female genital mutilation (section 1)

(ii) assisting a girl to mutilate her own genitalia (section 2);

(iii) assisting a non-UK person to mutilate overseas a girl's genitalia (section 3); and

(h) cruelty to children (section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933).”

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would create notification requirements for people convicted of child cruelty, analogous to the Sex Offenders Register. Their information and personal details would be kept on record by the police for the purposes of offender management, with the aim of reducing the risk to children from future offences

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 28 October 2025, link).

Tony Hudgell was just 41 days old when he was brutally abused by his birth parents, suffering injuries so severe that both of his legs had to be amputated. Tony Hudgell abusers were sentenced to 10 years in prison but released after serving only six. Now both are free, despite the lifelong damage they inflicted. Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, who fought to strengthen sentencing for child abusers through Tony's Law, is now leading calls for a Child Cruelty Register to protect children once perpetrators leave prison. (Kent Online, 26 October, link).