List of prisoners with whole life orders

This is a list of prisoners who have received a whole life tariff through some mechanism in jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. At least 61 such orders have been made since 1983.

11 of these prisoners have since died in prison, while three of them have had their sentences reduced on appeal, meaning that there are currently at least 50 prisoners serving such sentences. There have been media reports that other prisoners have been issued with whole life tariffs, but their status has not been confirmed by the Home Office; these include Harry Roberts, who has been in prison since 1966 for the murder of three policemen in London.

Imposed by Home Secretaries

Successive Home Secretaries are known to have imposed whole life tariffs for the following convicted murderers (note, this list is incomplete):

Name	Nickname	Year	Died	Notes
John Straffen		1952	2007	Britain's longest serving prisoner who was convicted of murdering two pre-teen girls in 1951. The following year, he escaped for a four-hour period and murdered another girl during this short spell at large, although he long proclaimed his innocence, and has had his case examined by justice campaigners who also believe his conviction is unsafe. Straffen was reprieved from a death sentence owing to learning difficulties, and spent 55 continuous years in custody. Straffen died, having never been released, in Frankland prison in November 2007. He had served 56 years. From 2002 until his death, he was the oldest prisoner known to be serving a whole life tariff, following the death of Archibald Hall.
Ian Brady	Moors murderer	1966		One of the Moors Murderers, who was convicted in May 1966 of murdering three children. With accomplice Myra Hindley, he buried the children in shallow graves on Saddleworth Moor. Two decades later, they admitted abducting and killing two more children, and Brady and Hindley were taken back to the Moor to try to find the graves, but only one of which was found. Since 1985 he has been held in a mental hospital and has been on long-term hunger strike, which has led to his being force-fed through a tube. He also has had a book published on serial killing. The body of one of his victims, a 12-year-old boy, remains undiscovered on the Moor, despite Brady's and Hindley's own heavily guarded efforts to locate the remains themselves. In 2006, Brady wrote to the missing child's mother to claim he remembered enough to be taken to within 20 yards of the grave but was not permitted to do so.
Myra Hindley	Moors murderer	1966	2002	The other of the Moors Murderers, Ian Brady's girlfriend and accomplice who was involved in all five murders with Brady, with two murder convictions and one as an accessory, as well as later admitting the murder of two more children later, only one of whom was subsequently found on the Moor. Hindley was given a 25-year minimum term by the trial judge, which was endorsed in 1982 by the Lord Chief Justice. Reports suggested that Hindley was rehabilitating in prison and had found religion and rejected Brady and her past, but nevertheless a strong sense of public feeling - plus the admission of the two further murders, one of which has yet to result in the discovery of a body - helped prompt her tariff to be increased to 30 years in 1988 and, finally, to a whole life tariff two years later. Hindley subsequently made three appeals against the whole life tariff and launched a further bid for freedom in 1996 when she had served 30 years, but all her efforts were rejected and she died in jail at the age of 60 in November 2002, less than two weeks before a law lords' ruling would probably have secured her freedom. Her case prompted more debate than that of any other prisoner of notoriety, with some high-profile backing from the House of Lords, but vitriol from the Press and the public, as well as the families of her victims. Her death left only Rosemary West as a confirmed female prisoner serving a whole life tariff.
Donald Neilson	Black Panther	1976	2011	The Black Panther, so-called for his penchant for wearing a black balaclava, shot dead three postmasters during robberies in various areas of the country, then abducted a 17-year-old heiress from her Shropshire home. He attempted to ransom the heiress, but her body was found two months later in a drain in Staffordshire. In 2008, Neilson lost an appeal to have his tariff reduced to 30 years. He remained in prison until his death three years later, having served 35 years
Trevor Hardy		1976	2012	Trevor Joseph Hardy murdered three girls between December 1974 and March 1976. Janet Lesley Stewart, 15, was murdered on New Year's Eve 1974 and buried in a shallow grave in Newton Heath, North Manchester. She had been stabbed. Wanda Skala, 17, was murdered in July 1975 on Lightbowne Road, Moston. She was hit over the head with a paving stone and sexually assaulted. Sharon Mosoph, 17, was murdered in March 1976, and dumped in the Rochdale Canal at Failsworth, Oldham. She had been strangled and mutilated after walking by when Hardy was attempting to burgle a shopping centre at night. He was suspected of committing other murders. At the height of the hunt for the serial killer, 23,000 people were stopped and searched. The case is not widely known and only one independent publication exists which covers the case. Trevor Hardy was arrested for the murders of Wanda Skala and Sharon Mosoph during 1976 and in August 1976. He confessed to the murders and to that of Janet Lesley Stewart - who until then had been a missing person. Despite the alibis provided by his girlfriend Sheilagh Farrow, Hardy was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. He remained in prison until his death some 36 years later.
Robert Maudsley	Hannibal the Cannibal	1977		Robert John Maudsley (born June 1953) is a serial killer who killed four people. He committed three of these murders in prison after receiving a life sentence for a single murder in the mid 1970s. He was alleged to have eaten part of the brain of one of three men he killed in prison, which earned him the nickname "Hannibal the Cannibal" among the British press.
Archibald Hall	Killer Butler or Monster Butler	1978	2002	The Killer Butler or Monster Butler, so named as he committed his murders while working in service to members of the British aristocracy as a butler. Hall, also known as Roy Fontaine, was a Glaswegian thief and confidence trickster with numerous convictions and prison sentences by the time he committed his first murder, of an ex-cellmate, whom he shot and buried after an argument over some jewellery stolen from Hall's employer. Hall moved to London and began serving an elderly ex-MP and his wife, and with accomplice Michael Kitto, he killed and buried them both after late-night plans to rob them were disturbed. They then killed a female acquaintance and dumped her body in a barn after she refused to destroy a fur coat which was potentially incriminating evidence, and lastly Hall murdered his half-brother, a convicted child molester who was asking too many questions, before beginning a journey to Scotland with the intention of again burying the body. Having stopped at a hotel for the night when the weather became too hazardous for driving, Hall and Kitto were caught when the hotelier, concerned that two suspicious-looking guests might not pay their bill, called the police. They found the body in Hall's car boot, and Hall later showed them the three gruesome burial sites. After trials in London and Edinburgh, Hall received four life sentences and Kitto three, with one judge recommending that Hall should never be freed. This recommendation was upheld when the list of confirmed whole life tariff prisoners was published, and Hall was the oldest prisoner on the list. He publicly requested the right to die in 1995, and did so of a stroke in 2002, while still in prison. He was 78. Three years earlier, he had published his autobiography.
John Childs		1980		Hitman John Childs murdered and burned six people in 1980.
Dennis Nilsen	Muswell Hill Murderer	1983	-	An ex-policeman who dismembered and murdered 13 men at his home in North London, storing the body parts inside and around the flat, and was arrested after workmen investigating a blocked and odorous drain found human flesh. Nilsen's trial judge originally recommended a 25-year minimum sentence, but successive Home Secretaries decided that he should never be released from prison. The November 2002 law lords' ruling meant that Nilsen could have been released from prison as early as 2008, however this has not transpired and he remains imprisoned as the 30th anniversary of his conviction approaches. Nilsen has also been denied the right to publish his autobiography and some music and poetry from prison.
Arthur Hutchinson		1984	-	A fugitive who gatecrashed a wedding reception at a house in Sheffield shortly after the bride and groom had left and stabbed to death the bride's father, mother and brother, before raping her sister at knifepoint. Police quickly labelled him as the killer after identifying a handprint on a champagne bottle and a bitemark in a piece of cheese. He was already on the run from answering a charge of violent rape and had previous convictions for offences of violence, indecent assault and dishonesty. Now a pensioner, his trial judge recommended an 18-year tariff which expired in 2002 but he remains in prison, having been listed by the Home Secretary as a whole-life prisoner. Hutchinson appealed this twice through the High Court, but the court upheld the decision of the Home Secretary on both occasions, meaning he is likely to die in prison.
Jeremy Bamber		1986	-	Shot dead his adoptive parents, sister and six-year-old twin nephews at the family farmhouse in Essex in order to claim a six-figure inheritance while also laying evidence to suggest his sister, a schizophrenic, had committed the murders before killing herself. His trial judge said in sentencing him that he found the idea of ever seeing Bamber free again "difficult to foresee", and advised that he should serve at least 25 years behind bars before release could even be considered. Bamber has nonetheless spent his sentence continuously protesting his innocence, asking for support on a website he runs from prison and seeking new evidence to launch fresh appeals. Support for his case is increasing, including backing from his MP. He is the only whole life tariff prisoner who has not accepted guilt or culpability and was also the youngest such prisoner when the original list was published. Despite the law lords' ruling in November 2002, Bamber has been told by the Home Secretary that he will never be released.
Anthony Entwistle		1987	-	He murdered 16-year-old Michelle Calvy at Blackburn in 1987, within weeks of his release from a seven-year prison sentence imposed for sexually assaulting two women. He was found guilty of Michelle's murder at Preston Crown Court in 1988, sentenced to life imprisonment and is still behind bars after some 25 years.
Victor Miller		1988	-	A predator who abducted, sexually assaulted and battered to death a 14-year-old boy from Hagley in Worcestershire in January 1988. He confessed after being arrested for an unrelated crime and led detectives to the body. Police later revealed they believed Miller was responsible for almost 30 unsolved sexual assaults. In court, he confessed openly to the killing and asked for the maximum sentence available. Although he was set a tariff of 25 years which was reactivated after the November 2002 law lords' ruling, meaning he could be considered for release in 2013, Miller has asked the Home Office not to consider him for release at any point in the future, and therefore actively wishes to die in prison. Miller's trial judge had also expressed doubt as to whether it would be safe for him ever to be released.
John Duffy	Railway Killer	1988	-	The Railway Killer, who attacked numerous women in the south of England, raping all of them and murdering three, before revolutionary psychological profiling helped police to catch him, although they got no nearer the accomplice they knew Duffy worked with. He was given a 30-year tariff for two murders and seven rapes which, after the law lords' ruling, was reactivated, meaning that he could be considered for release in 2018. After 12 years in prison, Duffy went on a conscience-clearing exercise, admitting to a third killing of which he had been originally acquitted, and implicating schoolfriend David Mulcahy as his accomplice. He also revealed his part in countless other rapes, for which he received a further 12 years. After Duffy gave evidence against him, Mulcahy was given life sentences for three murders and seven rapes in 2001 but was not subjected to a whole life tariff because of the timing of his case in relation with the review.
Anthony Arkwright		1989	-	Hacked and battered to death three people including his grandfather in Yorkshire, aged 21, on a two-day killing spree in August 1988. He was convicted of all three murders and sentenced to life imprisonment the following year. He was also suspected of a fourth murder committed around the same time but never charged.
Victor Castigador		1990	-	A Filipino illegal immigrant who led a gang of robbers on a grudge attack at a London amusement arcade where he himself worked. Four members of staff were tied up, locked in a cage within the vault before being doused in white spirit and set alight. Two died, two suffered serious burns. Castigador received an initial 25-year tariff from his trial judge which was duly extended to a whole life tariff, but the November 2002 law lords' ruling means that he could still be released from prison as early as 2015 (by which time he will be 61 years old) if the parole board decides he is no longer a danger to the public. One of his teenage accomplices was sentenced to life with a recommended minimum of 20 years; a subsequent appeal against this recommendation at the High Court was rejected.
Colin Ireland	Gay Slayer	1993	2012	The Gay Slayer, who set about achieving a New Year's resolution to become a serial killer by targeting patrons of a public house frequented by gay men. Ireland pretended to be homosexual in order to be taken to each of his victims' homes, where he took advantage of their desire for S&M activity to truss, torture and murder them, often then robbing them to cover his travelling expenses as he was unemployed. He was able to continue as police found initial difficulty in linking the killings to one perpetrator, and was caught when, having visited police to explain away his sighting on closed-circuit television with his final victim, his fingerprint was subsequently matched to one found at the man's flat. He confessed to the other murders while in custody and pleaded guilty to all charges in court. His original recommended tariff was never publicised. Ireland remained in prison until he died on 21 February 2012 at the age of 57.
Colin Hatch		1994	2011	A paedophile who was convicted of sexual assault on boys in 1991 and 1992 but jailed for only three years after it was decided he was not dangerous enough to be held involuntarily in a Secure Hospital, against the advice of the psychiatrist. He was paroled early and committed the sexually motivated murder of seven-year-old Sean Williams in summer 1993, for which he received a whole life tariff; Lowry J said it was "not possible to envisage" a time when Hatch could be released safely, so "life should mean life". He was remained imprisoned until his death in February 2011; he was found dead in his cell and it was reported that he had been murdered by another prisoner.
Robert Black		1994	-	A pædophile who abducted, raped and killed three schoolgirls in the 1980s before dumping all three at roadsides hundreds of miles from their homes. He was already serving a life sentence for an attempted abduction when he was convicted of three murders (and one further abduction of a girl who survived) in 1994, and the trial judge recommended a minimum term of 35 years - which would make him ineligible for release until 2029 and the age of 82. He was later given a whole life tariff by the home secretary, although the November 2002 law lords' ruling means that he could still receive early release. Black has been long suspected of involvement in the disappearances of numerous other children in the 1970s and 1980s but questioning of him has proved inconclusive; no bodies have ever been found in these cases and the files remain open.
Rosemary West		1995	-	Convicted for the murder of ten women and girls at her home in Gloucester, including one of her daughters and a stepdaughter. Her husband, Frederick West, committed suicide in jail before standing trial for a total of 12 murders (two of which occurred just before the couple met in 1968). Hindley's death left West as the only confirmed female prisoner on the whole life tariff register.
Peter Moore		1996	-	Moore murdered four men in apparently sexually motivated attacks in Wales. He confessed to police but claimed at trial it was in fact a fictional lover, "Jason", who had killed them. Following his conviction the judge said he would urge the Home Secretary to impose the whole life tariff; it was revealed in 2011 that he remained subject to this after the press reported he was one of three prisoners challenging the legality of the order before the European Court of Human Rights.
Anthony Sawoniuk		1999	2005	Belorussian Nazi collaborator who was convicted of murder committed outside the UK against non-UK citizens, during the Holocaust, based on the principle of universal jurisdiction. He is the only person sentenced to a whole life tariff under the War Crimes Act and was the oldest prisoner with such a tariff when he died aged 84 in Norwich L wing, for elderly men serving life or other long sentences, in 2005.
Harold Shipman	Dr Death	2000	2004	Former GP who was convicted of killing 15 of his patients, all female, at his surgery in Hyde, Greater Manchester, in the 1990s, giving them lethal doses of morphine. Suspicion was raised when the daughter of his last victim found that Shipman had crudely forged her mother's will. Shipman was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the trial judge recommending that he should never be released, and two years later the Home Secretary agreed. An official inquiry in July 2002 concluded that there was enough evidence to decide that Shipman had killed 215 of his patients, making him Britain's most prolific serial killer. Some reports claimed that he may have committed around 460 murders. Shipman, who never confessed to the murders, hanged himself in his prison cell on 13 January 2004, the day before what would have been his 58th birthday, and the full extent of his crimes will probably be never known as a consequence.

Sentenced by judges

Since the European Court of Human Rights decision, only trial judges and the High Court have had the right to decide that a killer should never be released. In that time, there have been more than 20 reported instances of trial judges recommending that an offender should never be released. All but one of these has been convicted of murder.

Two of these killers have already appealed for the High Court to take a different view, but both have so far been unsuccessful. Two others have succeeded in their appeals, while a further three are currently appealing against both their convictions and their sentences. Two such inmates have since died in custody.

Name	Nickname	Year	Died	Notes
Paul Glen		2004	-	Glen was employed as a hitman and in 2004 had been hired to murder Vincent Smart, but instead he murdered Mr Smart's friend Robert Bogle. After his trial, it was revealed that Glen had a previous conviction for murder.
Andrezej Kunowski		2004	2009	A Polish murderer who was imprisoned in England. Kunowski murdered a 12-year-old Macedonian girl, Katerina Koneva, in West London in 1997. Kunowski died in Frankland Prison on 23 September 2009.
Phillip Heggarty		2004	-	Convicted of murdering his friend, Derek Bennett, in a hammer attack in 2003. He later set fire to a Renault Laguna after placing Mr Bennett's body in it which was so severely burnt that it had to be identified by dental records.
Thomas McDowell		2004	-	A psychopath who strangled and cut up a gay trainee rabbi with a ripsaw. McDowell throttled Andreas Hinz, then dumped his head, limbs and torso in bin bags in Camden, north London. McDowell suffered abuse as a child and grew up hating homosexuals.
Mark Martin	Sneinton Strangler	2005	-	He killed three homeless women in Nottingham between December 2004 and January 2005, declaring his ambition to become "Nottingham's first serial killer".
Mark Hobson		2005	-	Murdered his girlfriend, her twin sister and an elderly couple in Yorkshire before going on the run with the whole nation's police looking for him. He was eventually arrested after being spotted hiding in bushes near a motorway service station. Pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the judge advising that his life sentence should mean exactly that. Hobson later appealed for a lower tariff to be set on the grounds that he merited some credit for admitting to the crimes in order to avoid a trial, but this was rejected by the Lord Chief Justice.
William Horncy		2005	-	Achieved notoriety in 2005 when he was convicted of murdering millionaire Amarjit Chohan as well as Chohan's wife, mother-in-law and two sons in an effort to take over the Chohan family freight business to ship drugs into the UK. The bodies of Chohan's two sons were never found.
Kenneth Regan		2005	-	Achieved notoriety in 2005 as he too was involved, with William Horncy, in the murder of millionaire Amarjit Chohan as well as Chohan's wife, mother-in-law and two sons, whose bodies were never found. He was a former drug dealer, who turned to being a Police supergrass to gain himself early release from prison for a prior crime. He murdered Amarjit Chohan and his family in an effort to take over the Chohan family freight business to ship drugs into the UK.
Paul Culshaw		2005	-	A British convicted murderer and sex offender. In 2005, he was found guilty of murdering Clare Benson-Jowry, who had died in 2004. After his trial, it was revealed that Culshaw had previous convictions for crimes including rape, attempted murder and indecent assault.
Glyn Dix		2005	-	Found guilty of murdering his wife Hazel, having stabbed her to death and chopped her body into 16 pieces at their home in Redditch, Worcestershire in the previous year. It was then revealed that he had already been out of prison on life licence following a previous conviction for murdering Pia Overbury in the 1970s.
Daniel Gonzalez	Freddy Krueger Killer or Mummy's Boy Killer	2006	2007	A drug addict, inspired by horror films, who stabbed to death four randomly chosen people (including three pensioners) over a 24-hour period and tried to kill two more. His mother had previously begged for help from the authorities, chillingly (but rhetorically) asking in one letter if her son might "have to commit murder" before anyone would do something about him. He tried to escape conviction through reasons of insanity but was found guilty of murder and attempted murder and given six life sentences, with the judge advising that he should never be released from prison. He committed suicide in a mental hospital the following year.
Viktor Dembovskis		2006	-	A Latvian citizen who raped and murdered a 17-year-old neighbour as she walked home from school in west London, before fleeing back to Latvia. Dembovskis was deported from Latvia after a joint operation by British and Latvian police. It was revealed that Dembovskis had a string of convictions in Latvia stretching back 25 years including two rapes in the 1990s. Given his appalling record, the trial judge advised that Dembovskis should never be freed - a rare recommendation for someone guilty of a single murder.
John McGrady		2006	-	A convicted rapist who strangled and mutilated a 15-year-old girl in London before dumping her dismembered remains in bin bags. He slit his wrists and confessed to his girlfriend after the attack, but his suicide bid was thwarted and he was successfully brought to justice. However, much was made in court of his refusal to co-operate with the police and other authorities, especially on the issue of how or why the teenager was in his flat at the outset, although police remain convinced she did not go willingly. The judge said that McGrady, who had previous convictions for raping and kidnapping women, was a highly dangerous predator and should never be released from prison. The victim's family later criticised heavily the nature of the media's distressingly over-descriptive reporting of the murder. McGrady later appealed for a lower minimum term to be set by the Court of Appeal, but this was rejected.
Rahan Arshad		2006	-	Murdered of his wife and three children, who were found dead in their home in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester in August 2006.
David Tiley		2007	-	Two months after he was released from prison, he stabbed to death his disabled fiancée Susan Hale, who suffered from a degenerative brain disorder, and her carer Sarah Merritt.
Michael Smith		2007	-	Attacked his victim with a bottle. This was a second life sentence, as he had already served time in prison for an earlier murder. The most recent murder occurred in Stafford, and he was convicted in 2007.
Steve Wright	Suffolk Strangler	2008	-	Murdered five prostitutes in Ipswich in late 2006. Wright was found guilty of all five murders in February 2008.
Levi Bellfield		2008	-	Attacked three women, killing two in sexually motivated attacks between 2001 and 2004. In 2011, he was convicted of murdering Surrey teenager Amanda "Milly" Dowler nine years previously, and the trial judge in this case also sentenced Bellfield to life imprisonment with the recommendation that life should mean life.
Douglas VinterM		2008	-	Strangled and murdered his wife Anne White in Normanby, Teesside, on 10 February 2008. He admitted the murder in court two months later, and was already on life licence having spent nine years in prison for a previous murder. Vinter applied to the High Court for lesser minimum term to be set, but this appeal was rejected in June 2009.
Marc Chivers		2009	-	Strangled his ex-girlfriend Maria Stubbings with a dog lead in December 2008. He pleaded guilty to the crime in court 12 months later and was jailed for life. He had previously served 15 years in prison in Germany for murdering another ex-girlfriend and was deported to the UK in January 2008. Chivers had a string of previous convictions for some extreme cases of violent behaviour.
Peter Tobin		2009	-	Convicted of the murder of Dinah McNicol in Margate, Kent in 1991. Tobin had already been convicted in Scotland for the murder that same year of Vicky Hamilton whose body was found in Tobin's back garden alongside that of McNicol, and also for the murder of Angelika Kluk in a Glasgow church in 2006. Tobin was already serving currently serving two concurrent prison sentences in Scotland (which does not have the whole life tariff) of 21 years and 30 years for the murders of Angelika Kluk and Vicky Hamilton respectively, when in December 2009 he was found guilty of Dinah McNicol's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment - this time with a recommendation that life must mean life. However, the minimum terms Tobin was already serving for the two other murders were effectively "whole life" sentences as he was over 60 years old when sentenced.
Royston Jackson		2010	-	Convicted of the murder of convicted sex offender Gordon Boon in October 2008, after being released on licence two years earlier following his conviction for another murder he had committed in 1989.
Peter Sutcliffe	Yorkshire Ripper	2010	-	The Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women and attacked seven others between 1975 and 1980 across West Yorkshire, plus two in Greater Manchester. He was caught by chance while sitting in his car with a prostitute and potential victim in Sheffield, and made a full confession to each attack to the police, even though they had only arrested him for having false number plates. At trial he pleaded guilty to manslaughter but was convicted of 13 murders and was jailed for life, however no tariff was ever set at the time. A whole life tariff imposed by High Court in 2010.
Ernest Wright		2010	-	Convicted of the execution-style murder of Neville Corby (aged 42) with a shotgun and the simultaneous attempted murder of Corby's partner. Had been previously convicted of murder in 1971 and served 26 years.
Anthony Hardy	Camden Ripper	2010	-	Killing of three women to "satisfy depraved and perverted needs".
John Maden		2010	-	Drugged, raped and killed his 12-year-old niece at his Manchester home after luring her there on the pretext of babysitting. He had previously developed an obsession with violent pornography and images of extreme child abuse.
Wilbert Dyce		2010	-	Convicted of a 1982 triple murder in which a mother and her two young daughters were killed.
Stephen Griffiths	Crossbow Cannibal	2010	-	Convicted of murdering three women in Bradford, one murder involving the use of a crossbow.
John Sweeney	Canal killer	2011	-	Convicted of murdering two women whose bodies were found mutilated and dumped in canals in London and the Netherlands.
George Norman Johnson		2011	-	Convicted in 2011 of the premeditated murder of 89-year-old Florence Habesch in February that year to fund his drug addiction. Johnson already had a 1986 murder conviction.
John Cooper		2011	-	Convicted in 2011 of two double murders in Pembrokeshire Wales during 1985 & 1989.
David Baxendale		2011	-	Convicted in March 2011 of the murder by repeated stabbing of a woman in Nutfield, Surrey, in June 2010. Baxendale, who had a history of violence stretching back to around 1990, had previously been convicted of murder in Spain, where he had repeatedly stabbed his victim; for this crime he was sentenced to 11 years in prison at his trial in 2001 and served seven years of his sentence before being deported back to Britain.
Andrew Dawson		2011		Convicted of the murder of John David Matthews and Paul Hancock in July 2010.He was out on licence from a previous murder conviction committed in the 1980s.
David Cook		2012		Convicted in 1988 of murder, Cook was released in 2009 after strangling a woman whilst on licence for robberies. Cook strangled a second victim whilst paroled, and the second judge gave him a whole life tarrif.
David Oakes		2012		Convicted and sentenced to a whole life term for the double murder, using a double-barrelled shotgun, of his ex-partner Christine Chambers and their two year old daughter following the breakdown of their relationship and just hours before a custody hearing to agree access rights to their daughter. Christine had been assaulted over a period of several hours before being shot. Oakes was said to be jealous and frustrated over the ending of the relationship and did not want another father figure in his daughter's life.
Stephen Farrow		2012		Farrow, a vagrant with a history of psychiatric illness, was convicted of the murders of Betty Yates (aged 77) and Rev. John Suddards (aged 59). Mr Justice Field, sentencing, said: "The sentence for murder is a mandatory life sentence and in respect of each count I pass a life sentence. I next have to consider whether you should be made the subject of a whole life sentence or whether a minimum term should be set. I am satisfied that in your case a whole life sentence is an appropriate sentence in each of these dreadful, horrific killings."

Prisoners whose whole life tariffs have been quashed

Roy Whiting, the paedophile who murdered Sarah Payne in West Sussex in July 2000, was told by his trial judge when convicted in December 2001 that his crime (combined with the fact that he had a previous conviction for child abduction and indecent assault) was a rare case for which a life sentence should mean life.In November 2002, Home Secretary David Blunkett ruled that Whiting should serve at least 50 years in prison, meaning he would only receive parole if he lived to the age of 92 or beyond, although this in practice revoked the whole life tariff recommended in court.Whiting appealed against this ruling, his lawyers arguing that Blunkett's ruling had been politically motivated as he was on the verge of losing his powers to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners. Whiting's appeal was heard in June 2010, when the High Court (which by this stage now had the final say on how long a life sentence prisoner should serve before being considered for parole) reduced Whiting's minimum sentence to 40 years.

David Bieber, an American ex-marine who fatally shot an already wounded prone policeman in the head and wounded two others in Leeds on Boxing Day 2003 and was jailed for life in December 2004. The whole life tariff was quashed in July 2008 and replaced by one of 37 years.

Stephen Ayre, who was paroled in 2005 after serving 20 years of a life sentence for the murder of a 25-year-old woman, committed rape of a 10-year-old boy at knifepoint in Bradford within months of his release. He was sentenced to life imprisonment again at his trial in April 2006, and told that he should never be released.

Trevor Hamilton, jailed for life in August 2006 for the murder of 65-year-old Attracta Haron in Northern Ireland in December 2003. Hamilton, who was 21 when he committed the murder and 24 when jailed, had his whole life tariff reduced to 35 years on appeal in June 2008.

Danilo Restivo was convicted in 2011 of the 2002 murder of Heather Barnet. In a second trial Restivo was later sentenced to 30 years in jail for the murder of a teenager in his native Italy in 1993. 2012 saw his term reduced to 40 years as part of a joint appeal by several prisoners with long sentences.

Michael Roberts was convicted in 2012 of numerous offences between 1988 and 2005, including rapes. His sentence was reduced to life with a 25-year minimum at the same appeal that reduced Restivo's sentence.

David Martin Simmons had originally received a whole-life term for rape and false imprisonment. This was reduced to a ten-year minimum when he appealed alongside Restivo, Roberts, and others whose appeals were not successful.

See also

• Life Imprisonment (England and Wales)