The Supreme Court has held that the court-ordered review attached to a life sentence imposed on a 14-year-old convicted of murdering Urantsetseg Tserendorj cannot lawfully be carried out.
C.C., whose identity remains protected, murdered Ms Tserendorj on 20 January 2021 after attempting to rob her. He slashed her neck with a knife after failing to obtain money. The injury penetrated her carotid artery and she died in hospital several days later. C.C. also committed two other offences that evening involving threats to women with a knife.
He later admitted his involvement and said he had panicked and had not intended to kill her. He had a severe substance addiction and wanted money for drugs. A manslaughter plea was rejected. After an initial jury disagreement, he was convicted of murder on 11 November 2022.
The trial judge imposed life detention with a court review after 13 years. That review was intended to allow consideration of C.C.’s rehabilitation while preserving his separate entitlement to seek parole when eligible.
Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley held that the statutory power which once allowed courts to review indefinite sentences imposed on children under the Children Act 1908 had been repealed and had not been replaced. Once sentence is imposed, a sentencing court cannot later reserve power to modify it unless legislation provides that jurisdiction.
The court also held that a life sentence is not mandatory for a child convicted of murder. It should be reserved for exceptional cases where the child’s intentions and conduct can fairly be equated with those of an adult, such as cases involving significant planning, deliberate exploitation of a victim or gratuitous brutality.
For other murder cases involving children, the judgment said a determinate sentence with a part-suspended element will generally be more appropriate.
The Supreme Court proposed allowing C.C.’s sentence appeal because the review provision was an error in principle. It also held that his statutory anonymity continues despite his having turned 18 during the proceedings. Final sentencing orders were left for further submissions.