Tariffs

21 November 2001 - 09.45 am
Court 4
Royal Courts of Justice

The decision of the Lord Chief Justice on tariff in the case of John Mark O'Sullivan in accordance with the Practice Direction dated 27 July 2000 (The Times 9 August 2000)

1. John Mark O'Sullivan was born on the 30 December 1974. When he was 16 and a half years of age, with two other offenders he murdered the deceased, who was then aged 53. In April 1992 he was convicted and sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure.

2. His tariff was set at 15 years by the Home Secretary. This being the tariff recommended by the trial judge and the Lord Chief Justice. The tariff was reviewed on three occasions but not altered. The tariffs of his co-defendants were set at, respectively, 12 and 5 years. The trial judge considered that O'Sullivan had played the dominant role.

3. The deceased normally lived alone and was homosexual and epileptic. At the time of his death the deceased was allowing O'Sullivan to live in his home. Prior to the offence O'Sullivan and a co-defendant had already subjected the deceased to physical violence. If the defendants were correct the deceased had a sexual relation with the female co-defendant who was 15 at the time. This could be part of the explanation for what subsequently happened.

4. On the date of the offence, the defendants having prepared paraffin bombs, took the deceased on a walk. Having previously punched and kicked the deceased, O'Sullivan threw one of the bombs which hit the deceased and another defendant threw a bomb which missed. The deceased was then partly on fire and was pushed into the centre of the fire. The deceased eventually got his clothes off but was still on fire. He was subsequently stabbed by O'Sullivan. The deceased was also kicked and struck on the head with a rock. Although the deceased managed to make his way almost naked to where he could get help he died 48 hours later.

5. A psychiatric examination of O'Sullivan revealed a personality disorder which was not amenable to psychiatric intervention. Initially O'Sullivan did not make satisfactory progress in custody. However, more recently he has shown increased maturity and is making progress. Both he and his solicitors have made representations in support of this review of tariff. O'Sullivan has now been married for a year to someone to whom he is deeply attached. In a report dated 4 January 2001, it is stated that O'Sullivan "is a vastly different person from the one jailed ten years ago". No relations of the deceased have been traced.

Conclusions

6. I have carefully considered the representations made on O'Sullivan's behalf and the reports which are before me. I very much hope that O'Sullivan continues to make progress. However the information before me does not justify any alteration of the tariff which was perfectly appropriate for this crime.