Double murderer’s life sentence ‘not necessary’, Appeal Court says

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The entire life sentence of a domestic abuser who murdered his ex-wife and her new boyfriend should be reduced “as it was not necessary”, the Court of Appeal has heard.

Marcus Osborne was jailed in March for the double murder of 27-year-old Katie Higton, which left her with 99 injuries; and Steven Harnett, 25, with 24 injuries, including mutilated genitals; then Osborne said: “Romeo and Juliet can die together now.”

Leeds Crown Court heard Osborne, 35, lurked for Miss Higton in the early hours of May 15 last year and attacked her as she entered the home they once shared in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

He then used Ms Higton’s phone to lure Mr Harnett into the house, where he then killed him with four children inside and raped another woman at knifepoint.

Osborne is seeking to appeal his sentence, with his lawyers telling the Court of Appeal on Wednesday that he should have been sentenced to life imprisonment “with a very long minimum sentence” rather than life imprisonment.

John Elvidge KC said: “We invite this court to consider the case in general, and in particular to take into account his admission of guilt.

“This is a situation where the last resort option is not necessary and can be given a very long minimum period.”

Osborne attended the hearing via video link from HMP Wakefield, wearing a gray Adidas jumper.

The sentencing hearing was told Ms Higton had been in a relationship with him for five years but left him in early May last year following an attack that was “the final straw”.

Ms Higton had complained to police that the relationship had been “coercive, controlling and physically abusive” over the past two years and that she had been regularly assaulted; This includes one case where he threw a cat at her.

She also told West Yorkshire Police in the days before the murders that Osborne told her that he would “slit her throat if she said she did it” and that “if she had a boyfriend he would kill them both”.

Osborne was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence on May 12 last year and released on bail on the condition he not return to their home, but in the days that followed he spied on Ms Higton and hacked into the relationship that had developed between her and Mr Harnett. his Snapchat account.

He later confessed to two murders, a single rape and false imprisonment.

Sentencing judge Mrs Justice Lambert said Osborne was heard to say: “I warned you I was going to kill you… it’s your fault this happened” and was described as washing himself between murders, laughing and mocking.

He later invited a neighbor into the living room to see the bodies, and the judge said it was “as if you were proud of what you had done.”

He said the crimes were “appalling” and “even a very long minimum term would not amount to fair punishment”.

But Mr Elvidge told the hearing in London that Osborne’s guilty plea should be given “heavy weight” because it saved the rape victim from having to give evidence.

He said: “The court should be slow to reject a guilty plea in a situation where a guilty plea not only saves the public time and money, but also relieves someone who is both victim and witness of having to give evidence about highly traumatic events.”

He continued: “The effect of a life sentence in this case is that the applicant’s plea of ​​guilty to all these charges is of no value.

“His decision to protect her from further distress by reliving the entire experience of that night went unnoticed from a practical standpoint. “We argue that this is not true.”

Jonathan Sandiford KC, of ​​the Crown Prosecution Service, said Mrs Justice Lambert “took the correct approach” and the appeal should be dismissed.

Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mr Justice Bennathan will then give their verdict, with Baroness Carr describing the case as “extraordinary” and “incredibly tragic”.