Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what (a) public interest grounds and (b) risk assessment evidence Jeremy Bamber was given a whole life tariff.

Jeremy Bamber was given a whole life order in 1986 for the murder of five members of his family. Prior to the introduction of legislative guidelines in 2003, the minimum period to be served in custody by those given a mandatory life sentence for murder was set by the Home Secretary. This included whether a whole life order should be imposed.

The Home Secretary’s decision to impose a whole life order on Jeremy Bamber would have reflected the exceptionally high seriousness of his offending and would have taken into account all the relevant circumstances of the case.