Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the Government's timescale is for the decision on whether to extend the maximum sentence for necrophilia.

The government is reviewing the statutory maximum penalty available for the offence of sexual penetration of a corpse under section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This review is taking place alongside the independent inquiry into the events surrounding David Fuller’s horrific offending in hospitals in Kent. That inquiry is due to publish interim findings shortly, with a final report published at a later date. Our review of available maximum penalties is likely to follow similar timescales, to ensure findings from the wider inquiry can be taken into account.

The current statutory maximum penalty is for one offence; where more than one offence is sentenced at the same time, each offence will be sentenced individually and the overall sentence passed will reflect the totality of offending behaviour, which may mean sentences being served consecutively. Our review of the statutory maximum penalty is considering instances of the commission of multiple, as well as single, offences.