My Lords, this is a probing amendment. It increases the maximum sentence for the offence of sexual penetration of a corpse in Section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 from two years to 10 years.
I am tabling this amendment in the light of the appalling case of David Fuller. He was convicted month of the murders of two young women more than 30 years ago. When the police finally caught up with him, thanks to advances in DNA techniques, they discovered in his home evidence of some appalling sexual crimes, including 4 million images of sexual abuse. The most terrible of these images had been created by David Fuller himself. He had recorded himself sexually abusing the dead bodies of women and girls in the mortuary of the Tunbridge Wells NHS hospital—both the old one in Tunbridge Wells and its replacement in Pembury. This is where I live, so it is an issue that is close to my heart. It is also close to the heart of my right honourable friend Greg Clark, the MP for Tunbridge Wells.
Fuller had raped the dead bodies of more than 100 women and girls over a period of 12 years up to 2020. The youngest was nine; the oldest 100. Sometimes he repeated the offence on the same body. He kept records of his acts. There are no words to describe the depths of this kind of depravity.
Last month, Fuller pleaded guilty to the two murder charges, to 33 counts of the sexual penetration of a corpse involving 59 individual victims and to some other important charges. Unsurprisingly, this afternoon he was given a whole life sentence.
This case has shone a spotlight on the maximum sentence of only two years which is available for the offence of sexual penetration of a corpse. The judge today emphasised that there is no sentencing guideline for this offence. She in fact gave Fuller a 12-year concurrent term for the totality of his other crimes.
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However, let us suppose that the evidence for the murders had not been strong enough for a conviction and that the only viable charges against him were for sexual penetration of a corpse, or perhaps that the evidence stood up for only one act of penetration of a corpse. He might then have been given only a two-year sentence, and could even perhaps have walked free this afternoon, taking account of his time in remand. I do not believe that this makes any kind of sense.
Although the immediate victims were not alive, this is not a victimless crime. The families of those victims are victims too. They feel a great sense of pain and outrage that their mothers, daughters and sisters have been desecrated. That has compounded their grief, as today’s statements in court made clear. The two-year maximum stands in stark contrast to the main rape and penetration offences in the 2003 Act, which carry life terms.
The sexual penetration of a corpse offence was created for the first time in the 2003 Act. I was the lead opposition spokesman when your Lordships’ House
considered the then Sexual Offences Bill, and I am delighted that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, is in his place, because he led for the Government when that Bill went through your Lordships’ House. He may recall why the offence was settled at two years. In any event, I do not think that at the time any of us could have had a case as awful as that of David Fuller in our minds, because the facts of that case are simply unimaginable—at least, they were.
My amendment selects 10 years rather than two in order to make the point that sexual penetration of a corpse is a much more serious offence than a two-year term implies. I claim no expertise in criminal law or sentencing, and wiser heads than mine will know how best to calibrate this offence. The purpose of tabling my amendment is to hear from the Government what they intend to do about the offence, and when they will do it. I am aware that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care informed the other place that the Government would review the offence, but he did not put a timetable on it. It is a fairly simple issue, and I hope my noble friend the Minister can be clear with the House about what the Government will do. I beg to move.