Blackpool murder victim's sisters demands longer appeal period

Two women whose sister was murdered are campaigning for families to have longer to appeal against the length of killers' sentences.

Sasha Marsden, 16, from Blackpool, was stabbed 58 times ten years ago.

David Minto, then 23, was jailed for 35 years for her murder.

Sasha's sisters Katie Brett and Gemma Aitchison are petitioning to scrap the 28-day deadline for appeals against murder sentences and want to keep Minto behind bars for the rest of his life.

On the anniversary of Sasha's death, the family staged protests in Blackpool and also outside Bolton Town Hall as part of a campaign to end violence against women and girls.

Ms Brett said that in the wake of her sister's murder, the family did not have the strength to start initiating appeals for many months afterwards and believe other families in a similar situation would feel the same.

She said her family were told "they have really thrown the book at him" but she "knows different" now.

"At the time Sasha was killed none of us were in the mindset to go researching sentencing guidelines," she said.

"[We were not] in any fit state to be appealing."

Minto was jailed for life in 2013 at Preston Crown Court for murdering Sasha after he lured her to the Grafton House Hotel on Kirby Road, Blackpool, where he worked, on the false promise of a job.

The trial heard it was a sexually motivated attack and he dumped his victim in a nearby alley before trying to set the body on fire.

Ms Brett said he was a danger to the public and should have been given a whole-life term for what was described by Lancashire Police as "one of the most horrific cases" they had encountered.

"He should never walk the streets again," Ms Brett told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Thirty five years isn't enough. He should never be released. He's evil."

Ms Brett said the impact of Sasha's murder on the family was "immeasurable" and the grief was still raw 10 years on.

"She was 16 and she had so much to give. She was planning to travel. She had all these plans and she was so excited it all of that was taken away from her," she said.

Gemma Aitchison said the family were not in the mental state needed to pursue an appeal following a "very traumatic trial".

"Every photograph, every detail, every wound, we had to sit and hear evidence of that," she said.

"He (Minto) deserves a whole life tariff. His actions have given us a whole life sentence."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We know that the aftermath of a crime and trial can be distressing and exhausting for victims like Sasha Marsden's family which is why anyone can apply to the unduly lenient sentence scheme, taking the burden off victims themselves.

"There are no plans to amend the scheme but we have changed sentencing laws in recent years to make sure the most serious and violent offenders face longer behind bars."

Minto, who had denied murder and sexual assault, had an appeal against his sentence rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2014.

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