(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order amends Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c.44) (minimum terms for mandatory life sentence) to create a new starting point for courts when considering the minimum term to impose on an offender who is convicted of murder using a knife or other weapon.
Where an offender aged 18 or over takes a knife or other weapon to the scene of the crime with the intention of using it to commit any offence or to use it as a weapon and does use it in committing the murder, the offence will normally attract a starting point of 25 years when a court is considering the appropriate minimum term.