List of prisoners with whole life orders
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This is a list of prisoners who have received a whole-life order, formerly called a whole-life tariff, through some mechanism in jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. From the introduction of the whole-life order system in 1983 until an appeal by a prisoner named Anthony Anderson in 2002, a whole-life order was set by government ministers. Thereafter only a judicial body could decide to impose such an order. The effect of a whole-life order is that the prisoner serves the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Whole-life orders have been reportedly issued in more than 100 cases since introduction in 1983, although some of these prisoners have had their sentences reduced on appeal. By 2026, there were believed to be around 90 prisoners currently serving whole-life sentences in England and Wales. These include some of Britain's most notorious criminals, including the serial murderer Rosemary West and the premature baby serial killer Lucy Letby.
Several prisoners serving whole-life sentences have challenged the legality of whole-life sentences in the High Court or European Court of Human Rights. These include Jeremy Bamber and Gary Vinter, whose second legal challenge to the European Court of Human Rights was successful, although the High Court later ruled that whole-life sentences could still be issued as long as they were reviewed within 25 years. Arthur Hutchinson has challenged his sentence several times in both the High Court and the European Court of Human Rights, but has been unsuccessful each time.
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