THELAWPAGES.COM

Country

England & Wales

Hearing Date

22 May 2012

Court Location

Woolwich Crown Court

Judge

Mr Justice Saunders

Case Number

U20120129/TS20120024

Name

Christopher Andrew Hunnisett

Gender

Male

Age

28

Offence/s

Sentencing Details

Public Protection Sentence

Minimum to Serve - Years: 18

Total Sentence

18 Years - Life

Parole Eligibility Date (PED)

22/05/2030

Sentenced Upon

Conviction After Trial

Distinguishing Features / Details

He was found guilty of the murder of his 57-year-old victim at his home between 10 January 2011 and 11 January 2011. He had contacted his male victim online and met at his victims home where the men had consensual sex before Hunnisett used a hammer to beat his victim to the head and strangled him. Hunnisett was abused as a boy and the court heard that he had wrongly believed his victim to be a paedophile. He had a conviction for the killing of an 81-year-old vicar in 2001 quashed, and had been released four months before he committed the murder.

The judge said: "[Hunnisett] believes that the penalties handed out by the courts for child abuse are inadequate. For him the appropriate penalty, if he considers it necessary, is death. He has appointed himself judge, jury and executioner... the defendant was not entitled to take the law into his hands in the way he did but, as he demonstrated in this case, he was prepared to reach his conclusions on entirely inadequate evidence. The evidence that I have heard has driven me to the conclusion that the defendant is now an extremely dangerous man who may well kill again were he to be released in the foreseeable future. The parole board will undoubtedly take all that into account when deciding when, and if, this defendant should ever be released. The time may never come when this defendant is considered safe to be released."

Sentencing Remarks

Online Resources

Search Case Reports (Press / Police)

Case Timeline

View Timeline

Crime Location

View Map

Legal Teams & Authorities

Defence Team

Chambers

Charter Chambers (Closed)

Barrister

David Anthony Martin-Sperry

Prosecuting Team

Authority

CPS Sussex

Chambers

2 Hare Court

Barrister

Andrew Jeremy Coulter Edis KC