Attorney General Responds To Sadiq Khan Over Zombie Knife Sentence

20 December 2018, 15:02 | Updated: 20 December 2018, 15:17

This is the Attorney General's response to the letter the Mayor of London wrote asking for a review of the suspended sentence for Joshua Gardner.

The 18-year-old avoided jail back in November, despite being filmed attacking a car in Croydon with a zombie knife.

After the man avoided a prison sentence, the Mayor told LBC that he would be writing to the Attorney General to ask him to review the overly-lenient sentence.

The letter was subsequently published by LBC.

Today, LBC can reveal what was in that response. The Attorney general writes:

"Thank you for your letter of 28th November 2018.

When I received your letter, my office obtained the papers in this case from the CPS. Having looked into the case, I agree with you that this sentence seems to be unduly lenient; I have therefore decided to refer it to the Court of Appeal so that this sentence can be considered again by the judges there."

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am pleased the Attorney General agrees with me that Joshua Gardner’s sentence appears unduly lenient and has now decided to refer it to the Court of Appeal after I wrote to him last month. 

“I am clear that we will not be able to tackle rising violence on our streets without effective and proportionate punishments for offenders.”