Anthony Anderson

Case details

Anthony Anderson was a convicted murderer.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988 on a double charge of murder.

Timeline

• September 1986 — Thomas Walker, aged 60, died after Anderson punched and kicked him during a burglary; Anderson also stole property from Walker.
• May 1987 — Michael Tierney, aged 35, died after Anderson killed him during a burglary; Anderson also stole property from Tierney.
• 1988 — Anderson was convicted of two murders and given two life sentences; the trial judge set a minimum term of 15 years before parole consideration.
• February 2001 — Anderson attempted to challenge the Home Secretary’s tariff-setting powers; the first case in February 2001 failed.
• 25 November 2002 — The Law Lords ruled in favour of Anderson’s claim that it was incompatible with human rights for politicians to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners.
• 26 November 2002 — The next day the European Court of Human Rights agreed with the decision; politicians in European countries could no longer decide the minimum length of imprisonment for anyone serving a life sentence.
• July 1994 — Home Secretary Michael Howard increased Anderson’s minimum term to 20 years; the increased tariff was confirmed by Home Secretary Jack Straw.

The offence

Anthony Anderson killed two men in separate attacks after being let into their homes.

Victim 1: Thomas Walker

Thomas Walker was aged 60. Walker died in September 1986 after being punched and kicked by Anderson during a burglary. Walker was described as being in “obvious” poor health, and after the assault suffered a heart attack and died. In addition to the assault, Anderson stole property from Walker.

Victim 2: Michael Tierney

Michael Tierney was aged 35. Tierney died in May 1987 after being kicked by Anderson during a burglary. In addition to the injuries, Anderson stole property from Tierney.

Trial

At trial in 1988, Anderson was convicted of two murders and given two life sentences.

The trial judge sentenced Anderson to life imprisonment and recommended that he should serve a minimum of 15 years before being considered for parole, which would keep him in prison until at least 2003. The judge set a tariff of 15 years “with the agreement of the lord chief justice”.

Sentencing

Anderson was sentenced in 1988 on a double charge of murder, receiving two life sentences.

Six years after his trial, Home Secretary Michael Howard increased Anderson’s minimum term to 20 years.

Jack Straw later confirmed the increased minimum term. Straw said the tariff was justified because Anderson “— now aged 40 — had killed on two separate occasions.”

Appeals

A legal challenge to the Home Secretary’s tariff decision was launched jointly with John Taylor.

• The challenge was rejected in 2001 by the court of appeal, which confirmed the Home Secretary’s power to fix the mandatory life sentence tariffs.
• Anderson then pursued a further challenge to the Home Secretary’s powers, which was reflected in a Law Lords ruling on 25 November 2002.

Outcome

On 25 November 2002, the Law Lords ruled in favour of Anderson’s claim that it was incompatible with human rights for politicians to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners.

On the next day, the European Court of Human Rights agreed with this decision, meaning that politicians in European countries could no longer decide the minimum length of imprisonment for anyone serving a life sentence.

The decision also followed earlier proceedings in which British politicians had been stripped of their powers to set minimum terms for prisoners aged under 18 after the High Court ruled that Michael Howard had acted unlawfully by deciding that the juvenile killers of toddler James Bulger should spend at least 15 years in custody.

Anderson’s successful challenge was described as a test case which affected approximately 225 convicted British murderers who had been given recommended minimum terms at their trial, only for the term to be increased by the Home Secretary at a later date.

Other details

Anderson tried to challenge the Home Secretary’s tariff-setting powers earlier, but his first case in February 2001 failed.

The information connected to the policy changes referenced Michael Howard, Jack Straw, John Taylor, the High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Law Lords, the European Court of Human Rights, and toddler James Bulger.