Georgia Williams' killer Jamie Reynolds appeals over whole life sentence

The hearing has the potential to set a precedent on the outcome of any future bids for freedom by the most dangerous killers sentenced to life behind bars, according to the Lord Chief Justice.

Sir John Thomas intends to hear Reynolds' appeal alongside that of another child killer, as he believes he may be able to issue guidance which would apply in future cases, according to a letter from the Crown Prosecution Service

Reynolds' bid for freedom is a shock U-turn after his solicitor issued a statement in January saying his client did not intend to appeal his sentence.

But Reynolds is now appealing on the grounds that his age and guilty plea were not given sufficient weight.

Georgia's parents Steve and Lynnette Williams say they are "sickened" by the news of the appeal but will attend the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand in London to see justice for their daughter.

The couple received the shock news in a letter from the CPS which said: "The case could be heard together with another defendant. This is unusual and is because the Lord Chief Justice believes that it may be appropriate to give some general guidance which will thereafter apply in other cases."

The document explained Reynolds would argue that "the sentencing judge did not give enough weight to his age and plea of guilty".

The letter also said Reynolds had intended to take the European Court of Human Rights' stance that full life sentences were incompatible with the human rights convention. But since the Court of Appeal upheld British judges' power to sentence the country's most heinous murderers to whole life imprisonment, this argument could be dropped.

Reynolds, of Avondale Road, Wellington was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mr Justice Wilkie at Stafford Crown Court in December after he agreed with a psychiatric report that he "had the potential to become a serial killer." Sick Reynolds had lured the 17-year-old, who considered him a friend, to his home where he hanged her in a meticulously planned and sexually motivated attack on May 26 last year.

He had scripted Georgia's death in a story and stockpiled images of girls he knew with nooses he had drawn around their neck – he even had photographs of Georgia's older sister Scarlett.

In January, Reynolds' legal team said his case would be examined by the Court of Appeal on the point of law involving all life terms but was not appealing against his individual sentence. And in February the Court of Appeal upheld judge's right to send the UK's most dangerous murderers to prison for life.

"We thought that was the end," said Mr Williams, a detective constable with West Mercia Police. "But now it's almost like there's a new trial coming up. It makes you feel sick. It's started all the worrying again. It makes you feel angry and it devalues Georgia's life."

He added: "The Lord Chief Justice will consider all the evidence of the case then decide if life is a fair sentence in the circumstances.

"But to me, the pure evil of it all, how he orchestrated Georgia's death to fulfil his own sexual fantasy – like I've said before, if you are going to kill somebody in cold blood for a few moments of perverted sexual pleasure you should accept the consequences.

"He's saying his age hasn't been taken into account. But you look at life expectancy now and he's probably taken about 70 years of Georgia's life and that's what he should have taken – the whole of his life.

"He has never shown an ounce of remorse. He has never apologised. He could have stood up in court and said I'm really sorry. He knew us. We had contact with him. But he couldn't face us in court. He didn't even look at us."

Mrs Williams said: "It's made us really upset and angry. You do worry how people can contemplate how he should serve anything less than full life."

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