A 14-year jail term handed to a member of a gang that killed a policeman in Northern Ireland was today referred to the Court of Appeal by the country’s director of public prosecutions.
This came hours after the judge in Constable Stephen Carroll's murder trial said he would back a review of the sentencing guidelines that he was obliged to follow in the case.
The officer's widow, Kate, had hit out after John Paul Wootton, 21, who drove the getaway car, was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years by Lord Justice Paul Girvan.
The jail term was 11 years less than that handed to Brendan McConville, 41, also convicted of the killing and whose coat may have been wrapped around the murder weapon.
The judge today detailed how the sentence he handed down last week was dictated by guidelines that remain in place in Northern Ireland, but which have been overtaken in England where killers face potentially tougher sentences.
In the wake of Lord Justice Girvan's clarification of the guidelines that shaped his decision, the Public Prosecution Service confirmed it was ordering that the sentence be reviewed.
A spokeswoman said: "In view of the clarification by Lord Justice Girvan this morning, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory QC, will refer the sentencing in this case to the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal.
"Careful consideration is being given to the terms of the reference which will be made within the statutory 28 days."
Constable Carroll, 48, was shot dead by the dissident republican Continuity IRA in Craigavon, Co Armagh, in March 2009.
