Few would harbour sympathy for Philip Spence spending the rest of his life in jail for his brutal hammer attack on three Emirati sisters in their hotel room. Nearly every possible aggravating feature was present in this case: Spence was driven by drug addiction, has a long history as a violent offender and armed himself with a hammer before randomly targeting the sisters' central London hotel.
Furthermore, his denial of the attempted murder charges meant his victims, whose lives were already permanently blighted by his attack, faced the added ordeal of reliving their experience in court. They can take solace from seeing justice done, with unanimous verdicts.
The trial judge, Anthony Leonard QC, indicated he will consider a whole-life jail term for Spence – the first time this sentence has been imposed for an offence short of murder. There are few occasions when a crime is serious enough to permanently forfeit freedom, but that is an outcome Spence’s case richly deserves.
