No, prison sentences aren’t going soft

In 1894 Maria Hermann, an Austrian-born prostitute stood trial at the Old Bailey for the murder of a client. The evidence seemed overwhelming and she faced a death sentence if convicted. But she had the remarkable good fortune to be defended by Edward Marshall Hall, the greatest criminal advocate of the day. He produced evidence of the wretched life which had led her into a life of poverty, prostitution and degradation. At the end of his closing speech Hall slowly turned and looked towards the dock.

‘Look at her, members of the jury. God never gave her a chance, won’t you?’

The jury cleared her of murder, and in convicting her of manslaughter added a recommendation for mercy; a recommendation acted on by the judge who imposed a remarkably lenient six-year sentence.

Of course pleas in mitigation to case-hardened judges do not often require the oratory of Marshall Hall, but Hermann’s case demonstrates that a defendant’s personal circumstances have always had the capacity to engender mercy from sentencers.