Yesterday, convicted hammer attacker Philip Spence began the first of what will be many days behind bars as he serves out a minimum sentence of at least 18 years without the prospect of parole — and the likelihood of many more years rotting away in Britain’s overcrowded prisons. And even when Spence does appear before a parole board hearing in 2032 at the earliest, he will have to explain a dangerous offender tag that is stamped on his file for the brutal manner in which he tried to kill three Emirati sisters in a drug-fuelled frenzy of violence in London’s Cumberland Hotel.
These women did no wrong. They were tourists visiting the British capital and were beaten to within inches of their lives as they slept in a suite while their children lay in adjacent rooms.
Spence is scum, the lowest of the criminal low, and deserves every minute of the life sentence imposed on him on Monday. But that is little comfort to his three victims. If there is a positive, it is that London remains an inherently safe city — and thankfully, such vicious attacks are extremely rare occurrences.
