PRESS RELEASE : Convicted killer, Kyle Buckley, who committed assault while serving time will spend longer inside after referral to the Court of Appeal [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Attorney General on 17 November 2022.

A man serving time for murder has had his term increased for assaulting two prison officers while serving in a young offender institution.

Kyle Buckley, 18, serving a life sentence for a murder he committed at age 16, was involved in a fight with a self-made weapon (a screw attached to a fabric handle) in the visiting area of Wetherby Young Offender Institution on 22 July 2021.

The next month, on 30 August 2021, Buckley threw a kettle filled with boiled water over a prison officer, causing burns to his back. Buckley was restrained and spat in the eye of another prison officer when being escorted away.

On 12 September 2022 at Leeds Crown Court, Buckley was sentenced to 18 months’ detention in a young offender institution, concurrent to the sentence being served for murder.

Following the sentencing, it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme for being too low.

On 17 November 2022, the Court quashed the sentence handed down on 12 September. Buckley was instead ordered to serve the 18 months’ sentence consecutively to his current sentence for murder.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson MP said:

Increasing Buckley’s sentence both better reflects the crimes committed and sends a clear message that offences committed by serving prisoners will not be tolerated and will be met with punishment.