Double murderer given whole life order at Court of Appeal for killing girlfriend

A man who killed his pregnant girlfriend while on licence for an earlier murder has been handed a whole life order after judges at the Court of Appeal ruled his sentence was “unduly lenient”.

Shaine March was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years last October for the murder of Alana Odysseos, 32, whom he stabbed and slashed 23 times at her home in Walthamstow, east London, in July 2024.

The 48-year-old had been released from prison on a life licence in 2013 after fatally stabbing Andre Drummond, 17, in the neck at a McDonald’s restaurant in Denmark Hill, south London, in January 2000.

The Solicitor General referred his second life sentence to the Court of Appeal, with barristers telling a hearing on Thursday that March should have been given a whole life order.

March also challenged the length of his sentence, with his barristers claiming it was “manifestly excessive”.

In a ruling, Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Cavanagh and Judge Alice Robinson, said: “The sentence was unduly lenient.

“We quash it, and we quash the minimum term order that the judge made, and substitute in its place a whole life order, which means that the offender will never be released.”

After being told he would die behind bars, March, who watched Thursday’s proceedings via a videolink from HMP Belmarsh in London, addressed members of Ms Odysseos’ family in court and said: “I just want to say that I am sorry.”

March’s trial at the Old Bailey heard that Ms Odysseos, who was in the early stages of pregnancy with her third child at the time of her death, knew about his murder conviction, with safeguarding checks made by probation services.

March, of Surrey Quays, south-east London, admitted her murder on the seventh day of his trial after an expert no longer supported his defence of diminished responsibility.

Tom Little KC, for the Solicitor General, told the Court of Appeal in written submissions that March and Ms Odysseos had been in a relationship for around four months, during which time March attacked her and stopped her from talking to family and friends.

They also argued about her pregnancy, including in the hours before the murder on July 22 2024, with Ms Odysseos heard to say: “I don’t want to kill my baby.”

She was later seen outside the property, clutching her right side.

Bleeding from multiple stab wounds to her body, she pointed at the defendant standing nearby and shouted: “Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me. Help, help.”

March walked away as Ms Odysseos died on the ground outside her address despite the efforts of police and paramedics.

She had suffered stab wounds to her chest, stomach, pelvis, shoulders, buttocks, right arm, thighs and lower legs.

Before throwing his mobile phone in a drain, March recorded a voice note saying: “Mum, I just killed a woman, and I’m going back to jail.”

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Murray said the murder involved “prolonged and excessive violence” but that he did not consider the case to be one where “the need for lifelong imprisonment is clear beyond doubt”.

He based this on four factors, including that March suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was a teenager, which affected his ability to regulate his emotions, and that both murders were “apparently spontaneous”.

But Mr Little told the Court of Appeal on Thursday that a whole life order was “just punishment” and that there was a “constellation of aggravating features” in the case.

In court, he said: “Properly analysed, this case should never have left the categorisation as a whole life order case.”

Sandip Patel KC, for March, told the court that the sentence was reached in a “fair and balanced manner”.

He also said that March’s sentence should be reduced on the grounds of his traumatic brain injury, stating that Mr Justice Murray “did not give it the fullest regard”.

In the Court of Appeal ruling, Lord Justice Edis said that Mr Justice Murray “did fall into error”, and that the aggravating factors were “far more potent” than mitigation.

He continued that the death of the unborn child, and that the attack on Ms Odysseos was witnessed by one of her other children, were both a “serious aggravating factor”.

The judge also said that March’s brain injury was not a “major cause” of his offending, and that the lack of premeditation had to be “highly qualified”.

Following the ruling, Solicitor General Ellie Reeves said: “Alana Odysseos was a loving mother whose life was tragically cut short in an act of appalling violence by a man with a long history of serious violence. Alana’s daughters have lost their mother, and her family have lost someone they loved deeply.

“There is no room for violence against women and girls and I welcome the court’s decision to increase Shaine March’s prison sentence, removing this extremely dangerous offender off our streets and protecting anyone else suffering harm.

“I would like to express my deepest sympathies to Alana’s daughters and everyone who cared for her.”