A convicted killer who murdered mum-of-two Katie Kenyon is to have his sentence reviewed after it was referred to the Attorney General under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
Andrew Burfield was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years earlier this month after he confessed to killing the 33-year-old from Padiham on day three of a trial at Preston Crown Court.
However, this sentence is now under consideration by the office of Attorney General Victoria Prentis, after a member of public asked for the sentence to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.
If the Attorney General deems the 32 year minimum term 'unduly lenient', the case will be sent to the Court of Appeal, where it could be extended.
Katie went missing after last being seen at her ex-boyfriend, Burfield's, house in Todmorden Road, Burnley.
Burfield was arrested for kidnap on April 23, and was later charged with her murder.
Her body was found in a shallow grave in Gisburn Forest on April 29.
During the course of the trial, before the 51-year-old confessed, a jury heard how Burfield had been planning Katie’s murder for at least three weeks.
And on April 22, he drove her up to Gisburn Forest before hitting her over the head 12 times with an axe and burying her in a makeshift grave he had dug the previous night.
He then travelled back home to Burnley and sent text messages to Katie’s children from her phone, pretending to be the 33-year-old, in an attempt to cover his tracks.
Katie’s family became suspicious and Burfield was arrested, spinning a web of lies to the police about how he accidentally killed Katie while they were playing a game with a can of Coke and an axe.
Burfield originally denied murdering the mum-of-two, but changed his plea to guilty midway through his trial and was jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years by Mr Justice Goose on November 17.
The Attorney General’s Office will now consider Burfield’s case and must decide whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal.
If it is sent to the Court of Appeal under the scheme, the most senior judges in the land will then make a decision.
The sentence will either be increased, stay the same, or judges may refuse to hear the case.
Even if a case is passed on to the Court of Appeal it may not change the sentence.
A decision will be made in due course.
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