Judge warns police killers of `severe punishment` after dismissing appeal to cut 20-year sentence

A reckless car thief who handed out a “life sentence” to the family of a police officer he killed “thoroughly deserved” being jailed for 20 years, the Court of Appeal heard. And senior judge Sir Brian Leveson warned offenders that “condign and severe punishment” would be meted out to any who injure or kill a police officer. Teenager Clayton Ronald Williams ran over and killed Merseyside Police Constable Dave Phillips during a high-speed pursuit. Father-of-two PC Phillips, 34, was crouched on a central reservation deploying a stop-stick tyre puncturing device when he was struck – and died instantly in the early hours of October 5, 2015. Williams smashed a stolen truck into the officer on the Wallasey Dock Link Road in Merseyside. He was cleared of murdering PC Phillips but found guilty of manslaughter by a 10-2 majority verdict at Manchester Crown Court after a six-day trial last March and sentenced to 20 years’ custody. On Wednesday (March 15), he took his case to the Court of Appeal in London, where three judges, led by Sir Brian Leveson, upheld the length of the sentence. “Although undoubtedly severe, he cannot have any complaint with the sentence passed upon him,” said Sir Brian as he dismissed the appeal. “It was thoroughly deserved.” The court heard that, despite being only 18 at the time of the collision, Williams already had a long record of offending, including for dangerous driving. Having stolen the Mitsubishi and been spotted by police, he led officers on a highly dangerous ten-minute chase through Wirral streets. PC Phillips was deploying a “stinger” device in an attempt to stop the car when he was struck on the central reservation. A pathologist later described the injuries as “unsurvivable”. The jury at Williams’ trial were convinced that he had deliberately driven the vehicle in the direction of the officer, but not intended serious harm, Sir Brian said. Afterwards, the teenager went to a friend’s house, where he burned and then disposed of his clothes. His barrister, Adam Davis QC, argued at the appeal that the sentence he was given was “manifestly excessive”. Although he had driven on after the crash, he did not know until the next day that PC Phillips had been killed, said the barrister. It was not a case that should have resulted in a young man being jailed for “very many years”, he continued. Giving judgment, Sir Brian, who heard the appeal with Mr Justice Holroyde and Sir John Saunders, said the sentence was richly deserved. “His total disregard for the rules of the road can only be described as breathtaking,” he said. “The extent of the impact and harm has rippled through the generations and devastated PC Phillips’ family.” He said “condign and severe punishment” would be meted out to any offenders who injure or kill a police officer. At Williams` trial last year, PC Phillips’ widow, Jen, told the teenage killer: “Who gave you the right to play God? “Dave did not stand a chance, he was just trying to do his job, stop Williams in a stolen vehicle before he hurt members of the public. “All Williams was concerned about was himself, him and no-one else. Williams has destroyed this family, he is a thief, he has stolen my husband. “I and my children are the ones living a life sentence. The pain and torture will live with me for the rest of my life, he has killed a part of myself. If hell is real, I am living in it.”