Longer sentence bid fails over car bomb plot
A bid to extend the custodial sentence of a teenager who imported explosives in a plan to kill his parents has been turned down.
Gurtej Randhawa, aged 19, of Grove Lane, Wightwick, Wolverhampton, was jailed for eight years for attempting to purchase a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) – or a car bomb – from the dark web.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how the former Wolverhampton Grammar School student had hatched the plan after his mother discovered he was having a relationship with a girl she disapproved of.
He thought killing his parents would enable him and his girlfriend to stay together, a trial in November heard.
Sentencing him, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she would give the shortest possible prison sentence for the nature of the offence.
She added he will serve half his sentence in custody, meaning he will be released on licence in under four years.
A public application was made for the case to go to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
However, the bid was turned down for referral as the sentence was within the guidelines set for the judge for the offence.
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said: “After careful consideration the Solicitor General concluded that he could not refer this case to the Court of Appeal because the sentence imposed fell within the range of sentences available to the judge for this crime.”
