Sister of murdered Blackpool student Sasha Marsden wants 'cold-blooded' killer and rapist David Minto to stay in prison for life

David Minto, 33, was convicted of killing the teenager, from Staining, in July 2013 and sentenced to a minimum of 35 years.

But Katie feels that he should be in jail for his whole life.

28 days is not enough time when you’re grieving

The family were given 28 days to decide whether they wanted to appeal the sentence, which would have meant going through another court hearing. But on the ten year anniversary of Sasha’s death, the Blackpool family are campaigning for this law to be changed.

Sister, Katie Brett, said: “In that [28 day] period, you’re grieving and you’ve only just got justice for your loved one and you don’t know whether that’s a good sentence or not.”

Currently the families of murder victims have no recourse against an unduly lenient sentence, if they do not apply within 28 days.

Killer will be 57 when he gets out

Now the family feel it is unfair that they have no right to appeal, yet David Minto – who inflicted over over 100 injuries to 16 year old Sasha after she rejected his sexual advances, will be eligible for parole in 2048.

Katie added: "He will be 57 when he gets out, we believe he will kill someone again. He's got no remorse and was not sorry in court...I can feel it to the tips of my fingers that he felt he had the right to do that to my sister."

On January 31, 2013, Sasha was stabbed 58 times after being lured to a hotel thinking she was going to an interview for a part-time cleaning job.

Her body was then dumped and set alight in an alleyway behind the Grafton House Hotel, in Blackpool, where Minto lived.

Sasha had been a child care student at Blackpool and The Fylde College and had hoped she could earn some money when she was targeted by Minto in a way that police described as ‘premeditated and evil’.

Family sat through ‘gruesome’ and horrific details at the trial

Katie recounts sitting through the murder trial hearing the horrific details of how her sister was tortured.

She describes being shown a body map depicting Sasha’s injuries, because the actual pictures were ‘too gruesome to show a jury’.

“[I heard] descriptions that will stay with me until I die. Then you’re only given 28 days to appeal the sentence. [This is not long enough] to process how you feel, to have the strength to even discuss with family if we even want to appeal and to even know if we have the strength for that after everything else.”

Told 35 years was a good sentence at the time

When the sentence was passed, Katie remembers being told that 35 years was a good result, and the family weren’t in a fit emotional state to question it at the time.

"You have no fight left in you, you’re broken after sitting through that trial, can you handle another court appearance? Even the thought of it now 10 years on I’m not sure I can handle it - but I’ll give it my best shot.”

Katie and her family held a peaceful protest in St Johns Square, and has set up a campaign to ask the Government to remove the 28-day time limit for applying to the lenient sentence scheme to have a sentence reviewed, for convictions of murder.

“Why should he have 35 years to plan for his parole when we only have 28 days to decide whether or not we want to appeal his sentence? Many people say he should be hung, but the best we can ever hope for is that he spends the rest of his life in jail.”

Sign the petition for Sasha’s family

The teenager's family have now started a petition to remove the 28-day time limit.

Katie says she will fight for ‘every person who’s been stolen from this world’.

Support the campaign at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/631316