Key Facts
- •Erik Feld (38) convicted of murder on 23 March 2023.
- •Sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years (less 506 days on remand).
- •Murder involved a planned, sustained, and brutal hammer attack on a stranger in a park.
- •Feld had previously searched for "murder footage" and "murder videos" online and possessed multiple hammers.
- •Feld's defence of self-defence was rejected by the judge.
- •Feld suffered from a personality disorder, considered as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
Legal Principles
Sentencing for murder involves determining an appropriate minimum term within a life sentence.
Sentencing Act 2020
Mitigating factors in murder sentencing may include mental disorders that reduce culpability, even if not amounting to diminished responsibility.
Schedule 21, paragraph 10(c), Sentencing Act 2020; Sentencing Guideline in respect of Sentencing Offenders with Mental Disorders
The sentencing judge's assessment of culpability, considering all evidence including psychiatric reports, is given significant weight.
Sentencing Guideline in respect of Sentencing Offenders with Mental Disorders, paragraph 13
Outcomes
Appeal against sentence refused.
The sentencing judge properly considered the mitigating effect of the applicant's personality disorder while acknowledging the significant aggravating factors. The minimum term was not considered manifestly excessive.