Northern Ireland

Sharyar Ali sentence for murder of baby Hunter McGleenon to be appealed

11-month-old Hunter McGleenon was murdered in Keady, Co Armagh
11-month-old Hunter McGleenon was murdered in Keady, Co Armagh 11-month-old Hunter McGleenon was murdered in Keady, Co Armagh

The PPS is to appeal as “unduly lenient” the 13 year minimum tariff handed down to a man who battered his girlfriend’s baby son to death.

A PPS spokesperson said: “While sentencing is a matter for the judiciary, the Director of Public Prosecutions does have the power to refer particular sentences to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they may be unduly lenient. An unduly lenient sentence is one that falls outside the range of sentences that a judge, taking into consideration all relevant factors and having regard to sentencing guidance, could reasonably impose.

“After careful consideration of the sentence handed down in the case of Sharyar Ali for the murder of baby Hunter McGleenon, we have determined that there is sufficient basis to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal and have lodged the relevant application.”

At the end of October, Mr Justice McFarland ordered that Ali, an illegal immigrant, must serve a minimum of 13 years of his life sentence for the murder of infant Hunter McGleenon.

The Pakistani national, who had entered the UK illegally, has been in a relation with Hunter's mother Nicole and had been caring for the baby while she went to visit a sick relative in November 2019.

He was about to go on trial at Newry Crown Court last April when he confessed that he was guilty of murder.

Sentencing Ali last month, Mr Justice McFarland outlined how Hunter’s death was caused by "blunt trauma to the head" and that it was "crystal clear" they were not due to the baby falling off the sofa, as Ali had originally claimed.