JAIL terms for one-punch killers must fit their crime, the Government’s chief legal advisor said last night.

Dominic Grieve QC MP, the Conservative Attorney General, said prison terms for manslaughter had to be proportionate and the issue was a legitimate area for The Northern Echo and the public to express a view about.

Earlier this year, The Northern Echo launched the Price of a Punch campaign, calling for tougher sentences for one-punch killers, after 21-year-old soldier Andrew Gibson was killed during a night out in Darlington.

His killer, 17-year-old John Flannigan, was jailed for only two-and-ahalf years.

Speaking in Durham last night, Mr Grieve said his role as Attorney General was to ensure sentencing guidelines were followed or, if they were departed from, it was for a legitimate reason.

He could not be a “substitute”

for sentencing guidelines and was limited in what he could do, he said.

However, he added: “If Parliament and the judiciary want to change the guidelines, that’s a matter for public pressure.

“One-punch manslaughter has always been a very difficult area. After all, it’s somebody’s death resulting from the action of another person.

“Equally, that the charge is manslaughter, rather than murder, is because there was no intention to kill or cause serious bodily harm. It’s an unlawful act with terrible but unpredicted consequences, but which nevertheless derive from the event.

“The level of sentence for one-punch manslaughter is higher than five or ten years ago. In response to public concern, the guidelines have tended to push the sentences up.”

The Sentencing Council is reviewing judges’ sentencing powers. Consultation will end on January 5.

Meanwhile, Mr Grieve took a hard line over plans to close 157 magistrates’ and county courts, including 11 in the North-East and North Yorkshire, saying many were very substantially underused, closing them would generate significant savings and he could not promise to keep every court open.

However, he said he hoped the outcome of the current consultation would leave each area with an adequate number of courts and people feeling they had a local court.

Mr Grieve also refuted suggestions cutting police budgets and reducing prison places would lead to more crime, saying an extensive package including rehabilitation and after-care was being drawn up to cut re-offending and bring crime down.

Mr Grieve was in Durham to deliver a lecture to the English Law Students Association.

Earlier, he had visited Crown Prosecution Service offices in Newcastle.