Collin Reeves: Appeal to extend sentence blocked

Jennifer and Stephen Chapple died from multiple stab wounds

An appeal to increase the prison sentence for a former soldier who killed his neighbours has failed.

Collin Reeves, 35, killed Jennifer and Stephen Chapple in Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset, following a parking dispute.

He was handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 38 years.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) was asked to consider whether it should be referred to the unduly lenient sentence scheme, but has said the sentence does not meet the threshold.

In a statement released on Tuesday the AGO said: "The Solicitor General was shocked and appalled by this case, and wishes to extend his sympathies to the families of Stephen and Jennifer Chapple.

On the night of the murders, Reeves climbed a fence and entered the Chapple house via the back door

"After careful consideration the Solicitor General has concluded that this case cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case."

The couple's children were asleep upstairs when Reeves killed them

Ex-Royal Engineer Reeves stabbed Mrs Chapple, 33, and Mr Chapple, 36, six times each in their home on 21 November while their children slept upstairs.

The killings came after regular rows over parking, which had escalated to the point that both Reeves' wife Kayley and Mrs Chapple had told their friends they were anxious about bumping into each other on the school run.

A trial at Bristol Crown Court heard he used a ceremonial dagger, given to him when he left the Army, to kill the couple.

Reeves called the police shortly after the killings to confess but later denied murder, claiming he was guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

But he was convicted of murder at Bristol Crown Court on 17 June, on the eighth day of his trial.