Forty-Nine Years — The Sentence of Nicholas Prosper

In September 2024, 18‑year‑old Nicholas Prosper killed his mother and two siblings in Luton and planned a mass shooting at his former primary school. In March 2025 he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 49 years. That sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal as “unduly lenient”; in July 2025 the court refused to replace the 49‑year minimum with a whole‑life order. This episode explains the crimes, the trial and sentencing reasoning, the legal challenge, and why the appeal judges left the original sentence in place.