THE man who stabbed to death a milkman with a ceremonial dagger has had his sentence reduced because he was suffering from cannabis psychosis.
Jamie Lee Osbourne, who was 18 at the time, murdered 56-year-old Ronnie Ketteridge, of Birdwell, in April 2003.
He was given life and told he would serve a minimum of 22 years but this week Mr Justice Nelson, sitting at London's Royal Courts of Justice, reduced it to 20. Osbourne was said to have been more vulnerable to cannabis psychosis because he had a family history of schizophrenia.
Mr Justice Nelson also took into account the remorse Osbourne has since shown but said: “He will only be released if he can convince the parole board he is no longer a danger to the public. Even then he will remain on perpetual life licence and face recall to jail if he puts so much as a foot out of line.”
Ronnie's widow Pauline does not think 20 years is enough, but she is grateful Osbourne’s sentence was cut by only two years.
She said: “At the end of the day I'm serving a life sentence, so are his children and grandchildren. But having said that 20 years is a lot in the current climate so it's a good sentence in terms of the British law, just not justice.”
