Families of people who are murdered or killed by dangerous driving will be able to have a statement about their loss read out in court, it was announced today.

Relatives will have the opportunity to draw up an “impact statement” with the help of prosecutors in a move that could lead to offenders being given tougher sentences.

The scheme, which has been piloted in five areas since the beginning of last year, will be introduced across England and Wales from October.

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, QC, said experienced lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service would help families draft a statement describing the deceased and what their loss has meant to them.

“Where the impact has been significant then that will affect the sentence, and in some other cases it may not,” he said.

But Lord Goldsmith denied it would create a two-tier system of punishment, in which offenders would get stiffer sentences if they killed someone whose friends and relatives happened to be more eloquent.

“None of this is the Government telling judges what to do. It is giving them the information in a responsible, structured way with the assistance of an experienced prosecutor so the family knows that a judge understands what the crime means to them.”

He went on that it had always been the case that if a crime had a huge impact on relatives the sentence could be swayed.

Lord Goldsmith added: “In a case where there isn’t a single impact statement judges will still proceed on the basis that a human life is priceless.”

Other aspects of the pilot scheme which have allowed families to appoint their own “victim’s advocate” or read out the impact statement themselves are still being evaluated and do not form part of the national roll-out, he said.

“We have decided that the benefits are so clear that we want to offer this now to everybody,” said Lord Goldsmith, the Government’s senior law officer.

It will apply in cases of murder, manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving heard in the Crown Court.

The statements are read out after a defendant’s conviction before the judge passes sentence.

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