In a ruling, they said: “Although the first murder was serious, it could not – considered in isolation from the second second murder – be regarded as an offense of extremely high seriousness. “There is no indication that, at the time he committed the first murder, Stewart was already planning that it would be the first in a series.” However, they accepted that it was legitimate to adjust the minimum term to 35 years to “achieve fair punishment for the first murder and ensure that the overall sentence was proportionate to Stewart’s offense as a whole”. Stewart’s wife had not had a seizure in 18 years and was on daily medication. Consultant neurologist Dr Christopher Derry estimated the risk of having a fatal seizure was about one in 100,000. During a 999 call, Stewart was instructed to give his wife CPR and said he did, but paramedic Spencer North, who attended the scene, said there “didn’t appear to be effective CPR”. Professor Safa Al-Sarraj, a consultant neuropathologist who examined preserved parts of Ms Stewart’s brain, said there was evidence she had suffered a lack of oxygen before her death, which prosecutors argued was the result of “prolonged restraint” such as suffocation or neck hold. Former police officer Wayne Couzens has lost his appeal to reduce his life sentence for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, meaning he will die in prison.
