The British Government said it will force offenders to either face their victims or their families in court or spend two extra years in prison. “It is unacceptable that some of the country’s most horrendous criminals have refused to face their victims in court. They cannot and should not be allowed to take the coward’s way out,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. This decision is part of a new reform that aims to make sentencing tougher for the most horrifying killings, leading to significant changes in the U.K.'s legal system.
Judges could always compel the criminal to come to the dock, they tend not to because someone who doesn’t want to come may have to be dragged in kicking and spitting, making the whole process even more traumatic.
It’s just cheap tabloid-bait.