Mother to meet Cameron over murdered son

Lorraine Fraser said she was "overwhelmed" that the Prime Minister had agreed to meet her as she campaigns for justice for her son Tyrone Clarke, who was battered and stabbed to death in Leeds in 2004.

One of his killers is seeking to get his release tariff reduced from nine years to five, while another suspect is believed to have escaped justice altogether by fleeing abroad.

Mr Cameron appeared sympathetic to her cause as he pledged a crackdown on carrying of knives and a review of whether more use could be made of powers for the Attorney General to appeal against lenient sentences.

"There has been a huge increase in the carrying of knives and we have got to put a stop to that," Mr Cameron told MPs as he agreed to look into the case.

"In terms of lenient sentences, the power that was introduced some 20 years ago now to allow the Attorney General to appeal against lenient sentences – I'm not convinced that power is used enough.

"I think that we need to look at that again and make sure that in cases where people really feel a lenient sentence has been put in place there should be an opportunity to increase it."

Mrs Fraser is furious that Liaquat Ali, now 22, who was one of four jailed for life in March 2005, is attempting to have his minimum tariff reduced from nine years and 47 days to just five years.

She raised her concerns in a radio debate with then-Home Secretary Alan Johnson during the election campaign, when she warned Britain's streets will be patrolled by vigilantes looking to take the law into their own hands if tougher sentences are not imposed on murderers.

During the election campaign she also discussed the case with Stuart Andrew, the Tory candidate – and now MP – for Pudsey, and yesterday he fulfilled a pledge to raise it with Mr Cameron.

Mrs Fraser said she wanted the right for killers to seek to cut their tariff to be abolished.

"It's the biggest insult," she said. "Every year I've had to put up with my son's killers putting in appeal after appeal. When do I get time to grieve?

"I've had to fight my son's corner since the day he died. Until we start putting victims first, we've lost."

Mrs Fraser, a Tory voter, said she had wanted to meet the Prime Minister for a long time to pursue the issue, and said she wanted the fight on behalf of all victims of crime rather than just for herself. She has vowed not to give up until all her son's killers are brought to justice, and Mr Andrew has offered his support.

"It's just horrendous that she and her daughters have had to battle and send in statements to the judge to make sure these people actually serve a sentence which is worthy of what they did," he said.

Meanwhile Mr Cameron faced open hostility from Shipley MP Philip Davies in the House of Commons after Justice Secretary Ken Clarke suggested a review could conclude fewer criminals should be locked up on shorter sentences.

The comments have caused consternation on the Tory right, and Mr Davies warned: "The millions of people who voted Conservative at the last election to make you Prime Minister didn't do so to see a reduction in the number of people sent to prison or to see those criminals given softer sentences.

"If you want to reduce the budget of the prison service can I suggest you start by taking away Sky TV from the 4,000 prisoners that enjoy that luxury in their cells."

Mr Cameron pledged a "tough" response to crime but said "failures in the system" had to be addressed.