Will killers really face justice?

Reform is populist, perhaps popular but largely pointless

What are we to make of this announcement on social media:

I should perhaps explain that the cotton-reel indicates that this is a “thread”. Subsequent pieces link to a press release published by the Ministry of Justice at lunchtime yesterday. And the prime minister is pictured comforting the mother of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9, whose murderer refused to attend a hearing in April at which he was sentenced to a minimum of 42 years in prison:

There are several very strange things about this story.