Jailed 'Satanist' who murdered cellmate for kicks has 'life meaning life' sentence cut despite saying he would kill again

Psychopathic: Double murderer Clement McNally described killing his prison cellmate as 'better than sex'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:02 PM on 26th October 2009

A psychopathic 'Satanist' jailed for life without parole after he strangled his cellmate while serving a prison term for another murder, has had his sentence cut to 20 years.

Clement McNally throttled father-of-one Anthony Hesketh with a T-shirt in September 2003 because he was Satan's 'hands and eyes'.
Hesketh, who was serving four months for driving while disqualified, was found dead on the floor of the cell he shared with McNally in Manchester's Strangeways prison.

McNally, 34, of Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire, claimed to worship the devil and decorated his cell with satanic symbols.

He was also diagnosed as 'psychopathic, narcissistic, paranoid and obsessive-compulsive'.
The killer was already serving a mandatory life term for stabbing a friend to death outside a party in July, 2002, when Hesketh was allocated to his cell.
McNally told officials the killing was 'better than sex' and admitted he would kill again if he got the opportunity.

He was given a life term, with a whole life tariff, for the second killing after pleading guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at Manchester Crown Court on July 12, 2004.
But now the minimum term has been slashed to 20 years by Lord Justice Hughes, sitting at London's Criminal Appeal Court.

The judge said it was not right that McNally should never have a chance of release.

McNally, who was prescribed anti-depressants and mood-stabilisers, had told a psychiatrist after being jailed for Mr Skelly's murder that he had worshipped the devil for two years.

Victim: Anthony Hesketh was strangled with a T-shirt in 2003 whilst he shared a cell with McNally in Strangeways prison >

He also claimed prison chiefs allowed him to read books on the occult, some of which came from the prison library.

Nevertheless petty criminal, Mr Hesketh, of Worsley, Greater Manchester, was locked up with him and met his death.

Lord Justice Hughes, sitting with Mr Justice MacKay and Mr Justice Davis, said of Mr Hesketh's killing: 'McNally had no particular grievance against his victim - he simply suffered an urge to kill him.

'He said it was exciting - better than sex. He said Satan told him to do things and it was his job to do as he was told.

'He said he was not in the least bit sorry for what he had done, but had derived a great deal of pleasure from subsequently thinking about it.

'He suffers from compulsive homicidal urges and poses an exceptional risk to other prisoners.

'He made it perfectly clear that he would kill again if the opportunity arose and the urge to kill was of sufficient intensity.'

However the judge said it was wrong not to give McNally the chance of being freed if, at some point in the future, his mental state stabilises to the extent that the authorities no longer consider him a danger to society.

He told the court: 'The life sentence was plainly correct as he was likely to represent a danger of the gravest kind, for a period which could not be determined.

'However the imposition of a whole life tariff was a mistaken application of the process of sentencing.

'The life sentence itself is designed to cater for a prisoner in whom it cannot be seen when, or if ever, they will cease to be a danger to the public.

'The Parole Board will not release a prisoner under a life sentence until it is convinced that they no longer pose a danger to the public.

'The minimum term should be set on the basis of the severity of what the offender has done and his level of culpability for it.

'If this man never ceases to be a danger, he will never be released.

'But what cannot be known is whether his condition will change in the future.

'Accordingly, we set aside the order, declining to set a minimum term, and the question of his dangerousness now and in the future is reserved to the Parole Board.

'His culpability was plainly reduced because he was in the mentally abnormal condition that he was, but the circumstances and gravity of the acts were considerable.

'It was a second homicide within about 15 months. It was a pointless killing, generated simply to satisfy an internal impulse.

'The appropriate course now is to set a minimum term which takes account of both the murder and manslaughter offences. We arrive at a minimum term of 20 years.

'However, the plainest evidence of the absence of a risk would be needed before any consideration could be given to his release.

'It may very well be that there is never sufficient evidence of an absence of danger, but those decisions lie in the future and, to that extent, this appeal is allowed,' the judge concluded.
An inquest into Mr Hesketh's killing heard that McNally turned his back on the Devil 18 months after the murder, but denied fabricating his Satanism.