A 19-year-old from Luton who murdered his mother and two younger siblings will not receive a whole-life prison term, after the Court of Appeal dismissed a bid to increase his sentence.
Nicholas Prosper was handed a life sentence in April, with a minimum term of 49 years, after pleading guilty to the brutal killings of his mother, Juliana Falcon, 48, and his siblings, Kyle Prosper, 16, and Giselle Prosper, 13. Their bodies were discovered at the family’s home in September 2023.
The sentencing judge at Luton Crown Court described the crimes as so extreme that the words “heartless and brutal” could not fully capture the terror endured by the victims.
Alongside the triple murder, Prosper was also convicted of weapons offences, having plotted a mass shooting at his former primary school. He had purchased a shotgun using a fake certificate and planned to target St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, where he and his siblings had once been pupils. He later told police that he wanted to become “the most famous school shooter of the 21st century.”
The murder of his family is believed to have occurred after his mother discovered the illegal firearm and confronted him.
Prosper was arrested by police shortly after the killings. Officers found the loaded shotgun stashed in nearby bushes, along with over 30 cartridges, preventing what authorities say could have been a devastating attack.
The Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the sentence was too lenient given the gravity of the crimes. Prosecuting barristers insisted that a whole-life term — the harshest penalty available in the UK — was warranted due to the “exceptional” nature of the killings.
However, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Wall, upheld the original sentence. While acknowledging the severity of the offences and their disturbing nature, the judges noted that Prosper was a teenager at the time of the murders.
“This was, undeniably, a case of the utmost gravity,” Baroness Carr said in her ruling. “Had the offender been 21 or older at the time, a whole-life order would have been imposed without question. But a 49-year minimum sentence is already an extremely severe punishment for a 19-year-old.”
The ruling means that Prosper, now 19, will not be eligible for release until he is in his late 60s, and only if deemed no longer a risk to the public.
Despite the court’s decision, the case has sparked national debate about sentencing for young offenders who commit crimes of extreme violence, particularly when the intent involves mass casualties or school attacks.
