THE COURTS and prosecution service have apologised to victims of 'emotionally void' killer Jason Voong, who were unable to watch justice being done due to an administrative error.

Neither investigating officers from Wiltshire Police, nor the sisters of victim Aulton 'Tom' Rogers, who had flown from Australia to be present at the trial, were able to attend as the hearing was moved without their knowledge.

Voong's first victim, 25-year-old Leanne James, said she and others whose lives Voong had wrecked had been 'denied their final piece of closure' when the sentencing was brought two hours forward.

"We arrived only to be told it had already happened," said Leanne. "That's bad enough for me, but Tom's family have come from the other side of the world for this.

"They are obviously very upset. We have gone through the whole process only to be denied that final bit of closure."

Leanne said they had been given a time to return by the court when the jury delivered their verdict on Monday. Voong's family had been kept informed and were present at the sentencing.

"We have been told the CPS were supposed to have informed us, and the worst part is that Jason's family had been told, so they were all there," she said.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were responsible for informing the police and victims of the change, but CPS Wessex said they had not been told by the listing office in Bristol.

They will now be writing to Leanne and Tom's family to explain the mistake, and seeking ways to ensure it is not repeated.

A CPS spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that Ms James and the family of Mr Rogers were not able to attend Bristol Crown Court for the sentencing of Jason Voong.

"The Crown Prosecution Service Wessex, Wiltshire Police and the Witness Care Unit were originally informed that the sentencing hearing was to be held at 12 noon on November 12 by the listing office at Bristol Crown Court.

"It appears that when the hearing time was altered the listing office did not contact CPS Wessex who was prosecuting the matter.

"We have spoken to the listing office at Bristol Crown Court who have confirmed this. As a consequence neither Wiltshire Police or the Witness Care Unit were informed that the time of the hearing had changed, and regrettably as a result Ms James and the family of Mr Rogers were not contacted and were not able to hear the judge sentencing Jason Voong.

"This clearly should not have happened. We will be writing to Ms James and Mr Rogers and will provide them with a full explanation of what happened and we will be providing them with the sentencing remarks.

"We will also discuss with the court ways, to ensure this does not happen again and how we can improve the service to victims and witnesses."

An HM Courts & Tribunals Service spokesperson said: "We apologise for the distress caused. We are urgently investigating what went wrong in this case and will be contacting those affected."

Voong, 29, of Southbrook Street, was given an indefinite hospital order under the Mental Health Act, with conditions upon his release.