AN attempt to increase the amount of time a double murderer spends in prison has failed.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has ruled that the minimum 38-year term handed to Collin Reeves for killing his neighbours in Norton Fitzwarren is appropriate.

Reeves, 35, stabbed married couple Jennifer and Stephen Chapple in their home in Dragon Rise while their two children slept upstairs.

He was jailed for life and told he must spend at last 38 years behind bars following a trial in Bristol Crown Court in June.

Reeves had pleaded guilty to manslaughter following a parking dispute with the couple, but denied murder.

The AGO had been asked whether the case should be referred to the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, but ruled that the sentence did not meet the threshold.

The office issued a statement this week saying: "The Solicitor General was shocked and appalled by this case, and wishes to extend his sympathies to the families of Stephen and Jennifer Chapple.

"After careful consideration the Solicitor General has concluded that this case cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case."

Former Royal Engineer Reeves scaled the fence separating his garden and that of Jennifer, 33, and Stephen, 36, on November 21 last year before entering their house through the back door and killing them both with a ceremonial dagger presented to him when he left the Army.

Reeves rang the police shortly afterwards to confess, although he later said he believed he was on an Army manoeuvre and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Reeves' mother Lynn recently told the County Gazette his actions were out of character and that he had been let down by psychiatrists and the Army.

Mrs Reeves, who believes he should have been found guilty of manslaughter but not murder, started a petition calling for his sentence to be reduced.