Fresh proposals for panel of judges to reconsider cases of every IPP prisoner
His colleagues called for a panel of judges to re-evaluate the situation of every prisoner sentenced to indefinite imprisonment.
Edward Garnier KC, a former attorney-general in the Conservative government, has proposed the establishment of an expert panel to review the cases of any prisoner serving an abolished Public Protection (IPP) sentence.
he said Independent While he called on the government to “fix this broken system”, too many IPP prisoners are “now victims of state action or inaction”.
In the amendment submitted to the Criminal Bill, which will be discussed in the House of Lords at the report stage in the new year, the Minister of Justice was called on to appoint 12 current or former crown court judges.
Judges will then review each case – taking into account the prisoner’s crime, how long he has served, his risks to the public and what kind of support he will need in the community – and decide whether he should be released.
However, if the minister of justice disagrees with the panel’s decision to release a prisoner, the panel will have the power to refuse release.
Judges will also consider whether the prisoner should be transferred to a hospital for treatment if the prisoner is mentally ill or poses a risk to the community or himself if released.
Another amendment, tabled by Britain’s former chief justice John Thomas, calls for IPP prisoners to be given a release date within two years of their next parole hearing.
The proposals come after the government repeatedly refused to relent on the nearly 2,500 prisoners still stuck in IPP prison sentences.
Open-ended penalties were abolished in 2012, but not retroactively. This resulted in thousands of already convicted people being incarcerated without a release date until they convinced the Parole Board that it was safe to release them.
Victims of the scandal whose tragic cases stand out Independent We can also count Leroy Douglas, who spent almost 20 years in prison for stealing a cell phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself on fire in his cell and served 13 years in prison for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleiman, 41, who remains in prison 19 years after he was imprisoned for laptop robbery.
Independent He has repeatedly called for a review of the sentences of all IPP prisoners, branded by the UN as “psychological torture”.
But the government insisted it would not consider any measures to release prisoners who failed the Parole Board’s release test or compromised public protection. Neither change is likely to succeed without government support.
Lord Garnier said the government was “horrified” that an IPP offender would be released and commit a serious crime, but lacked the “sense of purpose” needed to finish the job he started when the sentence was abolished in 2012.
“What I am proposing, and what Lord Thomas is proposing, are changes designed to enable government to think progressively, creatively and humanely, and to improve the internal management of the licensing and depository systems associated with IPPs,” he added.
“Many of these defendants were recalled for trivial reasons, institutionalized by the state, and are now victims of state action or inaction.
“If they can’t be released, it’s probably because the state made them that way, not because they were the dangerous criminals they were when they were sentenced years ago.”
During a heated debate at the committee stage of the Criminal Code earlier this month, Lord Thomas warned that the government would have blood on its hands if it did not act to help IPP prisoners. At least 94 prisoners died by suicide after losing hope of release.
Lord Thomas said: “If we do not act now, we will have blood on our hands, and I use that word deliberately.
“We cannot shirk the responsibility to right an injustice. And what an injustice that is.”
Labor member Lord Woodley, who backed Lord Garnier’s bill and has repeatedly called for resentment against IPP prisoners, said ministers were “defending the indefensible”.
A damning inquest this month concluded that an IPP prison sentence was a key factor in the suicide of Taylor Atkinson, 50, who killed himself after telling his partner “the only way out for me was in a body bag.”
Prisons minister James Timpson also tabled an amendment that would allow released IPP prisoners to apply to have their licenses terminated after two years in the community, reducing that period from three years.
But campaigners United IPP Reform Group (UNGRIPP) say the government is spending too much time making corrections “on the fringes” of prison sentences without giving prisoners a release date.
They argue that both Lord Garnier and Lord Thomas’s proposals, if supported by the government, “could end the cycle of despair and injustice that has gripped thousands of families for nearly two decades”.
A spokesman added: “The government has for too long been trimming the edges of a sentence it recognizes is a ‘stain’ on our justice system, while leaving untouched the heart of the problem: uncertainty.”
“This sentence has already claimed too many lives through suicide and we fear many more will be lost if we continue on the same path; we call on the government to stop hiding behind the politics of fear and finally root out this injustice by supporting a real end to the IPP sentence.
“Families cannot wait another decade of ‘action plans’ that fail to provide the one thing they need: an appointment for hope.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “It is right that IPP sentences are abolished and we continue to provide additional support to prisoners serving them.”
“Every IPP prisoner is entitled to a parole review at least every two years and no one may be detained in prison unless the independent Parole Board decides they still pose a serious risk.”
