Five IPP prisoners to be referred to Court of Appeal
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is said to have referred five prisoners serving indeterminate sentences to the Court of Appeal, according to the BBC’s Newsnight programme.
Although Indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences were abolished in 2012, they still account for approximately 2,800 people.
Open-ended sentences were initially given to people who were considered dangerous but whose crimes did not merit a life sentence.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “It is true that IPP sentences have been lifted and we have already taken action to support these offenders to move on with their lives.”
According to the spokesperson, a change has also been made to the legislation to ensure that those in the community serving IPP sentences can be more quickly considered for license termination.
All five IPP prisoners were men who remained in custody after first being sentenced in their late teens between 2002 and 2010, CCRC Interim President Dame Vera Baird told Newsnight.
“They sent three boys of similar ages to similar applications, and we think these five guys can fit into those ranges and expand them,” he said.
He added that the Court of Appeal had “changed somewhat” in its attitude and recognized that “young men like these are very different from mature men when they are convicted”.
The BBC also spoke to Matthew Booth, 34, who received an IPP sentence at the age of 15 following his conviction for wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.
Booth initially served more than six years in prison for these convictions, but was recalled four times for breaches of IPP license conditions. One such violation involved being in a relationship that he did not declare.
Speaking for the first time since his release from prison last week, he said: “I don’t think any child should receive an IPP because of what you’ve been through.”
He continued: “You feel like there’s no help. There’s no hope. It just hurts you. It changes you. That’s what happens inside you, within your character.”
Dame Vera Baird echoed his remarks, stating that IPP sentences evaluate people in terms of what they can do rather than what they actually do.
“These are sentences that make people despair,” he said.
