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Government rejects calls to resentence prisoners with no release date, as campaigners warn ministers have ‘blood on their hands’
15 November 2024, 17:36
The Government is fully rejecting calls to resentence inmates who are serving now-abolished sentences, that locked them up with no release date.
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The imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence was introduced in 2005 and scrapped just seven years later as ministers admitted it was unfair and unjust.
Thousands of offenders continue to serve their indeterminate sentence, though, with campaigners warning self-harm and suicide rates among IPP inmates is soaring.
It’s led to calls for their punishments to be reconsidered, in line with current laws.
Tony, now Lord Woodley, the former Joint General Secretary of the Unite Union, introduced a private members bill to the House of Lords, in an attempt to force the government to resentence them, in line with current laws.
He told LBC: “This is as big a scandal as the Post Office and the contaminated bloods but the only difference here is that people don’t fully understand the injustices that are taking place.
“I want to see them being resentenced because if there’s any justice in the world you don’t turn around see people who’ve stolen a mobile phone where 18 months has gone to 13 years or someone steals a plant pot and spends 14 years behind bars.
“These torture sentences should not be happening. Is the government or are we in society going to take any notice or responsibility for these 2,500 people with no hope?”
Officials in the Ministry of Justice claim they haven’t been able to find a way to resentence IPP inmates in a way which wouldn’t release dangerous offenders onto the streets, despite considering it over a number of years.
One senior official said: “It’s not a risk we’re prepared to take. The bottom line is that any resentencing exercise that removes the parole board role means that people will be released when we don’t necessarily think they’re safe to be.”
More than 2,600 inmates are serving IPP sentences and figures released this week suggest two thirds of them were locked up for violent or sexual offences, including manslaughter, kidnap and the abuse of children.
Stats also show, however, that five inmates still behind bars serving the sentence were handed tariffs of less than six months, more than 12 years since the punishment was scrapped.
Responding to the House of Lords debate, prisons minister Lord Timpson said: “It is right that IPP offenders are risk assessed and only released when it’s determined that they can be safely managed in the community.”
He added: “It’s also right that those determinations are made by the Parole Board. If resentencing were to take place in line with what is being proposed in this Bill, the Parole Board would no longer play that critical role and their previous work in each case would be disregarded entirely.
“Legislating to give every IPP prisoner a definite release date and post release licence or legislating to provide for resentencing by a court would result in them being released automatically.
“This would be the case even where the Parole Board had previously determined - and in many cases repeatedly - that they continue to be too dangerous to be released.
“Either approach would put the public at an unacceptable risk of harm.”
Often described by campaigners as one of the ‘biggest injustices’, IPP sentences also carried strict licence conditions - in many cases, for life - after inmates are released from jail.
A breach of those conditions has led to multiple recalls and offenders being put back behind bars, again with no release date.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Justice changed its approach to IPP probation, removing the lifetime conditions for offenders who have avoided a return to prison.
Marc Conway, who had his licence conditions lifted after serving his IPP sentence, now campaigns for prison reform and has supported the calls for resentencing.
He told LBC: “Every time the government doesn’t do something, justice secretary after justice secretary, home secretary after home secretary, prime minister after prime minister, blood is on their hands.
“95 people have committed suicide while serving this sentence in one way or another.
“The government knows and it is using scaremongering tactics to scare the public and get them on side, saying if resentencing happened thousands of people would be released tomorrow - it just wouldn’t happen.”
The government has announced a new action plan to support IPP prisoners, including a review of the specific health challenges they face.
The prisons system will also monitor the progress being made by offenders in jail, to direct resources towards those who aren’t engaging with their sentencing plan.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This government is determined to do all we can to support the remaining IPP prisoners -– with new tailored plans for those struggling to progress.
“This includes urgently ensuring all IPP prisoners are in the best prison to access the rehabilitation support they need.”
