Two men freed from indefinite 'IPP' jail terms after two decades in custody
A High Court judge and a magistrate have ordered the release of two men held under indeterminate sentences for public protection, after each served around 20 years despite minimum terms of two years or less.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
Two men who had been held in prison under indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPPs) have been freed after each serving around two decades in custody, despite having received minimum terms of two years or less, according to the Guardian.
The releases of Luke Ings and Liam Bennett followed an appeal heard after a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body that examines potential miscarriages of justice in England and Wales. A high court judge and a magistrate hearing the appeal told both men they would be freed.
The same hearing also addressed the case of a third man, James Ward, whose indeterminate sentence was replaced, following his earlier release in August.
IPP sentences were a form of indefinite imprisonment used in England and Wales that allowed offenders to be held in custody beyond their minimum term until a parole board judged they no longer posed a risk to the public. The sentences were abolished for new cases in 2012, but thousands of prisoners already serving IPPs remained in custody long after their minimum terms expired, a situation that has drawn sustained criticism from campaigners, lawyers and parliamentary committees.
The cases of Ings, Bennett and Ward add to a series of releases and sentence reviews involving IPP prisoners, as courts and oversight bodies continue to examine individual cases referred to them following years of concern over prisoners serving far longer than their original minimum terms.
Sources
- Two men serving indefinite jail sentences freed after two decades — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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