Marc Conway, a former IPP prisoner who now leads a campaign group, said Burnham’s action was ‘an essential first step’. Photograph: Alecsandra Raluca Drăgoi/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Marc Conway, a former IPP prisoner who now leads a campaign group, said Burnham’s action was ‘an essential first step’. Photograph: Alecsandra Raluca Drăgoi/The Guardian Prisons and probation Andy Burnham pledge to end indefinite prison terms ‘a step towards healing’ Campaigners welcome plan to bring IPP sentences to a close but say the move is long overdue
Prefer the Guardian on Google Campaigners have hailed Andy Burnham’s pledge to bring an end to indefinite jail terms as “a day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for”.
The prime minister has said he will “end the injustice” of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences during this parliament, meaning people will no longer be trapped indefinitely under a sentence abolished more than a decade ago.
The IPP sentence was a form of indeterminate sentence in which offenders were given a minimum jail tariff but no maximum for a range of crimes.
Introduced in 2005, IPPs were designed for the indefinite detention of serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public, but were used much more widely than intended and issued to offenders who committed low-level crimes. The sentence was scrapped in 2012 but its abolition was not retrospective.
Those given an IPP sentence were, in addition, placed on licence indefinitely after release, and were only eligible to have their licence removed after 10 years. The 10-year period was overturned last year and IPP prisoners may now seek termination of their licence after two years in the community, and it ends automatically after four years.
Statistics from the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service show that as of 30 June this year 856 people remained behind bars after being given IPP sentences. Eight out of 10 of those have been jailed for at least 10 years beyond the minimum term at which they could apply for parole.
A further 1,415 IPP prisoners were recalled to custody after being released on licence, the data shows.
Responding to Burnham’s announcement on Sunday, Marc Conway, a former IPP prisoner who now leads a campaign group against the sentencing regime called Ungripp, said the move was a long overdue step towards justice.
Read more Conway, who was handed an IPP sentence for armed robbery, was one of three released offenders who tackled the Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist Usman Khan in 2019 on London Bridge. Conway has previously spoken of his fear that tackling the terrorist might have landed him back in jail under the terms of his IPP.
“This is a day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for,” Conway said. “For too long, their loved ones have been trapped by a sentence that was acknowledged as flawed over a decade ago.
“While we welcome this critical action by the government, we do so with heavy hearts for those who did not live to see this day, and for the families torn apart by years of endless uncertainty. Legislation alone cannot undo 20 years of damage, but it is the essential first step toward healing.”
Ungripp urged the Ministry of Justice and the probation services to ensure that the implementation of the decision was swift, transparent and accompanied by comprehensive community and mental health support for all those transitioning off IPP licences and out of custody.…