Five men have had their indefinite sentences under the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme, or its equivalent for children, referred for appeal.
The decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was made in light of the court of appeal quashing three prisoners’ indeterminate sentences on the basis that their young age and level of maturity was not properly taken into account when they were sentenced.
IPPs were introduced in 2005 to indefinitely detain serious offenders perceived to be a risk to the public. Detention for public protection (DPP) sentences were the equivalent imposed on people under 18 who were considered dangerous. Both regimes were scrapped in 2012 but without retrospective effect.
In 2020, the former supreme court justice Lord Brown called IPP sentences “the greatest single stain on our criminal justice system”. They have also been criticised by the former Labour home secretary David Blunkett, who oversaw their introduction, and a UN torture expert, for leaving people languishing in prison, often for minor offences.
The five referrals relate to IPP or DPP prisoners who were all relatively young when sentenced. They were imposed more than 15 years ago, with none having a minimum tariff of more than three and a half years, but all remain in prison.
The CCRC chair, Dame Vera Baird KC, said the principle set out in the court of appeal cases of Leighton Williams and Darren Hilling in 2024 and Steven Sillitto last year “seems likely to be applicable to other people still on IPPs or DPPs”.
She said: “The judgments that have been made recently by the court of appeal provide an important opportunity to try to help other young people who were in similar circumstances at the time of their conviction and who received sentences of this kind. Anyone else in a similar situation and who – importantly – has exhausted their appeal rights is free to get in touch with us.”
Baird said the CCRC was receiving an average of 16 IPP or DPP cases a month, had 110 cases on its books for review, and had set up specialist teams to look into them.
The five sentences referred are those of:
Benjamin Hibbert, who was convicted of three counts of sexual assault in 2009 and sentenced to a minimum tariff of two years. He was 15 or 16 at the time of the offences.
Stuart O’Neill was 20 when sentenced to a minimum term of three years and six months for rape in 2009.
Jay Davis was convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence in 2006 and sentenced to a minimum term of nine months. He was 19 at the time of the offence.
Luke Ings was convicted of two counts of robbery and two counts of battery in 2006 and sentenced to a minimum term of one year nine months minus 81 days on remand. He was 17 at the time of the offence.
James Ward was convicted of arson and criminal damage in 2006 and sentenced to one year minus 63 days on remand. He was 20 at the time of the offence.
The cases of Hibbert, O’Neill and Davis are being referred to the court of appeal, while Ings’ and Ward’s cases are being referred to the crown court.
Even when released, IPP and DPP offenders are on indefinite licence, meaning they can be recalled at any time, often for behaviour that is not criminal.
