Nearly 700 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) have now been in custody at least ten years beyond their original minimum tariff, according to figures reported this week – with 856 IPP prisoners never having been released at all. IPP sentences were abolished in 2012, but not retroactively, leaving thousands of people serving them with no fixed release date.
Ninety-six IPP prisoners are reported to have taken their own lives after losing hope of release. Former Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas said “we have punished them grossly excessively”, adding that Britain does not believe in indefinite preventative detention. The United Nations has previously described the uncertainty faced by IPP prisoners as amounting to psychological torture.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris confirmed on 1 September that legislation will be brought forward to end IPP sentences “by the end of this Parliament” – expected around August 2029. Campaigners, including the Howard League and families of IPP prisoners, say that timescale is still far too slow given the scale of suffering involved.
We’ll keep this page updated as the legislation progresses.