Two men imprisoned under indefinite sentences for public protection (IPPs) have been released after serving approximately 20 years in custody, despite minimum terms of two years or less, according to a decision by a high court judge and magistrate.
Luke Ings and Liam Bennett were freed following an appeal heard after review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The court also replaced an indeterminate sentence imposed on a third man, James Ward, who was released in August.
IPP sentences, introduced in 2005, were designed to detain offenders considered a risk to public safety for as long as necessary. However, the scheme faced criticism after many prisoners served far longer than their minimum tariffs because they could not progress through the parole system or meet release conditions set by the Parole Board.
The CCRC, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, examines cases where convictions or sentences may be unsafe. Its review prompted the court hearing that resulted in Ings and Bennett's release.
The cases illustrate longstanding problems with IPP sentencing. Thousands of prisoners received such sentences, but many remained incarcerated well beyond their minimum terms. Legal advocates and human rights groups argued the scheme trapped offenders in a system where release depended on demonstrating rehabilitation through programmes often unavailable in prisons, creating a catch-22 situation.
The Ministry of Justice stopped issuing new IPP sentences in 2012 after acknowledging problems with the scheme. However, hundreds of prisoners remained under such sentences for years afterward. Parliament later introduced measures allowing judges to replace IPP sentences with fixed-term alternatives, which appears to have occurred in James Ward's case.
The release of Ings and Bennett, along with the sentence replacement for Ward, marks another instance of the criminal justice system addressing the consequences of IPP sentencing. The exact details of their convictions and the specific grounds for their release were not provided in the available information.