Seven prisoners on indefinite jail terms referred to Court of Appeal

Seven more prisoners trapped on indefinite jail terms have had their sentences referred to the Court of Appeal by the miscarriages of justice watchdog.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is currently reviewing more than 250 cases involving people serving open-ended Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and its youth equivalent, Detention for Public Protection (DPP) terms.

It has now referred the sentences of seven people who were convicted between 2005 and 2012, all of whom remain in custody despite none being given a minimum tariff of more than seven and a half years.

The referrals from the bring the total number referred since the start of the year to 32.

IPP and DPP sentences were abolished in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands languishing in prison without a release date.

The Independent has, alongside the families of those affected, long campaigned to call for all IPP and DPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed.

Andy Burnham in August pledged to bring legislation to end the “long-running” injustice of IPP sentences before the end of this parliament, bringing hope to thousands of such prisoners for the first time. Details of how the scandal will be addressed are to be decided by a cross-party oversight group.

The prime minister’s comments came as the government faces legal action over the jail terms after the United Nations found Britain is unlawfully detaining some over-tariff IPP prisoners.

CCRC Chair Dame Vera Baird KC said the commission remains committed to identifying such cases where “developments in the law suggest that an indeterminate sentence may have been wrongly imposed.”

“These seven applicants were all young when sentenced; all received relatively short tariffs, yet all remain in custody long after those tariffs expired”, she said.

“Considering recent Court of Appeal decisions, we believe there is a real possibility that insufficient weight was given to their youth and immaturity when their dangerousness was assessed.

“With more than 250 IPP and DPP cases currently under review, this work remains a significant priority for the Commission.

“This month I met with UNGRIPP, a support group for the families of people still serving IPP sentences, in the House of Commons.

“Each person had a relative on an IPP, some having been released but recalled, some currently adjusting to life outside of prison with support, and some who have never been released from prison.”

The cases being referred are:

• Michael Seddon, convicted of robbery at Bournemouth Crown Court in 2011 and sentenced aged 23 to an IPP with a tariff of seven and a half years.
• Andre Hurst, convicted of aggravated burglary and grievous bodily harm in 2008 and sentenced aged 20 to a DPP (which should have been an IPP) with a tariff of four years.
• Gemma Smith, convicted of robbery at Southampton Crown Court in 2005 and sentenced aged 19 to a DPP (which should have been an IPP) with a tariff of 22 and a half months.
• Scott Hulme, convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Chester Crown Court in 2009 and sentenced aged 18 to a DPP with a tariff of one year and 243 days.
• Joshua Gordon, convicted of aggravated burglary at Lewes Crown Court in 2009 and sentenced aged 23 to an IPP with a tariff of four years.
• David Hill, convicted of robbery at Kingston-Upon-Hull Crown Court in 2011 and sentenced aged 21 to an IPP with a tariff of four and a half years.
• Ryan Helstern, convicted of robbery at Peterborough Crown Court in 2012 and sentenced aged 17 to a DPP with a tariff of 27 months.

Until Mr Burnham’s announcement, successive governments had refused to act on calls to address the injustice facing IPP prisoners, some of whom have served up 22 times their original tariff.

Others have faced a vicious cycle of recall, often for breaches of strict licence conditions.

The punishment has been described as “psychological torture” by the United Nations, with 96 prisoners taking their own lives in custody after losing hope of getting out.