Key facts
- Two men, Luke Ings and Liam Bennett, were freed after serving approximately two decades on indefinite sentences for public protection (IPPs).
- A high court judge and a magistrate replaced their original sentences with shorter terms, acknowledging they had already served longer.
- Bennett and Ings, who were 17 when offenses led to them being classed as dangerous offenders, received minimum terms of 24 months and 21 months respectively in 2007 and 2006.
- James Ward, who was given a one-year minimum sentence in 2006, was also in court and had his original sentence replaced.
- Detention for public protection and imprisonment for public protection sentences were abolished in 2012 but were not applied retrospectively.
- Over 2,000 prisoners remain under IPP sentences, with 99% past their original tariff and 80% having served 10 years or more.
Two men, Luke Ings and Liam Bennett, have been freed from prison after serving approximately two decades on indefinite sentences for public protection (IPPs). A high court judge and a magistrate at Wolverhampton crown court on Wednesday replaced their original sentences with fixed terms, acknowledging they had already spent considerably longer in custody than the new sentences.
Bennett and Ings, now both 38, were 17 when they committed offenses that led to them being classed as dangerous offenders and given indeterminate sentences with respective minimum terms of 24 months and 21 months in 2007 and 2006. Bennett was originally sentenced at Wolverhampton crown court in May 2007 for reckless arson, criminal damage, and burglary. Ings was sentenced in March 2006 for robbery and assault.
James Ward, now 41, who was given a one-year minimum sentence in 2006 for arson and criminal damage, also had his original sentence replaced. Ward had been released in 2017 after serving 10 years more than his minimum term but was later recalled to prison and remained in custody until August this year.
The ruling followed a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which referred the cases back to the crown court. The men argued that judges had wrongly found them to be dangerous or had not considered alternative sentences. Muin Boase, representing Bennett, successfully argued that the judge who sentenced him in 2007 did not give proper weight to his youth, lack of maturity, and capacity to change.
Detention for public protection and imprisonment for public protection sentences were abolished in 2012 after warnings they were being applied too widely. However, the abolition was not retrospective, meaning many prisoners serving such sentences remain incarcerated. The government has faced calls to address IPP jail terms, with the current justice secretary, Alex Norris, stating that legislation to end IPP sentences is planned by the end of this parliament. More than 2,000 prisoners are still held indefinitely under IPP sentences, with 99% past their original tariff and 80% having served 10 years or more.