The House of Commons Justice Committee has called on the government to review the status of almost 3,000 prisoners who were jailed under the “irredeemably flawed” Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) system.
The committee’s report said the system for managing and releasing IPP prisoners was “inadequate” and all 2,926 in England and Wales should have their sentences reviewed and replaced.
IPP sentences (pdf) were introduced by the Labour government in 2005 to prevent people who were considered to be a danger to the public being released.
Many of those who were sentenced were convicted of relatively minor offences like grievous bodily harm (GBH) and have spent a decade longer than the two years they should have served in prison….