Britain’s former top judge tells Starmer: Make things right on cruel indefinite jail terms
Starmer warned indefinite jail term issue compares to Post Office scandal
- Lord John Thomas, a former lord chief justice, has urged Sir Keir Starmer to end the scandal of indefinite jail terms (IPP sentences), comparing it to the Post Office and infected blood sagas.
- IPP sentences were abolished in 2012 but not retrospectively, leaving nearly 2,500 inmates incarcerated indefinitely, with at least 94 having taken their own lives.
- Lord Thomas tabled an amendment to the Sentencing Bill, which was voted down by the government, calling for IPP prisoners to be given a release date within two years of their next parole hearing.
- He argued that IPP sentences are 'wrong in principle' and 'wholly disproportionate to the crime', causing psychological damage and a loss of hope for prisoners.
- The United Nations will investigate whether Britain is breaching human rights law by arbitrarily detaining prisoners trapped on IPP sentences, following a complaint lodged on behalf of five men.