Warning for ministers over 'torture sentence' prisoners

Ministers have been accused of "scaremongering" after revealing they will not resentence thousands of prisoners trapped under indefinite jail terms.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

This will leave more than 2,600 languishing under "torture sentences" with no release date, including James Lawrence, who is still in prison 18 years after he was handed an eight-month jail term; Thomas White, who set himself alight in his cell after serving 12 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery.

Despite repeated calls from the UN, recommendations from the cross-party justice select committee, and at least 90 suicides in prison, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Prisons Minister Lord Timpson have said they will not consider a resentencing exercise for those still serving abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.

In a letter to a campaigner, Lord Timpson claimed any resentencing exercise would lead to “dangerous” offenders being automatically released without licensed supervision. But politicians and campaigners have hit back, accusing ministers of “scaremongering” and making excuses, as they call for the government to reconsider ahead of a second reading of a private member’s bill tabled by Lord Woodley this week.

The Labour peer said he is determined to use his bill to find common ground and bring resentencing a step closer, adding: “There are many of us in parliament who will not rest until it fixes the dreadful mistake it made 20 years ago.”

“Wholeheartedly” lending his support to The Independent’s campaign for all IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed, Lord Woodley said the government’s reluctance is based on “excuses for inaction rather than real reasons”.

Fears that resentencing would automatically free dangerous prisoners was a claim also touted by Ms Mahmood in the Commons. However, campaigners have strongly challenged this, insisting the government is able to legislate for whatever safeguards, supervision or staggered approach to resentencing they deem necessary.