As a UN expert on psychological torture, I’ve asked peers to reconsider the IPP sentences still affecting thousands in jail.
Martin Myers attempted to steal a cigarette. Tommy Nicol stole a car. John Wright, then 17, head-butted a younger child and stole his bike. For these relatively minor crimes, they received grossly disproportionate sentences of the length you might expect for murderers.
Martin Myers is still in jail for attempted robbery of that cigarette back in 2006. John Wright is now 34 and has spent 17 years in jail. Tommy Nicol took his own life while in prison on an indeterminate sentence.
These are just a few of the cases highlighted in the recent series by the Guardian on imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences. In force between 2005 and 2012, IPPs were intended for offenders who had committed serious crimes and presented a risk of causing serious harm to the public, designed to detain them until they no longer represented a risk. The sentences included a minimum period, or tariff, after which prisoners could be considered for release, but crucially, they had no end date.
Continue reading @ Guardian.
Fuck sake talk about a biased article..Myers did indeed attempt to rob a cigarette..by threatening to punch the guy who refused to give him one..
ReplyDelete..." The police were familiar with Myers. He had previous convictions for dangerous driving, assault, theft and burglary."
A bit of a recidivist and exactly the type the IPP was brought in for. I'd be willing to bet that if he was a model prisoner he'd be out by now. Wonder what his form was inside?