The Recklessness of the Secretary Of State For justice.
IPP Committee In Action
We are appalled at the reckless behaviour this Government has shown by totally rejecting the recomendations by the all-party House of Commons Justice Select Committee report.
The Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into the IPP sentence, has been the biggest thing since the IPP sentence was abolished ten years ago. At last IPP prisoners and their families were given hope that the Government would respond to the Justice Select Committee’s recomendations and resentence all IPP prisoners. Sadly for us all, especially the IPP prisoners the Government have refused to do so. Even refusing to bring the ten year part of the licence down to five years.
The Government has recklessly rejected the Justice Select Committee’s report and recomendations.
The Government has recklessly rejected all the evidence submitted by professionals, even Psychiatrist that have worked with many IPP prisoners for many years and has had their evidence ignored.
More importantly the Government has recklessly ignored the pain and suffering of the 3000 IPP prisoners trapped inside overcrowded understaffed prisons on an abolished sentence. Ignored the evidence presented to them that the IPP sentence coursed and still is coursing Psychological torture.
The Government has recklessly snatched away the little hope these prisoners and their families had left. How can anyone ever be expected to live without hope.
Even those IPP prisoners that manage to jump through the hoops to gain release have lost all hope of living a normal life under the 99 year licence conditions. Especially those that are already trapped in the revolving door of recall. They feel they are living a life of in and out of prison for the rest of their lives.
As for the Revised Action Plan. Well Done to the Government, you really have made it look like to the general public (Especially those that don’t know much about the IPP sentence or those that know nothing about it) that you are sorting the IPP crisis out, the public will believe you because you drip feed them with lies that all IPP prisoners has committed a very serious sexual offence or very serious harm against another which is known to be untrue.
All to often in the past and more likely to do so in the future the Government use the most serious offenders (ie John Worboys) as the scapegoat to justify these IPP sentences. Most IPP prisoners crimes do not fall into that remit in terms of severity and so this needs highlighting as it feeds into the propaganda and further insults and adds to the injustice of the rest of the IPP population, further damaging them with the IPP label itself.
We believe that the Government has recklessly missed a massive opportunity to put right this wrong and put an end to the pain, anguish and suffering by refusing to do the right thing and resentence all IPP prisoners.
We will not forget the 74 people serving the IPP sentence that saw the only way out was to take their own lives.
IPP Committee In Action are a group of families members of loved ones serving the IPP sentence. We are committed to keep up the fight for justice.