‘I am so sorry that your son has been caught up in this way’
LORD BLUNKETT APOLOGISES TO HULL MUM OF IPP PRISONER – BUT SHE SAYS IT’S ‘TOO LATE’
THE former Home Secretary responsible for introducing controversial sentences that have left criminals in prison for years for relatively minor offences has apologised to the mum of a Hull inmate.
Kay Armstrong has long campaigned for better treatment for those who have been the subject of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.
She feels the likes of her son Lee have fallen through the cracks of the justice system. Lee was just 23 when he snatched a phone from someone in a pub and was convicted of robbery.
But little did he know that his stupid actions would land him a sentence many rapists and killers don’t face. Now 41, Lee has spent the best part of 18 years behind bars for an offence that would usually be no more than three.
He was the subject of an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence introduced in April 2005. They were designed to protect the public from serious offenders whose crimes did not merit a life sentence.
Offenders sentenced to an IPP are set a minimum term (tariff) which they must spend in prison. After they have completed their tariff they can apply to the Parole
Board for release. If offenders are given parole they will be on supervised licence for at least ten years. If offenders are refused parole they can only apply again after one year.
Kay emailed Lord Blunkett, who was Home Secretary when IPPS were created, to express her frustration over what has happened to her son. To her surprise, she received a candid response from the politician.
In an email to Kay, he said: “The original intention of the Act was to ensure that people who had committed very severe crimes (short of murder and rape where life sentences were already mandated) would be subject to an IPP sentence at the discretion of the judges if there was a risk of genuine danger.
“The judiciary decided to implement the policy in a way that caught up a very large number of people who’d committed offences which would warrant a prison sentence, but nothing like the extended imprisonment which so many of those I have sought to support, have been facing.
“It is crucial we find a way forward, now, ten years after the original act was set aside. I, with a large number of other
Members of the House of Lords (and campaigners outside Parliament), have been endeavouring to get the government to accept that there would be safe and sensible ways forward in doing this.”
Lord Blunkett told Kay work is underway within parliament to address the issues.
He hopes the situation will improve for prisoners like Lee.
He said: “For some months now the House of Commons, Justice Select has been looking into the issue of how to move forward for IPP prisoners and I gave evidence myself to that committee earlier in the year.
“They are due to report at the end of May, and I’m hopeful that they will come up with robust recommendations that the government would be prepared to accept.
“Unfortunately, the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has indicated a reluctance to intervene and help, and in fact has recently given direction to the Parole Board to be even more robust about the test of safety to the public before people are released on licence.
“I am so sorry that your son has been caught up in this way. I really hope that, following the Select Committee report, it will be possible to take steps that will allow a rational approach to release – perhaps through putting together an intermediary stage between prison and release on licence that would allow prisoners to engage with rehabilitation and preparation for further life outside prison.”
Amendments to Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill could see existing IPP sentences terminated and replaced with arrangements suited to the individual. It would also put the onus on the Parole Board to prove an IPP prisoner is a risk rather than the prisoner having to prove they aren’t.
Kay was pleased to receive a response. But she insists there needs to be more action and less discussion to help people like her son.
She said: “I feel this apology is too late. He says it’s not his fault, yes it is. Surely there has got to be a public inquiry as the legislation introduced by Mr Blunkett has ruined so many people’s lives.”
Last month, the Mail reported on how Lee handed himself back to police at Clough Road station after breaching his licence because he stayed at his girlfriend’s rather than the hostel he should have been at. He claimed it was full of paedophiles and sex offenders.
Surely there has got to be a public inquiry as the legislation introduced by Mr Blunkett has ruined so many people’s lives Kay Armstrong