APCC welcomes lifting of "lifetime licences" for released IPP offenders
Responding to a Ministry of Justice announcement ending lifetime licenses for rehabilitated offenders who received indefinite sentences for public protection (IPPs), the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ Joint Lead on Criminal Justice, Danielle Stone, said:
“Offenders must, of course, be punished but that punishment must fit the crime. IPP sentences were abolished years ago, so it is right that those deemed safe for release by the Parole Board and who have shown they’ve turned their back on crime, are released, too, from probation service monitoring in the community.
“I welcome, too, changes that are to be brought in early next year that will cut the eligibility period for the Parole Board to consider ending IPP licences from 10 years after first release to three. If offenders are to be rehabilitated, they must have hope of a return to a life as a free member of society.”
Notes:
- Danielle Stone is the APCC’s Joint Lead on Criminal Justice, and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire.
- The MoJ press release can be found here.