The trial of an alleged escapee who spent hours on the roof of a high-security prison in his underpants is set to be the first time the stress caused by indeterminate sentences can be used as a legal defence.
Yes, of course, it's the 'Guardian' taking out an onion for a criminal again.
The 38-year-old has been in jail for 13 years, much of that in isolation, after receiving an IPP sentence for robbing a takeaway at gunpoint in 2011. He says he does not remember the crime because he was drunk and high on drugs.
Just the sort of criminal who should be locked up until he’s safe to live in society, in other words. So who is complaining?
The case raises once again the issue of IPPs, which 2,544 prisoners were still serving in March despite the sentences being abolished in 2012. The legislation that ended what campaigners describe as a cruel system was not retrospective.
A spokesperson for Reform and Rebuild, a prison advocacy group which is set to give evidence in the trial, said it was “well overdue” for courts to take into account the stress caused by IPPs.“Nobody’s been resentenced yet, but we are looking at human rights. That’s another battle but we will get it. We’ll definitely get it because it’s cruel and inhumane. I think if we don’t keep fighting and jumping up and down, then it’ll just be forgotten.”
Progressive do-gooders, of course!
Campaigners have made some progress over the years, for example in shortening the licences of those released from IPPs from 10 years to three years. Nichol said this “meant some people could go on holiday with their families and have a life again, because 10 years is a long time after you’ve suffered”.
Shsme their victims often can't do the same, eh? Their suffering rarely ends, thanks to do-gooders like you.
No comments:
Post a Comment