How does a 6 month prison sentence turn into 16 years?

In response to a parliamentary question the Ministry of Justice has disclosed that 5 people handed a six month prison sentence under the provisions of IPP sentencing are are still locked up 16 years later. The disclosure has been condemned as horrendous by campaigners. The sentences handed down under the IPP legislation have resulted in what is believed to be nearly 90 suicides as prisoners have lost hope of ever being released. Trevor Freeman a Lib Dem spokesperson for Regency Ward in Brighton Pavilion described these sentences as a stain on the whole justice system and had no place in a civilised society. As figures released showed that there are still nearly 3,000 people in jail under that regime he questioned how it can still be acceptable given the huge overcrowding currently experienced within the country's prisons.

The legislation was introduced by the then Labour Home Secretary, David Blunkett, in 2005, halted for prisoners with short sentences in 2008 and scrapped by the Conservative government in 2012 under concerns about human rights. Those still in prison continued to serve their sentences under the regime as it was not scrapped for existing sentences. Read the article in the Guardian