PA
Amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill on IPP sentences will be debated in the House of Lords on Tuesday, with Lib Dem and Green Party peers committed to backing them.
Imprisonment for public protection sentences were introduced in 2005 to prevent serious offenders who did not warrant a life sentence being released when they still posed a danger to the public.
Despite being scrapped in 2012 – which the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said was “due to the inconsistent and more frequent application of these sentences than was intended” – almost 3,000 criminals remain behind bars after being given such a sentence.
Offenders released from prison on licence while serving an IPP sentence currently have to wait at least 10 years before they can have their licence reviewed by the Parole Board.
Campaigners have characterised the continuation of IPP sentences as a miscarriage of justice akin to the Post Office scandal.
Peter Stefanovic has released a film that has already notched up 14 million views, with one person describing his findings as “truly shocking” and another describing it as “absolutely horrifying”.
Commenting ahead of the planned debate, Stefanovic told The London Economic: “The incredible public response to my film should send a powerful message to politicians not to wait for the next ITV drama to end this tragic miscarriage of justice which has already taken so many lives.
“The comments it is getting are a testament to the public’s anger, outrage and disbelief that this has been allowed to continue for so long. If Labour step up next week and back the amendments which are supported in the Lords by both the Lib Dem and Green Party peers we can end this tragedy now.
“It’s time for everyone to step up and do what we all know is right before more lives are tragically lost”
Related: Sunak to perform ‘reverse Robin Hood’ to fund more pre-election tax cuts
