IPP quashed after 14 years | Katy Thorne KC persuades court to quash a sentence passed in 2009

On 19 December 2023 the court of appeal quashed a sentence of imprisonment for public protection and, in the process, granted an extension of time of 14 years, for a man who had committed sexual offences when he was 19 years old.  The Court replaced the IPP with an extended sentence which had the effect of leaving him a completely free man. Katy Thorne KC represented him. She was instructed by Correna Platt of Stephensons Solicitors. 

In granting the extension of time the Court referred to the impact that such a sentence and the lack of progress through the prison system has on a prisoners mental well-being. 

Practitioners will note the extraordinarily long delay before the appeal but take heart in the Court's willingness to entertain an appeal  when justice so demands.