It believes some of the applications may benefit from the cases of Leighton Williams and Darren Hilling last year (R v Williams [2024] EWCA Crim 686; R v Hilling [2024] EWCA Crim 1279). The Court of Appeal quashed the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences of both men after finding the sentencing judge failed to attach the necessary importance to their age and maturity.
The historic applications under review concern either IPP sentences, where offenders are considered a danger to the public, or detention for public protection (DPP) sentences, used for offenders under the age of 18. Both DPPs and IPPs were abolished in 2012, but prisoners cannot be released without Parole Board approval.
The CCRC has previously referred 12 IPP cases, with eight of these having their sentence quashed, reduced or substituted.
Dame Vera Baird KC, CCRC chair, said the judgments ‘provide an important opportunity to try and help other people’.
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