Five men’s IPP and DPP sentences are referred for appeal following recent court rulings
Five people serving indeterminate sentences have had their cases referred back to the courts after recent appeal rulings highlighted failures to properly consider youth and maturity at sentencing.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) announced on Tuesday that it had referred five IPP and DPP sentences to the appellate courts. The decision follows recent judgments in which the Court of Appeal quashed indeterminate sentences imposed on young men, concluding that insufficient weight had been given to their age and level of maturity at the time.
Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and Detention for Public Protection (DPP) were indeterminate sentences imposed on offenders considered dangerous. IPPs applied to adults, while DPPs were imposed on those under 18. Both sentencing regimes were abolished in 2012, but people sentenced before abolition remain subject to the original terms.
The five referrals arise from a review undertaken by the CCRC in light of Court of Appeal decisions in 2024 and 2025 involving men sentenced at a young age. In those cases, the court ruled that the sentencing judges had failed to give adequate consideration to the offenders’ youth before imposing indeterminate sentences.
All five men whose cases are now being referred were sentenced more than 15 years ago, when they were teenagers or young adults. None received a minimum tariff longer than three years and six months. In three of the cases, the tariffs imposed almost 20 years ago were under two years. All five remain in custody.
The cases include two men sentenced to DPP as youths and three sentenced to IPP as young adults. Their offences ranged from sexual assault and rape to robbery, firearms possession and arson. Three cases are being referred to the Court of Appeal, while two are being sent back to the Crown Court.
The Chair of the CCRC said the referrals followed the creation of a specialist project group to examine the potential impact of the recent appeal decisions on other IPP and DPP cases. The Commission is currently receiving around 16 such applications each month, with approximately 110 cases under active review.
The CCRC has also begun reassessing older IPP and DPP applications that were previously rejected, to determine whether the new legal developments could now justify a referral.
The Commission said the recent judgments provide an important opportunity for people who were sentenced to indeterminate terms at a young age to have their cases reconsidered. Individuals in similar circumstances who have exhausted their appeal rights are able to apply to the CCRC for review.
If a case is referred, it will be for the relevant court to decide whether the sentence should be altered.