The miscarriages of justice watchdog has referred the sentences of two men who remain in prison nearly 20 years after the expiry of of their minimum terms – 18 months and two years respectively. Both men are subject to controversial ‘Imprisonment for Public Protection’ (IPP) sentences, effectively indefinite prison terms which have since been abolished.

Christopher Brown was 18 when he was convicted of arson at Exeter Crown Court in November 2005 after setting fire to two wheelie bins. He received an IPP sentence with a minimum term of 18 months.

Jamie Jackson was 19 when he was convicted of wounding with intent at Cambridge Crown Court in July 2006 and received an IPP sentence with a two-year minimum tariff.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said it had referred both cases to the Court of Appeal after considering recent judgments in which IPP sentences have been overturned. It concluded there was a real possibility the court would now find the original sentencing judges failed to give sufficient weight to the men’s age and immaturity when assessing their danger and future risk.

Dame Vera Baird KC, chair of the CCRC, said the Court of Appeal had reinforced ‘with clarity’ that age and maturity were significant factors in dangerousness assessments and sentencing.

‘The Court of Appeal’s recent considered judgment, delivered some weeks after they freed five IPP prisoners in the case of Davis & others, has endorsed the principles upon which we have based our recent IPP and DPP referrals’, she stated. ‘There is a real possibility the Court will take the same approach in the cases of Mr Jackson and Mr Brown’.

The Justice Gap reported in January that the CCRC had referred five similar cases after recent Court of Appeal rulings on young offenders

 In April, appeal judges overturned six indeterminate sentences, including three following CCRC referrals. Those three men had been convicted as young adults and had remained in custody for more than 15 years despite receiving initial tariffs of no more than three and a half years.

IPP sentences were abolished in 2012, but this change to the law did not automatically release those already serving them, despite the government admitting the cruel nature of the sentence. The CCRC said it has referred nine IPP and DPP cases in 2026 and is reviewing more than 180 others. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice, released in July 2025, show there were 1,012 unreleased IPP prisoners and 1,532 prisoners who after serving an IPP sentence had since been recalled to prison.