A teenager who spent nearly two decades in prison on an indefinite jail term should have received only an 18-month sentence, the Court of Appeal has ruled. Jay Davis was 19 when he was handed an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence in October 2006. His minimum tariff was just nine months, but he served almost 20 years without release.
Appeal judges replaced his indefinite sentence with an 18-month fixed term, meaning he would have been freed 18 years ago. IPP sentences were abolished in 2012 but not retrospectively, leaving thousands of prisoners trapped until the Parole Board approves release. Almost 2,400 remain on such sentences, with many recalled for breaching strict licence conditions.
The United Nations has described IPP sentences as “psychological torture”. Nearly 100 prisoners have taken their own lives. Successive governments have resisted resentencing all remaining IPP prisoners. However, appeal courts have begun overturning sentences where judges failed to consider the offender’s age or immaturity.
Other cases quashed include Benjamin Hibbert, who received a detention for public protection (DPP) sentence for sexual assaults committed when he was 15 or 16, and Stuart O’Neill, who was given an IPP for rape at age 20. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) flagged these cases as part of a major review of IPP and DPP sentences for young people.
CCRC chair Dame Vera Baird said investigators are examining over 150 more cases. “All the men were very young at the time they were sentenced and have spent many years beyond their original tariffs in custody,” she said. “The court’s judgments reflect the importance of properly considering age and maturity.”
The CCRC also referred the case of Liam Bennett, who was given an IPP for starting a fire in an empty building aged 17, to the appeal court. Bennett has spent over half his life in prison. The review follows a string of overturned indefinite sentences, including that of Leighton Williams, who served nearly 16 years for a drunken fight at age 19 before his sentence was quashed in 2024.
