And I'm pretty sure you'd have been in favour of that....
A Bolton man who is on the run after being recalled to prison indefinitely has made a direct plea to the justice secretary to intervene in his case. Matthew Booth, 33, is wanted by police on recall to prison for a crime he committed when he was 15 and for which he has served a sentence. He was given an indefinite imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence, meaning he can be recalled without notice for breaches of strict licence conditions.
The 'Guardian' has a bee in its bonnet about these, considering them cruel to criminals, and so paints a 'Robin Hood' picture of this wanted felon.
He has pleaded with the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to intervene after being accused of restarting a relationship with his former partner, Abigail Vernon, with whom he has two daughters, aged 10 and seven, without notifying the authorities. Booth and Vernon both deny this. They say the Parole Board is also under the misconception that Booth has been abusive to Vernon in the past. They say he has not.
Well, yes, I've no doubt they do. But prevailing wisdom in the justice system has been to no longer take the woman's word for it. Because it now recognises 'coercive control' i.e. women being stupid about what's really going on.
IPP sentences under which offenders were handed a minimum jail term but no maximum were dropped over human rights concerns in 2012, seven years after they were introduced by New Labour.
Vernon denied the Parole Board’s claims that Booth had been abusive to her in the past, and she has asked that he is allowed to be managed in the community.
But why should anyone take notice of what she wants?
Shirley Debono, a co-founder of IPP Committee in Action, who has supported Vernon and Booth, said: “Shabana Mahmood must intervene and stop Matthew from being sent back to prison.”
Must she? Why?
