Helping children with indeterminate sentences

Our lawyers acted on behalf of a 15 year old boy given an indeterminate sentence for a crime committed when he was 14. The Court of Appeal quashed the sentence and replaced it with an extended (determinate) sentence. The Court of Appleal said that an extended sentence should be considered, but if an indeterminate sentence is passed, the judge should provide reasons as to why it is not sufficient to protect the public.

According to latest figures there are 49 children serving indeterminate sentences for public protection. The end of the story is that we got a lovely letter from the manager of the secure unit where the boy is being held. Having a confirmed release date had made a huge difference to him and his family.

Apparently the unit staff have learnt a great deal from out input and will be more critical of the legal service that some children receive in the future and the passive acceptance by professionals of clearly unreasonable decisions.