Luke Ings and Liam Bennett have been freed after a high court judge and a magistrate replaced their indefinite sentences for public protection (IPPs). Both men had served about two decades in custody, despite their original minimum terms being two years or less.
The ruling, made at Wolverhampton crown court on Wednesday, also saw an indeterminate sentence given to James Ward replaced. Ward, who was freed in 2017 and later recalled to prison, was present in court.
Mr Justice Choudhury, sitting with magistrate Norma Grant, stated that the IPPs for all three men had been "cancelled". Bennett's sentence was replaced with four years and 264 days, Ward's with two years, and Ings's with 42 months with a 30-month extended licence. The court heard that all three had already spent considerably longer than these replacement sentences in custody.
The cases were referred back to the crown court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to review the minimum terms imposed in 2006 and 2007. Ings and Bennett were 17 when they committed the offences that led to them being classified as dangerous offenders.
IPPs were abolished in 2012, but the abolition was not retrospective, meaning over 2,000 prisoners remain held indefinitely under these sentences. The government plans to bring forward legislation to end IPP sentences "once and for all" by the end of this parliament.