A dad from Bolton who is ‘on the run’ after being recalled to prison indefinitely has directly appealed to the Justice Secreatary to intervene.
Matthew Booth, 33, was handed an indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence for an offence of wounding committed when he was 15.
The controversial sentences were introduced in 2005, intended for criminals considered ‘dangerous’ and persistent, but whose offences did not merit a life sentence.
They were abolished in 2012 but have left a legacy of prisoners who, even when they have stayed out of trouble for years, can be recalled to jail.
At 16, Booth was sentenced to serve a minimum of two years and seven months. He was released in 2013 but has been taken back to prison three times, twice for arrests that led to no charge. He was last released in November 2023 after serving 19 months, according to reports
He has been recalled again, due to, he claims, allegations he restarted a relationship with his former partner and the mother of his two children, which they both deny.
Booth was given an IPP sentence aged 16
(Image: Greater Manchester Police (GMP))
He told told Guardian he was going to live on his own, outside in a forest clearing, to avoid being incarcerated again. “I just think the whole IPP thing is a bit sick,” he said. “If I could go back to a hostel I would give myself up, but I think I will be sent back to prison and it is just going to break me. I don’t know if I can do that.
“For now, I am going to live on my own, send Christmas cards to my children and see how long I can stand the cold. Some days I have got every intention of handing myself in to the police station. But its a hard thing to do. It is traumatising.”
And he asked Shabana Mahmood, who took over as Justice Secretary after Labour’s election win in the summer, to get involved. ““[She] could make sure I don’t go straight to prison again. If she said that, I would hand myself in straight away” he said.
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.”
A spokesperson for HM Prison and Probation Service told the Manchester Evening News: “Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and, as the public would rightly expect, they are recalled to prison if there are concerns for the safety of those in the community.”