A Bolton man, recalled to prison, seeks intervention from the justice secretary amid concerns over his indefinite sentence.
Bolton: A man named Matthew Booth is currently on the run after being recalled to prison indefinitely. He’s reaching out to the justice secretary for help.
Booth, 33, is wanted by the police due to a recall linked to a crime he committed when he was just 15. He’s been in and out of prison since then.
He received an indefinite imprisonment for public protection, which means he can be sent back to prison without warning if he breaks any rules.
His original conviction was for wounding someone with intent to cause serious harm. He hit a guy with a brick during a fight and also stamped on someone’s head.
After serving a minimum of two years and seven months, he was released in 2013. Since then, he’s been recalled to prison three times, but not all led to charges.
Booth is now pleading with Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, to step in after he was accused of rekindling a relationship with his ex, Abigail Vernon, without notifying the authorities.
Both Booth and Vernon deny these claims. They believe the Parole Board is mistaken about Booth being abusive towards her, which they say isn’t true.
Before Christmas, Booth shared that he was stuck between two tough choices: spending the holidays alone in the woods or going back to prison.
He insists he hasn’t committed any new offenses since his original crime and feels the whole IPP system is unfair. He mentioned that if he could return to a hostel, he’d turn himself in right away.
For now, he’s trying to survive on his own, sending Christmas cards to his kids and braving the cold. He’s thought about turning himself in but finds it really hard.
Booth believes that if Mahmood could assure him he wouldn’t go straight back to prison, he’d hand himself in immediately.
IPP sentences, which had no maximum term, were scrapped in 2012 due to human rights issues. Many people with these sentences feel they’re sent back to prison for minor rule breaches.
After his release in 2013, Booth met Vernon. He faced a brief return to prison in 2018 for criminal damage and was recalled multiple times for arrests that didn’t lead to charges.
Vernon is worried about their daughters, who haven’t seen their dad in months. She’s asking for Booth to be managed in the community instead of being sent back to prison.
She expressed how hard it is to explain the situation to their kids, who haven’t had a proper Christmas with him in years.
Shirley Debono, who co-founded the IPP Committee in Action, is urging Mahmood to intervene and prevent Booth from going back to prison.
A spokesperson for HM Prison and Probation Service stated that offenders released on license must follow strict rules and can be recalled if there are safety concerns.
