Knifepoint robber "should be released"

A ROTHERHAM man jailed almost a decade ago for a knifepoint robbery is a changed man and should be released, his lawyers said.

Nigel Darren Garbutt (36) was branded a public danger and locked up indefinitely in 2006 after he was convicted of robbing a taxi driver.

He had been visiting his girlfriend in Maltby and ordered a taxi back to the town centre when he robbed the man of his takings.

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Almost ten years after he was jailed, Garbutt this week took his case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn the sentence.

Barrister Mr Joel Bennathan QC told the nation’s top judge, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, that Garbutt’s term was “draconian” and “potentially a life sentence”.

His appeal is being heard alongside 12 others who are challenging their sentences of indefinite imprisonment for public protection (IPP).

The IPP terms were introduced to detain dangerous criminals indefinitely, but were such a failure they were abolished in December 2012.

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But that did not mean that those already serving them were freed, meaning Garbutt and others remain in prison years after their minimum terms have been served.

“There must come a time when the period in custody is so excessive compared to what they're convicted of,” Mr Bennathan told the court.

Lawyers representing Garbutt, formerly of Richmond Park Avenue, said he had made great progress in his time behind bars.

He had had to deal with “extraordinarily challenging issues”, but had done so and shown he was a changed man.

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For the prosecution, Mr John McGuinness QC said Garbutt and the other prisoners have the right to ask the Parole Board to release them.

“If the Parole Board considers it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner is confined, then the Parole Board is under a duty to order that the person be released,” he said.

Lord Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Openshaw and Mr Justice William Davis on Thursday, reserved judgment on the appeal until a later date.

 

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