Chen, Marlon

Marlon Chen, then aged 25, was convicted in September 2006 at the Central Criminal Court of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He received an IPP with a minimum term of four years, minus 384 days on remand.

Mr Chen was released from custody in March 2020 but was recalled in 2022 following his arrest and conviction for further firearms offences. He remained in custody when an application was received by the CCRC in September 2025.

Reviewing this case, the CCRC considered the impact of recent Court of Appeal judgments, in particular R v Williams [2024] EWCA Crim 686 and R v Davis & Others [2026] EWCA Crim 743 and concluded that there was a real possibility the Court would find that the sentencing judges did not give sufficient weight to the age and immaturity of Mr Chen when assessing his dangerousness and future risk.

The Court had recently overturned several similar IPP/DPP sentences. On 23 April 2026, two CCRC referrals were allowed and the sentences quashed, together with those in three other indeterminate sentence cases, which were not CCRC referrals; see the indeterminate sentences of five IPP/DPP prisoners were quashed.

The CCRC referred the sentence in August 2026.