Offen, Matthew

Matthew Offen was convicted in May 1999 of robbery and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of Mr Offen’s sentence in August 2000.

Mr Offen had been sentenced to life imprisonment under the “two strikes and you’re out” provisions of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, later re-enacted in the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

This legislation intended to ensure that offenders convicted of certain repeat serious offences would be subject to an automatic life sentence.

In representations to the CCRC, Mr Offen relied on the Human Rights Act 1998.

The CCRC considered that in order to justify a life sentence under the Human Rights Act, it was necessary to show that the defendant presented a danger from which society could be legitimately protected, namely further serious reoffending of a kind that endangers life or limb or amounts to a serious sexual offence.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that in Mr Offen’s case, considering contemporary jurisprudence, his life sentence could not be justified.

The CCRC referred the sentence in October 2000.

In November 2000, the Court of Appeal substituted Mr Offen’s life sentence with a determinate sentence of three years.