The real impact of the Sentencing Act 2026 is injustice

The law was to deal with the overcrowding issue in prisons but I am concerned that they have insufficiently considered the impact on abuse survivors and the risk posed to society.
 
Two of my clients have recently been informed that their abusers are most certainly to be released due to the Sentencing Act 2026 and this has caused them significant trauma.

Ellen – abuse by her father 

Ellen (not real name) suffered significant sexual abuse from her father that started when she was a child and continued into her adolescence. He was controlling, verbally abusive and threatened her into silence that prevented her from disclosing her abuse for many years until she finally felt able to disclose her abuse to the police.   

The father was convicted of sexually assaulting Ellen following a criminal trial in which he denied the charges, and Ellen was forced to give evidence against him.  He received a 10 year prison sentence but Ellen has been informed that he may be released now after serving just half of his sentence due to the Sentencing Act 2026.  

Aside from putting my client through a criminal trial, he also failed to engage with a civil case against him and this resulted in Ellen having to undergo an unnecessary elongated legal process. 

To date, the abuser has failed to show any remorse or acceptance for his crimes but yet he may be unfairly rewarded by the State due to the limited amount of prison spaces. In the meantime, my client continues to suffer from the psychiatric impact of the abuse and the real impact this has had on her education, career and relationships. 

Ben – abuse by school chaplain 

Ben (not real name) suffered sexual abuse in the 1960s as a child by Timothy Biles who was his chaplain at St Francis School. After suffering with the impact of the abuse for decades, he was able to finally disclose his abuse to the police and Biles was convicted of abusing him and other boys in 2024.  Biles received a six-year prison sentence but Ben has recently been informed that Biles may be released sooner than expected and after just serving half of his sentence due to the Sentencing Act 2026. 

Biles had his MBE removed in 2025 due to being convicted of abusing children, and had originally been rewarded for providing services to the church. 

If Biles is in fact released this year, one has to appreciate the impact on Ben who had to wait years for the criminal investigation and case to conclude after already facing decades to be able to disclose his abuse.  The real possibility that Biles may be released in the next few months is unfair and especially when Biles has not apologised for abusing my client or shown any remorse.  

We will have to wait and see if the new Prime Minister will do anything about this unfair law, or if there will be more empty words about justice and being hard on crime while survivors of child sexual abuse are left to face years within a criminal justice system only to then be delivered a token of criminal justice. 

If you are an abuse survivor who has been affected by the Sentencing Act 2026, please consider contacting your local MP to ask them to ask the Government to urgently reconsider changing the law.