Re Mason (Review of Tariff)

A tariff reduction may be recommended only where the prisoner has made exceptional and unforeseen progress. Positive engagement with rehabilitation, genuine motivation and recent improvement are insufficient if the progress remains incomplete, is of short duration, or continuing risks and behavioural problems remain. The assessment is an evaluative one based on the evidence of progress and risk at the date of review.

Mr Mason had been convicted of murder committed when he was aged 14 and had received an 11-year tariff after the tariff imposed at trial was reduced on appeal. He sought a review based on improvements in his behaviour, engagement with rehabilitation and substance-misuse treatment, together with his stated intention to avoid further offending.

The court considered whether those developments amounted to exceptional and unforeseen progress sufficient to justify recommending a reduction in tariff.

1. Tariff reduction. The court could recommend a reduction only if Mr Mason had made exceptional and unforeseen progress.
2. Assessment of progress. The evidence showed positive signs. He had engaged well with the Thinking Skills programme, had decided not to return to cannabis use, and expressed a genuine desire to leave gang involvement and criminality behind. However, anger remained a problem, his custodial behaviour had previously been poor, and he had recently assaulted another inmate.
3. Progress not yet sufficient. Mr Mason had shown real signs of progress for only about nine months. His substance-misuse report indicated that mood could affect his engagement and that he was struggling to put his capacity for change into practice. More time and application were required.
4. Outcome. Although the progress was good, it was neither exceptional nor unforeseen. The court therefore did not recommend a reduction in tariff. It remained possible that sufficient progress might be demonstrated before the tariff expired.

The judgment records that the tariff imposed at trial was reduced on appeal from 13 years to 11 years. No citation for that appellate decision is stated in the judgment.