Father on the run appeals to justice secretary over case

Dad handed controversial indefinite sentence at 15 years old

- ALEX CROFT

A Bolton father who is on the run after learning he was to be indefinitely locked up in prison has appealed to the justice secretary to intervene in his case directly.

Matthew Booth, 33, has already served his minimum jail term more than three times over for a crime he committed when he was just 15. He is now wanted by police on recall to prison, having been convicted under the indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentencing system, which means he can be recalled without notice for breaches of his strict license conditions.

Mr Booth was recalled on the accusation of having restarted a relationship with the mother of his two children without notifying probation officers. Both Mr Booth and the woman in question – Abigail Vernon, the mother of his two daughters – told The Independent in October that claims they were back in a serious relationship were not true.