Yusuf Jama, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice

Facts

The claimant, born in 1985, is a Category A prisoner at HMP Whitemoor serving life imprisonment for the murder of a police officer in November 2005, with a minimum tariff not expiring until November 2040, and a concurrent sentence of imprisonment for public protection for a rape committed in January 2008. Over more than 19 years in custody he has never had an oral hearing on his security categorisation. Following an annual review, the Category A Review Team ("the CART") of the Directorate of Security produced a dossier in June 2024 containing broadly positive contributions from his key worker and prison offender manager, who recommended downgrading to Category B, alongside a more cautious assessment from the prison psychology department recommending further work on a PIPE unit before progression. The claimant's solicitors commissioned an independent psychologist, Dr Karyn Mannix, who concluded he had significantly reduced his risk and should be downgraded, and made detailed representations requesting an oral hearing. The Local Advisory Panel nevertheless recommended maintaining Category A status, and on 21 November 2024 the Director of the CART refused to downgrade the claimant and declined to hold an oral hearing. Permission to apply for judicial review was refused on paper by Lang J but granted by Foster J at a renewed oral hearing. The claimant challenged only the refusal to hold an oral hearing, not the substantive categorisation decision.