These people are pretty much convicted to die in jail but since it’s not officially Death Penalty or even a Life Sentence, the standard of evidence and possibilities of appeal are much lower, the oversight from external actors (such as the Press or Human Rights Organisations) is comparativelly non-existent, as are side effects with international partners (for example, extradition from many European countries to Britain would be much harder or even impossible if they had the Death Penalty or even a Life Sentence).
This is exactly the kind of way English Politicians and the English Upper Class create rules and pass measures to do pretty cruel things behind a façade which is almost the opposite.