Latest news with #ImprisonmentforPublicProtection
ITV News
18 hours ago
- ITV News
Prison sentences with no release date branded 'inhumane' 20 years after being introduced
A prison sentence which allows offenders to be incarcerated indefinitely has been branded "inhumane". Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences were introduced in 2005 before being scrapped in 2012. However, the orders were not revoked retrospectively, meaning that two decades since being brought in, thousands of people across the UK are still subject to their conditions. The sentences were initially intended to be handed to the most serious offenders whose crimes did not warrant a life sentence, with the view that they would only be released once re-habilitated. But once released from custody, offenders remain on licence for an indefinite period meaning they can be recalled at any time, often for behaviour which is not deemed criminal. Now, as a bill to allow re-sentencing of all IPP offenders progresses through the House of Lords, people who are living with IPP conditions have said they are the equivalent to a life sentence. Shaun Lloyd was originally sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 2005 after stealing a mobile phone, but spent nine consecutive years behind bars. He is now currently back in prison after being recalled on his IPP in March 2024. Shirley Debon, Shaun's mother, says behaviour linked to his drug addiction - which he developed in prison - has seen him recalled four times. She says he has now spent 14 years behind bars, Shirley is now campaigning for all prisoners still serving an IPP to be re-sentenced. "I don't condone what these people have done, they deserved prison," she said. "But this IPP sentence it's indeterminate, it's got no date of release. Murderers don't get that long. "It's not fair, it is inhumane, and it is killing people. It's killing prisoners, some family members are dying because of the stress of it." She says Shaun has missed out on large parts of his life due to multiple re-calls. "He would have been out in two and a half years, he would have been working, settled down, everything would have been so different," Shirley added. Meanwhile, Michael Roberts, from Barry, was convicted of armed robbery in 2006 and sentenced to more than three years in prison and given an IPP sentence. He served five years before he was released, and has been recalled several times since for minor offences - some of which he says he was later found not guilty of. "I'm scared to walk around my town because it only takes one phone call, and whether I've done anything wrong or not, the moment that allegation is raised I'm back in prison waiting for them to do their homework to work out if I actually did anything wrong or not," he said. While he acknowledges the seriousness of his initial crime, he says his IPP sentence has made it impossible for him to move on and be fully rehabilitated. "I've done my time for the offence I committed, I've done the punitive part, I had my punishment," he said. "I'm trying to make up for the things I've done wrong, I'm trying to rebuild with everybody I've done wrong to, I'm trying to be a better person, at what point do I stop getting flogged?" What are IPP sentences? Following criticism of over and incorrect use - including a European Court of Human Rights ruling that the sentences were unlawful - IPPs were abolished in 2012. In total, between 2005 and 2012, courts in Wales and England imposed a total of 8,711 IPP sentences. At the beginning of 2024, more than 150 Welsh prisoners were still subject to IPPs. As of March 31, 2025, Ministry of Justice figures show the number of 'unreleased' IPP prisoners fell by 14% to 1,012 across Wales and England compared to the previous year. More than two thirds of the 'unreleased' IPP prisoners who have served their minimum tariff period have been held for at least 10 years beyond the end of their tariff. In the year to March 31, 2024, the number of 'recalled' IPP prisoners had decreased by 5% to 1,532. Changes were introduced by the UK Government in November 2024 which meant that prisoners who have served their custodial sentence can now apply to have their licence terminated after three years in the community without re-call. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. We are determined to make progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those in prison, but not in a way that undermines public protection.' Lord David Blunkett who was Home Secretary when IPP sentences were introduced, has been calling for a reform of the sentences. He has previously said it was one of the biggest regrets of his time in government. Lord Blunkett said: 'Whilst parliament agreed to the imprisonment for public protection sentence all those years ago without dissent, no one – including me - envisaged that prisoners would be held for so long, and have such difficulty in gaining agreement to the Parole Board releasing them back into the community. That is why a group of peers have been working with a range of charities and organisations to make real progress including legislation, this time last year, which has seen 1,800 former prisoners have their license conditions lifted. 'In just over two weeks' time, a report sponsored by the Howard League for Penal Reform, and led by a former Supreme Court Judge, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, will make further recommendations on progress for those who have never been released, and I look forward to working with all those of goodwill to finding a way which will both rehabilitate those offenders, and protect the community.'
Daily Mirror
09-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Prisoner on controversial jail sentence like Charles Bronson found dead in cell
The Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences which have seen thousands of prisoners locked up indefinitely with uncertain prospects for release were made unlawful in 2012 A young prisoner who had spent "most of his teenage years and adult life" behind bars took his own life after being denied parole, a watchdog has found. Tyrone Richards, 32, was found hanged in his cell at HMP Manchester in October 2022. He had been serving a controversial indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, the same kind of sentence which has kept infamous prisoner Charles Bronson locked up for years. The sentences mean a prisoner must remain behind bars for a minimum term and then indefinitely until a parole board deems them fit to be released on licence. IPPs were scrapped in 2012, partly due to the severe mental health impact on prisoners who were being kept in jail with no release date for many years even after serving their minimum term. Although no new IPP sentences can be issued, for people already sentenced under them, they remain in place. In February 2010, Tyrone Richards was sentenced to an IPP with a minimum term of two years and 163 days for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. A Fatal Incident Report into his death was compiled by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which conducts an independent probe whenever someone dies in custody in England and Wales. The report noted that in 2016 and 2018, Mr Richards had been released from prison on licence after being granted parole but was recalled both times due to poor behaviour. He was transferred to Manchester from HMP Lindholme in South Yorkshire in July 2022 and screened by staff, who found no indication of significant mental health issues. By September that year he had been told his latest bid for parole had been denied, and he would have to to remain in prison for at least another two years. Author of the report, PPO Adrian Usher said Mr Richards was assaulted by another prisoner, which prison staff suspected was over a debt he owed to his attacker. The attack happened a little over a month before his death. Mr Usher said Mr Richards was one of a "record number of prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) to take their lives in 2022". As of July 2024, around 2,800 people were still serving IPPs. Mr Usher said Mr Richards had a "history of self-harm and attempted suicide". However, he wrote: "While he also had other risk factors for suicide and self-harm, we are satisfied that there was little to indicate that he was at heightened risk in the time before his death." An inquest later concluded Mr Richards died by hanging. The report also found that Mr Richards had not been prioritised for key work, a scheme to help prisoners integrate into prison life, and did not receive any meaningful key work sessions. Since his death prisoners serving IPP sentences have been made a priority group for key work. A spokesperson for the Prison Service said: "It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. "With public protection as the number one priority, the Lord Chancellor is working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure appropriate action is taken to support those still serving these sentences, such as improved access to mental health support and rehabilitation programmes."
The Independent
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Prisoners serving abolished indefinite jail terms costing taxpayers millions
Incarcerating Prisoners on abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences cost UK taxpayers £145 million in 2024, in addition to an estimated £1.6 billion spent since the sentence was abolished. Over 2,600 inmates remain on IPP sentences, some for minor crimes, despite the sentences being deemed "inhumane" and abolished in 2012 due to human rights concerns. The average cost per IPP prisoner is £53,801 per year, while other Prisoners are often released after serving only 40% of their sentences to reduce overcrowding. Campaigners and experts criticize the government for the ongoing costs and urge for resentencing, highlighting cases of individuals serving lengthy sentences for minor offenses and the psychological impact of indefinite detention. The Ministry of Justice defends the continued detention based on Parole Board assessments of risk but faces pressure to address the financial and ethical implications of IPP sentences.
The Independent
20-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
The scandalous costs of an inhumane policy
Given some of the clearly stated priorities of the government, which include keeping the public finances on a sound footing, reluctantly making cuts to the welfare benefits and foreign aid budgets to bolster defence in the light of international security threats, and bringing the UK into compliance with United Nations rulings (the agreement to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius), it seems perverse that it has failed to address an area of state spending that would tick all three of these boxes at once. Add in the fact that, since last autumn, it has been implementing an emergency early release scheme to free up space in the country's prisons, and it is even less comprehensible why ministers have not moved to end the continuing scandal of prisoners left languishing on what are called Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail terms, which set no date for their release. Not only has the government not moved to any formal consideration of their plight – these prisoners are explicitly excluded from the early release scheme – but it has given scant sign of any serious interest in doing so. Like its predecessors, this government has resisted calls to provide for the re-sentencing of the prisoners concerned, despite censure from the UN special rapporteur on torture. Nor has it earmarked any funds for the so-called IPP action plan, which is intended to help prepare these prisoners for release. Yet the status of these prisoners is one that should not be tolerated in any law-governed state. Several thousand people are being held under legislation passed in 2005, when the then Labour government was responding to public concern about crime levels. The law permitting such sentences was repealed by the coalition government seven years later, but without retrospective effect. The result is that some 2,600 people remain incarcerated under a law that was judged unjust and inhumane and no longer applies. We now have a situation where some prisoners are released after serving less than half their time, in order to reduce prison overcrowding, while others serving sentences for far lesser crimes still have no prospect of release. Among them are individuals whose only convictions are for thefts of mobile phones and laptops. That is not to say that such crimes, especially if committed repeatedly or with violence, should not be punished, including by jail time. But it defies justice that the time actually served by as many as 700 of these prisoners is now 10 years longer than the minimum term, and that some have served double the standard tariff for the particular offence. The grounds given are that public safety is paramount and that the prisoners concerned have failed tests to show that they would be safe on release. But, as campaigners and families also argue, at least some of the reasons why they are considered unsafe may reflect the time they have spent in prison and the uncertainty that inevitably attends a sentence with no defined end. The human costs here are incalculable. The cost to the Exchequer, on the other hand – and that means to all UK taxpayers – is all too calculable. As we reveal today, the total cost last year in respect of the 2,600 IPP inmates reached £145m. This comes on top of a bill estimated at £1.6bn bill for keeping IPP prisoners in the first 10 financial years after the law was repealed. This is a shocking sum in itself, given the current appeals to save money. But it is doubly so, since it was spent applying a type of sentence that was abolished as unjust and inhumane. It cannot be beyond the wit of ministers to grasp that several of the government's priorities militate for changing this, and fast. Humanitarian, judicial and financial considerations all point in the same direction, with the bonus that several thousand prison places can potentially be freed up as well. Yes, some extra funds may have to be directed to preparing long-confined and damaged prisoners for release and providing the support they may subsequently need. But this would be far less in the longer term than underwriting many more years in prison. Of all recent prime ministers, Sir Keir Starmer, with his past professional life as a human rights lawyer, must understand better than most that this is the right thing to do, for the sake of justice above all, but also for the sake of the public purse.
The Independent
20-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Revealed: The staggering cost of detaining prisoners on ‘inhumane' jail terms - and you're paying for it
Incarcerating prisoners serving abolished indefinite jail terms described as 'psychological torture' cost British taxpayers £145 million last year, The Independent can reveal. Analysis of official data lays bare the staggering cost of detaining more than 2,600 inmates still trapped on Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail terms, which have left prisoners languishing for decades – including for minor crimes. This is on top of an estimated £1.6 billion spent keeping IPP prisoners behind bars in the first ten financial years since the cruel jail term was scrapped due to human rights concerns. Experts have said it is 'fundamentally wrong' and 'farcical' that the government is continuing to spend hundreds of millions each year locking up prisoners on a sentence branded inhumane by the UN, while resisting calls to resentence them. Shocking cases highlighted by The Independent include Leroy Douglas, who has served almost 20 years for stealing a mobile phone; James Lawrence, 38, who is still in prison 18 years after he was handed an eight-month jail term; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery. Yusuf Ali was left emaciated after spending 61 days on hunger strike over his IPP jail term. At an average cost of £53,801 per prisoner, according to Ministry of Justice figures published this month, the state forked out an estimated £145,773,810 keeping these offenders in prison in 2024, while thousands of others were released after serving just 40 per cent of their jail term to ease overcrowding. The controversial open-ended jail terms were introduced in a bid to be tough on crime in 2005. They were scrapped in 2012 due to human rights concerns, but not retrospectively, leaving those already jailed trapped until they can prove they are safe for release. All but eight prisoners serving the sentence are now over-tariff, with almost 700 having now served at least ten years longer than their minimum term. Analysis of previous IPP prison populations and the average annual prices of housing prisoners shows costs spiralled to an estimated £1,620,790,062 in the first ten financial years since the sentence was abolished. In the case of Thomas White, who was handed an IPP term for robbing a mobile just months before the sentence was axed, the state has likely spent over a half a million pounds keeping him locked up for 13 years despite receiving a two-year tariff. The 42-year-old has developed severe mental health problems – which a psychologist has blamed on the hopeless jail term – and last summer set himself alight in his cell as he lost hope of being freed. His heartbroken family is waiting to find out if he will finally be moved to hospital for psychiatric treatment. His sister Clara said: 'Half a million pounds spent to mentally torture him - where is the rehabilitation? He's ended up with a lifetime mental illness.' At least 94 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives in custody, according to campaigners, in what has been called an 'industrial scale miscarriage of justice'. Successive governments have refused to re-sentence IPP offenders, despite calls from the justice committee and the UN special rapporteur on torture. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has allocated no dedicated funding to the refreshed IPP Action Plan, which is supposed to help IPP prisoners progress to release. A spokesperson for campaign group United Group for Reform of IPP (UNGRIPP) said the damage done to those serving IPP sentences is 'irreversible'. 'The fact that alongside this damage, an extortionate amount of money is being spent to keep people in prison - potentially forever - is farcical,' they added. 'If this money was spent on resentencing those on an IPP and supporting them back in to the community, billions of pounds would be saved.' Reformed IPP prisoner Marc Conway, who was one of the heroes of the Fishmongers' Hall terror attack, said it is 'fundamentally wrong' that taxpayers cash is being spent keeping vulnerable prisoners in when they are years over tariff. 'That money could be spent on getting people in the community and getting them help,' he told The Independent. Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, accused ministers of having their 'priorities all wrong'. 'It's pretty shocking that successive governments have spent hundreds of millions a year on imprisoning people under a sentence the United Nations has described as a form of torture,' he said. 'The government is spending more each year on keeping these unjust sentences in place than they are on supporting the installation of solar panels on schools, hospitals and community facilities.' Labour peer Lord Anthony Woodley said the public would be shocked to learn the government is ploughing so much money into the 'unjust' jail term. 'The British public don't like injustice or wasting taxpayers' money,' he told The Independent. 'We should always remember that behind these numbers are real people, fellow citizens, who continue to be beaten down and wronged by the awful IPP sentence. I call on the government to resentence them now.' A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'This Government will always put public safety first. It is right that IPP sentences were abolished, but those remaining in custody are there because the independent Parole Board has determined they are too dangerous for release. 'The Lord Chancellor is working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure appropriate action is taken to support those still serving these sentences, such as improved access to mental health support and rehabilitation programmes, to help them reduce their risk.'
