Journey of an IPP
Inside and out, decision makers take note
I received an IPP with a four year tariff in 2006 for two offences of robbery, which meant I was among the first to receive that type of sentence.
On the day of sentencing I was told that I’d been given eight years, which turned out not to be true. I was totally unaware and with no information from my barrister that the judge had given me the IPP Sentence.
In the lift going back to the cells I asked the guard, “What the hell just happened in there? What sentence did I get? Did I get eight years?”
He said to me, “You got eight years determinate sentence. You’ll do four.”
So I am now thinking to myself, ‘I’ve got a result there!’ But little did I know that in fact I’d just been given a life sentence. I only found out three months later what had really happened in court and the real sentence which I’d received. I was in total shock and disbelief, I could not get my head around that fact that I had no release date! I just didn’t know what to say to my family and my children.
I knew it was likely I would do double my tariff and more. I had lost all hope of getting out, which caused me to quickly get myself involved in drugs and mixing with the wrong people. After a couple of years of being like this and stuck in the same prison, I said to myself ‘This can’t go on any longer, I need to do what I can to get my parole.’
And the only way to reduce my risk and help myself was to do the courses that the prison put on. Unfortunately for me and the rest of the IPP lifers at Forest Bank, the prison which I was in at the time, did not run a single accredited course! And it wasn’t likely to be putting any courses on any time soon.
I could have gotten a transfer out of there but the only place IPP lifers were going was to the Cat-A dispersal’s. I may have managed to get on my courses there but once you’re in there it’s so hard to get out of those places and it would have put me even more over my tariff. So I made a decision to go to a ‘Therapeutic’ prison to address my risk factors, and most of all sort my head out.
l didn’t get IPP because I was a nice person. I got it because I was a nasty piece of work, who hurt a lot of people, for which I deeply regret.
I went to HMP Grendon and there I did therapeutic groups work for three years. Doing that I not only reduced my risk, I also got a deep understanding of why I was taking drugs and committing those crimes. It is an experience I will never forget and it put me on the right track to rehabilitation. As with most lifers and IPP the normal route to progression is to work through the categories to get to open conditions where I thought my sentence was coming to an end – like a lot of lifers do. It’s like a light at the end of a tunnel. But little did I know that this is where the real test is.
I had worked so hard and kept my head down and had been clean of drugs for seven years, but ‘open conditions’ was not going to be the easy ride I thought it would be. The amount of drugs and freedom went to my head, and before long I was starting to get complacent and began taking so called ‘legal highs.’ I had worked so hard to get here and was now throwing it all away.
I knew I had gotten myself into a lot of trouble, so I approached my Offender Supervisor whom I had a really good working relationship with, and told her that I had messed up real bad, and that I needed help right away.
The alternative to burying my head in the sand was to be sent back to closed conditions. The prison which I was in this time was HMP Kirklevington, which had a good reputation and will help those who ask for it. They helped me get myself back on track, which then led to a full time job outside the prison. After serving two years at Kirklevington I was released from prison.
I have been out of prison now for over 15 months. I had spent over ten years in prison and in that time everything in society had changed. Prison had helped me but it has also damaged me! I constantly suffer with paranoia, anxiety and depression, which I know is directly linked to my time in prison. I cannot be around my family or my children because they are like strangers to me. I very rarely leave my flat because I live in fear that something bad is going to happen to me. During my time in prison my only source of factual information about IPP sentences and the issues surrounding them really only came from Inside Time. Without that paper I really would have just given up all hope. I hope I make it.
...................................
Katherine Gleeson
I was personaly an eyewitness
in court when a young man was sentenced to a term of 5 years. It was only
when the young man arrived at prison that he received his documents, on
reading them it said "You have received a life sentence of 99 years"".
straight away i received
call from this young man extremely distraught and in a total panic. I just received my documents and there must be some mistake it says 99 years sentence
not the 5 years. He then asked me to look into this for him, as it must be a mistake ! Only to find out it was "not a mistake.
I questioned?
I was at the court case too with him and there was no mention of 99 IPP Sentence
.How could this happen? And this began my campaign.
I had to ask myself "
why their was no mention of the IPP sentence by the judge and the solicitors acting for the client was unaware?
why their was no mention of the IPP sentence by the judge and the solicitors acting for the client was unaware?
How you add a sentence without your knowledge?
How was this be allowed to happen?
I like to hear from you
Are you
one of the hundreds who found out about the IPP Sentence only when you arrived to
prison and at some point after a few weeks received documents stating you receive
a 99 year sentence?I would like to keep a log to hand the info to
human rights and the government, we want answers.
Katherinegleeson@aol.com
As an IPP of 10-years, I have been in 8 prisons, and read many accounts from my peers in Inside Time, but rarely do I find anything that scratches the thin veneer of reform. Reform within prison is a systematic failure that seems to have a philosophy of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.
Prisoners live in a world where the majority of staff abuse their authority and this is one of the insurmountable problems with reform, because prisoners will say – ‘How can I reform to a standard that authority cannot demonstrate itself?’ These people are the only role models that we, apparently dysfunctional prisoners, have.
If reform is to be viable, things need to change as reform and retributive systems are not only polar opposites in application, but anathema to each other as one negates the potential of the other in defeating causality.
To this end:
1) There must be a mutual ethical structure of acceptable standards that ‘all parties’ conform to, with redress for non-compliance.
2) Employees require cognitive and emotional training to work in a symbiotic relationship with prisoners as conformist role models.
3) The risk-assessment for public protection, which is un-proportional and retributive needs to redress to conform the principles of reform.
It is quite clear that if prisons continue to treat prisoners like second-class citizens, then prisoners will continue to, subconsciously, conform to that social role.
A hopeful sign
On our spur, we have an inmate who is profoundly deaf. I came out of my cell last week and was amazed and seriously impressed to see an officer having a lively debate with him, using sign language. This got me thinking. How many prisons in the UK have a member of staff, OSG or above, who is fluent in sign? I’m sure a lot of audio-impaired prisoners can read, write or even lip-read. However, I am sure there must be those in the minority who can’t, and this would make life somewhat fractious on many levels.
I’m sure signing is a complex language to learn, but as HMP cater for well over three dozen dialects I’m sure there is scope for a few members of staff to be trained to a certain level in signing – if only the rudimentary. Why not offer a course in signing via the education department? The possibility of a qualification appeals and it could be of benefit when released.
Prisons Inspector ‘very disappointed’ but determined to ‘report the harsh reality of our prisons – all too many of which are dangerous for prisoners and staff alike and are failing in their duty…’Prisons Inspector ‘very disappointed’ but determined to ‘report the harsh reality of our prisons – all too many of which are dangerous for prisoners and staff alike and are failing in their duty…’
- Through the Gate resettlement services for prisoners serving
- 12 months or more was condemned as ‘poor’ and ‘not making any difference’ by HM Inspector of Probation.
- Major report finds that it is national prison policy and practice which is the main barrier preventing opportunities for work and training for prison leavers.
Government plans for positive use of criminal justice ‘in disarray’.
Government plans for positive use of criminal justice ‘in disarray’.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke, reacting to the Queen’s Speech said: “I am very disappointed that prison reform has not found a place in the Queen’s speech. The Prisons and Courts Reform bill, introduced last year, enjoyed broad parliamentary support and had made real progress through parliament until it was lost when the general election was called.
This is a missed opportunity to forge ahead with prison reform. The law would have required the government to respond to our findings. We will continue to report the harsh reality of what we find in our prisons – all too many of which are dangerous for prisoners and staff alike and are failing in their duty to rehabilitate and reform prisoners. We will continue to press for strong leadership and a real commitment to reform.”
Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “It is immensely disappointing that the government has dropped its commitment to a prison reform bill. There was cross party support for this long overdue legislation. The decision puts even more pressure on the new justice secretary to find ways to stop our chronic overuse of prison so that this hardest pressed of public services can start to repair the damage his predecessors have inflicted upon it.
He should start by spending the money earmarked for new prisons on measures that would make them unnecessary. That means supporting people in their communities and helping the people who really do need to be in prison to get out on time and stay out for good.”
However in an open letter the new Justice Secretary David Lidington MP said:
“The work to make our prisons true places of reform and rehabilitation is already under way – and it will continue unabated.
When someone is convicted of a serious crime, they are rightly handed down a custodial sentence by our courts. They are punished by being sent to prison and losing what we cherish most as citizens – liberty and freedom.
Most will, at some point, be released back into society. So, as well as depriving people of liberty, our prisons must also be places of reform and rehabilitation to support offenders to turn their lives around.
Only by building on this work to reform offenders and support ex-offenders will we stop the vicious and costly cycle of reoffending.
This is my priority and as the new Secretary of State, I am committed to building on the essential reforms that are already under way to make prisons places of safety and reform.
That has to start with the numbers of prison officers available to support offenders. More staff will provide the capacity for them to give more time to directly supervising offenders, through one-to-one support from a key worker. This engagement will be a key measure in reducing the currently unacceptable levels of assaults, self-harm and suicides.
My predecessor has already secured a £100 million a year investment for an extra 2,500 prison officers. The most recent figures show the number of prison officers in post has increased by 515 compared with the previous quarter and we are on track to deliver all 2,500 prison officers by December 2018.
They will join thousands of dedicated and hard-working prison officers who undertake such important work, day in day out, to keep our prisons and the public safe.
We are also tackling key issues to improve security and create the opportunity for reform and rehabilitation.
On drugs, we have introduced testing for psychoactive substances across the estate, the first jurisdiction in the world to do so. We have also trained more than 300 dogs to detect these substances, and have introduced tough new laws to deal with people smuggling the substances into prison.
On drones, we are working with the police to catch and convict criminals using drones to smuggle contraband into prisons. We have also established a new team of prison and police officers to directly tackle the threat posed by drones.
On mobile phones, we are working with mobile network operators to tackle illicit use of phones. We have now fitted out every single prison across the estate with hand-held mobile phone detectors and detection poles to step up the detection of illegal phones on the landings.
More than 150 mobile phones have been cut off since the introduction of new powers through the Serious Crime Act.
We are continuing to transform our prison estate to close old and dilapidated prisons and create up to 10,000 new places through a £1.3 billion investment.
We know where the problems lie in our prisons, and we know what is needed to fix them. We are continuing with, and building on, these reforms to ensure prisons are safe and secure and are able to transform the lives of those sent to custody by our courts.”
Petrol Board
Deciding whether it is necessary to keep someone in prison to protect the public is a vital, often difficult, and sometimes unpopular, decision.
We need our independent members to show good judgement, to assess, based on all the evidence, whether somebody serving a prison sentence can be safely managed in the community.
The Board has published a strategy: Parole Board Strategy 2016-2020 setting out our plans for ensuring the Board meets our important duties.
Our number one priority at present has been to tackle the unacceptable delays to hearings. Delays have a corrosive impact and can cause a loss of hope.
The rise of oral hearings
Whilst fifty years ago, the Parole Board rarely, if ever, saw the person whose liberty they were deciding, in 2016-17 the Parole Board held a historic high of 7,377 hearings. This high, is partly a consequence of increased numbers of people being eligible for a parole review (including the continuing legacy of the discontinued IPP sentence) but most recently the result of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Osborn, which obliged the Board to hold more hearings to ensure fairness. We now hold nearly five times the number of hearings we held a decade ago. Our hard work has now brought down the backlog by 40% over the last two years, bringing down delays; but there remains more to do.
IPPs
The Board’s strategy also commits us to making progress on IPPs. Whilst our role is to look at risk to the public, and I believe there are a small number IPPs who remain a genuine danger to the public; I share the concern of many commentators about the fact that there are still 3,528 IPPs in prison. I fear that for some imprisonment itself and their despair; is not helping. Whilst historically there was justifiable concern about the failure of IPPs to make progress, in recent years the numbers of IPPs progressed has risen significantly as a result of progress in custody and greater confidence. In 2016-17 the Board ordered the release of over 900 IPP prisoners (including the re-release of recalled IPPs); this is 20% more than in the preceding year and I expect us to make further significant progress this year. Despite the progress made, I can understand why IPPs are perceived as creating potential injustice, and believe there is a compelling case to changing the licence arrangements, which have the potential to compound the difficulties seen over the last twelve years.
Recalls a growing challenge
Whilst the Board strives to keep up with growing demand, it is striking to note the range of cases now coming to the Board. When created our primary purpose was to provide to ministers on the release of those serving a life sentence following the abolition of the death penalty. Today we spend significant time dealing with recall prisoners; whose numbers have increased astonishingly over the last twenty years. On average, we receive around one thousand recall cases a month and many of those cases are going to an oral hearing. Whilst it is quite right that prisoners have the right to challenge the lawfulness of their recall, I believe that more could be done to encourage probation officers to exercise their professional judgement to keep people in the community, and fully support efforts being made by Sonia Crozier as head of the National Probation Service to find alternatives to recall and increase confidence.
We are also working with our members to ensure we have a robust, evidence based approach to risk. The recent decision to stop SOTP programmes is salutary. Parole decisions cannot be takes through tick box approaches. Treatment and programmes are not panaceas. Risk can reduce through age; maturity; insight into offending; and a reduction in opportunities to offend. Whatever has happened in the past; the Board is encouraging its members to look at all of the evidence available and to be open and reflective about our decision making. Risk can never be entirely eliminated, but good decisions will identify the risks and how they might be managed in the community. But this needs imagination from all involved. Looking to the future; I am certain that the Parole Board has the opportunity to utilise technology such as alcohol monitoring to better manage offenders in the community; and we are already making use of GPS tracking devices on a small scale.
Balances the rights of prisoners and victims
Finally – our system is not just about processes; it is about people.
Whilst we strive to do the very best we can, there are no crystal balls. If we measured our success only by the number of serious offences committed by those released by the Parole Board the overwhelming majority of our release decisions are sound. However, whilst deeply regrettable, there have always been a tiny number of cases where those released by the Parole Board commit serious offences. We take each such tragic case extremely seriously, as the public would expect. A serious offence can be a hammer blow to the member who makes the decision. We always seek to learn lessons; but we cannot allow these rare cases detract from the fact that most of those in our prisons should have a second chance.
The Board remains committed to making fair and independent decisions, as swiftly as possible, with care, humanity and courage. I know from speaking to victims, prisoners and their respective families how important our decisions are. Losing a member of your family through violent crime, or through imprisonment, is always devastating and the consequences of that loss has an impact down the generations. That is why we must do our very best to make the best decisions we can.
Comments
Chef of parole board Martin Jones @jones_martinw Jul 2017
Replying to TWEETkatherinegleeson@aol.com
@Parole_Board
would encourage legal reps to suggest paper release in appropriate cases. I
have seen 2 paper releases this week.
Horton
Just to clarify. I posted the link because it was of interest, not because I necessarily believe any data or agree with any opinions in it. I am well aware that you can prove anything with statistics, and also that the IPP sentence is massively unjust and the Parole Board ridiculously stupid on occasions (the case of James Ward being just one that comes to mind). Well
I've just written to David Lidington. I don't have any real hope that
he will answer, but at least I'm remninding him that we are not going to
stop protesting about the IPP.
Dear Katherine,
I am a Solicitor working in the area of
Human Rights / Civil Liberties. I am looking at the possibility of
bringing a legal challenge by judicial review of the Government’s
treatment of one or more IPP prisoners.
I know that you have done a great deal of
excellent campaigning in this area, and that you have been in contact
with one of my clients, Donna Mooney, about the tragic loss of her
brother who was serving an IPP sentence. We have another
case of a serving IPP who died after self-harming, and I imagine these
are not isolated cases. As you will be aware, the risk of self-harming
is recognised as being higher among prisoners serving indeterminate
sentences.
The legal challenge we are now thinking
about would be on behalf of a prisoner who was still serving his / her
sentence and was well over-tariff, and would be with a view to
benefiting other long-serving IPP prisoners. I have written to
Liz Truss previously about this issue and she has made it clear there
will not be any legislative changes.
I work closely with my colleague Jocelyn Cockburn, whose profile you can review here
https://www.hja.net/legal-team/jocelyn-cockburn-2/ .
I wondered if you would be available to
have a chat about this? I work part time and am usually in the office on
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Kind regards,
Claire Brigham.
Reply
Thank you claire, i will give you a call Wednesday.
Katherine gleeson.
Reply Solicitor For Hodge Jones & Allen LLP
Dear Katherine,
Thank you for your call earlier today, and I’m sorry that I missed you.
I’ll try you tomorrow at 10.30 if that’s ok.
Best wishes,
Claire
Eliseo
"Education and safety in prisons, and a connection ...":
"Education and safety in prisons, and a connection ...":
It is wonderful to read about someone who is so passionate about the education and safety of prisoners who are caught in our penal system. Not everyone who is locked up is some heartless monster and it do well for others to remember that it could actually happen to any of us, especially with the way things are turning out.Eliseo Weinstein Posted by Eliseo Weinstein to IPP Prisoners Familys Campaign
Simon
Hi Katherine i have a question that I would like to ask you.
Would you know where my probation has to send the form to end my probation supervision order? My probation officer isn't trying hard enough and I was the one who had to get the form from online and print it off and hand it it her. Is there an email address or a phone number of the correct department to speak to about ending my supervision order.
I had served 6 years of a 3.5 years IPP sentence. I have now been out for 4.5 years and my probation has agreed to end the supervision order of my sentence.
Thank you,
Simon.
Would you know where my probation has to send the form to end my probation supervision order? My probation officer isn't trying hard enough and I was the one who had to get the form from online and print it off and hand it it her. Is there an email address or a phone number of the correct department to speak to about ending my supervision order.
I had served 6 years of a 3.5 years IPP sentence. I have now been out for 4.5 years and my probation has agreed to end the supervision order of my sentence.
Thank you,
Simon.
Reply
I have
attached the form and you will notice in the top left hand corner there
is an email address for the home office.
It is
not for the IPP to submit the application, you will not there are
sections that need to be filled in by the Probation officer. As your
probation officer is being unhelpful I would suggest you send it by post
to the deputy director of probation for his area, with a short letter
explaining why you are submitting it in that manner. I have attached the
probation directory as well for you. You should here back within 4
weeks. You could also email it to the home office email address but I
think unless it is signed by the probation line manager they will refer
him back to his probation officer.
They are
required to do a full perceived risk assessment and gather all
information from the public protection unit so the board can make a full
assessment. You could also do this through a solicitor as it is
technically a parole review, although of course I am unsure as to
whether you will get legal aid ". The solicitor I am sure would
send correspondence to the probation officer in the first instance
anyway, as the licence is between the probation service and the IPP.
I
hope this helps, I think his probation officer isn't aware of the
procedure and as their caseloads are so high its a job she/he wants to
get out of, but she will be required to do an up to date Oasys.
I am emailing a few solicitors to see if they are aware as to whether legal aid is available.
A big thank you to Jez for information he provided.
cytotec
Has left a new comment on your post"defendant might have really disadvantaged their ca..."":Thank you very much for sharing information that will be much helpful for making coursework more effective. Posted by cytotec to IPP Prisoners Familys Campaign 7/2017
Jez IPP The sentence that tortures you on the inside and when you get out too. Inexcusable persistent persecution.
Trapped' prisoner Danny Weatherson released after 11 years nine months for a 16-month jail sentence.
He was caught up in the controversial Imprisonment IPP sentences which came into force for England and Wales in 2005 but was axed in 2012.months at a rehabilitation hostel in Leeds. “I’m not getting the support I need, I am bipolar and things have changed since I was out last. I feel like handing myself back into prison because I can’t cope out here. I wanted to be back in Newcastle to be with my family.”
concerned
dad Maurice Stevens says now that his son is out, he continues to worry about
him because he feels the system is letting him down.
Dad
Maurice Stevens (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
“Danny
has had to apply for universal credit but it is going to take six weeks for his
money to get through,” said builder Maurice, 45, of Lemington.
“He gets
his breakfast and tea in the hostel but where do they think he is going to get
the money from if he wants to eat something for his dinner and money in general
to live on? I am giving him money to get by but he’s worried and I am worried
for him.
“We were
over the moon when we were told he was going to be released, we have fought it
for so long. But now he is out, this is another set of problems.
“I feel
they have set him up to fail. It would have been better for him to have been
surrounded by his family where we would could see him every day and give him
the support he needs.
“We gave
him a touch screen phone and he didn’t know how to use it. Technology has
changed so much in the past 12 years.
“He’s got
a long way to go now he’s out.”
He had
taken to self-harm to get him through dark days, but Danny’s family revealed in
February 2016 the Parole Board said he could be moved to a category D open
prison.
However,
just weeks later, he was told the prison that had been chosen was changed and
Danny tried to kill himself as his hopes were shattered.
His
solicitor, Shirley Noble, said he was being kept inside as he “poses a risk to
himself” and uses the self-harming mechanism to release the pain he suffers
emotionally.
And his
frustrated dad used his son’s attempted suicide to highlighted the IPP
sentences, intended to protect the public against criminals whose crimes were
not serious enough to merit a normal life sentence but who were regarded as too
dangerous to be released when the term of their original sentence had expired.
Danny, of Scotswood, for minor crimes before being
jailed, was among those who feels they had been left to rot behind bars.
Danny
Weatherson, now 27 was jailed at the age of 16
Ministry
of Justice data shows the number of IPP prisoners still being held since the
sentences was abolished .The authorities admit the IPP sentence was widely
criticised .
.
Dad-of-12
Maurice added: “On July 18 it is Danny’s 29th birthday. We are asking if his
conditions can be relaxed for the day so he can come home and we can have a
party for him. He has had all his birthday’s in prison and it will be nice for
him and his mother to be together for his birthday.
“We are
looking to throw a party for him with relatives there who haven’t seen him for
almost 12 years. He would love that and will help him get through the next
three months before he moves back to Newcastle.”
“Of course, public protection must be the
number one priority. But it seems unjust that someone sentenced in 2010 can
remain in prison for years when - if sentenced today - they might have an
automatic release date.
“That’s
why it’s important we tackle the backlog of these cases that are waiting for a
Parole Board hearing.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/trapped-prisoner-danny-weatherson-released-13336525?platform=hootsuite
Custody centres in England and Wales are so unsafe
that a "tragedy" is "inevitable", the chief inspector of prisons has said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40644383
that a "tragedy" is "inevitable", the chief inspector of prisons has said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40644383
https://vimeo.com/149636959
The Secret Barrister
The book, to which Pan MacMillan secured the rights beating four other publishers in an auction, is the latest installment in Secret Barrister’s rapid success story.Going mainstream, the unidentified blogging barrister featured in the Huffington Post earlier this year with a damning indictment of Iain Duncan Smith’s clanger when he criticised the Supreme Court for being “self-appointed” and telling parliament “how to run its business.”
The book, the blogger says, is intended for a general audience to get across the importance of the criminal justice system and why it matters that the system works properly. Continuing, the barrister told Legal Cheek:
I wanted to write a book to show the public what really goes on behind the courtroom door. By writing about these problems from an insider’s perspective, I hope to demonstrate to a non-legal audience why criminal justice is so important, and to illustrate what happens when we allow those in charge to chip away at our most basic freedoms. Anyone can be a victim of crime, and anyone can be wrongly accused of a crime. And you will want the system to work properly if that person is
Pan Mac to publish The Secret Barrister
The Law and How It's Broken: Stories of Crime and Punishment will publish in 2018.
IPP PETITION
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/free-the-remaining-ipp-prisoners?source=twitter-share-buttonhttp://www.insidetime.org/change-nothing-and-nothing-changes/
http://www.insidetime.org/journey-of-an-ipp/
http://www.insidetime.org/queens-speech-ignores-prison-reform-agenda/
http://www.russellwebster.com/parole-board-50/
you.http://www.thebookseller.com/news/pan-mac-publish-secret-barrister-499661
https://www.legalcheek.com/2017/03/secret-barrister-lands-major-book-deal-achieving-every-law-bloggers-dream/
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