"We demand urgent action from government to ensure that their is no more deaths and to end the multiple deaths under IPP.
Listen to the IPP Sentences Debate Published on 11 Jun 2019 , Dhesi MP
BRIEFING PAPER
Number 6086, 6 June 2019
Sentences of
Imprisonment for Public
Protection
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The story of another young man recalled back to prison led to tragic consequences the sentence does give us a very clear insight into the mental harm the IPP Sentence causes as Shane committed suicide two days before he was due to be released.
It was said he was worried that he would be recalled once again if probation put in a half way house in his release that would cause him to reoffered .
"Nick Armstrong, who represents the grieving family, told the hearing: "Shane was 19 when he went to prison for a sentence with a maximum term of 30 months. He was still in prison nine years later.
"Nick Armstrong, who represents the grieving family, told the hearing: "Shane was 19 when he went to prison for a sentence with a maximum term of 30 months. He was still in prison nine years later.
Shane was initially jailed for assault at the age of 19.Shane was given an sentence of two and a half years before consideration for release. He was seriously over tariff causing him mental health he was due to be released two days before his death.
"Inquest into death of HMP Nottingham inmate hears evidence from prison governor?
Who said at the time, he was under ' constant supervision? He say he tried to o win the trust of a troubled inmate in the days leading up to his death in a cell. At the time, he was under "constant supervision." He appeared depressed and withdrawn and he was not eating properly.
Assistant Coroner Ivan Cartwright, who is conducting the hearing in
front of a jury, said:
"It sounds like absolute crisis point for Shane."governor Ms Searson-Smith replied: "I would agree."
She said that she worked hard to discover his problems and told the hearing: "I did think we had a bit of a rapport."
Shane problem was one of a group of IPP prisoner over tariff he had lost hope with the constant knock backs from parole that caused his mental health that not easy to discover. katherine gleeson
Mr Stroughton was in a single cell and had been under constant supervision for ten days.
He was not confined to the cell and climbed onto safety netting,
which is installed to prevent inmates from falling from landings and
getting hurt.
Ms Searson-Smith, who is a duty governor, was
called and said: "He mouthed the word 'sorry,' showing he was engaging."
After he came safely down, he was moved into a quiet area so he could
have "a bit of dignity."
She said that Mr Stroughton wanted to be moved to Delta Wing where he
had some friends and was still o supervision but "wanted to come off constant supervision. "Miss Searson-Smith said: "There were a lot of positives for Shane. He spoke very passionately about his mum.
He was found hanged in his cell . He was the first of
five men of this group to be found dead in the prison within four weeks.
"The tragedy is that he was due to be released on , two days later. "The inquest continues.
I think its important to remember that although he was convicted of an assault he was still a teenager. who had served his sentence over and over until he got absolute crisis .
Up date from the said staff https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/inmate-found-dead-cell-hmp-2952418
Up date from the said staff https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/inmate-found-dead-cell-hmp-2952418
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Tim Bowman received a 2 year IPP sentence in 2005 and released in July 2013
The effect of being over tariff was life changing along with a 10 year licence but despite this Tim secured a job and accommodation he finally building his life back up with his family and the community .
But this all changed on the 10th of June 2019 when the police arrived at the home. Unknown to him he was being recalled back to the prison the place he was trapped in so many years ago.
Probation reported poor behaviour in there notes. The family stated he had done nothing wrong but complain to probation that they was not supportive and had stooped him seeing his friends and playing football, preventing him enjoying activities he enjoyed that was import for his health.
Mum Valery who is 81 years and father 82 both with have health concerns cant understand this sentence , they just came and took from our home I'm concerned for him I don't know where they have taken him and how I will see him. He had a job you know what will happen know? We don't have internet we have no news.
"When do you start sending people to prison for their behaviour rather than a crime!
Rehabilitation a prisoner
- the action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after imprisonment, the action of restoring someone to former privileges or reputation. the action of restoring something that has been damaged to its former condition.
Recall is one of the subjects at the meeting last year that the parole board said they would address? so we need to find out what has gone wrong . sending people to prison because you don't like the way they behave is an abuse of the sentence.Non of us are perfect are they going to send every body .This case is abuse and discriminative.
Probation officer have realise that IPP prisoners are often under considerable pressure on release with money issues, housing, job, insurance, building relationships, and major restrictions and riles as well as the licence and likely hood of being recalled by anyone of the probation officers who never get to know a person. often suffering post traumatic stress disorder than the general population, anxiety is high not knowing when they will be recalled and with struggles there up against. support is lacking as is even cancelling or rehabilitation. They don't need go through any further trauma by being recalled . There bound to behave differently day to day as any one would with trauma, those are just mending and trying to cope with day to day challenges.I shall be keeping an eye on this case and expect to see this man released .
katherine gleeson
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katherine gleeson
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New Statesman
(IPP) sentences were ruled a violation of human
rights
On Charlie’s Nokes 30th birthday she
was given an IPP sentence and was due to serve 16 months at HMP Peterborough.
Nine years later, in July 2016, she died in prison. Certainly not the type of
crimes that would see her die in prison under a 99-year Indefinite Prison
Sentence. years since the IPP’s implementation, and five years since it
was abolished, its creator Lord David Blunkett says he made a mistake.
““Guantanamo Bay? That’s possibly a bit far, but in terms of it being a
festering injustice that has not been properly dealt with then, yes,” says
Andrew Neilson of The Howard League for Penal Reform, the IPP sentence is
“comparable”.
A life licence “horror story”
Even upon release, IPP prisoners must live under a
ten-year life licence.
This requires a former prisoner to report to
probation services at regular intervals for ten years. If a former
prisoner does not attend for any reason, including, as Gleeson points out,
problems with time-keeping due to learning difficulties, which approximately 80
per cent of the prison population are living with, they can be
re-incarcerated.December 2015, after Kipp had been officially released from
prison, that he experienced the real IPP “horror story”. He had a shouting
match in the street with a neighbour and was immediately recalled to prison,
even though he wasn’t guilty of an offence. He remembers: “Even the judge was
saying this is absolutely ridiculous.” He blames the Parole Board for his
unnecessary incarceration. Kipp was meant to have a hearing two weeks after he
went to court, but no one notified him or his solicitor that it was happening.
So that date passed and he was given another date in April, but a member of the
Parole Board couldn’t make the hearing, for one reason or another – he wasn’t
really told. “I was supposed to have another one in July and something else
happened. In the end I got one in August,” Kipp says. Even though he was
awarded £2,500 compensation from the Parole Board, he says: “That’s irrelevant,
you can’t get back 11 months. For others there 10 years over tariff and
more when recalled.
Howard League of Penal Reform’s , as
they see more cases like Kipp’s occurring.
“We’re already aware of people under
the licence being recalled to custody for things like missing appointments, not
new crimes, but breaching administrative conditions,” says Nielson. He
continues: “They haven’t committed murder or very violent crimes; some of the
IPPs, as well documented, are people who were prosecuted for arson because they
set fire to a bin. Should someone in that circumstance, never mind get an
indeterminate sentence, have a life licence when they get released?”
says Kipp. “People pick up the Inside
Time [prison] magazine and just read horror stories, horror stories,
horror stories and then after a bit of time… that’s you.”
Family of
Charlie
It’s
something that bothers me and all of us really att just 37 years old, Charlie’s
mental health was deemed so poor. The family believe she should not of been in
prison. It’s something that bothers me and all of us really.”
“I'm unsure if she tried to kill herself. There were just prescribed
drugs in her system, ” says Rachel, who is now waiting on further toxicology
and mental health reports to see if her sister was on the correct types and
doses of medication. Charlotte was still my sister, Mum and Dad’s daughter.
Whilst serving a 15 month IPP sentence A Woman Died In Prison Six Years Beyond The Sentence For Her Crime. At HM Peterborough
Charlotte Nokes had serious mental health problems and died in
Peterborough prison after being held more than six years beyond her
sentence for her crime.
Charlotte "Charlie" Nokes died in Peterborough prison aged 38 . She had serious mental health problems and was serving IPP sentence . 15-month minimum custodial time for street robbery in January 2008, she was still in prison more than eight years later.
They also expect it to examine her mental health treatment, whether her
cell observations were sufficient and the temperature in her cell.
Nokes' family was shocked to discover that, despite not earning enough
to afford a lawyer, they do not qualify for legal aid to cover the work
preparing for the inquest, because the means test is so stringent. The
situation has forced them to crowdfund the cost of their lawyer
preparing a case. They hope to be granted exceptional case funding to
cover the inquest itself and plan to put in an application.
We are raising funds to pay for a legal team to represent us at my sister's inquest hearing in June 2019.
Nokes’ sister, Rachel Hammerton, said she had been attempting to prepare
a case alone without a lawyer but was increasingly daunted at the
prospect as more information came to light. She estimates that she and
her husband, who both work, have a joint household income of around
£38,000 and a house they own with a mortgage. The sums put them outside
the bracket for means tested legal aid.
“You don't just have a spare ten grand sitting around. It would mean remortgaging my house which you don’t want to do with two children,”
Hammerton said. “I’m cross that we have to do this. It shouldn’t be
necessary, it should just be you get someone representing you because it
happened under government care.
“The prison is going to have a whole legal team and the NHS is going to
have a whole legal team. Can you imagine as a family going up against
that? Isn’t an inquest meant to be getting to the truth? As a family we
want some answers to explain why a 38-year-old died.”
The means test threshold for legal aid has not been updated since 2010
and is considered a factor in the rising number of people representing
themselves in court because it does not reflect the current cost of
living. As part of its review of Laspo, the MoJ has begun a review of the means test.
"Meanwhile the state agents will ultimately be paid by the taxpayer. families being in an unequal position when participating in the inquest.”
IPP was brought in by the 2005 Labour government as a way to extend
the sentences of offenders guilty of serious sexual and violent crimes.
In reality it was used much more widely by judges and after years of
outcry it was abolished in 2012 by the Coalition. But there are still more than 2,400 people in prison on IPP sentences, having been handed them before the law changed in 2012.
Mulcair
said: “This case raises important issues about sentence planning for
those who remain on IPP sentences and the treatment of prisoners with
severe and enduring mental health problems.
Charlotte had served more
than 6 years over her tariff. In January 2015, the Parole Board
her mental health treatment It does not appear that this took place.
In addition to ascertaining Charlotte’s medical cause of death, it is
understood that the issues to be investigated at the inquest include the
treatment of Charlotte’s poor mental health, the sufficiency of
Charlotte’s cell observations and the temperature of her cell.
Charlotte’s family are particularly concerned about the potential impact
on Charlotte’s
The inquest begins on the 18th of June at Huntingdon Coroners Court.
The charity Inquest, which is supporting Nokes’ family, is campaigning for legal aid for all families at inquests into state-related deaths, such as those in prison or police custody.
A
spokesperson for the charity said: “Inquests following state related
deaths are intended to seek truth and expose unsafe practices. Charlie’s
experiences in prison, including serving an IPP sentence so long over
tariff, must be scrutinised.
""Without legal representation for bereaved families at inquests, the
opportunity to expose any failures, and prevent ongoing harms for those
in similar circumstances, is severely limited.""
“Bereaved families face a protracted and distressing application process
for legal aid at a time when they are grieving, and many are forced to
crowdfund. This is in contrast to the unlimited funds available to state agencies from the public purse.
INQUEST, alongside a range of supporters, are calling on the government
to urgently introduce automatic non-means tested legal aid funding to
bereaved families following a state-related death.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said:we are making changes to ensure there’s more support for bereaved families and conducting a review of the means test.
Just allowed to die in prison
Prisoners face a 'year-long' wait to access secure beds in psychiatric hospitals, despite guidance stating they should be transferred within 14 days.
The long waiting times were exposed after a woman at a privately-run prison in Surrey self-harmed more than once a day for six months, but was not transferred to a hospital bed. Kirsty Walker, 26, later died in a local acute hospital after she was found unresponsive with a ligature round her neck at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey in 2015.
Anna Crawford, assistant coroner for Surrey, issued a prevention of future deaths report after hearing the average time for transfer to a secure hospital was two to three months at Bronzefield, which she said was comparable to other prisons. However, the inquest also heard that, in London, this wait was 10 to 12 months on average.
A 2009 review by Lord Bradley into the experience of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system recommended prisoners be transferred to a hospital within 14 days if they are assessed as being detainable under the Mental Health Act 1982. The government reiterated this 14-day timeline in good practice guidance in 2011.
Ms Crawford asked both health and social care secretary Matt Hancock and NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens to explain what actions they were going to take and set out a timescale for them. She expressed concerns the average transfer times were “well in excess” of the 14 days recommended and warned this presented a risk of future deaths.
NHS England medical director Stephen Powis responded, saying NHSE was reviewing the guidelines around transfer to provide more “clinically informed timescales”. Local systems are also becoming more responsive with budget management being devolved to low and medium security services, he said.
An NHS England spokesman said: “A number of pieces of work are being undertaken, including improved performance management and increased collection and analysis of data – alongside a demand and capacity review in relation to adult high, medium and low secure services.
“Those initiatives, when complete, should lead to improved access to adult secure beds and reductions in length of stay.”
In its response, the Department of Health and Social Care referenced the work NHS England was carrying out.
Ms Walker was serving a nine-month prison sentence for breaching an anti-social behaviour order at HMP Bronzefield, which is run by Sodexo Justice Services. She had previously been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and had a history of self-harming. On 25 March 2015, the day after she entered prison, Ms Walker was managed under the prison’s suicide and self-harm prevention procedures.
Between 25 March and 25 September 2015, Ms Walker self-harmed 235 times, with 215 of these incidences involving ligatures. On 25 September, she was found unresponsive in her cell and died two days later at nearby St Peter’s Hospital. An inquest jury concluded her death was accidental.
The prison contracted secondary mental health services to Central and North West London Foundation Trust. The trust, which was not criticised in the report, declined to comment.
Around 1,000 English and Welsh prisoners are transferred to hospitals each year because they are experiencing severe mental health problems. Figures released by the Ministry of Justice in April 2019 showed in the 12 months to March 2019, 87 of the 317 deaths in prison were self-inflicted. Source 2019 Coroner’s report
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Elizabeth Moody Deputy Prisons and Probation Ombudsman December 2018
Young man Tyrone Givans died on 26 February 2018, after being found hanged in his cell at HMP Pentonville.
Tyrone was profoundly deaf, "staff did not make any meaningful efforts to obtain his hearing aids. Nor did they consider how his disability increased his vulnerability or whether any reasonable adjustments were needed.
It is extremely disappointing that Mr Givans was not referred to the dedicated equalities officer at Pentonville, who could have put measures in place to support him and reduce his likely sense of isolation and insecurity.
Mr Givans his is a troubling investigation. was at Pentonville for less than three weeks. He had several factors which increased his risk to himself when he first arrived there. I am concerned that staff did not sufficiently consider these risk factors. As I often find, there was an over-reliance on Mr Givans’ presentation and assurances that he had no thoughts of suicide or self-harm.
Mr Givans felt under threat, this was not documented and no action was taken to address his concerns
It is hard not to conclude that the absence of meaningful contact with Mr Givans by prison staff meant that opportunities to identify and understand the issues which led to him killing himself may very well have been missed. On that basis, I consider that the Governor should review the operation and management who which clearly failed to provide Tyrone with the support for his disability.
This version of my report, published on my website, has been amended to remove the names of the staff and prisoners involved in my investigation. One of hundreds of family left with no legal aid to fight for there love one, so I'm sure the defence will win as a result.
Dominic was found hanged in his cell at HMP Leeds on 13 November 2017. He was taken to hospital, where he remained in intensive care until he died on 22 November 2017. He was 33 years
Although suicide and self-harm prevention procedures were in place, the investigation found that Mr Comfort did not receive appropriate mental health care while at Leeds. We are concerned that this is not the first time that we have found deficiencies in mental health provision in prisons
Michael Towers was found hanged in his cell in the segregation unit at HMP Bedford on 2 September 2017 age 31 . Michael had a personality disorder.
As a result, he had been segregated for nearly two months when he died. we found some failings in the management.
Andrew Craig died on 16 September 2016 of buprenorphine and diazepam toxicity at HMP Guys Marsh. Mr Craig was 30 years old. I offer my condolences to Mr Craig’s family and friends.
Although Mr Craig’s care, was mostly equivalent to that he could have expected to receive in the community, it is with grave concern that I have to make so many recommendations covering other areas. It is even more concerning that some of these recommendations relate to issues I have raised with Guys Marsh many times before - and are matters on which the Prison Service’s own national instructions have been clear for so long.
""The mental health team appear to have missed opportunities to see Mr Craig, staff did either not complete or act upon intelligence reports, prison policy relating to actions on receipt of intelligence reports is unclear, an officer did not check Craig’s wellbeing at unlock, a code blue was not called at the earliest opportunity and a hot debrief meeting does not appear to have been held after the event to offer staff support. I make a number of recommendations covering these areas.
Luke Punchard On the morning of 2 June, prison staff discovered Mr Luke Punchard hanging in his cell in the segregation unit at HMP Norwich.
We recognise that Mr Punchard’s behaviour made him very difficult to manage. However, we are concerned that his frequent moves between prisons meant that the total length of time he had spent in segregation was not recognised.
no care plan was drawn up to support his mental health, and no one prison took responsibility for trying to develop a long-term approach to his apparently irrational fear of normal location.
Sriskantharajah was found hanged in his cell at HMP Wormwood Scrubs on 1 June 2017. He was 19 years old.
However, there were procedural failings during the roll check and at unlock and a number of deficiencies in the emergency response. We are concerned that it is not the first time that that we have identified such shortcomings at Wormwood Scrubs. Even though it is highly unlikely that the delay in finding Mr Sriskantharajah affected the outcome for him, it is critical that prison staff carry out a full roll check and are aware of their responsibility when unlocking cells as early intervention can save lives.
We are also concerned that nursing staff at Wormwood Scrubs tried to resuscitate Mr Sriskantharajah inappropriately when there were clear signs that he was dead.
Wormwood Scrubs has twice accepted our previous recommendations to address failures in knowing when resuscitation is appropriate, and the Governor and Head of Healthcare must now address this issue robustly.
Rayan was found hanged in his cell at HMP Swinfen Hall on 8
May 2017. He was20 years old. Staff at HMYOI Brinsford opened Prison Service
suicide and self-harm prevention procedures in April 2017, but did not comply
with some basic aspects of these eprocedures. When he was later transferred to
Swinfen Hall, Mr Rayan spent much of his time alone in his cell. Rayan’s case
reviews, which should have considered his current risk of suicide and self-harm
and sought ways to reduce that risk, were not multi disciplinary and did not
put in place suitable plans to reduce his risk. We are concerned that staffdid
not consider all of the information available to them. Condolences to all the
family and friends.
20 IPP deaths the real scale of IPP deaths I'm informed its more other groups are in the hundreds over tariff those with learning disabilities or complex conditions are doing double sentences then those without a disability and are said to be way over there sentences causing those dire mental lack of help leading them suicide
20 IPP deaths the real scale of IPP deaths I'm informed its more other groups are in the hundreds over tariff those with learning disabilities or complex conditions are doing double sentences then those without a disability and are said to be way over there sentences causing those dire mental lack of help leading them suicide
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House of commons Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection Published Thursday, June 6, 2019. The Coalition Government abolished the much criticised sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPPs) in 2012. However, the change was not made retrospective, and around 2,400 prisoners were still serving IPPs in March 2019. There have been calls for change.
What are IPPs?
Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPPs) were introduced by the last Labour Government from 2005. They were designed to ensure that dangerous violent and sexual offenders stayed in custody for as long as they presented a risk to society. Under the system, a person who had committed a specified violent or sexual offence would be given an IPP if the offence was not so serious as to merit a life sentence. Once they had served their “tariff” they would have to satisfy the Parole Board that they no longer posed a risk before they could be released.
Criticisms of the sentence
The main concerns about IPPs were that:
- Some less serious offenders were given very short tariffs but then have been kept in prison for a long time after these have expired
- The prison and parole systems could not cope with the need to give all these short‑tariff prisoners appropriate access to rehabilitative and resettlement programmes so that they could demonstrate they were no longer a risk to society
- The administrative delays resulted in uncertainty and perceived injustice for prisoners and litigation
- The rapid increase in the numbers of those on IPPs contributed to prison overcrowding, which in turn exacerbated the problems with providing rehabilitation
IPPs were abolished in 2012, but not for existing prisoners
The Coalition Government abolished sentences of imprisonment for public protection for offenders convicted on or after 3 December 2012, calling the system “not defensible”. It replaced them with different sentences for dangerous offenders. However the change was not made retrospective. It didn’t apply to existing prisoners serving those sentences at the time. At the end of March 2019 there were still around 2,400 prisoners serving IPPs.
Pressure for further change
Former Justice Secretaries Ken Clarke and Michael Gove have called for reforms. The Chairman of the Parole Board set out in November 2016 how the Board can reduce the numbers of IPP prisoners but also suggested possible ways that the Government could take action if it wanted further reductions. This could be done by revising the risk test (either for all IPP prisoners or for those with short tariffs) or releasing IPP prisoners who have now served longer than the maximum current sentence for their offence.
In a thematic review, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, said it was “widely accepted that implementation of the sentence was flawed” and that “decisive action” was needed for reasons of cost, “fairness and justice” and to relieve pressures on the system.
Government statements have pointed to “encouraging” progress” with reducing the numbers serving IPPs but point out the need to balance this progress with the potential dangers such prisoners can pose.
Recently concerns have been raised about the numbers of recalls to prison of IPP prisoners following their release...
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Mental anguish’ and wider
problems with IPP sentences
Nicolas Sanderson, who was involved in the
creation of the sentence, corrects a common mistake. Mark Day says the government should
eradicate this stain on our justice system
‘IPP prisoners are more than
twice as likely to self-harm as people serving determinate sentences,’ writes
Mark Day of the Prison Reform Trust. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/PA
I would like to correct a widely repeated mistake
about the indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP), to the effect
that it was “applied far more widely than intended” (‘Psychological torture’: call for reform
after jail death, 10 January). I am the former head of policy in the
Prison Service, and was involved in the creation of the sentence.
IPP was the invention of David Blunkett in 2001,
against the advice of officials. He rejected the scheme for violent or sexual
offenders proposed in a Home Office review of sentencing (Making Punishments Work),
namely a determinate sentence with a review of the release date by the Parole
Board, and a supervisory period that could be extended by the court.
Instead he mandated the IPP and it was applied
precisely as intended and as set down in statute, with all the consequences
that officials pointed out at the time. Most importantly, its application was
mandatory upon the courts on a second conviction for a sexual or violent
offence, however minor the actual behaviour. One of its first uses was where a
man had squeezed a woman’s breast at a bus stop, and had a previous similar
conviction: the court was obliged to impose an IPP. All the problems that have
come to pass were glaringly apparent in that conviction.
Nicolas Sanderson
London
The mental anguish inflicted on nearly 2,600 people
serving the discredited and now abolished IPP is indicated in the shocking
self-harm rates for this group. IPP prisoners are more than twice as likely to
self-harm as people serving determinate sentences, with 872 incidents of
self-harm per 1,000 IPP prisoners – a rate that has more than doubled over the
past five years. In advice to ministers published in 2016, the Parole Board set
out policy options for expediting the release of the remaining IPP population,
as well as dealing with the growing problem of IPP recalls.
Read more
Without further legislation the board estimated
that more than 1,000 IPP prisoners will remain stuck in the system by 2020,
eight years after the sentence was abolished. Proposals for reform include
conversion of IPP sentences into their equivalent determinate sentence, which
could start with those on the shortest tariffs who have experienced the
greatest injustice, and improvements to the licence conditions and support
available to IPP prisoners on release. The government should finish the job it
started and eradicate a stain on our justice system once and for all.
Mark Day
Head of policy and communications, Prison Reform
Trust
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/08/im-blame-blunketts-indefinite-prison-sentences-and-thousands-still-locked
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/inmate-found-dead-cell-hmp-2952418
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/inmate-found-dead-cell-hmp-2952418