IPP Prisoners Familys Campaign: Top judge calls for the government to take responsibility for the “morally wrong” punishment.Call for free vote on bill to end ‘living nightmare.

Monday 21 October 2024

Top judge calls for the government to take responsibility for the “morally wrong” punishment.Call for free vote on bill to end ‘living nightmare.

Britain’s former top judge has backed The Independent’s campaign for prisoners serving indefinite jail terms to have their sentences reviewed, and called for the government to take responsibility for the “morally wrong” punishment.

John Thomas, a member of the House of Lords who served as lord chief justice from 2013 to 2017, fears that without action, those sent down under abolished imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences will be “left to rot” serving a jail term that is “inherently unfair”.

eacting to a series of shocking injustices highlighted by The Independent – including the case of James Lawrence, a father who is still in prison 18 years after he was handed an eight-month jail term for threatening someone with a fake gun – Lord Thomas said: “You just can’t keep people locked up in case they do something.”

Former lord chief justice John Thomas has demanded action over ‘morally wrong’ IPP jail terms (B21/House of Lords)

The controversial sentences – under which offenders were handed a minimum jail term but no maximum – were ditched amid human rights concerns in 2012, seven years after they were introduced by New Labour in a bid to be tough on crime.

Despite the sentencing protocol being widely condemned, including by the UN, its abolition did not apply retrospectively, leaving thousands trapped with no release date until the Parole Board deems them safe to be let out.

Of the 2,734 IPP prisoners still incarcerated, more than 700 have served over 10 years longer than their minimum term. At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives.

Successive governments have resisted calls for IPP prisoners to be resentenced, citing fears that this could lead to potentially dangerous offenders being released into the community.

However, crossbench peer Lord Thomas, 76, believes there is significant evidence that prolonged incarceration with no hope of release is exacerbating the problem by causing prisoners harm and making them more dangerous.

“I think everyone accepts this punishment was a mistake,” he said. “It’s just morally wrong.”

IPP prisoner James Lawrence, 38, has served almost 18 years after he was originally given an eight-month jail term (Mandy Lawrence)

With the Labour government not expected to support a recent resentencing bill tabled in the House of Lords, Lord Thomas has called for changes to the parole release test with a renewed focus on the proportionality of the punishment to the crime.

He said that dealing with the problem will require “political courage”, adding: “You take risks when it’s necessary to be fair, and these people have been treated really, really badly.”

He continued: “You can’t say, ‘Oh, they have been in a long time and now they are dangerous – and because we have made them dangerous, we can’t release them.’ I mean, you have to accept a degree of state responsibility. However you look at it, it is the state that’s caused this problem.”

The legal expert is one of five former top judges to call for urgent and decisive action to safely release all IPP prisoners amid the prison overcrowding crisis, in a recent report on sentence inflation.

The report said that sentence lengths have roughly doubled over the past 50 years, contributing to an overcrowding crisis that has left prisons failing to rehabilitate offenders effectively.

“The blunt truth is, we spend too much keeping people in prison rather than spending it keeping them out of prison,” Lord Thomas said.

He has also added his weight to The Independent’s campaign for IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed following a string of heartbreaking cases, including that of Thomas White, who set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, and Abdullahi Suleman, who has spent 19 years behind bars for a laptop robbery.

Lord Thomas said that if those prisoners had committed the same crimes today, or at any date after the jail term was abolished, they would have received a fixed sentence and long since been released.

“These people are just unlucky that their crime was in that seven-year period that this sentence was in force,” he added.

The former lord chief justice says IPP jail terms are ‘inherently unfair’ (PA)

He said he believes the public will support reform despite political fears of a backlash should a released prisoner go on to commit a serious offence.

“You just can’t keep people locked up in case they do something,” he said. “It requires you to acknowledge the fundamental unfairness of what has happened, but added to which is the responsibility of the state for creating that unfairness.”

He also hit out at the recall merry-go-round experienced by many IPP prisoners, who can be hauled back to prison for minor breaches of their strict licence conditions.

He said it has left released IPP prisoners like a “puppet on a string”, as they are vulnerable to malicious or unfounded allegations that can see them recalled to prison for years longer.

Although reforms introduced before the general election, reducing the mandatory licence period from 10 years to three, are a welcome step, Lord Thomas warned that they do nothing for those “unfortunate” prisoners who have never been released.

He added: “It’s an injustice in the sense that there is this group of people who suffered a sentence that we have since recognised to be wrong, where there’s reasonably strong evidence that it harms them, yet the people who bear the consequences are the prisoners themselves and not the state.

“And accepting state responsibility, I think, enables you to say that, although the state has a duty to protect people, it also has a duty to render to those who have suffered injustice at our hands.”

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The IPP scandal is still a long way from being resolved, and the sentence continues to inflict misery on thousands of people still trapped in the prison system, and their families.

“The Howard League continues to work for and alongside those directly affected by this disastrous sentence, and we have been thrilled that our recently established IPP hotline has already been able to provide help and support to so many.

“We will continue to campaign and make the case for urgent IPP reform, and continue our work to address the plight of people still languishing in custody.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. We are significantly shortening licence periods for rehabilitated offenders, to give them the chance to move on with their lives.

“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.”

The Howard League is operating a confidential legal advice hotline for those with questions about changes to the IPP licence period. It will run until 18 December on 01209 701888

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch

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Further link 'Torture sentences' that consign some of Britain's most wronged prisoners to decades behind bars | ITV News

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IPP scandal: Call for free vote on bill to end ‘living nightmare’ of indefinite jail terms

Lord Blunkett and the chair of Prison Officers Association have backed a private member’s bill for almost 3,000 IPP prisoners to be resentenced

A peer has called for a free vote on a new bill to end the “living nightmare” of indefinite jail terms by resentencing all IPP prisoners.

Lord Woodley has introduced a private member’s bill to help prisoners trapped under an abolished imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence with no hope of release.

The Labour peer branded the jail terms “torture sentences” and said keeping almost 3,000 prisoners locked up under an abolished jail term in the midst of a prison overcrowding crisis “makes no sense at all”.

The bill comes after The Independent has repeatedly called for all IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed.

It has already been backed by the architect of the flawed sentence, Lord Blunkett, the chair of the Prison Officers Association and campaigners.

It comes amid growing pressure on the government to resentence IPP prisoners after at least 90 inmates have taken their own lives under the jail term, which has been branded “psychological torture” by the UN.

In 2022, the cross-party justice select committee urged the then-Tory government to resentence all IPP prisoners, but this was rejected.

Lord Blunkett and the chair of Prison Officers Association have backed a private member’s bill for almost 3,000 IPP prisoners to be resentenced

A peer has called for a free vote on a new bill to end the “living nightmare” of indefinite jail terms by resentencing all IPP prisoners.

Lord Woodley has introduced a private member’s bill to help prisoners trapped under an abolished imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence with no hope of release.

The bill comes after The Independent has repeatedly called for all IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed.

It has already been backed by the architect of the flawed sentence, Lord Blunkett, the chair of the Prison Officers Association and campaigners.

In 2022, the cross-party justice select committee urged the then-Tory government to resentence all IPP prisoners, but this was rejected.

David Blunkett is backing the resentencing bill for IPP prisoners (PA)

Lord Woodley told The Independent: “There’s wide support for my bill from across parliament and, deep down, everyone knows that resentencing is the only way ultimately to resolve this terrible miscarriage of justice, as parliament’s own justice select committee made clear.

“And in the midst of an appalling prison overcrowding crisis, having almost 3,000 people locked up on IPPs with no end in sight makes absolutely no sense at all.

“This is a problem created by parliament, and it should be up to parliament to fix it – ideally with a free vote so parliamentarians can vote with their consciences.”

IPP jail terms were introduced under New Labour in 2005 and saw offenders given a minimum tariff but no maximum. They were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns, but not for people already detained.

Of 2,734 remaining IPP prisoners, more than 700 have served more than 10 years longer than their minimum tariff.

These include tragic injustices highlighted by The Independent such as those of Thomas White, who set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, and Abdullahi Suleman, who has spent 19 years behind bars for a laptop robbery.

Yusuf Ali has twice starved himself in desperation after serving 16 years after being handed a three-year minimum tariff.

IPP prisoner Thomas White with his son Kayden, aged just 10 months (Margaret White)

“I understand the concerns about public protection, but the state is able to put measures in place to manage any risk effectively, and a civilised society doesn’t lock up people for life for stealing a mobile phone,” Lord Woodley added.

“At the end of the day, the government will respond to public pressure, so the more people who are outraged by these appalling torture sentences, the more likely it is the government will act decisively and end this living nightmare.”

Lord Blunkett, who admits he regrets introducing the jail terms as home secretary under Tony Blair, said: “I’m really pleased that Lord Woodley has chosen to present a private member’s bill which gives yet another opportunity to raise the plight of those who, in particular, have never been released following their original sentence for imprisonment for public protection.

“This will allow us to both support the new government in implementing the measures agreed on the eve of calling the general election back in May, and to explore other possibilities for genuine progression.”

Mark Fairhurst, national chair at the Prison Officers Association, also backed the resentencing bill, warning: “No civilised society should allow this wrongdoing to continue.”

He added: “Now is the time to enact the recommendations from the justice select committee and initiate a resentencing exercise for those prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection.

“In effect, this cohort of prisoners have served a life sentence without a release date. We need to correct this injustice.”

IPP prisoner Yusuf Ali, now 50, has been driven to hunger strikes as he loses hope of ever being freed (Jacqueline Ali)

Their calls come as thousands of other prisoners are set to be released in a scheme starting this week after serving just 40 per cent of their sentences in a bid to ease prison overcrowding.

However campaigners say addressing the IPP injustice could empty up to four entire adult prisons.

Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, added: “Even if the government sorts out the short-term prison capacity, they still face further capacity pressures in the coming few years.

“Resentencing all those subject to the IPP sentence will go some way to heading off the medium-term prison capacity crisis that is headed the government’s way.”

Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood last week announced a planned reduction to the IPP licence period from 10 to three years will be introduced in a phased approach from 1 November.

“I want to make progress towards a safe and sustainable release for those serving the IPP sentence, but not in a way that impacts public protection,” she said. “Commencing these measures is the first step in doing so.

“I will continue to monitor progress in this area, and the government plans to consult expert organisations to ensure the right course of action is taken to support those serving IPP sentences.”