Ending the injustice of IPPs

The recent high profile public concern about the people languishing in prison on the long discredited IPP sentence is welcome, as is the pressure to get them eased through the system and released back into the community. The problem is that they are being recalled to prison.

There were 8,711 men and a handful of women and children who had this open-ended sentence imposed on them. There are still over 4,000 in prison (as at March 2017) of whom 711 had been recalled to prison having been released. An examination of the figures gives a depressing picture.

Since 2011, there have been 1,670 recalls of people serving an IPP, and now they are being recalled at almost the same rate as they are being released.

In January to March this year, 153 IPP prisoners were released but 124 were recalled. This is in contrast to the release of 110 mandatory lifers (usually people who have been convicted of murder) of whom 48 were recalled, still a worrying proportion but nothing like the number of IPPs.

Four people on an IPP who had been recalled to prison have taken their own lives this year, the most recent was a 29 year old man in Nottingham who was recalled for not sleeping at his hostel. The Parole Board normally makes it condition of release to live in a hostel for a specified time, even if people have a loving and supportive family or friends willing to take them home. Hostels are really not loving and supportive and they rarely provide daytime activities, leaving people to wander the streets aimlessly all day.

The pressure on probation services mean that staff have huge caseloads and are so risk-averse that a recall can be the default rather than an exception.

People sentenced to an IPP had often committed serious offences and may have had a range of complex needs. Their wellbeing was not helped by being incarcerated for years longer than they had been led to believe and had anticipated. Prison is a damaging environment. No wonder the self-injury and death rate amongst these prisoners is so high.

So, I have been working for the last six months on a solution.

Now that the sentence itself has been abolished, we need to abolish the life licence and easy recall. I am waiting for the promised Courts Bill to come to Parliament and I am pleased that eminent Peers have committed to tabling an amendment to achieve this. We are busy drafting an amendment now. I suggest a specified period of supervision and support as people who have spent years in prison do indeed need help to resettle safely. I suggest that we get rid of the administrative recalls that are causing havoc inside prisons and leading to self-injury and suicide.

There are serious lessons here for politicians. Think carefully, and listen to people who know, before you introduce catastrophic legislation that blights lives, costs the public a fortune and puts the public at risk. The good news is that the politicians who brought in the IPP have admitted that it was a mistake. This shows integrity and courage; more politicians should admit their mistakes more often. We would have a better functioning justice system if they did.

Comments

• Alan bynoe says:

  18 Mar 2019 at 6:00 am

  I was a ip prisoner 2 year and so many days tariff .i got sentenced in 2006 and was released in September 2012 .i got recalled in 2013 .lies was told about me .being aggressive .i got released after .6,months .i have been out nearly 7years .and guess what .every single day I wake up I am thinking I am going 2 be recalled .any time I hear a police car even if I am home .i think police are comming for me .with this sentence you are never free .you are owned by a stinking corrupt government .i have never killed no one yet I served 6 long years .a 12 year sentence .worse I only commited 1.serious crime .not 2 .makes me wonder are we all better off dead

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• Jacqui says:

  17 Feb 2019 at 4:59 pm

  My friend is now on her 12th year of a 2year tariff ipp she has self harmed on many occasions as well as trying to commit suicide, she has had ongoing battle with addiction through out her sentence. She did get released in 2017 but was recalled after 12 weeks for a positive urine test, she will be sitting her parole again in may but again if they put her in an approved premises away from our support they are just setting her up to fail. Its such a waste of life this girl is bright funny but has been abused my the system from a child

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• Jackie says:

  28 Jan 2019 at 5:08 am

  I received an Ipp sentence with an 18 month tariff in 2004 I was finally released on 2nd October 2018.

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• norman says:

  25 Jul 2018 at 8:52 pm

  the problem is that too many ipp prisoners are institutionilized. without a release date they have to accept prison as their life otherwise they would go crazy.

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• Kerry says:

  21 Sep 2017 at 6:46 pm

  Absolutely nailed it! My fiance got 2 abd a half year ipp got his first parole and recalled for a couple of beers no further crimes committed and alcohol was not on his risk factors! Hes now been back 6 years now done 10 in total and being kept in for self harming and attempting suicide (luckily he was revived!) Me him and my kids have been to hell and back its financially, physically and emotionally broken us its disgusting and true that rapists and murderers and peadophiles get treated better! It needs to stop!

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