Indefinite jail terms are an ‘affront to justice’ — probation watchdog

The probation watchdog chief for England and Wales has urged Keir Starmer to finally put an end to the scandal on indefinite jail terms, warning prisoners are "trapped in the system". Martin Jones called for ministers to look carefully at fresh proposals to help almost 2,500 prisoners still behind bars under now-outlawed Imprisonment of Public Protection (IPP) jail terms. The chief inspector of probation, who previously led the Parole Board for nine years, told The Independent: "I genuinely think that IPP prisoners continue to be failed by the system as a whole."

He said the government faces a "stark choice" of leaving such prisoners to languish — which he fears will inevitably result in many dying in prison — or taking action to put right what has long-been described as a stain on justice system. The jail term, described as "psychological torture" by the UN, was scrapped in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving those already jailed incarcerated indefinitely. Victims of the scandal, whose tragic cases have been highlighted by The Independent, include: Leroy Douglas, who has served almost 20 years for robbing a mobile phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself alight in his cell and has served 13 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery.

Successive governments have refused to resentence IPP prisoners. At current release rates, the number trapped in prison under the open-ended punishment is decreasing by less than 10 per cent a year — despite some prisoners having served up to 22 times longer than their original sentence. In a rare interview, Mr Jones said new measures put forward last month by the Howard League for Penal Reform and former Lord Chief Justice Lord John Thomas have "real merit", provided there are sufficient safeguards for the small minority whose original offence may have warranted a life sentence.

Their recommendations include giving IPP prisoners a release date within two years of their next parole review, reducing the numbers recalled to custody for breaching licence conditions and a package of mental health support on release.

In a report being considered by ministers, Lord Thomas and a panel of experts warned that without action, some IPP prisoners will simply die in custody.

At least 94 prisoners haven taken their own lives in custody after losing hope of ever getting out. A further 37 self-inflicted deaths have taken place in the community under strict licence conditions which leave offenders in fear of being hauled back to prison indefinitely for minor breaches.

"I 100 per cent agree with the assessment that if you merely wait for the current system as it stands the way the IPP will resolve is people will die in prison...through natural deaths in custody or self-inflicted deaths," Mr Jones said.

"It worries me that I think we would still be talking about IPPs in 10 or 20 years with the current situation."

He said the majority of IPP prisoners received an original tariff of four years or less, which indicates they have not committed the most serious crimes.

He added: "If you have still got people serving the IPP sentence some 30 years after the sentence was created, you would have to be sure those people committed serious crimes.

"I am far from convinced that a significant number of those people have committed an offence that would never merit 10 years in custody let alone 30 years in custody and I think that would be an affront to justice."

All too often, IPP prisoners find themselves "trapped in the sentence itself" as they struggle to meet the Parole Board's stringent release test.

He also backed recommendations for IPP recalls to be overseen by a district judge or senior Parole Board member.

At the moment, recall decisions are made solely by probation workers, who are often struggling with a heavy caseload. These decisions have life-changing ramifications, with IPP prisoners serving another 25 months on average before they are re-released by the Parole Board.