'My mother doesn't recognise her own son... he's been behind bars for 12 years for stealing a phone - and there are thousands more'
25.01.2024 - 23:03
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
"In his eyes, there is no spirit left." Clara White is describing the look of hopelessness in her brother, Thomas. He has spent 12 years in prison after stealing a mobile phone.
Now aged 40, Thomas, from Bury, is one of 2,852 people behind bars serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence. The father-of-one was locked up in 2012, ordered to serve a minimum of two years, after being convicted of a street robbery in Manchester city centre.
He learned his fate months before such sentences were abolished. Figures published by the government today (Thursday) reveal that of those 2,852 people, 1,227 haven't been been released. Of those, 699 - 7 per cent - are more than 10 years beyond their original sentence.
Try MEN Premium now for FREE... just click here to give it a go
Thomas' family say his mental heath has deteriorated dramatically, describing him as being in 'limbo'. They believe he should be treated in a psychiatric unit in Prestwich. They say he's developed various conditions behind bars, including PTSD and schizophrenia.
With his permission, sister Clara spoke to the Manchester Evening News. She said: "The saddest thing for IPP families on the outside is that we trusted the government - they had a duty of care. They had a duty of care to look after my brother and hey didn't. They failed him."
Between 2005 and 2013 8,711 people in England and Wales were handed an IPP sentence. They were introduced by Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2005.
They were scrapped in 2012 on the back of a European Court ruling. Top judges said they breached human rights, on the grounds that prisons had failed to provide inmates access to the rehabilitation courses required to demonstrate to the Parole Board they