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timeHe is independent has long fought for justice prisoner They are still serving life sentences that were abolished 14 years ago. Imprisoned to protect the public (Freestanding polypropylene) sentences were annulled because they violated fundamental principles of justice – but those criminals Continue to serve them at that time.
Of those, 2,400 remain incarcerated until they can meet the requirements. parole board It’s safe to release themthey risk returning to prison if they breach the strict conditions often imposed on them.
Governments of both parties have turned away prisoners’ families, retired judges including former UK Chief Justice John Thomas and independent Subject IPP prisoners to the same retrial and treatment as other offenders.
Their situation was bad enough; Their mental health is severely affectedBut for 233 of those transferred to hospital for mental health treatment, further injustice awaits. Similar twist to Joseph Heller Catch 22Once they improve, they are sent back to prison to continue serving their life sentences—the very thing that caused their mental health crises in the first place.
We know this is not a pleasant tone for the New Year, but we hope readers, including ministers, will read our coverage of some cases where criminals are caught in a modern-day Catch-22.
For example, Thomas White, 42, was sentenced to IPP for stealing a mobile phone. Thirteen years later, he set himself on fire and threw his face on the floor before being transferred to a hospital. After learning that he would be sent back to prison (with no release date) once his mental health was stable, he told his sister “it was all a lie.”
independent Understand that the Parole Board must exercise caution when considering an application for release. It does not want to be blamed for crimes committed by former IPP prisoners, many of whom suffered psychological damage, especially when the original intention of the legislation was to provide the public with additional protection from particularly dangerous criminals. However, more IPP sentences are handed down than expected, and often for relatively minor offences. Some of the most serious cases were those jailed for 20 years for stealing mobile phones or laptops.
The Parole Board cannot change the system. This is the responsibility of ministers, including the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Prisons, James Timpson.
Lord Timpson said last month: “We cannot take any steps that would put victims or the public at risk. “But it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk and this injustice now causes far greater harm than it does to the public.
Franz Kafka and Joseph Heller described a morally absurd world of totalitarianism and war that seems far removed from Britain in 2026. This year, however, some people in this country have been trapped in a system of injustice as extreme as in a novel.
Let us hope that in 2026 Sir Keir Starmer, Sir David Lammy and Lord Timpson find the courage to end this Kafkaesque stain on the British justice system.