The parole board has refused to release a prisoner who had his indefinite sentence revoked amid claims he was “tortured”.

Earlier this month, Nicholas Bidar became the first IPP prisoner to make a public parole application after new laws to increase transparency in parole decisions came into effect.

The controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence was abolished in 2012 over human rights concerns, but this was not done for those already sentenced, leaving thousands behind bars after their original sentences ended Spend several years in peace.

The 36-year-old was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of eight years for a series of robberies and resisting arrest with a gun in 2008 when he was 20.

But more than 15 years later, he remains incarcerated in a maximum-security Category A prison with no release date.

When he publicly campaigned for his freedom, he told a panel of three parole board members “I’m not that person anymore”, but they announced today that they were not satisfied his release was safe to protect the public.

The panel also refused to recommend Mr Vidal be moved to open conditions but recommended urgent measures to help him downgrade from a high-risk category A prisoner.

In a written decision, the board noted that “Mr Vidal’s Category A status now hampers his potential to achieve and sustain long-term change” and called for “immediate action” – although the Parole Board disagreed. Responsible for classification decisions.

They also urged the Secretary of State to conduct a new parole review within a year.

Ahead of the landmark hearing, Mr Vidal told independent Uncertain of how the sentence has affected him, he added: “Every day feels like torture. I’m just trying to get through each day.”

At a hearing in prison in March, Vidal, who was also convicted of further attacks in prison and during his escape, said he did not admit committing the crimes.

He told a panel of three members of the parole board at HMP Long Lartin: “I look back now as if it wasn’t me. It sounds crazy, yes, as if I’m now in prison for someone else’s crime , because I’m not that person.”

He told board members: “I apologize for what I did. I own up to everything I did. I’m not a madman, I’m not going to go out and commit some crazy violent crime – that’s not who I am.

“I just want to go home. I just want to go home. My mom is getting older. I will follow all the rules. I won’t commit any crimes. You can put any label on me. “

He insisted he would not reoffend if he was released or moved to open conditions, adding that he would avoid violence at the maximum-security prison every day.

“Every two weeks, every three weeks, someone is getting stabbed … and being doused with hot water,” he said. “I’m avoiding all these things. I’m not going to be involved in criminal activity.”

Despite escaping custody before, he insisted he would not abscond again, adding: “This is my only chance and I know that.”

He told the panel he hoped to find work as a personal trainer or hairdresser if released and that he had the support of his mother and sister.

However, giving evidence to the panel, his prison offender manager refused to recommend Mr Vidal be released or moved to open conditions, insisting inappropriate or negative behavior had been “a pattern throughout his sentence”.

Although he had completed available programs in prison, she said he needed to “build on” the work he had already done in the Psychologically Informed Programming Environment (PIPE) unit.

“When Mr Vidal was in this state of mind he could be a very intelligent gentleman, but he could also be very rude and ill-tempered when he was challenged,” she told the panel.

She expressed concern about comments made towards female prison staff, adding that he had issues with authority.

Vidal, who takes medication for ADHD, admitted he could be “inappropriate, cheeky or rude” and said his behavior had been “hiccups”, but added: “One day I might tell someone Get out of here, but I don’t think I should be put in a maximum security prison for another two years and treated like a murderer or a psychopath.”

Asked about a previous incident in prison where he was sanctioned for being drunk and shouting insults at his cell door, he said: “That doesn’t mean I should stay here for another two years… Every day is torture. I’m in *** and *** in a bucket. This is simply the male god from hell.

“I just want one chance – that’s all I want. If I screw up, it’s on me.”

A senior prison officer who gave evidence to the panel said Mr Vidal worked as a cleaner and rehabilitation representative at the prison, a position in which he supported troubled prisoners.

in publishing to independent Earlier this month, Vidal said through an attorney inside the Worcester County Jail that he had completed his sentence program and was ready for release, adding that the 2021 Parole Board had previously recommended that he should be moved to open conditions.

Despite the Parole Board’s decision, the move was blocked by the Attorney General, who refused to downgrade him from a category A high-risk prisoner.

He believed this made him a “political prisoner” until Justice Minister Alex Chalke agreed he should progress.

“This sentence left me exhausted. Life was passing me by. I was doing something wrong. I spent a long time attending courses and those who assessed me kept saying I had completed my sentence programme, ” he previously told independent.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said in a statement earlier this month: “We have reduced the number of unreleased IPP prisoners by three quarters since the abolition of prison sentences in 2012.

“We have also taken decisive action to shorten license terms and continue to help people still in custody secure release through improved rehabilitation programs and access to mental health support.”