‘How many more will they watch die?’: Families’ fury as Labour set to reject review of indefinite jail terms

Exclusive: Peer insists there is still ‘everything to play for’ after government poured cold water on bill to resentence IPP prisoners

Families are warning the government will have “blood on its hands” if it turns its back on 3,000 prisoners as Labour is set to reject a review of cruel indefinite jail terms, The Independent has learned.

Among those with no sign of being released is James Lawrence who has served almost 18 years after being originally sentenced to just eight months, and Thomas White, who was sentenced to 12 years for stealing a phone.

Calls for these prisoners to be resentenced have only grown in light of the early release of thousands of prisoners to ease overcrowding. Indefinite sentences were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns, but not for those already detained.

A growing number of high-profile campaigners, including Lord Blunkett – who was home secretary at the time imprisonment for public protection (IPPs) sentences were introduced – have called for them to go, while families say it will be “unforgivable” if they refuse.

The Independent understands from Ministry of Justice sources that resentencing is not being considered as a result of concerns over a number of dangerous prisoners being released.

James Lawrence (top right) has served almost 18 years after being originally sentenced to just eight months, and Thomas White was sentenced to 12 years for stealing a phone (top left). Pictured bottom left is Abdullahi Suleman and, bottom right, Yusuf Ali (Handout)

However, Labour peer Lord Woodley, who earlier this month tabled a bill for all IPP prisoners to be resentenced, insists there is “everything to play for”.

“Ministers are not yet on the same page when it comes to the resentencing exercise my private member’s bill is proposing,” he told The Independent.

“But they share my determination to end the scandal of the IPP sentence once and for all. So there is everything to play for.”

Heartbroken relatives of those serving IPP sentences have issued impassioned pleas for leaders to help their loved ones – including a man who set himself alight and another who went on hunger strike for 61 days.

The developments come as:

• The Independent reveals IPP prisoner James Lawrence has served his sentence 25 times over, after spending almost 18 years in prison under an eight-month term
• The newly elected chairman of the justice select committee, Andy Slaughter, threw his weight behind resentencing and said addressing the IPP scandal is a “priority”
• Five of the country’s most senior former judges called for over-tariff IPP prisoners to be freed as they hit out at the “devastating psychological impacts” of the sentences

Families have warned justice secretary Shabana Mahmood that the government will have ‘blood on its hands’ unless they help IPP prisoners (AFP/Getty)

IPP jail terms were introduced under New Labour in 2005 and saw offenders given a minimum tariff but no maximum. They were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns, but not retrospectively.

Of 2,734 remaining IPP prisoners with no release date, more than 700 have served more than 10 years longer than their minimum tariff.

The government is facing growing pressure to resentence them after at least 90 inmates have taken their own lives under the jail term, which has been branded “psychological torture” by the UN.

Clara White, whose brother Thomas’s mental health has deteriorated in prison where he has languished for 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, said it will take a “stronger fight than ever before” to finally put an end to the cruel jail term.

She urged politicians, including Lord Blunkett, who has admitted he got it wrong, to do everything in their power to ensure the bill succeeds.

She told The Independent: “If this bill does not pass, it is a very strong message to the public just how much they care nothing about any of us. We were stabbed in the back decades ago. None of our lives have been the same since – to stab us in the back a second time will be unforgivable. 

“How many more people will they watch die? If this bill has problems, sit down and iron them out. Lie awake all night in turmoil like my mum and I do until it is perfect.

“Some of us don’t have another year of fighting left in us. God forbid another prisoner takes their own life. If they do, remember this: their blood is on your hands.”

Clara White, whose brother Thomas White is serving an IPP sentence, called for politicians to ‘lie awake all night in turmoil’ until they find a solution (Margaret White)

Mother Jacqueline Ali, whose son Yusuf has twice gone on hunger strike as he loses hope of being freed, added: “This is a matter of life and death. They know prisoners are dying and they are allowing it to go on because of the red tape.

“It’s torture. It’s already been deemed torture by the European courts, so why are they still complicit? Why are you keeping these people in prison even though it’s been deemed as unlawful and people are dying over this incompetency and families are still suffering?

“They need to wake up and smell the coffee and realise how serious this is. The cost of keeping them in prison should go toward proper rehabilitation and care in the community.”

Mother Mandy Lawrence this week revealed her son has served his sentence 25 times over. He was handed an IPP with an eight-month tariff in 2006 but is still trapped in prison 18 years later after five recalls.

She said: “In his time he’s seen murderers come in and murderers go home. It’s tormenting for his family, let alone him. I keep thinking, will I see him properly before I die?”

IPP prisoner James Lawrence, 38, has served his sentence 25 times over and is still in prison 18 years after he was handed an eight-month jail term (Mandy Lawrence)

Their hopes were bolstered after the newly elected chair of the justice select committee, Andy Slaughter, confirmed he backs resentencing, branding IPP jail terms “one of the most dysfunctional parts of the justice system”.

In 2022, a report from the previous government’s justice committee under Sir Bob Neill urged the ministry of justice to resentence all IPP prisoners, but this was rejected. Mr Slaughter said the new committee may look at readopting that recommendation in the coming months.

A spokesperson for UNGRIPP – a group campaigning on behalf of people serving IPP sentences – called for the government to “be brave and do something significant” to help the prisoners, who they warned are “losing hope”.

Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies which campaigns for IPP reform, warned the government: “We are not going away.”

‘This is a matter of life and death’: Yusuf Ali’s mother has urged the government to stop being complicit in the ‘torture’ sentences (Jacqueline Ali)

Meanwhile, earlier this month a report from five of Britain’s most senior former judges, including all four surviving Lord Chief Justices, called for “urgent and decisive action” to release all IPP and two-strike prisoners who are over-tariff, with suitable support in the community. 

They said: “The IPP saga highlights the devastating psychological impacts of ill-advised indeterminate sentencing, as well as the legal complications in remedying a wrong when people have spent so long in prison over-tariff.

“Though often forgotten, there are also hundreds of people still in prison sentenced under the pre-IPP ‘two-strike’ sentencing regime, who similarly suffer from not knowing if they ever will be released.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to support those still serving IPP sentences.”