Father who set himself alight on indefinite jail term refused hospital care as family loses hope

Exclusive: IPP prisoner Thomas White, who has developed paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis after serving almost 13 years for stealing a phone, will not be transferred to hospital

IPP prisoner Thomas White pictured with his son Kayden, then 10 months old (Margaret White)

A father who has developed paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis in prison after serving almost 13 years for stealing a phone will not be transferred to a secure hospital, his devastated family has learnt.

Thomas White, who suffers from religious delusions and last year set himself alight in his cell, is languishing under an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence. These indeterminate prison sentences were abolished more than a decade ago, but those already serving them were not released from the conditions they impose.

IPP sentences have been described as “psychological torture” by the UN, while campaigners have pushed for all remaining IPP inmates to be resentenced.

White’s family claim he is being denied his basic right to healthcare inside HMP Manchester, a category A prison, as they battle for him to be transferred to a hospital setting.

Two medical reports shared with The Independent last summer laid bare the toll of the devastating jail term as medics warned that White’s “lengthy incarceration” was creating “impermeable barriers” to his recovery. Both called for him to be moved to a hospital.

In a previous report, in 2023, a psychiatrist found that the indefinite jail term handed to White, which had a two-year minimum tariff, was the “probable cause” of his poor mental health.

However, the hospital transfer was blocked after a new assessment arranged by the prison in December concluded that White lacks motivation in prison and will therefore lack motivation in a forensic psychiatric hospital.

After hearing the news, White, 40, told his family: “I am going to die in here.”

Clara White, Thomas’s sister, has previously turned to David Blunkett for help to ensure that her brother’s son Kayden is able to visit him in prison (White family)

His heartbroken sister Clara, who has been campaigning for IPP reform, vowed to make sure that politicians will never forget her brother’s name if anything happens to him while he’s incarcerated.

She previously turned to David Blunkett – who admits he regrets introducing the flawed sentences in 2005 when he was home secretary under Tony Blair, and now campaigns for reform – for help to secure prison visits for White’s son Kayden, now 14.

“If my brother dies by suicide, cardiac arrest or drug overdose, I will spend my life making sure his name, Thomas White, will haunt this government,” she told The Independent.

“Thomas is just tangled in a web, and I don’t think we are going to untangle it for him. I think he’s lost in this. I have been everywhere with this. I have been up and down the country, meeting David Blunkett and doing everything I can.”

The latest report suggested that the father-of-one’s mental illness was linked to the misuse of spice, a synthetic drug designed to mimic the effects of cannabis.

However, Ms White said his drug use only started when he realised he was not going to be released at the end of his minimum tariff, adding: “That is what hopelessness looks like. My brother never took spice at the beginning of his sentence. He thought he would do two years, maybe a bit longer, and be set free.”

As well as not supporting his hospital transfer, the latest report did not support White’s release from prison or progression to open conditions. However, it did recommend another prison transfer, which could see White moved for the 13th time in as many years.

With a parole hearing coming up in January as White approaches the 13th anniversary of his incarceration, his family has little hope for his release.

“He won’t get parole in January, then he will have served 15 years by the time he gets another parole hearing,” said Ms White. “I have not heard a single word from him since we got the bad news 10 days ago. That tells me that Thomas is in a really bad place. He was really upset and just said ‘I am going to die in here.’”

Thomas White with his sister, Clara, and his mother, Margaret, in Manchester in 1985 (White family)

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 over human rights concerns, but not for people already detained – leaving almost 2,700 prisoners like White languishing in prison with no release date. At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives.

An assessment by an independent consultant forensic psychiatrist in August last year found that White had been suffering panic attacks and pacing in his cell as he struggled with psychosis and religious delusions.

“Mr White expressed feeling depressed about his long imprisonment without a set release date, citing this as the reason for his previous suicide attempt,” Dr Deepu Thomas said, concluding that he should be moved to a medium secure unit.

In November, Labour peer Tony Woodley urged the government not to be on the “wrong side of history” after he sponsored a private member’s bill calling for IPP prisoners to be resentenced.

However, prisons minister and Labour peer James Timpson has insisted that the government will not support any form of resentencing, despite at least 700 IPP prisoners having served more than 10 years beyond their minimum term.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. With public protection as the No 1 priority, the lord chancellor is working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure appropriate action is taken to support those still serving these sentences, such as improved access to mental health support and rehabilitation programmes.”

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch