A father who has spent 13 years in prison for stealing a phone and set himself alight in desperation has “totally disengaged and lost hope” after being denied a hospital transfer, his devastated family have said.
Fears are growing for Thomas White, who has developed paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis as he languishes under an abolished indefinite jail term that has been described as “psychological torture” by the UN.
Two medical reports last year laid bare the toll of the devastating Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail term on the 42-year-old, warning that White’s “lengthy incarceration” was creating “impermeable barriers” to his recovery as his family fought for him to be moved to a hospital.
Last June, he set himself on fire in his cell as he lost hope of being freed 12 years after he was handed a two-year sentence.
Since being refused a transfer to hospital last month, he has increasingly turned to synthetic drugs and cut off contact with his loved ones. He was too unwell to even leave his cell when his local MP, Labour’s James Frith, went to Category A HMP Manchester to visit him with his sister Clara White.
Mr Frith has backed The Independent’s calls for all IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed after hearing of White’s plight.
Following the heartbreaking visit last week, Ms White described his treatment as “psychiatric abuse”, adding: “He’s disengaged with everybody now. It’s just hopeless now and he’s taking synthetic drugs. He’s not even coming out for family visits or ringing home. It can’t get any worse.
“It’s hopelessness. Yes, he’s taking drugs, but I think he’s turned to drugs now because he’s not bothered if he lives or dies.
“My brother is down there mentally ill. If I took him to A&E and sat there for three hours he would be admitted to hospital.”
During their unsuccessful visit, as they pleaded with White to leave his cell in messages sent through prison staff, they were told that he would have to display three months of stability in prison in order to be reassessed for a hospital transfer.
“So a man with paranoid schizophrenia has to pretend he’s not got it in order to get hospital care – that is ludicrous,” Ms White added.
“I said to them if my brother dies in here his name will never be forgotten in this prison.”
White was handed an IPP sentence with a two-year minimum tariff for street robbery of a mobile phone in 2012, just months before the open-ended jail term was abolished due to human rights concerns.
However, it was not abolished retrospectively, leaving prisoners such as White trapped until they are approved for release by the Parole Board.
It has left thousands languishing for years beyond their minimum tariff, in some cases for petty crimes. Of more than 2,600 still incarcerated, more than 700 have served more than ten years longer than their minimum tariff.
Despite at least 90 IPP prisoners taking their own lives as they lose hope of being freed, successive governments have refused calls to resentence the remaining IPP prisoners.
Mr Frith, MP for Bury North, said White was the victim of a “state injustice” after he got caught up in the sentence just before it was scrapped.
“The nature of the sentence that was abolished a few months later has really conspired against him and now he’s got health issues that have clearly worsened because of this sentence,” he told The Independent.
Being told he must display three months of stability in order to be transferred to hospital “portrays the catch-22 that he’s in and that many IPP prisoners are in” as their ability to progress is hampered by the hopelessness associated with the jail term.
He supports recommendations made by the justice select committee in 2022 for an expert panel to be assembled to resentence IPP prisoners.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. With public protection as the number one 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
