A prisoner who staged a 12-hour protest on the roof of Strangeways can be named as Joe Outlaw.
The 36-year-old, who is an inmate at the prison, scaled the roof of one of the buildings in the prison grounds yesterday afternoon (Wednesday).
Outlaw, who was jailed for robbery for an indeterminate length of time in 2011, sketched the words 'FREE IPPZ' on the prison roof and continually shouted out the same phrase during his protest. The message is believed to refer to The Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence (IPP) sentence, which was abolished in 2012 and branded 'unjust'.
READ MORE: Inside the once magnificent town hall which has been left in ruin
Outlaw, who has 33 previous convictions, has previously shared videos on YouTube and TikTok in which he talks and raps about the 'injustice' of IPP sentences. In one video posted earlier this month, he urged people to 'look into' IPP sentences and vowed to raise awareness of the issue.
During yesterday's protest, Outlaw could be seen waving his arms in the air and repeatedly shouting at the top of his voice while wearing a bin bag.
He remained on the roof for almost 12 hours as a crowd of spectators showed up to watch the incident unfold. At one stage, he was seen making a love heart gesture and wearing a makeshift poncho as the rain lashed down.
As the night fell, he could be seen drying his clothes on the roof using one of the shiny metal chimneys, seemingly undeterred by the plummeting temperatures.
The protest eventually came to an end in the early hours of this morning (Thursday). Police said he "willingly came down from the roof" at about 4.15am and was "back in the custody of prison staff."
Prison bosses have vowed that Outlaw "will now face punishment" for his actions.
Officers swarmed the streets around the perimeter of the city centre prison shortly after 4:30pm yesterday.
Roads in the area were taped off as the man could be seen scaling the roof of one of the buildings in the prison grounds.
The Manchester Evening News understands that the prison, officially titled HMP Manchester, was put on lockdown during the incident.
In January 2021, Outlaw was given a 10-month prison sentence after he admitted assaulting a fellow inmate at Wakefield Prison. A judge ordered that the sentence run concurrently to the one he was already serving.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Dashcam footage captures terrifying moment lorry is blown over on M62
- Inside the abandoned railway arches where new shops, bars and cafés are planned
- Locked up for decades - the criminals facing the longest jail terms judges have handed out
- 'I was a silly, silly boy - but I'm not a racist' says sacked police officer
- Urgent police warning after two dogs die following walks on local park
