Good morning.
More than two decades ago, under Tony Blair’s Labour government, a new form of indeterminate custodial sentence was introduced. IPP – imprisonment for public protection – was a product of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act. It was intended for dangerous offenders whose crimes did not warrant a life term, but who were still seen to pose a serious risk to the public.
It came during the Blair era of “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”. Being a party of law and order was a central theme for New Labour, who wanted to indicate that they could be just as muscular on issues of justice as the Conservatives. Even back then, IPP was criticised as “unjust” and “unsustainable”. In the decades since, experts and campaigners have highlighted the devastating toll these sentences have had on the lives of thousands of people who have been put in prison for minor offences and detained for up to 18 years in some cases. The effects have been so profound that the prison and probation ombudsman said that IPP sentences should be considered a potential risk factor for suicide. Although they were abolished in 2012, there are still close to 3,000 people in prison on an IPP today.
The Guardian has been running a short series on the IPP scandal, led by features writer Simon Hattenstone. For today’s newsletter I spoke with him about its legacy, and the hope for change. That’s right after the headlines.
Five big stories
Israel-Gaza war | Rafah’s fate hung in the balance on Monday after Hamas said it had accepted a ceasefire-for-hostage deal but Israel responded sceptically and said it would press on with its campaign of night airstrikes on Gaza’s southernmost city. Hundreds of Israelis gathered across the country to protest and pressure the government to accept the terms of the ceasefire deal. For the latest information on this developing story, keep a close eye on the Guardian live blog.
Immigration and asylum | The Home Office is dealing with the growing consequences from the high-profile round-ups of asylum seekers it wants to send to Rwanda, as some have gone into hiding while others have fled across the border to Ireland. Officials began rounding up asylum seekers to detain them for the Rwanda scheme a week ago, with at least one now on hunger strike and another threatening suicide.
Russia | Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to hold battlefield nuclear weapons drills in a move the Kremlin described as a response to comments from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on western troops fighting in Ukraine and from the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, on using British-supplied weapons against Russia.
Labour | The shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will draw the economic battle lines for the next general election on Tuesday. Reeves will accuse Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt of “gaslighting” the public with over-optimistic statements about the UK economy that are “out of touch” with most people’s lives.
Health | Black mothers are over twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with perinatal mental illnesses than their white counterparts, a Guardian analysis of NHS figures shows, with the racial disparity being described as “horrifying”.
In depth: ‘A a state of permanent terror’
IPP was abolished in 2012 after the European Court of Human Rights declared it “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”. At its height, 6,000 people were imprisoned under IPP – over six times more than the government’s initial prediction (it was initially estimated that no more than 900 people would serve the sentence at any one time). By the time the sentence was scrapped, they had been handed down to 8,711 people.
However, the abolition of IPP was not retrospective, meaning that 2,852 people are still serving IPP sentences. A UN torture expert intervened last year, expressing deep concern about “the higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and actual suicide among the IPP prisoner population”, adding that she believed that the sentences had the potential to be “inhuman and degrading.”
Simon has told the stories of Martin Myers, a 42-year-old man who has served 18 years for trying to steal a cigarette, and Tommy Nicol who was given an indeterminate sentence for stealing a car. Nicol killed himself in 2015 at the age of 37 after being refused parole twice. He was the 67th person to take their own life while serving an IPP sentence between 2005 and 2015. The number now stands at 90 known deaths, with nine people killing themselves in 2022 alone, a decade after the sentences were abolished.
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What is an IPP?
“The initial principle behind it was that if a person had committed a serious crime, particularly more than once, they would get an IPP sentence,” says Simon. Those serious offenders would then be put through courses and therapy so they could prove they were fit for release. But, over time, judges began “misinterpreting and handing IPP sentences out more loosely, often to petty criminals with mental health problems,” he adds. More people were put through this system than was ever intended – and when they were there it was nearly impossible to get out.
Completing the required courses was difficult because limited resources meant that a lot of the time they were simply not available. Other times, it was because the offenders were illiterate, or had low reading comprehension, and did not know how to complete the application forms. Sometimes it was just human error, such as prison staff failing to send off papers in time.
“When they reached their tariffs – which is their minimum term – they would go before the Parole Board,” says Simon. “They would then say that they were not allowed to be released because they had made no progress on the courses – and the cycle would continue”.
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Recalled for any reason
The problems did not end for those who were released, as they were on licence for 99 years and could be recalled back to prison for virtually any reason. 10 years after first release, the Parole Board considers whether to terminate the licence.
“They could breach their licence by being late for an appointment, or saying that they were feeling suicidal or, as Martin Myers did, by taking Valium when it wasn’t prescribed to them,” Simon says. Such conditions left people “in a state of permanent terror”. Marc Conway, the subject of Simon’s final edition of the series which will be published later this week, had this exact feeling in the most extreme situation. Conway helped apprehend the terrorist responsible for the 2017 London Bridge attack, but – Simon explains – “his first thought was ‘I might be going back to prison for being aggressive and pinning this person down, even though I potentially saved lives’. Rather than phone his mum, or his girlfriend, the first thing he did was call his probation officer and tell them what happened to make sure he was not going to be in trouble.”
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What’s next?
David Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary behind IPP sentences, said that “what happened with this sentence” was “the biggest regret” of his eight years in government. Indeed, they have been associated with much misery in the decades since, creating a profound and devastating ripple effect for thousands of people and their families. In the end, almost “inevitably”, Simon says, “you are left with people who have significant mental health problems and many of whom are suicidal”. Dr Dinesh Maganty, a consultant forensic psychiatrist who gave evidence during Tommy Nicol’s inquest, said that “more than anything else” the IPP sentence had contributed to his death because it had made him “lose hope”. Eight months before he died, Nicol described his suffering as the “psychological torture of a person who is doing 99 years.”
More than one-third of offenders given IPP sentences were given a tariff of two years or fewer because they were not serious offenders. Many of those people are still trapped in the system, despite the fact that the framework that their sentence is based on was dissolved over 10 years ago.
Part of the reason that change has been so slow is there is a lack of political will. Campaign groups, the justice select committee and legal experts have said that the way to move forward is to resentence people, but almost 3,000 people are waiting for that to happen.
The oft-repeated quote about IPP sentences is that they are the single greatest stain on the justice system. “If it’s a stain, then remove it,” Simon says bluntly. “No one seems to be that interested, in part because of a cynical fear of alienating voters by doing something that would be common sense and humane but could be seen as ‘soft’”.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
What else we’ve been reading
ICYMI: Nesrine Malik is as ever thoughtful and even-handed in her analysis of the encampments at Columbia University and the motivations of students who feel they are “burdened with an impossible moral load”. Nimo
“I had no money – but we were No 1 at the US box office”: as the Richard Curtis hit turns 30, Ann Lee gets the inside scoop on Four Weddings and a Funeral, courtesy of its stars and director Mike Newell 30 years on. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters
Jon Henley’s report on Amsterdam’s housing shortage and how it is a harbinger for the rest of Europe is fascinating. Nimo
CoppaFeel! founder and breast cancer activist Kris Hallenga has sadly died. In 2021 Hallenga spoke with the Guardian’s Zoe Williams about channelling her lifechanging diagnosis into lifesaving work. Hannah
The pursuit of eternal youth has ballooned into a multi-billion pound industry in the UK, with more and more women buying into “cosmetic tweakments” at younger ages. But the consequence on self-esteem and health is often ignored: “It can be hard to tune out the noise, but the alternative may mean a future marred by self-doubt, expensive treatments or even regret. I think I’ll stick with the eye bags,” Georgina Lawton writes. Nimo
Sport
Football | Erik ten Hag has admitted that Manchester United’s season has reached a new low, after they were thrashed 4-0 by a rampant Crystal Palace. United’s manager acknowledged that his team must improve and urged his players to take inspiration from their travelling supporters, who stayed until the end on a rainy night at Selhurst Park.
Snooker | Kyren Wilson has ended Welsh qualifier Jak Jones’s dream run to the final of the World Snooker Championship and been crowned champion of the world. Breaks of 67 and 96 – the latter of which was a genuine 147 attempt before Jones missed the 13th red – narrowed the gap to four before another break of 53 made it 17-14. Eventually though, Wilson held his nerve. His two breaks of 29 and 42 in frame 32 were not the best of his career, but they were the most important.
Weightlifting | The first Olympian to die in the war in Ukraine has been announced. The weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko, who finished fourth in the 85kg light-heavyweight category at the Rio Games in 2016, was killed defending his country on Sunday. The news was confirmed by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, who said Pielieshenko died during combat operations.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “Israeli airstrikes on Rafah begin despite rising ceasefire pressure”. The Telegraph says “Netanyahu rejects Hamas ceasefire”, while the Times has “No truce yet, says Israel”.
Elsewhere, the Financial Times reports “US boom and lower inflation set to double trade growth”. The Mirror has an exclusive from the father of Molly Russell, under the headline “Our chance to save young lives”. Finally, the i has “Alzheimer’s genetic link raises hopes of early treatment”.
Today in Focus
Non-doms are threatening to leave. Should they be convinced to stay?
Multimillionaire Bassim Haidar says ending the non-dom tax status is a mistake. He plans to leave the UK and says other non-doms will do the same. Should the government change their mind?
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Ever attempted a one-off DIY project at home, only to discover you don’t have the very specific tool for the job? Well, the Library of Things in London and other similar schemes throughout the UK might have just what you need. In Bath there is the Share and Repair shop, while Benthyg Cymru operates more than two-dozen libraries throughout Wales.
Over in Edinburgh, the Tool Library has thousands of items that are too big, expensive or unnecessary to buy. From baby clothes to popcorn makers, borrowing things is becoming more popular, necessary and accessible. Laura Whateley reports on how rental “libraries of things” have become the new way to save money.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
