UK MPs Call on Government to Scrap ‘Irredeemably Flawed’ IPP Sentences

Partner of prisoner describes 'struggle and trauma' caused by Imprisonment for Public Protection

The sun shines through high security fencing surrounding Norwich Prison in England on Aug. 25, 2005. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

The House of Commons Justice Committee has called on the government to review the status of almost 3,000 prisoners who were jailed under the “irredeemably flawed” Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) system.

The committee’s report said the system for managing and releasing IPP prisoners was “inadequate” and all 2,926 in England and Wales should have their sentences reviewed and replaced.

IPP sentences (pdf) were introduced by the Labour government in 2005 to prevent people who were considered to be a danger to the public being released.

Many of those who were sentenced were convicted of relatively minor offences like grievous bodily harm (GBH) and have spent a decade longer than the two years they should have served in prison.

Andrew Sperling, a London solicitor, welcomed the committee’s report and wrote on Twitter: “Tomorrow one of my longest serving IPP clients has yet another parole hearing. In 2006 he was given an IPP sentence for an offence of robbery of his parents. His minimum term was less than two years. He is still in prison. His family are desperate for him to be released.”

Autistic IPP Prisoner

Sperling continued: “He is autistic. His behaviour is challenging but this does not mean that he is dangerous. His case is a good example of the failure of planning, co-ordination and strategy which the committee highlight in their report.”

The committee’s report said: “Our report has set out various steps the government needs to take to help address the IPP problem. But it is clear to us that, while these measures are necessary, they will not be sufficient on their own to deal with the problems that have been identified in the way the IPP sentence continues to operate and is likely to operate in the coming years. The sentence is irredeemably flawed.”

IPPs were scrapped by former Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government in 2012, but 1,492 IPP prisoners have never been released and another 1,434 prisoners have been recalled to prison.

Justice Committee Chairman Bob Neill said: “IPP sentences were abolished a decade ago but little has been done to deal with the long-term consequences on those subject to them. They are currently being failed in a prison system that has left them behind, with inadequate support for the specific challenges caused by the very way they have been convicted and sentenced.”

Bernadette Emerson’s partner, Abdullahi Suleman, was given an IPP sentence for robbery in 2005 and a two-year tariff.

An undated photo of Bernadette Emerson, with her partner Abdullahi Suleman and their daughter, taken at a prison in England. (Courtesy of Bernadette Emerson)

Emerson, who lives in Cardiff, told The Epoch Times: “He was 22 at the time and I was 20. He was released in 2011 and we had another child but after missing a psychiatrist’s appointment he was recalled in 2014. He has been released and recalled several times and has not been home since 2017. He has missed his children growing up.”

She said Suleman, a qualified plumber who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2004, was assaulted in prison by another inmate in 2018 and suffered a serious head injury which, she claimed, was not properly treated at the time.

Emerson said: “He suffered a horrendous injury. When he was finally examined in 2020 they said his cranium had been badly damaged and had fused back together wrong. They said it would lead to mood and memory impairment. It was a life-changing brain injury.”

‘IPP Has Caused a Lot of Struggle and Trauma’

She said: “IPP has caused a lot of struggle and trauma for us, knowing those injuries he received would not have happened if he was not on an IPP.”

Emerson, who is co-founder of the IPP Committee in Action group, welcomed the Justice Committee’s report and urged the government to act on its recommendations.

She said 76 IPP prisoners had taken their own lives and she said many of them had been “broken” mentally by seeing murderers freed while they stayed in jail.

The Epoch Times also spoke to Kelly, whose friend Glenn was given an IPP in 2006.

Kelly told The Epoch Times: “His tariff was one year and 312 days for GBH. If he had got a determinate sentence his maximum sentence would have been four years. He was involved in a fight outside a nightclub. There were a few of them involved. His co-defendant was given a 10 month determinate sentence.”

Glenn has been released and recalled twice and Kelly said on the most recent occasion it was for slamming a car door during an argument.

Kelly, who lives in the West Midlands, said: “This sentence has destroyed the person I once knew. The sentence has had a huge impact on everyone. His mother’s mental health has been poor and his father has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He struggles to understand why Glenn is still in prison. We all feel like we are also the ones in prison.”

She welcomed the committee’s report but said: “Will the government really act on it? They’ve ignored it for so long now.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The number of IPP prisoners has fallen by two-thirds since 2012 and we are continuing to help those still in custody to progress towards release.

“While these sentences were handed down by judges who decided offenders posed a significant risk to the public, under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act we have committed to review licence conditions after 10 years. We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations and respond in due course.”

PA Media contributed to this report.