What are IPPs sentences and why are they so destructive?
It's the 27th of April 2023. We join reporter Sam Asumadu as she takes us back to the time when she first heard about IPPs (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentences during a meeting with Shirley Debono, who’s been campaigning for justice for IPPs since her son Shaun received an IPP sentence for a street robbery without violence. He was given a two-and-a-half-year tariff back in 2005, and he’s still serving the sentence, nearly 18 years later.
There are currently 2,916 people trapped in prison on an IPP sentence. They are 'ghost prisoners': none of them know when they are getting out or whether their IPP sentence could mean life in prison.Sam speaks to Lord Blunkett, who introduced the IPP sentence back in 2005 when he was Home Secretary, he tells her it’s a decision he now regrets.
Sam follows Shirley and other IPP campaigners as they attend a debate in Westminster Hall, called by Sir Bob Neill to address the Government's response to the Justice Select Committee's report on IPP sentences, which was delivered in February 2023. The campaigners are hopeful that the government will reverse their rejection of the Justice Committee's recommendation to resentence all prisoners serving an IPP sentence.
Sam also speaks to Clara White, whose brother Thomas has been imprisoned on an IPP sentence since 2012 after receiving a 2-year tariff for stealing a mobile phone. Thomas’s story is highlighted by James Daley MP at the Westminster Hall Debate as evidence of the harm IPP sentences do to prisoners and their families.
Get in touch on Twitter, TikTok or Instagram @Trapped_Pod
For more info about the Campaign for Justice for IPPs prisoners: UNGRIPP www.ungripp.com/ Twitter @UNGRIPP
Contributors in order of appearance:
Shirley Debono, Campaigner and mother of Shaun Lloyd, who is serving an IPP.
Dr. Jo Shingler, Forensic Psychologist @ShinglerJo
Alana Bell, Sister of IPP serving prisoner, Wayne Bell
Hank Rossi, IPP Activist.
Lord Blunkett, Labour peer
Lord Moylan, Conservative peer
Mark Day, Prison Reform Trust @PRTuk
Sir Bob Neill MP, Chair of the Justice Select Committee
James Daly, Conservative MP
Clara White, Campaigner and sister of IPP serving prisoner, Thomas White.
Thomas White, Prisoner serving an IPP.
Dean Kingham, Solicitor, lawyer to Thomas White
Andrea Coomber, The Howard League for Penal Reform @TheHowardLeague
Bishop Mick Fleming, Church on the Street
Production Team:
Reporter: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu
Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg
Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS
Consultant: Hank Rossi
A Zinc Media Production for The Institute of Now
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