UN report finds IPP prisoners held unlawfully

A United Nations working group has found that prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences are being held unlawfully, and has urged the British government to take immediate action.

The UN report, shared with families and campaigners, accuses the authorities of arbitrary detention and of subjecting inmates to psychological torture. It says there is no legal basis in international law for the continued detention of at least five IPP prisoners, and calls for a full independent investigation.

IPP sentences were introduced in 2005 for criminals deemed dangerous, but whose crimes did not merit lengthy fixed terms. The system allowed jail terms to be extended indefinitely until prisoners could prove they were no longer a public risk. It was scrapped in 2012 after widespread criticism of its misuse, but the change was not made retrospective. As a result, more than 2,300 people remain in prison beyond their minimum sentences, some for decades.

One of those still held is Sean Lloyd, jailed in 2005 for two years and nine months for stealing a mobile phone. He remains in Cardiff Prison 21 years later. Speaking by phone, he said: "I feel like I'm constantly living on wishes, hopes and prayers. And it's like within 20 years, 21 years of me being on this IPP, it's like I'm not in any of the pictures. I'm not in any of the family photos."

Lloyd added that 140 IPP prisoners have died over the years, and he fears becoming the 141st. "I have to be honest. There's been 140 deaths of IPPs over the years, and I feel like every day I have to find a fight not to be the 141st."

His mother, Shirley Debono, has campaigned since 2008. In 2022 she called for all IPPs to be released. She said a review, which the prime minister has promised, could take years, and IPP prisoners do not have that time. "We know a review could take years and years. IPP prisoners haven't got years. They haven't got months. Some of them haven't got weeks."

The government has said more could be done for IPP prisoners, and that support to keep them out of jail had significantly improved, with greater access to rehabilitation and mental health help. But campaigners argue that the UN report shows the system remains fundamentally broken.

The UN working group's findings cover five named prisoners, but the report is seen as applying more broadly. It describes their continued detention as arbitrary and says they are being subjected to psychological harm. It urges the government to undertake a full independent investigation and to act quickly.

Sangeeta Lal, reporting for ITV News, spoke to Debono on her first holiday in six years. Debono had hoped the UN report would mean her son would be with her, but he remains in prison. All she can do is offer a calming voice down the phone.

Lawyers representing IPP prisoners echoed the call for urgent action. One said: "Whatever action is taken, it needs to be taken quickly. And I want my clients to be released as soon as possible."