Father on indefinite jail term for stealing phone has ‘lost hope’ after being denied hospital transfer Thomas White’s MP James Frith has backed The Independent’s campaign for all IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed after visiting HMP Manchester.
White was handed an IPP sentence with a two-year minimum tariff for street robbery of a mobile phone in 2012, just months before the open-ended jail term was abolished due to human rights concerns.
During their unsuccessful visit, as they pleaded with White to leave his cell in messages sent through prison staff, they were told that he would have to display three months of stability in prison in order to be reassessed for a hospital transfer.
Being told he must display three months of stability in order to be transferred to hospital “portrays the catch 22 that he’s in and that many IPP prisoners are in” as their ability to progress is hampered by the hopelessness associated with the jail term.
Despite at least 90 IPP prisoners taking their own lives as they lose hope of being freed, successive governments have refused calls to resentence the remaining IPP prisoners.
