‘My brother died because of a false allegation’: Publican took his own life after indefinite jail term recall
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Exclusive: Despite nine years successfully rebuilding his life, IPP prisoner Haydar Jefferies was hauled back to jail over a false allegation, his family says, before he took his own life amid a string of prison failures. For nine years, Haydar Jefferies lived under the shadow of his indefinite jail term. He knew he could be hauled back to prison at any time for even the tiniest infraction.
![[Haydar Jefferies, 50, was still reeling from the death of his husband Andrew, described as ‘his soulmate and guiding light’, when he was recalled to prison]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/15/newFile-1.jpg)
“I can’t even spit on the street,” he would tell his brother, fearfully, after he was freed in 2012 after serving six years for an assault under an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail term. Despite the weight of the now-abolished sentence hanging over him, the publican thrived, as he spent almost a decade rebuilding his life and transforming his Oxfordshire pub and B&B into a community hub.
![[A inquest jury found staff failed to get medical care for Haydar as he descended into depression and psychosis inside HMP Coldingley, Surrey]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/05/23/15/79948c3edf1fff6c139b205d079c1639Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjg0OTMxOTA3-2.26366133.jpg)
“He was a decent man that anybody could be proud of,” his brother said, recalling the “loving and generous” brother who always had a smile on his face. However Haydar’s worst fears were realised when, still reeling from the sudden death of his husband Andrew from a heart attack, someone made a serious allegation about him to the police.
![[The family said the prison failed to get help despite Haydar presenting with ‘every red flag imaginable']](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/15/newFile-4.jpg)
He was arrested in the middle of the night in January 2022 and hauled back to prison. Within months police confirmed they had dropped the investigation into the complaint, which the family say was entirely false. But under the terms of the IPP sentence, which has been described as “psychological torture” by the UN, he could be held indefinitely until the Parole Board deemed him fit for release.
