Man still in jail 12 years after stealing phone as family fear he'll die inside

06 March 2024 , 14:36

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Sister Clara White is desperate for help (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

A man who has spent 12 years in jail for stealing a mobile phone is being helped by Lord Blunkett, who was ironically the architect behind the controversial sentence that is keeping him behind bars.

Thomas White was locked up in 2012 on an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, with a minimum of two year for a street robbery in Manchester. The IPP means he has to prove he is no longer a danger to society before he can be released.

The controversial sentences were abolished in 2012 on the back of a European Court ruling but the 40-year-old is one of 2,852 people behind bars serving an IPP sentence. Figures published by the government in January revealed that of those 2,852 people, 1,227 haven't been released. Of those, 699 - 7 per cent - are more than 10 years beyond their original sentence.

Thomas' family say his mental heath has deteriorated dramatically, describing him as being in 'limbo'. They believe he should be treated in a psychiatric unit in Prestwich and say he's developed various conditions behind bars, including PTSD and schizophrenia.

Thomas White, at HMP Norwich prison in 2016 (Daily Mirror)

Between 2005 and 2013, 8,711 people in England and Wales were handed an IPP sentence. They were introduced by Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2005 - now Lord Blunkett. At least 88 prisoners on IPP sentences have taken their own lives while behind bars.

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There have been 1,600 additional instances of self-harm by IPP prisoners recorded in the past 12 months alone, a 2022 report by the the Parliamentary Justice Committee said. The sentences were deemed 'irredeemably flawed'.

Lord Blunkett has even met with Thomas' sister, Clara, and pledged to help get him moved out of prison. In a statement, Lord Blunkett said: "I was very pleased to meet Clara in the House of Lords. I will continue to do my best to ensure that there is a satisfactory outcome - that we can support Thomas into a positive outcome from his present situation in prison, and above all, ensure that those services funded to help develop a pathway and acceptable outcome work together to achieve a result."

Clara said: "My family has now lived for 12 miserable years trapped by this IPP sentence - it is hellish. The only apology we have had in the last 12 years is from Lord Blunkett himself. Lord Blunkett listened with much compassion. The relentless nightmares of not knowing if my brother will die in prison by suicide are exhaustive.

'I pray to God we are not next in line to get a call from custody to say my brother has taken his life. I pray no family gets that call. Sadly many families have already received that call, and will continue to do so in the future as the death rates from this horrific sentence increase."

Clara White, with her nephew Kayden (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

The White family found out on Monday that Thomas has been rejected for admission to second mental health unit in Greater Manchester. Lord Blunkett is pushing for Thomas to be transferred to a hospital, on the basis of his assessment from an independent psychiatrist. Thomas' loved ones said he was told to undertake a series of programmes as part of the requirements for release, but that many of the prisons he has been transferred to over the past 12 years do not deliver the necessary courses.

Clara said: "It was about six years into his IPP sentence when I began to notice Thomas was becoming very ill and mentally unstable. He has been in 16 prisons. None have provided the programmes he requires. He was dishevelled and poorly by the time he got to HMP Norwich in 2016.

"He would ring home and talk in Roman numerals from the Bible. We got phone calls from other inmates to say Thomas was very sick. My mum went to visit it him and she couldn't recognise her own son. IPPs have a domino effect. My brother has now been diagnosed as having schizophrenia. When someone becomes as mentally ill as Thomas is, that is regarded by the prison as [displaying] bad behaviour because prison officers are not equipped to deal it - so he is segregated again

"Thomas can't demonstrate to the authorities that he is safe to be released because of his mental state. He says he has no sense or power over his life."

Clara White and Lord Blunkett (MEN)

With support from James Daly, the Bury MP, the family is trying to get Thomas into a mental health unit at the old Prestwich hospital site. Clara has been campaigning for five years to get her brother out of prison. It has taken its toll on her. She says she too has developed PTSD, adding: "Thomas doesn't think he will ever be released. Patches of his hair are falling out, his skin is grey. The Ministry of Justice has a duty of care to these IPP prisoners. I don't believe they are fulfilling it."

Last year, speaking to the Home Affairs Committee, Lord Blunkett admitted he made a mistake. He said: "Twenty years ago... we put in place the imprisonment for public protection in the belief there would be therapeutic courses; there would be measures taken within the prison service that would enable those who were released to stay freely in the community without committing further crime. That part of the Act has clearly failed - and it has failed on a number of fronts."

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John Foley, acting chief operating officer at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs units at the former Prestwich hospital site, said: "Mental health services within prisons are broadly based on community mental health teams that are found in the wider community.

"This means that prisoners are able to access support and treatment from a variety of professionals including psychiatrists, mental health nurses, psychological wellbeing practitioners and psychologists. The level of care delivered is dependent on the needs of the individual. At times there can be a period of waiting for an appropriate bed to be available and during this period, the prisoner continues to be supported by the prison mental health team with regular review by a consultant psychiatrist."

Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, is coming under increasing pressure to solve the IPP crisis. Experts, campaigners, and politicians have called for a review of resentencing for all 2,852 IPPs in prison, and those on recall in the community. This comes as the House of Lords is set to debate a series of amendments to the Victims & Prisoners Bill on March 12th 2024.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We have reduced the number of unreleased IPP prisoners by three-quarters since we scrapped the sentence in 2012, with a 12pc fall in the last year alone where the Parole Board deemed prisoners safe to release. We have also taken decisive action to curtail licence periods and continue to help those still in custody to progress towards release, including improving access to rehabilitation programmes and mental health support.

"We dispute the notion that the costs of keeping the remaining IPP prisoners in custody is 'unnecessary'. While the Lord Chancellor has described the sentence as a 'stain on our justice system', we have also been clear that it is vital for public protection that those serving the IPP sentence in prison, whether not yet released or recalled following release, are released only when the Parole Board deems them safe."

Kelly-Ann Mills