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Dichotomy of Lived v Learned Experience
I first stepped foot in a prison in 2010; I was invited to be a community witness for a victim awareness course at HMP/YOI Hollesley Bay, around 40 minutes’ drive from my home. The environment was unfamiliar and so were the attendees. At that time, I was approaching my final year at University studying for BSc (Hons) Criminology, as a mature student, and I needed to figure out what my next steps should be. Each presentation I prepared as part of my coursework steered towards the justice system, prisons in particular. The first being a 10 minute talk on the Corston Report, by Baroness Jean Corston, published in the light of 6 women dying within a year in Styal prison.
I still remember the feedback I received as it was rather disheartening “Who is interested in women in prison?”
It soon became clear to me that very few were interested in prisons at all, both fellow students and lecturers.
Undeterred I carried on, highlighting where possible the appalling issues within the prison estate.
So, 15 years on, I have had the privilege to visit every category of prison up and down the country including the Women’s estate. I have delivered training in prisons, monitored a Cat D prison and became the Chair of an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), attended numerous prison art exhibitions, toured prisons on the invitation of Governors, watched graduation celebrations for those that have completed courses in a Cat B, listened to guest speakers in prison libraries, judged a debating competition in a Cat C, written and edited policy documents and have published countless blogs that have been read and shared in over 150 countries. I have tirelessly spoken out for reform, and my work has been mentioned in the House of Lords.
I have seen the desperation, and I have felt the fear in prison, yet I have never resided in a prison.
“Well, what do you know?”
This question often ringing in my ears, as though I have just popped in from another planet.
“You don’t have lived experience”
A statement that is levelled against me far too many times to remember along with being White, A woman and Middle class…etc.
“Why is your writing so negative, instead of writing about problems, come up with solutions?”
It’s true, I don’t have a certain kind of “lived experience”, I’ve never stood in court accused of a crime and pleaded guilty or not guilty. I’ve never attended court awaiting my fate when the sentence is being read out.
I have sat and watched trials in the Supreme Court, the High Court and the courts in my local area. I have attended inquests and have given evidence, but most importantly I have been there for others, in court, supporting and comforting.
We all have lived experiences in some form. Personal lived experience of the justice system gives valuable insight, but does it make you an expert?
Surely, we can all work together to bring about much needed reform in our all too often failing system.
I believe there is a place for all who share a desire, a passion and determination to transform our criminal justice system into a fairer and more just structure. To give those that are or have been in prison the tools to rebuild or even build their lives for the first time. To give hope and a future.
Should lived experience and learned experience go hand in hand?
Do you think both are credible experts to whom we should be listening?
However, recently we have read about an individual with lived experience that became a valuable member of a prominent reform organisation, given responsibilities and then defrauded their employer.
This wasn’t a small amount, it was over £300,000. The organisation – Prison Reform Trust (PRT). They had appointed an individual with a previous fraud conviction for a senior role involving financial responsibility. Little by little right under the nose of the board of trustees, with the then Chairman who is now the Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending. The current CEO, the former Head of Women’s prison estate was quick to say: “We would like to assure our supporters that no programmes or services were affected by this incident, and the charity remains committed to its mission to create a just, humane and effective prison system”.
Basically the money wasn’t missed?
That quote came from this statement on 19 May 2025 which has now been removed from the PRT website, so I have included a screenshot of it.
So where were the safeguards?
This case reminded me of 2021 when I received the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) booklet to commemorate their 40 years, after having attended their celebration in London. A short time afterwards I read the former CEO of The Howard League, Frances Crooks (farewell) piece.
PRT and The Howard League are two organisations that work for reform, two organisations that basically admitted they had failed in what they set out to do.
So why is so much money ploughed into them through donations, grants, membership, and legacies?
Both have an annual salary bill of over £1M, astonishing isn’t it. Yes, they have initiated some important campaigns, but our prisons are still in crisis and reform is taking too long.
So, what is going wrong?
Does the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) squeeze organisations and charities by limiting their progress and their ability to instigate change? Many rely on either their approval or their funding.
As you can deduce, I’m not here to popularise organisations, or to popularise individuals.
I am fiercely independent and intend to stay that way.
But I have many questions.
Was the system designed to be ineffective or designed to perpetuate harm?
Should prison be a place for healing as I have heard others say, or a place for true reform of itself or individuals?
Do we try and change something that does not want to change, does not want reforming, where politicians gaze briefly at and when those in a position to do something, don’t?
It is a place where inspectors inspect and issue recommendations, a place where monitors monitor and issue recommendations.
Endless reports and endless reviews.
Endless round table meetings.
New committees formed.
Let’s just step away for a moment.
I hear big voices, big egos and big personalities shout out, but no one can hear anything anymore.
Has society closed their ears to the noise?
Has society closed their eyes to the mess?
I will say again “Our prisons are in crisis and reform is taking too long”
Vision is often personal, but a cause is bigger than any one individual
People don’t generally die for a vision, but they will die for a cause
Vision is something you possess, a cause possess you
Vision doesn’t eliminate the options; a cause leaves you without any options
A good vision may out live you, but a cause is eternal
Vision will generate excitement, but a cause generates power
[Adapted from Houston (2001)]
You can have lived or learned experience, but what is your cause?
If the cause is yourself, this is not true reform, it is perpetuating the system with a sense of power.
If you have a cause and integrity you are seen as an interrupter.
But the greatest power is humility either lived or learned.
Campaigning Lawyer Calls On Prime Minister To Back Plan Drawn Up By Lord Thomas To End Shocking IPP Scandal In Viral Video
Campaigning Lawyer and CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE Peter Stefanovic – who’s films have been watched hundreds of millions of times online – has posted a new film calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to end the IPP scandal once and for all by adopting a plan drawn up by Lord Thomas, the former Lord Chief Justice.
BACKGROUND
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the then New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It sought to prove it was tough on law and order by putting in place IPP sentences to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes, resulting in people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone. In one instance 16 years in jail for stealing a flowerpot.
UNLAWFUL
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were, “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”, IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. But the measure was not retrospective, and thousands remain in prison.
Over 90 people serving sentences under the discredited IPP regime have sadly taken their own lives whilst in prison. In 2023 we saw the second year in a row of the highest number of self-inflicted deaths since the IPP sentence was introduced.
Former supreme court justice Lord Brown called IPP sentences: “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. When Michael Gove was justice secretary, he recommended, “executive clemency” for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs. But he didn’t act on it. Lord Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating: “I got it wrong.” And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an “egregious miscarriage of justice.” Even former Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC has called them a stain on the justice system, yet despite that, the previous Conservative Government refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Their families and campaign groups have been fighting to end this tragic miscarriage of justice for more than a decade and films posted online by social media sensation and campaigner Peter Stefanovic have ignited a wider public storm on this tragic miscarriage of justice gathering millions of views.
You can watch Stefanovic’s latest film here:
https://x.com/peterstefanovi2/status/1937394593672089988?s=46&t=g6PUk4YExrOYprJSzQZ3lw
It is not surprising that the public reaction to his films have been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Stefanovic has said: “The public support for my films has been overwhelming and the comments they are getting are a testament to the public’s anger, outrage and disbelief at this tragic miscarriage of justice.”
HOPE FOR JUSTICE
Now – the Labour government is being given the chance to end this monstrous injustice once and for all by adopting a plan drawn up Lord Thomas, the former Lord Chief Justice.
An expert working group convened by The Howard League and led by Lord Thomas has come forward with considered proposals aimed at protecting the public while ending the long-running IPP scandal.
Below are the members of the working group:
Farrhat Arshad KC, barrister
Dr Jackie Craissati, clinical and forensic psychologist
Andrea Coomber KC (Hon), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform
Dr Laura Janes KC (Hon), solicitor
Dr Frances Maclennan, clinical psychologist
Andrew Morris, served IPP sentence
Dr Callum Ross, forensic psychiatrist
Claire Salama, solicitor Sir John Saunders, retired High Court judge and former Vice Chair and member of the Parole Board
Professor Pamela Taylor, psychiatrist and academic
Paul Walker, Therapeutic Environments Lead for the OPD Pathway (HMPPS)
The working group’s report puts forward six recommendations – the most important of which is a change to the Parole Board test which would require the Parole Board to give people on IPP sentences a certain release date, within a two-year window, and to set out what action is required to achieve that safely.
Setting a date of up to two years provides a long period of time to enable professionals and statutory agencies to work together and help the person to prepare for a safe release – it completely knocks on the head any argument the justice secretary has previously raised about public safety and will end once and for all one of the most cruel and monumental injustices of the past half century.
Campaigners have hit out at the “short-sighted” decision not to include prisoners on indefinite sentences in the plans announced by the government to reduce the prison population.
The government has recently published its long-awaited sentencing review, led by former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke, who recommended that some offenders who behave well in jail only serve a third of their term in custody before being released. Yet the Chair of the Justice Committee, Andy Slaughter MP has raised the point recently that “Even if David Gauke’s recommendations are wholly successful the prisons will still be full, and this has unintended consequences.”
With Government Ministers saying they have inherited a prison system “on verge of collapse” Stefanovic says this is “nonsensical”.
He concludes his latest film saying:
“With our prisons at breaking point now is the time for James Timpson – the prisons minister and Labour peer to accept this sensible, workable and detailed plan and seek to close this shameful chapter in the history of British criminal justice. If the Justice Secretary refuses to sign off on this plan for fear of handing ammunition to ignorant critics who accuse her of being soft on crime the Prime Minister, a former director of public prosecutions, who understands the criminal justice system better than any minister should instruct her to act on the proposals – because the simple fact is that by refusing to do so Keir Starmer’s government would become responsible for allowing one of the most cruel, inhumane and monumental injustices of the past half-century – a scandal rightly described as a stain on our justice system – a scandal described by the UN rapporteur for torture as an egregious miscarriage of justice and psychological torture – and which likely breaches Article 3 of the Human Rights Act – to be continued and perpetrated – and I for one cannot believe that that is what a Labour government would want to happen”
Prisons: still we build them and still we fill them
Transcript of speech by Faith Spear FRSA delivered at Battle of Ideas, Church House, Westminster, London on 20 October 2024.
“I’m not a political person… I’ve never wanted to get involved… I don’t like the idea of having to play to someone else’s tune and say things I don’t necessarily believe in.”
For those who know me, they would say that this sounds like something Faith would say, but it wasn’t me this time. In fact it was James Timpson – Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation – talking with Andy Coulson in an interview a couple of years ago.
Now as Prisons minister, he must have changed his tune?
In the same interview he also said that instead of people serving 50% of a sentence in prison, this should be reduced to 25%. I wonder if he has changed his mind about that too?
But one thing that I have said repeatedly is:
“We have to stop this madness of believing that we can change people and their behaviour by banging them up in warehouse conditions with little to do and not enough to eat and sanitation from a previous century.”
The prison estate is running out of space and Early release schemes have been implemented by the new government to avoid gridlock in the justice system.
Mainstream media frequently report on prisons in England and Wales that are squalid and fuelled by drugs.
I have seen it for myself and have been writing about it for over 10 years. The lack of rehabilitation, the lack of education, lack of purposeful activity, overcrowding, understaffing, gang related violence.
Yet still we build them and still we fill them.
In 2016 I was invited to write an article from my experience as a chair of an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in my local prison in Suffolk. It was factual, honest and challenged the independence of the IMB. Even before it went to print in The Prisons Handbook, I received notification that it had been sent to the Ministry of Justice lawyers.
What followed was 9 months of hell; I was bullied, suspended from my role, gagged and investigated by the MoJ – twice – called in front of a disciplinary hearing at Petty France and then dismissed.
Two Prisons Ministers were involved in the whole debacle.
My crime? I broke the IMB code of conduct.
One of the investigators wrote:
“In my view she breached the code of conduct, but as there is no clear IMB code of conduct or any reference to the Cabinet Office guidance, this was not entirely Ms Spear’s fault.”
Allegedly I broke the code of conduct which did not exist.
Even the then President of the IMB wanted to rewrite the ‘Constitution Template’, to close a loophole to dissuade others in the IMB from speaking out.
Not the last bastion of chauvinism I have come across.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, is saying the same things today as I said then. He’s paid to say these things; I was dismissed for saying these things.
People always harp on about the prisons in Scandinavia, Halden and Bastøy in Norway seem to be the best known. But few seem to know that a prison in England had visitors from Scandinavia looking at their regimes etc with a view to model some of their best practices.
It was called HMP Blantyre House located in Kent, and over in Norway a resettlement prison was set up based on the principles and methods used at Blantyre House.
So, how was this beacon of best practice recognised here?
Instead of promoting their good practice, the then Director General of the Prison Service authorised squads of approx 80 officers and dogs, led by the then Governor of Swaleside prison, to raid Blantyre House.
They trashed it.1
All prisoners were tested for drugs, yet not a single test proved positive. The whole episode ruined a lot of the trust built up between prisoners and staff.
The then Governor of HMP Blantyre House was unaware of what was about to happen because he was removed from his position hours before.
But it was a prison that exceeded all their key performance targets and had the lowest rate of drug abuse of any prison in the UK.
Even when something works, still they trash it.
So, when we read the Ministry of Justice mission statement: “The Ministry of Justice is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. We work to protect and advance the principles of justice. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society” I just don’t believe it.
And neither should you.
~
From the speech by Faith Spear FRSA given 20 October 2024 at Battle of Ideas 2024 held at Church House, Westminster, London, convened by Academy of Ideas.
Speaker bio https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/speaker/faith-spear-frsa/
~
- Book ‘Beyond Redemption: The Truth Behind the Raid on Her Majesty’s Prison Blantyre House’ by Eoin Edward McLennan-Murray. Hardcover – 19 Oct. 2023 ↩︎
CAMPAIGNING LAWYER BACKS PRIVATE MEMBERS BILL FOR RESENTENCING TO END SHOCKING IPP SCANDAL
INTRODUCTION
Campaigning Lawyer and CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE Peter Stefanovic, who’s films have been watched hundreds of millions of times online, has posted a new film backing a Private Members’ Bill by the Labour peer Lord Woodley – the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Resentencing) Bill. Stefanovic is calling on the new government to allow a free vote on the bill.
BACKGROUND
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the then New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order. They were put in place to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes. Astonishingly, this sentence has led to some people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone. In one instance 16 years in jail for stealing a flowerpot.
UNLAWFUL
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were, “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”, IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. Yet the measure was not retrospective, and thousands still remain in prison.
Whilst in prison, under the discredited IPP regime, over 90 people serving this sentence have sadly taken their own lives. In 2023 we saw the second year in a row of the highest number of self-inflicted deaths since the IPP sentence was introduced.
Former supreme court justice Lord Brown called IPP sentences: “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. When Michael Gove was Justice Secretary, he recommended, “executive clemency” for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs. But he didn’t act on it. Lord Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating: “I got it wrong.” And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an “egregious miscarriage of justice.” And yet, even when the former Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC who also called them a stain on the justice system, the Conservative Government refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
CAMPAIGNING
Campaign groups and their families have been fighting to end this tragic miscarriage of justice for more than a decade. In addition, films posted online by Peter Stefanovic, a lawyer and CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE have ignited a wider public storm on this tragic miscarriage of justice with over 20 MILLION VIEWS. It is not surprising that the public reaction to his films have been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Stefanovic has said:
“The public support for my films has been overwhelming and the comments they are getting are a testament to the public’s anger, outrage and disbelief at this tragic miscarriage of justice.”
PRIVATE MEMBERS BILL
Now – a fresh attempt will be made to resolve the IPP scandal once and for all in the form of a Private Members’ Bill by the Labour peer Lord Woodley – the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Resentencing) Bill – a bill which Stefanovic is backing. In his latest film Stefanovic included an interview with Lord Woodley in which he asked the Labour peer about the importance of his bill. This was Lord Woolley’s reply:
“We’ve got a right as human beings to try and get things right and that’s why it’s really important that we force the government to take action and resentence these people who have no hope in life whatsoever at the moment..3,000 prisoners, many of whom have served sentences way and beyond anything that would be fair or reasonable, even acceptable to human beings. Let’s help the individuals, their families, they’ve suffered far too much, and I believe it can be put to sleep pretty quickly if common sense appertains here.”
HOPE FOR JUSTICE
Lord Woodley agrees with calls for a free vote on his bill. “It takes the politics out of it, instead of everyone fighting to say we don’t want to be seen to be weak on crime. It’s not about weak, it’s about fairplay fairness, it’s about justice, it’s about treating families and family members with a degree of fairness and that’s why I think a free and open vote will allow people to see the justification in what we are asking for do the right thing” he says passionately.
NEXT STAGE
If Lord Woodley’s Bill becomes law, it will place the Justice Secretary under a legal obligation to ensure that all those serving an IPP sentence – whether in prison or in the community – are retrospectively given a determinate sentence. For the vast majority of IPP prisoners this will result in their swift and more than justified release.
On Friday 15th November, Lord Woodley’s bill passed its second reading and it now goes to committee stage, despite The Lord Timpson OBE DL, Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation saying:
“Legislating to give every IPP prisoner a definite release date and post-release licence, or legislating to provide for a resentencing by court, would result in them being released automatically…either legislative approach would put the public at an unacceptable risk of harm, which the Government is not prepared to countenance.”
With recent reports suggesting there are fewer than 100 places available across the entire prison estate in England and Wales Stefanovic says:
“It’s a no brainer. It will go some way to heading off the medium-term prison capacity crisis and surely now is the time to completely take the politics out of this with a Free vote on the bill. Let’s now get this done – let’s work together to end one of the most shocking, cruel, inhumane and monumental injustices of the past half-century by getting behind and supporting Lord Woodleys bill – before more lives are tragically lost”
3 FILMS HIGHLIGHTING “MONUMENTAL INJUSTICE” OF IPP SENTENCES PASS 20 MILLION VIEWS
Social media sensation Peter Stefanovic – a lawyer, campaigner & CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE is creating a media storm with three films highlighting what he calls “one of the most shocking & monumental injustices of the past half century.” These films have now passed 20 million views.
First IPP film has had 15 million views
Second film 1.3 million views
Third film 4.1 views
Click on each to view and please share with others
Below are typical comments from the public which his films are generating:
“Truly shocking”
“Absolutely horrifying”
“Unbelievable”
“Utterly awful”
“Madness”
“Inconceivable”
“Cruel”
LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE
Stefanovic has recently joined a coalition of 70 criminal justice experts, civil society organisations, leading activists and campaigners in signing an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer MP’s new Labour Government and the Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, Secretary of State for Justice, calling on them to deliver crucial reforms to the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, which has claimed more than 100 lives since 2005 and has become a national scandal.
FILMS HIGHLIGHTING THE IPP SENTENCE
Stefanovic, whose films have been watched hundreds of millions of times, has posted a new video saying:
“I’ve just signed a letter calling on the new Justice Secretary to work at pace to end one of the most shocking, cruel, inhumane, degrading and monumental injustices of the past half-century – IPP sentences – a scandal which has a already claimed the lives of 90 people serving IPP sentences in prison and a further 31 that we know of in the community”
Stefanovic continued:
“I cannot overstate the urgency on this – in June one person serving an IPP sentence – a staggering 12 years over tariff set himself alight, another began his second hunger strike. This insanity has got to end – we must now put a stop to this inhumane and indefensible treatment which has absolutely no place in a modern Britain and political leaders – previously lacking the courage to take action – must now find the courage to do so.”
BACKGROUND
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order. They were put in place to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes.
Astonishingly, this sentence has led to some people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone. Another served 16 years in jail on a three-year IPP tariff for stealing a flower pot at the age of 17.
ABOLISHED BUT NOT RETROSPECTIVELY
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were, “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”, IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. But the measure was not retrospective, and thousands remain in prison.
Former supreme court justice Lord Brown called IPP sentences: “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. When Michael Gove was Justice Secretary, he recommended, “executive clemency” for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs. But he didn’t act on it. Lord Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating: “I got it wrong.” And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an “egregious miscarriage of justice.” Even former Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC has called them a stain on the justice system, despite that, the previous Conservative Government refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS
In a debate in the House of Lords in May Lord Ponsonby – leading for Labour on justice said
“In Government we will work at pace to bring forward an effective action plan that will allow the safe release of IPP prisoners where possible”
In their letter the campaigners “urge the new government to honour its commitment, made in opposition, to “work at pace” to resolve this injustice.
HONOUR THE COMMITMENT…
Stefanovic says “The new government must now honour the commitment it made in opposition and work at pace to end this cruel, inhumane, degrading and most monumental of injustices”
Labour finds its courage as House of Lords tackle decades of injustice in crucial vote on IPP amendments.
Next Tuesday, 21st May, the House of Lords will vote on significant amendments to the Victims & Prisoners Bill, aimed at rectifying one of the most shocking injustices of the past half-century – Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.
BACKGROUND
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order. They were put in place to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes.
Astonishingly, this sentence has led to some people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone.
UNLAWFUL
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were, “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”, IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. But the measure was not retrospective, and as a result, thousands remain in prison.
Let’s not forget that over 90 people serving sentences under the discredited IPP regime have sadly taken their own lives whilst in prison.
In 2023 we saw the second year in a row of the highest number of self-inflicted deaths since the IPP sentence was introduced.
The former supreme court justice Lord Brown called IPP sentences: “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. When Rt Hon Michael Gove MP was justice secretary, he recommended, “executive clemency” for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs. But he didn’t act on his own recommendation. Lord Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating: “I got it wrong.” And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an “egregious miscarriage of justice.” Even the Justice Secretary Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP has also called them a stain on the justice system, despite that, the Government has so far refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Campaign groups and their families have been fighting to end this tragic miscarriage of justice for more than a decade and a film posted online by social media sensation and campaigner Peter Stefanovic, a lawyer and CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE has ignited a wider public storm on this tragic miscarriage of justice and has been viewed a staggering 15 MILLION TIMES. It is not surprising that the public reaction to this film has been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Stefanovic said: “The public support for my film has been overwhelming and the comments it is getting are a testament to the public’s anger, outrage and disbelief at this tragic and monumental miscarriage of justice. Political leaders from both main parties must find the courage to step up and address the tragic injustice of indefinite jail terms”.
HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE
His film was mentioned by Baroness Jones, Lord Moylan and Baroness Fox in the House of Lords debate on March 12. Furthermore, Baroness Fox also cited The Criminal Justice Blog.
HOPE FOR JUSTICE
The House of Lords is set to vote on a series of amendments to the government’s Victims and Prisoners Bill next Tuesday. These amendments are expected to challenge the government, with potential defeats on several fronts.
Of particular significance is the “Simon Brown Memorial Amendment,” named after the late former Supreme Court Justice who condemned IPP as the “greatest single stain on the British Justice system.” This amendment seeks to reverse the Parole Board release test burden, offering hope to IPP prisoners trapped in prolonged incarceration.
LABOUR FINDS IT’S COURAGE
Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has offered much needed hope to IPP prisoners trapped in the nightmare of prolonged incarceration and desperately needed hope for their families. In March 2024, Lord Ponsonby speaking for Labour said this in response to the important “Simon Brown Memorial Amendment”
“The noble Lord, Lord Moylan, in his amendment 161, is effectively reversing the burden of proof for IPP prisoners. He described it as a nudge to the Parole Board and discussed how significant that nudge would be, but it is a welcome nudge, non the less. It has the historic credentials of being supported originally by Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Haywood. It is a welcome amendment”
With Lord Ponsonby having confirmed Labour’s support for the all-important “Simon Brown Memorial Amendment,” which has given so much hope to those serving these sentences and their families. Campaign groups are now calling on the Lib Dems, Green Party, back benchers, Bishops and Tory rebels to join Labour in supporting it. The amendments will be voted on next Tuesday. Let’s hope they all step up and help bring to an end this injustice.
As his video hits 15M views, campaigning Lawyer calls on Political Leaders to find their courage
“Political leaders from both main parties must find the courage to step up and address the tragic injustice of indefinite jail terms” says Lawyer and CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE Peter Stefanovic.
BACKGROUND
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order. They were put in place to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes.
Astonishingly, this sentence has led to some people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone.
UNLAWFUL
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were, “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”, IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. But the measure was not retrospective, and thousands remain in prison.
Over 90 people serving sentences under the discredited IPP regime have sadly taken their own lives whilst in prison. In 2023 we saw the second year in a row of the highest number of self-inflicted deaths since the IPP sentence was introduced.
The former supreme court justice Lord Brown has called IPP sentences: “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. When Rt Hon Michael Gove MP was justice secretary, he recommended, “executive clemency” for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs. But he didn’t act on it. Lord Blunkett, the Labour Home Secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating: “I got it wrong.” And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an “egregious miscarriage of justice.” Even the Justice Secretary Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP has also called them a stain on the justice system, despite that, the Government has so far refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Campaign groups and their families have been fighting to end this tragic miscarriage of justice for more than a decade and now a film posted online by social media sensation and campaigner Peter Stefanovic, a lawyer and CEO of CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE has ignited a wider public storm on this tragic miscarriage of justice and has been viewed a staggering 15 MILLION TIMES. It is not surprising that the public reaction to this film has been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Stefanovic said:
“The public support for my film has been overwhelming and the comments it is getting are a testament to the public’s anger, outrage and disbelief at this tragic miscarriage of justice. If Labour step up and back the amendments supported in the Lords by both Lib Dem and Green Party peers, we can end this tragedy now. It’s time to do what we all know is right before more lives are tragically lost.”
HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE
His film was mentioned by Baroness Jones, Lord Moylan and Baroness Fox in the House of Lords debate on March 12. Furthermore, Baroness Fox also cited The Criminal Justice Blog.
HOPE FOR JUSTICE
The House of Lords is set to vote on a series of amendments to the government’s Victims and Prisoners Bill sometime in May. If Labour join with the Lib Dem and Green Party peers who are already backing them the amendments will pass and an end to this tragic miscarriage of justice quickened
Stefanovic is calling on political leaders from all parties “to find the courage to step up and address the tragic injustice of indefinite jail terms once and for all”
Joe Outlaw, an IPP: In his own words. Part 2: A call to Action.
You may remember back in April 2023 a prisoner staged a 12-hour protest on the roof of Strangeways prison about the injustice of IPP prisoners. His name is Joe Outlaw, 37 years old and with 33 previous convictions. I was sent his story…this is part 2
A call to action
I feel like even though I have given you a lot of information on my life growing up and my opinions on what’s wrong with the IPP crisis, I haven’t really gone into the pains and sorrows of the things that I’ve had to endure. Reasons for this, I would say that it’s deep memories and wounds to revisit. I’m in a place of strength and resilience at the moment and use the support I’ve managed to generate through campaigning. This is what keeps me focused and faithful.
In all honesty, I am so grateful to all making time to show love and fight for justice. Without that I would be truly lost in hopelessness once again.
Three times I’ve had lads, who I have been very close hang themselves. I’ve been on wings were over 20 people who I don’t know have hung themselves. I’ve spent years in segregation witnessing levels of abuse and neglect that you wouldn’t believe. I’ve heard men cry with such loud screams of terror and pain after having boiling oil thrown over them or sugar water. These screams never leave you.
The things I have seen and witnessed stay with me in my dreams and have given me such darkness in my life.
So many people witnessed these things and feel what I feel but hide it all away. We are expected to just deal with it as normal prison life. When the truth is, over time embeds such levels of trauma that ultimately, we begin to slowly get PTSD and some of the violence blood and neglect, it’s not so different from a war zone. Some jails have a better handle than others, but the vast majority all hide the real problems from those who may have an opinion on what’s right or wrong. I’ve been at the depths of my despair countless times, tried to take my own life two times and have cried so many tears that I know cry no more. I’ve lost four family members in four years, all in the same week in December. My dad cancer, my granny heart attack, my sister pneumonia, my cousin brain aneurysm.
This IPP is destroying everyone it touches and people refuse to even try to admit the problems.
The system is broken.
It is not a place of change and rehabilitation; it is a place built on lies and deflection. They are never ever in the wrong, no accountability for anything. People over analyse risk to such levels that you feel lost and hopeless, you are told not to challenge and take responsibility. Yet you read and see reports that you know are lies or mistakes, but your view or input is the one that is always doubted or discredited.
In the end you just give up because the fight for honesty and truth is too much, it is soul destroying.
To go through this process every day, every year, every parole hearing, every single report, course after pointless course which studies have proven make no difference, anyway. Once you really learn about the system, live it, feel it, see its horrors and evil ways, you soon realise that you have no hope or trust in it at all and all you can do is try your best to not let it destroy the good in you.
As the IPP movement grows stronger and stronger, that is my only true hope that I can trust in.
Them people who see what I see and feel what I feel are my only salvation.
People grow and walk many different paths in life, but it is not a person’s mistakes that should define them, but their continued actions afterwards that would truly show one’s character. Please do not be quick to judge, then disregard those solely because they are in prison. Don’t be so naive to follow those who act as though they are perfect in their own actions. There are beautiful people in prison. People who have family and loved ones, people who are really capable of so much potential, but they are made to feel rejected. Hopeless. Trapped in an environment fuelled by drugs and violence.
We see and lose faith in politics on a daily basis, so much corruption and greed.
Lies are spoken by politicians so much that all this does not surprise us anymore. Well, the same lies are spoken when it comes to taking accountability for the prison crisis. There are 1000s of people illegally trapped in our own prisons in the UK, yet because these people made mistakes in life’s journey, society seems not to care. Please try to see clearer, look at what is happening to sons, dads, brothers and mums and so on. They are not so different from anyone else and they do not deserve to be tortured in a broken system for years on end.
Taxpayers pay millions a year for a criminal justice system under the impression that they are keeping people safe, rehabilitating people etc. It’s all a lie. Please believe me. I’ve seen and felt the disgusting treatment for too many years now. People are moulded into files on computers. That is not the person who is actually there, false information listed down until it builds an image of someone that is so off from reality. All totally avoidable.
IPPs are suffering souls that are sadly being destroyed day by day.
Who takes the responsibility for the violence that we see and endure. Who takes the responsibility for the damage and scars on people’s hearts and skin.
Do you all know every jail in the UK has got rid of countless education classes, the decline in courses within the prison system is shocking.
Drones bring drugs and weapons and phones in Windows nightly. I do believe that if you take someone’s life, you should be put in jail for life. Child Killers and women killers, etc should all rot in sorrow for their sins. But for someone who stole a mobile phone? How long should he get? Someone who was a drug addict and burgled a house. How long should they get? We all got 99 years a life sentence. How is that right? I am not evil I am not violent.
I made a mistake and now I’m being killed for that mistake mentally, physically, and emotionally killed.
Do what is right and join the fight to make a change, join the fight to make a difference. I can promise you that if you don’t already know about IPP prisoners, take 10 minutes that’s all, look it up and I have faith the people in this country will see the injustice and do what’s right.
You may think what can I do though, I’m not a politician.?
Doing something is better than doing nothing.
Join the movement to make a change for all the souls that have left this world through IPP, and for all the souls still suffering every day.
Kindness and love,
Joe Outlaw.
Video Igniting Public Storm On IPP Sentencing Scandal Hits 14 Million Views
A video that has been posted online by campaigner, lawyer and the CEO of Campaign for Social Justice Peter Stefanovic has ignited a public storm by bringing the issue of the IPP sentencing scandal to a wide audience.
Now on a staggering 14 million views the following are typical of the comments it is getting,
“Truly shocking”
“Absolutely horrifying”
“Unbelievable”
“Utterly awful”
“Madness”
“inconceivable”
“cruel”
There has been overwhelming public support for this film which has manifested in an online petition signed by thousands which has forced the Government to respond.
Peter Stefanovic, a social media sensation, said:
“The public support for my film has been overwhelming & the comments it is getting are a testament to the public’s anger, outrage & disbelief at this tragic miscarriage of justice. If Labour step up next week and back the amendments supported in the Lords by both Lib Dem and Green Party peers we can end this tragedy now. It’s time to do what we all know is right before more lives are tragically lost”
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order. They were put in place to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes.
Astonishingly, this sentence has led to some people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone.
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were, “arbitrary and therefore unlawful”, IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. But the measure was not retrospective, and thousands remain in prison.
90 people serving sentences under the discredited IPP regime have sadly taken their own lives whilst in prison. In 2023 we saw the second year in a row of the highest number of self-inflicted deaths since the IPP sentence was introduced.
The former supreme court justice Lord Brown has called IPP sentences: “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. When Rt Hon Michael Gove MP was justice secretary, he recommended, “executive clemency” for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs.
But he didn’t act on it.
Lord Blunkett, the Labour home secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating: “I got it wrong.” And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an “egregious miscarriage of justice.” Even the Justice Secretary Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP has also called them a stain on the justice system but the Government has so far refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Campaign groups & their families have been fighting to end this tragic miscarriage of justice for more than a decade and now the film posted online by Peter Stefanovic has ignited a wider public storm on this tragic miscarriage of justice. The public reaction to it his film has been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
HOPE FOR JUSTICE
Hope for justice at last now comes in the form of 2 amendments tabled in the House of Lords to the Victims & Prisoners Bill (161 & 167) by Lord Moylan which are backed by the Lib Dems and Green Party peers, and which have wide cross bench support.
Amendment 167 seeks to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences. Amendment 161 would require the state to demonstrate that a prisoner is still a risk to the public rather than, as at present, requiring the prisoner to prove the opposite. Under the proposed amendment, they would be released unless the Parole Board “is satisfied that it remains necessary and proportionate for the protection of the public from serious harm that they should continue to be confined”.
Amendment is 161 is supported by Lord Blunkett, Baroness Chakrabarti & the former deputy president of the Supreme Court Lord Hope of Craighead. It’s also supported by the Bar Council, representing 17,000 barristers in England and Wales. The outpouring of public support generated by Stefanovic’s video adds further pressure on Keir Starmers Labour to step up and act by backing the amendments tabled by Lord Moylan that are supported by Lib Dem and Green Party peers.
With Labour support this stain on our justice system can finally be ended,
NOW.
The amendments above will be debated in the House of Lords on 12 March.
Let’s not wait for an ITV drama to do the right thing.
Let’s not sit by whilst more tragically lose their lives. We must act now & we must act URGENTLY.
As IPP film hits 13 million views new figures scupper Government argument against resentencing.
IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the New Labour government with the Criminal Justice Act 2003, as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order. They were put in place to detain indefinitely serious offenders who were perceived to be a risk to the public. However, they were also used against offenders who had committed low-level crimes.
Astonishingly, this sentence has led to some people spending 18 years in jail for trying to steal a coat or imprisoned for 11 years for stealing a mobile phone.
In 2012, after widespread condemnation and a ruling by the European court of human rights that such sentences were,
“arbitrary and therefore unlawful”,
IPP terms were abolished by the Conservative government. But the measure was not retrospective, and thousands remain in prison. Sadly, many have taken their own lives.
The former supreme court justice Lord Brown has called IPP sentences:
“the greatest single stain on the justice system”.
When Rt Hon Michael Gove MP was justice secretary, he recommended,
“executive clemency”
for IPP prisoners who had served terms much longer than their tariffs. But he didn’t act on it. Lord Blunkett, the Labour home secretary who introduced the sentences, regrets them, stating:
“I got it wrong.”
And more recently, Dr Alice Edwards, the UN rapporteur for torture has called IPP sentences an
“egregious miscarriage of justice.”
Even the Justice Secretary Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP has also called them a stain on the justice system but the Government has so far refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
Campaign groups & their families have been fighting to end this tragic miscarriage of justice for more than a decade and now a film posted online by media sensation and CEO of Campaign for Social Justice Peter Stefanovic has ignited a storm by bringing the issue to wider public attention. It has already had over 13 million views online and the public’s reaction to it has been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
Despite calls from parliament’s own Justice Select Committee – which said the sentence was “irredeemably flawed” and had caused “acute harm” to those serving them – the government has resisted calls to resentence remaining IPP prisoners, citing concerns for public safety.
But new figures obtained by SKY News through a Freedom of Information (FOI) appear to scupper the Government’s argument against resentencing. The request shows only 83 IPP prisoners who have been released since 2012 have been convicted of a serious further offence (SFO) upon or after their release, including those who may have been released, recalled back to custody and rereleased.
The figure represents just 1.7% of the 4,776 IPP prisoners who have been released since the sentence was abolished, although the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said this does not account for those who have been recalled back into custody. The new figures appear to make a mockery of the government’s argument against implementing the primary recommendation of parliament’s own Justice Select Committee for re-sentencing those serving IPP sentences.
The Labour Party is still to clarify its position on this issue.
However, in a letter written by Kevin Brennan MP- now Shadow Minister for Victims and Sentencing and sent to the then Secretary of State for Justice, The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP in March 2023 he outlines a meeting with Bernadette Emerson, a constituent of his, concerning her husband in prison under an IPP sentence. In the third paragraph, Kevin Brennan MP stated,
“It was the correct thing to do when the government abolished these sentences in 2012”, but as you will be aware there is a terrible legacy issue of injustice for those who are effectively serving a life sentence despite having been convicted of a crime that carried a fairly low tariff”.
Mr Brennan MP continued his letter:
“I know that the former Home Secretary Lord Blunkett who originally introduced the idea via the Criminal Justice Act in 2003 has accepted that the implementation of this has not worked as envisaged. I do understand concerns about a small number of prisoners subject to these sentences for whom there is genuine concern about reoffending, but this political imperative should not be used to incarcerate individuals in the criminal Justice system who have not reoffended and whose problems stem from mental health issues.”
Mr Brennan MP goes on to ask the question,
“What consideration has been given to retrospectively removing these sentences for those convicted prior to 2012?”
What Mr Brennan MP says is both welcome and not surprising given this tragic miscarriage of justice has sadly already taken many lives.
But the position of the Labour Party on this egregious miscarriage of justice is now in question.
On 6th December, during the second reading in the House of Commons of the Victims and Sentencing Bill, Chair of the Justice Committee, Conservative MP Sir Bob Neill, proposed “new clause 1” which would add a resentencing exercise to the Bill in line with the Justice Committees long standing recommendation. Sir Neill’s proposed amendment would help to end this accepted miscarriage of justice.
However, Kevin Brennan MP, surprisingly, given his letter just a few months earlier, opposed the idea, saying:
“Unfortunately, given the impact of the Government’s effective destruction of the criminal justice system, we lack the infrastructure and resources to keep the public safe, should his new clause be implemented immediately. Our priority is, and always must be, the safety of the British public. We are concerned that if new clause 1 were enacted without provisioning for significant improvements in probation and parole, we would potentially significantly increase the risk to the public and to the prisoners themselves.”
However, the new data now obtained by SKY News will add pressure on Labour to get behind the Justice Committee recommendation for resentencing.
HOPE FOR JUSTICE
Hope for justice at last now comes in the form of 2 amendments tabled in the House of Lords to the Victims & Prisoners Bill (161 & 167) by Lord Moylan which are backed by the Lib Dems and Green Party peers, and which have wide cross bench support.
Amendment 167 seeks to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences.
Amendment 161 would require the state to demonstrate that a prisoner is still a risk to the public rather than, as at present, requiring the prisoner to prove the opposite.
Under the proposed amendment, they would be released unless the Parole Board “is satisfied that it remains necessary and proportionate for the protection of the public from serious harm that they should continue to be confined”.
Amendment is 161 is supported by Lord Blunkett, Baroness Chakrabarti & the former deputy president of the Supreme Court Lord Hope of Craighead. It’s also supported by the Bar Council, representing 17,000 barristers in England and Wales.
This is finally a real opportunity to put right an egregious miscarriage of justice. But for the amendments, backed by both Lib Dem & Green Party peers (as well as many cross benchers) to succeed, Labour front bench support will be needed. Hopefully the new data obtained by SKY News will embolden Labour to do the right thing.
The question now is whether Keir Starmers Labour party will step up for justice or will we have to wait for ITV to produce another compelling drama series like Mr Bates vs The Post Office?
The Criminal Justice Blog 