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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”
CAMPAIGNING LAWYER CALLS ON PRIME MINISTER TO END SHOCKING IPP SCANDAL
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, this time calling on the Prime Minister Keir Starmer to end the IPP scandal by backing a Private Members’ Bill by Labour peer Lord Woodley – the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Resentencing) Bill. Stefanovic has also called on the government to allow a free vote on this bill.
BACKGROUND
Some background information:
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. These sentences were established 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. As the measure was not retrospective, 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. This cannot be ignored.
Lord Brown, former supreme court justice 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 far 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 Conservative Government refused to implement the Justice Committees recommendation to re-sentence all prisoners subject to IPP sentences and the Labour government has so far similarly refused to engage in a resentencing exercise for those subject to IPP’s.
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 films posted online by social media sensation and campaigner Peter Stefanovic have ignited a wider public storm on this tragic miscarriage of justice.
You can watch Stefanovic’s latest film here; https://x.com/peterstefanovi2/status/1927420211331772461?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 – 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”
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.
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.
To end the injustice faced by those serving IPP sentences the House of Commons Justice Select Committee has recommended a resentencing exercise take place, overseen by a panel of experts, for everyone still serving these sentences as the only way to address the unique injustice caused by the IPP sentence – but the Labour government has so far refused to engage with a such an exercise with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood telling MPs:
“We are not considering a resentencing exercise for IPP prisoners because that would automatically release a number of people who we do not believe would be safe to release”
However, as Stefanovic points out in his latest film
“the resentencing exercise recommended by the House of Commons Justice Select Committee would be overseen by a panel of experts who would explore how resentencing could happen in a timely way but one that would NOT jeopardise public protection – so it doesn’t mean immediate & automatic release as the Justice Secretary wrongly suggests”
Campaigners have recently hit out at the “short-sighted” decision not to include prisoners on indefinite sentences in the plans announced last week to reduce the prison population.
SENTENCING REVIEW
On Thursday 22nd May, the government 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.
Not included in the scheme are prisoners serving IPP sentences. With Government Ministers saying they have inherited a prison system “on verge of collapse” Stefanovic says this is “nonsensical”. He concludes his latest film with strong words:
“So for heavens sake (Prime Minister) get behind Lord Woodley’s bill – If our prisons are at breaking point why on earth are prisoners given a 12 month sentence still there 19 years later whilst others are released early, it’s completely non sensical – almost three thousand people serving IPP sentences from behind bars is the equivalent to the population of four medium-sized men’s prisons, resentencing them will not only end once and for all one of the most cruel and monumental injustices of the past half century it will also head off the medium-term prison capacity crisis at the same time…the simple fact is that by refusing to engage in the resentencing exercise recommended by the House of Commons Justice Select Committee the Labour government is now 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 U N 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 – this has got to end, so please prime minister – end this appalling injustice once and for all by getting behind and supporting Lord Woodleys bill – please don’t wait for the next ITV drama to do the right thing”
The boy in the cowboy outfit – my tribute to Erwin James 1957 – 2024
Many have seen the small black and white photo of a young boy in his favourite play outfit, an image that was etched in the memories of a once happy young boy.
But circumstances and a grief-stricken father destroyed all chances of returning to that happy place for Erwin. At the age of seven, with the loss of his mother in a car accident and his father turning to drink, put Erwin on a pathway he never thought imaginable.
Sent from pillar to post, never settled anywhere for very long, his childhood was abruptly curtailed.
His life cascaded from petty thieving to the care system and from homelessness and drunkenness to serious crime.
Wanted for murder he fled the country and joined the French Foreign Legion. Attracted by a sense of belonging and a new disciplined lifestyle was then to encompass him.
But it was short lived.
Two years later Erwin was sent back to England to face a trial with his co-defendant which resulted in a life sentence for the murder of two men. Straight to prison, a daunting prospect but he was relieved that the life he had been living was over.
“Big Jim” as he was referred to, began a new journey with the help from a psychologist, a lady called Joan, who encouraged him to get an education. There were hurdles to climb but Joan’s words “you owe it to your victims to be the best you can be with the life you have left” propelled him to passing his first exam in English.
As a natural writer, his skills initially helped to compose letters for his fellow inmates.
After many years in prison Erwin was asked by the Guardian to be a regular columnist. His stories of life on the wings became so popular that these articles were published in his first book “A life inside”.
On release, Erwin became a sought-after speaker at book festivals, events and academic conferences, and that is where I first met him, at Cambridge University. By that time, he had published his third book ‘Redeemable: A Memoir of Darkness and Hope’ and had become the editor in chief of the Inside Time newspaper, his dream job.
He loved writing and he passed on his passion to so many including myself. I can still hear his voice in my head,
“Narrative, Description and Dialogue”
Three years ago, Erwin sent me a draft copy of an insightful article he was writing and asked what I thought. It was a refreshing change as I was usually the one seeking his opinion on work. He wrote:
“I’d been adrift on my own sea of time for so long, living the same day over and over for weeks, months and years – trying to endure the psychology of just ‘doing time’ – amidst an environment awash with death, self-harm, violence and human corrosion. Like many long termers I never really knew where the prison journey was going to take me, or if I’d ever make it. But twenty years to the day, I walked out of those prison gates a better man because of books.”
Believing in prison reform but never saw himself as a prison reformer yet advocating for prison education at every opportunity. He had many roles over the years encouraging the Arts within the justice sector.
I had the opportunity to interview Erwin in The National Portrait Gallery, London where I wanted to introduce art as our common ground alongside prison reform. I pointed to a painting of a man with his books commenting on whether he was showing himself as an educated man, Erwin immediately responded:
“Books for the educated people? No. Books are for everyone, to me Faith books are a great leveller. If you can read, you can be King”
When the interview was published, he wrote this:
“I’ve known and admired Faith for a number of years. We haven’t always agreed on prison reform issues, but I’ve always respected her integrity, which shines in her writing, her passionate crusade for a more humane and effective prison system – and above all her indomitable spirit. I’m just glad we’re on the same side.”
Under the surface there was always the inward battle of feeling undeserved of any praise for himself or any of his writings. I believe this inner turmoil was always there ready to bubble up to the surface.
His death, so sudden sent shock waves through the prison community, his many friends, colleagues and acquaintances. He will be missed.
May his legacy remain, that education in prison will continue to greatly enrich all those that are given the opportunity to participate in the future.
Erwin James died on 19th January 2024, today marks the 1st Anniversary of his death.
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?
Is the IPP Prisoner scandal the next Mr. Bates vs the Post office?
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, the 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 FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
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 campaigning lawyer 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 12 million views online and the public’s reaction to it has been one of shock, outrage, and disbelief.
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.”
So where does Labour stand?
Surely the Labour Party can’t possibly be suggesting that “given the impact of the Government’s effective destruction of the criminal justice system” it plans to continue and perpetrate a gross miscarriage of justice? Was Mr Brennan perhaps referencing in December only the “small number of prisoners subject to these sentences for whom there is genuine concern about reoffending.”
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 proposed amendment also appears to allay any concerns previously expressed by the Labour Party front bench.
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.
The question now is whether Keir Starmers Labour party will step up for justice and do the right thing or will we have to wait for ITV to produce another compelling drama series like Mr Bates vs The Post Office?
Joe Outlaw, an IPP: In his own words, part 1.
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 his story, in his own words
My story began in Bradford, Sunny West Yorkshire, and one of two children. The other being my sister Jill. At the start was a typical council estate life in the late 1980s. My Mom tried her best to bring us up as well as she could, but was cursed sadly by manic depression, what they now call bipolar. But this was not a fashion statement back then, it was dangerous and scary to witness. My Father was a gypsy from Hungary who never honoured his responsibilities as a father. Instead choosing to do a David Copperfield and disappear.
My sister was seven years older than me and would soon become my mum to be. By age three social services were involved and after one of my mom’s manic episodes, it was too dangerous for them to risk leaving us there. We were both placed on a full care order, which would cave the path years of painful memories I wish I could erase. Thankfully, they kept and Jill together in a wide range of foster parent, children’s homes and respite carers. Jill tried her best and I’m grateful for all the love she gave despite having to deal with her own sorrow as a young woman.
By the time she was 18 she had to leave me and that’s when I went off the rails. Constantly running away, and naively feeling more secure on the streets.
This stage of teenage growth embedded criminal dynamics to my survival and behaviour.
By fourteen social services basically gave up on me and I tell no lies when I say I was put in a B&B to live by myself, and no homes would take me. I was on a full care order until eighteen. Yet they lacked the support, guidance and interventions to raise me as expected. This happen twice, once in Shipley, West Yorkshire, and once in Wales at fifteen.
My criminality and reckless actions would continue for years.
I will say though, I was never a violent young offender. It was always nicking cars, motorbikes stealing etc. More a thief then a robber. I never sadly did manage to become rooted. I was always galivanting around the country, place to place. From twelve to nineteen life was an adventure, me a tent and a dog. Somehow, I always managed to pick up a stray for somewhere. I’ve always found animals and nature amazing. As a child I would find comfort and solace in beings alone in woods or on beaches. Just me and the pooch pondering life and all its confusions.
Well at age nineteen as destined, I get my first bit of proper jail.
Someone passed me an air rifle at a bus stop in the sticks in north Wales, and as he passed it to me, I generally shot him in the foot by mistake. I just grabbed the gun and the trigger was so sensitive, it popped and went off. I got three and a half years for that. But when I think back, I can barely remember it, it was just a life being in a children’s home, but I couldn’t run away and people were older, strange eh! Well to jump forward some years, by 23 I found love while I was travelling yet again. And for the first time in my life rooted in western-super-mare.
Despite being rooted my lifetime habits of survival were too deeply set.
To survive I sold weed, wheeling and dealing etc. and one night I was late in and my girlfriend at the time was arguing with me saying she was sick of me having my phone going off all the time, coming in late etc. She would take Valium on a night to sleep and said for me to take some and wind down, but I didn’t take any drugs like that back then. I had gone through all drug phases from young, except crack and heroin and by that time all I did was smoke weed. Well after some arguing, I just wanted to shut her up frankly, and I took three little blue tablets off her. Now little did I know that among the criminal knowledge, Valium are called Little Blue charge sheets, referring to their colour being blue, and the fact that people with criminal tendencies either wake up in cells, hence the charge sheet reference or they wake up surrounded by phones, money etc and not to have a clue how it all got there or what they had been up to obtain said items.
Needless to say, this inadvertently would be the little blue charge sheet that changed my life forever.
I do not remember a single thing of what I’m about to tell you and this is only what people have told me and information from statements etc. I took the tablets and drank some Southern Comfort, passed out, woke up and demanded more valium off my girlfriend. Once taken three more I then left the flat and went to a party. Where I stole a shotgun and shells, and then went into my local takeaway, where I went to every day by the way, and held it up at gunpoint. I left after being in this 60 seconds, and now rich with a grand sum of 200 pounds. Which by the way I would earn that in two hours selling weed etc. By the morning the police had come into my flat and arrested me. I woke up dazed and confused with a hangover from hell and realised I was in a police station. I had no idea how I had got there or why I was there. I got on the bell and ask them, and then I was told, I quote, you were brought in for armed robbery. I had no need to do what I did that night.
I cannot tell you why or what I did it for because I’ve been asking myself that for many years now.
I’m just glad I never hurt anyone that night. I’m trying to write to the shopkeeper through probation to ask for his forgiveness and do what I can to apologise. Any trauma I might have caused that night. Sadly, by the time I realised I needed to do this. It was too late. I was given an 18-year sentence for that on a guilty plea. So, the judge would have given me around 25 years for that. It was a determinate sentence without my guilty credit taken off. However, I was to become an IPP prisoner, so the 18 years would be halved, and a tariff would be put on it. I did appeal and got this taken to a 4½ year sentence. So, all I would have to do is keep my head down, do some courses and take the rehabilitation offered. I’d be out in four and a half, right?
I was like a lamb to the slaughter. Little did I know then the world of hate, pain, violence, despair, I will be thrown into.
On reflection now, it’s actually quite hard for me to put into words how I got to the place I’m at now physically and mentally. It’s not isolated to one place of fault or blame, there is so many different factors that contribute to the IPP crisis that I see today. Also, everyone is different, some can endure more than others. But the one thing that I am certain of is that it is the repetition of trauma that is most damaging. Trauma is trauma, we go through it and depending on what level of trauma one endures it’s about being able to deal with that, having the time, help, support and space to do so and heal.
The problem with the IPP is that every single thing needed to go through the healing process is not accessible and furthermore, over time we go through it again and again until we become a product of the environment, we can’t escape.
This trauma then becomes torture and the strangest thing of all is the people who create or enforce this way of life then take no responsibility for doing so. When a broken man sits in front of them they blame the man for indeed breaking.
Due to government cuts on prison staff, education, etc. wings are flooded with drugs, kilos coming in on drones on a nightly basis. An addict then comes to prison. But little does he know that he’s just swapping one drug house for another. And in this drug house, drugs are cheaper, and he hasn’t got to go shoplifting to get money to use. Then when he has a piss test, he is punished for using drugs. The prisoner estate covers everything up, they will portray that yeah, there is the problem, there always will be, but we’re working on it. When the truth is the whole system is burning with flame from hell, they have an obligation to provide criminals with drug free environments to progress, yet they will punish an addict for using drugs when it is the prison who has served it to them on a plate. It’s like telling an alcoholic not to drink but making him live and sleep in a bar. I’m sorry I’m digressing somewhat though. There is just so many systematic failures that contribute to the prison crisis that we live and see today.
As a normal prisoner, it is hard enough like I said at the start, but as an IPP is a soul-destroying environment to live in. Using a similar comparison as a drug addict, as IPPs we were told that under no circumstances can we get involved in violence. This is a big no no, yet the wings are some of the most violent places you have ever seen.
Do not let anyone fool you.
I have lived it and seen it for too long now. The things that I have witnessed are truly things of horror films. To be able to navigate yourself through this for years is so difficult. The social dynamics on wings is not the same as in the community. If faced with any confrontation, you only have three choices.
1. You submit and hope for the best, but now you are weak among your peers.
2. You stand your ground which can result in death or being slashed or stabbed.
3. Which is what the prison would expect you to do, go to staff and tell them. Now you’re a snitch and a target from everyone.
They are the only choice you have in an environment that is ever growing more violent and dangerous by the minute. I fear to see how things will be in years to come.
We as IPPs are put in impossible positions and as the years go by, the worse it gets.
And the more trauma we endure again and again. That in my opinion, is why so many IPPs now are suffering with PTSD, drug abuse, personality disorders, etc. The system has destroyed them and will continue to do so until people push for change.
There is only one resolution in my opinion, and that the Justice select committee had its spot on. Government needs to face facts and, on some level, admit what everyone else seems to know and that is that the system failed to rehabilitate them in the start, failed to rehabilitate during, and is failing to do so now 10 years after the abolition.
To the ones who remain that are sinking deeper and into hopelessness, freedom is indeed the only Saviour now.
I myself have luckily not let it beat me to the point of insanity or death, although some may disagree.
I decided to take a stand when it matters, when Dominic Raab knocked back the resentencing proposals.
Instead of letting it break me any further,
I commenced a roof top protest in Manchester that went viral on most social platforms.
It was costly to my so-called progression, but it was a sacrifice I had to take.
For too long government have ignored or covered up the injustice of the IPP, so many agreeing with how wrong it was and how it should never have happened yet taking no action themselves to bring change. Cheap words is all.
Well, I took the choice to shine a light on it and not let them hide.
I did a 12-hour protest for not only myself and all those still on IPP, but for all them families of the 81 lost souls.
All them must be held accountable who contributed to the failures that led to them poor people taking them lives. Even if it is for 12 hours, the support and love that I have received since then, has been overwhelming, at times truly beautiful.
Well after that I was sent to HMP Frankland, where their intention to punish me for my activism was made clear by the foul things they did to me in that segregation. They refused to give me my special NHS diet that I had had for over four years due to my health, starved me, then one day while moving me cell, jumped on me and began assaulting me. I was stripped naked and placed in a box cell for hours on end. Right there and then, I decided, I was not going to take been treated this way. Days later I went out on the yard and managed to scale the wall. I then use a CCTV camera to break the cage roof and escape the seg, becoming the only man to ever escape a cat A segregation in the UK.
I then got my own back for the weeks of bully boy treatment and abuse by smashing the place to pieces. Then having a nice sunbathe in my boxers. This made the papers again, so now in eight weeks I’ve scaled 2 roofs and I’ve been in the press in countless papers. For this level of exposure,
I have now been sent to HMP Belmarsh unit segregation, where I stay totally isolated from everyone.
I get what I have done embarrass the prison state, but some would say it was a long time coming. I stand up for what I believe in and I know my values and principles. I should be proud of decency, respect, honesty, loyalty, humility, and dignity. It is the system that lacks in these principles, not me. In 13 years I have not once assaulted a member of staff yet I’ve been battered, stabbed, had my nose broken, lit split, teeth knocked out and that is just the physical abuse. Yet despite all this I shall keep my resolve.
My life now consists of exercise with four screws, a dog unit and I’m handcuffed and made to wear flip flops. Anyone would think I’m Bruce Lee. Some would say justified I’ll leave that up to you.
Since being here I’ve been subjected to over 170 full body strip searches in 14 weeks, sometimes four or more a day for three months. I was told all my visit rights had been stopped. Thankfully, they developed a change of heart and I now get visits. When will they let me back on the wings. I don’t know how long until I see a person’s face in this place that’s not a staff member, I also don’t know.
What I do know is that try as they might, my spirit will not be broken.
There is a movement out there that I am part of which gives me such strength and resolve. The other day I heard a man’s voice that I’ve never met being played to me down the phone by my girlfriend. This man spoke in a demo outside the prison about my story and all the IPPs, I love that, I felt through that voice I’ve never felt better. I was instantly elevated and overwhelmed. I used to feel lost, I used to feel lonely.
But now while I sit in the most lonely, isolated part of a prison system I am loved, I am supported, and I am strong.
But there are many, many more that sadly are not and for them I hope they find strength.
Kindness and love always.
Joe outlaw
The Criminal Justice Blog 