A father trapped under an abolished indefinite jail term has made six attempts on his own life after serving 25 times longer than his original sentence, The Independent can reveal. James Lawrence was handed a discredited imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail sentence with an 8-month minimum term in 2006 for threatening someone with a starting pistol.
Then aged 20, he told the court he was carrying the imitation gun for protection after nearly losing his life in a stabbing in the same part of Southampton the year before. Now 38, he is believed to be one of Britain’s longest over-tariff IPP prisoners, having spent nearly 18 years in custody.
But The Independent has learned Labour is to turn its back on him – and almost 3,000 other IPP prisoners still languishing in cells – by rejecting a review of indefinite jail terms. IPP prisoner James Lawrence has served almost 18 years for what was an 8-month jail term (Mandy Lawrence). IPP sentences were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns, but not for those already detained.
“In his time, he’s seen murderers come in and murderers go home,” James’s heartbroken mother Mandy Lawrence told The Independent. It’s tormenting for his family, let alone him. I keep thinking, will I see him properly before I die? I was in my forties when he went in there and now, I’m in my sixties. It’s heart-wrenching, to be honest.”
At the time of his sentence, less time already served on remand, Mr Lawrence needed to spend another four months and 14 days in prison before completing his eight-month minimum tariff. He was also handed a 10-month concurrent sentence for assault in a separate drunken pub fight, which has long since expired.
A growing number of campaigners – including Lord Blunkett, who was home secretary at the time IPPs were introduced – have called for them to go, while families say it will be “unforgivable” if they refuse.
The Independent understands from Ministry of Justice sources that resentencing is not being considered as a result of concerns over a number of dangerous prisoners being released. However, Labour peer Lord Woodley, who earlier this month tabled a bill for all IPP prisoners to be resentenced, insists there is “everything to play for”.
“Ministers are not yet on the same page when it comes to the resentencing exercise my private member’s bill is proposing,” he told this publication. “But they share my determination to end the scandal of the IPP sentence once and for all. So there is everything to play for.”
He said Mr Lawrence’s case was “shocking” and hopes his bill will help get him and similar inmates out of prison. Of 2,734 IPP prisoners still inside, more than 700 have served more than 10 years longer than their minimum tariff.
These include a string of injustices highlighted by The Independent such as those of Thomas White, who set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, and Abdullahi Suleman, who has spent 19 years behind bars for a laptop robbery. At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives in prison as they lose hope of release.
