Britain’s former top judge tells Starmer: End scandal of cruel indefinite jail terms
A former chief judge has called on Sir Keir Starmer to end the cruel indefinite prison sentence scandal, accusing ministers of ignoring the “urgency of the situation” as scores of prisoners languish in prisons without hope of release.
Comparing the plight of those sentenced to prison for public protection (IPP) to the Post Office and infected blood scandals, Lord John Thomas argued that “it is time for the state to admit a mistake was made” and called on ministers to “bring justice to those who were not finally released”.
Deemed “psychological torture” by the UN, IPP sentences were annulled in 2012, but not retroactively; Nearly 2,500 currently incarcerated inmates remain incarcerated with no release date because the government continues to refuse to resent them.
At least 94 people committed suicide after losing hope of being released from prison.
Victims of the scandal whose tragic cases stand out IndependentThey include Leroy Douglas, who spent almost 20 years in prison for stealing a cell phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself on fire in his cell and served 13 years in prison for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleiman, 41, who remains in prison 19 years after he was imprisoned for laptop robbery.
Lord Thomas, one of the opposing judges, last month proposed an amendment to the Sentencing Bill calling for IPP prisoners to be given a release date within two years of their next parole hearing, but the amendment was rejected by the government this week.
That proposal came alongside another defeated amendment submitted by the Conservative government’s former attorney general, Edward Garnier KC, which called for a panel of judges to reassess the plight of every prisoner sentenced to indefinite prison.
Now, this is why I write IndependentLord Thomas argued that IPP sentences left some prisoners facing “extraordinary” sentences that were completely disproportionate to the crime they had committed.
“It is now widely accepted that the IPP’s sentence was wrong in principle. So how can we as a nation rightfully continue to imprison people with such a sentence?”
“There is no answer to this question other than the government’s policy is unjust,” he wrote.
Lord Thomas continued: “The psychiatric evidence is clear that if we imprison someone for an indefinite period of time for a not-so-serious offence, we are likely to harm them.
“People sentenced to IPP face increased risk because their detention is unfair and they have lost all hope. It is time for the state to admit that a mistake was made.
“If we can get justice in the terrible cases at the post office and the infected blood scandal, we can do it here too.”
Lord Timpson has been at the forefront of reform efforts in the new government and is understood to have championed many of the changes outlined by Lord Thomas in his mission for change.
While in opposition Mr Lammy was sympathetic to change, he was reluctant to embrace the changes he had once advocated.
Independent He understands that heated exchanges are taking place at the top of the government and that the debate centers on possible public disdain for the release of prisoners and compassion for not imprisoning people and not throwing away the key.
Lord Thomas’ words came a few days later Independent The plight of 233 prisoners serving indefinite sentences was reported, who in many cases were transferred to secure mental health units because the hopeless nature of imprisonment had left them deeply wounded.
Meanwhile, a senior doctor treating IPP prisoners said more lives would be taken into custody unless the government took action to end the scandal.
Calling on ministers to take urgent action, Lord Thomas said: “2026 must be the year we finally address this long-standing injustice.
“This should not be a year in which our government leaves the IPP stain on our world-famous justice system and shows that as a country we cannot pass the infallible test of any civilization.”
Independent In September he announced that the United Nations would investigate whether Britain had breached human rights law by arbitrarily detaining prisoners serving IPP sentences.
Campaigners and their legal team lodged a significant complaint on behalf of five men who have been jailed for a total of 84 years under IPP sentences, including minor offences.
The case, submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in September 2025, includes a bombshell letter from justice minister David Lammy proving that imprisonment was a “serious injustice” causing “simply horrific” mental trauma.
The letter, written in 2021 when he was shadow justice minister, said the application of the custodial sentence was “tragically flawed” and added: “It is now painfully clear that the IPP sentence is too broad and that many low-risk offenders are serving IPP sentences today for minor offenses they have committed in the past.”
Meanwhile, the senior judges who imposed the prison sentence also expressed regret for their part in the “injustice”.
Former High Court judge Sir John Saunders has said he will apologize to criminals he sentenced to prison for public protection (IPP); these sentences were annulled in 2012, but not retroactively, leaving thousands of people currently incarcerated with no release date.
The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.
