‘End the misery’: Mum’s fears her son will be sent back to jail for stealing a phone 20 years ago

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In 2005, an 18-year-old Shaun Lloyd pushed somebody to the flooring and stole their cellular phone. After he was chased by the sufferer, he handed it back and apologised.

But nearly 20 years later he might be hauled back to jail for the fourth time for the crime after he was handed a controversial indefinite jail time period known as an imprisonment for public safety (IPP) sentence.

When he was first jailed he was given a two-and-a-half-year sentence, however he has now served greater than 10 years and has been recalled to jail 3 times below the merciless sentence due to a drug habit.

Now his mum, IPP campaigner Shirley Debono, has revealed she fears for her son’s life if he’s recalled but once more, begging the authorities: “Please end our misery.”

The sentences, which have a minimal size however no launch date, have been scrapped in 2012 amid human rights issues – two years earlier than Mr Lloyd was first launched after serving eight years for the theft.

But his sentence was not over, and he has been hauled back to jail 3 times, in 2016, 2018 and once more in 2020 – every time serving round a yr extra. Those sentenced below IPP are solely launched below a 99-year probation interval, which additionally consists of 10 years of strict calls for.

While Mr Lloyd has been charged with no additional offences, merely having an habit is sufficient to ship him back to jail, the very place the place he picked up the dependency.

The ordeal confronted by these given IPP sentences is highlighted by a landmark examine that exhibits that greater than half of such inmates are repeatedly hauled back inside, wrecking their psychological well being and rising their danger of suicide.

Mr Lloyd’s mom, who co-founded marketing campaign group IPP Committee in Action, has known as for the authorities to finish her household’s 18-year distress and perform a resentencing train for IPP prisoners.

She instructed The Independent: “Please, please put us out of our misery and resentence them. We are living in hell. We are living under a black cloud. End the misery.

“My son he said he can’t do more prison time. He said if he’s recalled again ‘I am coming out in a bag … I am not going to prison again for not committing a crime.’ So that’s frightening to think about. I just don’t want any more prison – it’s not fair and it’s not right.”

Her calls come as a nationwide survey of 111 folks serving IPPs revealed that greater than half have been recalled to jail greater than as soon as – with two-thirds claiming they obtained “poor” or “very poor” help upon their launch.

The examine, carried out by legal justice charity User Voice, additionally discovered that greater than half of these surveyed had been identified or self-diagnosed as neurodiverse, whereas 39 per cent live with a incapacity.

Three in 4 surveyed didn’t really feel their most up-to-date recall was honest, with some reporting that they have been returned to jail primarily based on “hearsay” with none proof – or for merely lacking a probation appointment.

Meanwhile nearly 90 per cent mentioned recall had had a devastating affect on them and their households – with many reporting signs of psychological well being deterioration, together with insomnia, anxiousness, despair, and in some circumstances self-harm or suicidal ideas.

For Ms Debono, from Cardiff, the toll of her son’s sentence and repeated remembers has been extreme as she has struggled with stress.

“Every few years, Shaun is recalled back to prison, just as he gets to the two-year point,” she mentioned. “It’s costing £40,000 a year to keep one prisoner when they could go to rehab and get themselves clean and have all the aftercare and help for that money.

“He most recently came out in October – it’s hard because he’s walking on eggshells. We are worried he will relapse and he will be recalled.”

In 2022, parliament’s cross-party justice committee urged the authorities to perform a resentencing train – however the authorities has to this point refused, regardless of hovering charges of suicide and self-harm amongst IPP prisoners.

However, justice secretary Alex Chalk final yr pledged to change the prolonged 10-year licence circumstances with a Parole Board licence evaluation after simply three years. Even if the board decides not to terminate the licence, it will mechanically expire after a additional two years, so long as the offender shouldn’t be recalled to jail.

But for Ms Debono, the reforms don’t go far sufficient. She added: “It’s got to be resentencing – end of. Resentencing is the only thing that’s going to solve this problem. Anything below that is not working.

“It’s not going to help Shaun, because he’s recalled every two years. It isn’t going to help Shaun, and it isn’t going to help those who have never been released.

“Why are they recalling people who haven’t committed a crime? They are putting people back in prison and they are coming out worse, with worse mental health.”

Simon Boddis, the chief govt of User Voice, mentioned their survey had discovered people languishing in prolonged sentences, their psychological well being deteriorating, with little apparent hope of getting their lives back on observe.

“There is an almost universal view that IPP sentences are unfair, have been misused, and are counter to any form of natural justice,” he mentioned.

“Our report highlights directly the effects on individuals, and sadly reflects a failure of the whole system to deal with a policy that even its architect has disowned,” he mentioned, referring to former residence secretary David Blunkett.

“To quote Lord Blunkett in his 2021 evidence to the justice committee: ‘I got this wrong.’ The failure and personal cost is highlighted in the voices of those serving such sentences, and an inability to grasp the issue is a stain on our justice system.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson added: “We have reduced the number of unreleased IPP prisoners by three-quarters since we scrapped the sentence in 2012, with a 12 per cent fall in the last year alone where the Parole Board deemed prisoners safe to release.

“We have also taken decisive action to curtail licence periods and continue to help those still in custody to progress towards release, including improving access to rehabilitation programmes and mental health support.”