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Trapped: The IPP Prisoner Scandal

Trapped: The IPP Prisoner Scandal

By: The Institute of Now
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Podcast series charting the #IPP prisoner scandal. Listen on #Acast #ApplePodcasts #Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.


Today there are over 2,500 people trapped in British prisons on the now abolished indeterminate IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentence, many for minor crimes like stealing a mobile phone. None of them know when they are getting out, or whether their IPP sentence could mean life in prison. To date, 95 IPP serving prisoners, with a lack of certainty and losing hope, have taken their own lives. The IPP has been called a ‘stain on the British justice system’, ‘psychological torture’ and 'state sponsored torture'. But many people have never heard of it…


In this ‘tragically brilliant’ and hard hitting multi-part podcast series, the investigative reporter Sam Asumadu and Roddy Russell, whose brother Robert is serving an IPP sentence, are digging deep into the plight of prisoners serving IPPs, and their families, to find out what has gone wrong with this sentence and to shine a light into the dark corners of the IPP story.

Featuring contributions from prisoners serving IPP sentences, their families, campaigners, criminologists, psychologists, journalists, lawyers, retired judges, MPs and Peers.


Production Team:


Reporters: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu | Roddy Russell @1roddyRussell


Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg


Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS


Consultant: Hank Rossi


Ear Worm Productions for The Institute of Now


Get involved:


➕ Follow Trapped on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram @Trapped_Pod


🔎 Search #IPPScandal for more stories.

🗣️ Read more about the IPP campaign: UNGRIPP | www.ungripp.com | @UNGRIPP | IPP Committee In Action @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp

✔️ Like, follow and share this podcast to get people listening: knowledge is power and the more who know, the harder it is for injustice to take place.


✍️ Write to your MP and ask them to raise questions about IPPs in Parliament


⬇️ Download the Trapped series episode transcripts here: https://drive.google.com


___

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Institute of Now Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 22. Arbitrary Detention

    22. Arbitrary Detention
    Jan 22 2026
    Joe Outlaw’s trial, an update on Aaron Graham’s story and a landmark complaint to the United Nations. Roddy Russell travels to Middlesbrough to follow the trial of Joe Outlaw in July 2025, an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoner whose rooftop protests at HMP Manchester and HMP Franklin has brought renewed attention to one of the most controversial sentences in UK legal history. Joe argues that the mental torture caused by his indefinite sentence drove his actions, making this one of the first UK cases where IPP-related psychological duress is formally raised as a defence.Outside Teesside Crown Court, Roddy meets the family members, campaigners, and supporters who gather daily to support Joe. We hear how IPP sentences devastate mental health, fracture families, and trap people in a cycle of recall with no clear end point. Here Roddy also catches up with campaigner Cherrie Nichol, whose brother Aaron Graham is the longest IPP serving prisoner. Aaron’s repeated recalls, including being returned to prison after getting lost while trying to comply with licence conditions, illustrate how the system punishes vulnerability and untreated mental illness.We also hear about the landmark legal complaint submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, led by barrister and international law expert Dr Muin Boase. The submission argues that IPP prisoners are being arbitrarily detained in breach of International human rights law, due to the grossly disproportionate length and uncertainty of their sentences. Campaigners Shirley Debono and Bernadette Emerson travel to Downing Street with MPs and peers to deliver a letter supporting the complaint. Shirley speaks movingly about her son Shaun Lloyd, who remains trapped in the IPP system, and the devastating impact on his children.Outside Parliament, Lord Tony Woodley and Baroness Claire Fox speak to campaigners about the need for sustained political pressure. Could international scrutiny finally force the UK government to confront what many describe as one of the greatest stains on the modern justice system? How long can a country committed to human rights justify a sentence with no end?Read about the complaint here: https://greatjames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Complaint-Against-the-UK-on-IPP-sentences.pdfContributors in order of appearance: Roddy Russell, brother of IPP serving prisoner Robert Mandy Outlaw, Joe Outlaw’s auntCherrie Nichol, IPP campaigner, sister of Aaron GrahamStacey Clough, IPP campaignerDr Muin Boase, Barrister and senior lecturer in International Law, University of DerbyShirley Debono – IPP campaigner, mother of Sean LloydLord Tony Woodley – Member of the House of LordsBaroness Claire Fox – Member of the House of LordsVoices in archive:Joe Outlaw, IPP PrisonerAaron Graham, IPP PrisonerProduction Team:Presenter: Roddy Russell | @1roddyRussellExecutive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @MelissafitzgProducer: Steve Langridge | @SMLANGERSConsultant: Hank RossiAn Ear Worm Production for the Institute of NowGet involved:➕ Follow Trapped on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram @Trapped_Pod 🔎 Search #IPPScandal for more stories. 🗣️ Read more about the IPP campaign: UNGRIPP | www.ungripp.com | @UNGRIPP | IPP Committee In Action @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp ✔️ Like, follow and share this podcast to get people listening: knowledge is power and the more who know, the harder it is for injustice to take place. ✍️ Write to your MP and ask them to raise questions about IPPs in Parliament⬇️ Download the Trapped series episode transcripts here: https://drive.google.com___ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • 21. Totalitarian State

    21. Totalitarian State
    Jan 8 2026
    Former Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk KC, and retired judges, Sir John Saunders and Simon Tonking, speak candidly about the IPP scandal. Alex Chalk, who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice until 2024, speaks about the moral and political complexity of IPPs, calling the sentence “almost totalitarian”, a phrase that would have been politically explosive while he headed up the Ministry of Justice. While in office, Chalk introduced a major reform, reducing the licence period for released IPP prisoners from 10 years to 3, freeing around 1,742 people from lifelong supervision. He characterises IPPs as a “toxic legacy” and a “stain” on the justice system but explains why he did not accept calls to give all remaining IPP prisoners a definite end date. He argues that many long-term unreleased IPP prisoners may have been made more dangerous by the system itself, leaving ministers fearful of the political and personal consequences if a released prisoner were to reoffend seriously. This is the political fear at the heart of the issue: a fear that keeps ministers from doing what even they privately acknowledge is morally right. The retired judges, Simon Tonking and Sir John Saunders explain how the 2003 Criminal Justice Act made IPPs almost mandatory, even for offences with very short tariffs. They now regret their role in imposing sentences that have kept people incarcerated many years beyond the punishment originally judged proportionate to their crimes. They describe systemic failures: lack of courses, risk-averse parole decisions, and an impossibly high release test. They argue that justice requires one simple remedy: an end date. Without this, they warn, prisoners are left without the most basic element of rehabilitation: hope. There is a growing contradiction within the justice system: nearly all experts, including former ministers, judges, parole board members and human rights organisations, now agree the IPP sentence is fundamentally unfair. Yet political fear, of public backlash, media headlines and potential reoffending, continues to block the bold action needed to resolve the crisis. Despite the recent improvements, progress is too limited to provide justice to those, like the Roddy’s brother Rob, who remain imprisoned far beyond their tariffs. With more than 2,500 people still in custody on IPPs, many over a decade past their tariff, the current pace of release is too slow - but if politicians won’t end this injustice, who will? Contributors in order of appearance: Rt Hon Alex Chalk, KC Roddy Russell, brother of IPP serving prisoner Robert Simon Tonking, Retired Judge Sir John Saunders, Retired High Court Judge Andrew Morris, former IPP prisoner and Trustee of the Howard League Amy-Clare Martin, Crime Correspondent, The Independent @AmyClareMartin Production Credits:Presenter: Roddy Russell | @1roddyRussellExecutive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @MelissafitzgProducer: Steve Langridge | @SMLANGERSConsultant: Hank RossiAn Ear Worm Production for the Institute of NowGet involved:➕ Follow Trapped on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram @Trapped_Pod 🔎 Search #IPPScandal for more stories. 🗣️ Read more about the IPP campaign: UNGRIPP | www.ungripp.com | @UNGRIPP | IPP Committee In Action @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp ✔️ Like, follow and share this podcast to get people listening: knowledge is power and the more who know, the harder it is for injustice to take place. ✍️ Write to your MP and ask them to raise questions about IPPs in Parliament⬇️ Download the Trapped series episode transcripts here: https://drive.google.com___ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    35 mins
  • 20. Duty of Care: "Let My People Go"

    20. Duty of Care: "Let My People Go"
    Nov 4 2025
    An update on Thomas Whites’s story and his sister Clara gets ordained as a minister at Church on the Street. In this episode we hear from Clara White, who updates us on her brother Thomas, who was sentenced in 2012 for the theft of a mobile phone. Thomas was given an IPP sentence with a two-year tariff and has now been imprisoned for over a decade. We last heard from them in our very first episode, ‘Ghost Prisoners’.Clara has campaigned tirelessly for Thomas’s release and mental health treatment, collaborating with Bishop Mick Fleming of Church on the Street in Burnley. Together, they have fought to have Thomas moved from prison to a secure hospital. Clara’s faith and activism led Mick to call her an “accidental preacher,” and eventually, she began training for ordination.In the summer of 2025, Clara finally receives the incredible news that Thomas will be moved to hospital: a moment of immense emotion and relief but which also brings new challenges. This is a familiar story for Roddy as his brother Robert makes his own journey from prison to a secure hospital facility.Roddy also meets David Kirk-Beedon, a former prison chaplain, who discusses his first-hand experiences of the mental health decline that those serving IPP sentences face within the prison system, to whom, he says, the state has a ‘duty of care’. In September 2025, Roddy attends Clara’s ordination as a minister at Church on the Street. We hear how Clara's faith has helped support her through the many dark moments she and her family have faced since Thomas’s IPP sentence was handed down. Thomas’s transfer brings newfound hope: he experiences small freedoms like eating with real cutlery and sleeping with his door unlocked. Yet despite his move to a secure hospital, Thomas, like Robert Russell, is still serving an IPP sentence. We close with Bishop Mick’s invocation of Exodus ringing in our ears: “Let my people go.” Contributors in order of appearance: Pastor Clara White | https://www.cots-ministries.co.uk/team-members/ Bishop Mick Fleming | https://www.cots-ministries.co.uk/ David Kirk Beedon | author and former Prison Chaplain Production Credits:Presenter: Roddy Russell | @1roddyRussellExecutive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @MelissafitzgProducer: Steve Langridge | @SMLANGERSConsultant: Hank RossiAn Ear Worm Production for the Institute of NowGet involved:➕ Follow Trapped on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram @Trapped_Pod 🔎 Search #IPPScandal for more stories. 🗣️ Read more about the IPP campaign: UNGRIPP | www.ungripp.com | @UNGRIPP | IPP Committee In Action @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp ✔️ Like, follow and share this podcast to get people listening: knowledge is power and the more who know, the harder it is for injustice to take place. ✍️ Write to your MP and ask them to raise questions about IPPs in Parliament⬇️ Download the Trapped series episode transcripts here: https://drive.google.com___ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
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