Pastor Clara White appeared on the Inside Europe podcast of major German broadcaster Deutsche Welle to discuss Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, which Andy Burnham’s UK Government have recently pledged to resolve.
IPP sentences, now “abolished,” are a form of indefinite sentence introduced by the New Labour government in 2003, yet over 2,200 people remain trapped in prison under IPP sentences in England and Wales.
A campaigner for abolishing the sentences, Clara White spoke about the case of her brother and IPP victim Thomas White, who was convicted for stealing a mobile phone in 2012 and sentenced to a minimum of two years under an IPP Sentence.
Fourteen years on, he remains in jail, having developed paranoid schizophrenia in 2014, which a psychiatric report stated was likely the result of the ‘hopelessness of the IPP sentence’.
The Communication Group plc has helped lead a communication campaign to spotlight the IPP injustice and put pressure on the Government to resolve the scandal. The campaign has resulted in coverage across leading international, UK national, regional and specialist legal media. You can listen to the recent Inside Europe podcast featuring Clara’s interview through the following links: Deutsche Welle, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
