The inside story of the measures being taken by members of the House of Lords for IPP prisoners in the current parliamentary Victims and Prisoners Bill.

We join Sam on 11th March 2024, three months after the inquest of Matthew Price, an IPP prisoner on license who took his own life, and one day before the Victims and Prisoners bill committee stage in the House of Lords. The two are linked because this bill is being heralded as perhaps the last opportunity for some time to use legislation to finally close the chapter on imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs) which the United Nations have called ‘cruel, inhuman and degrading’.

The bill came to the Lords with an amendment which will change the license conditions for IPPs from 10 to 3 years, which might well have saved Matthew Price, who killed himself at the 10-year point of his license. So it's a start, but many think this is not enough, and at this stage there’s an incredible 17 amendments which relate to IPPs, pinned to the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Sam takes us behind the scenes to look closer at the Lord’s amendments, asking how much difference can they make? Can they really change the story on IPPs?

Sam meets Lord Moylan who has been coordinating a group of Lords to table the amendments to the Bill. We hear more about his proposed change to the release test for IPP prisoners. She also sits down with Baroness Claire Fox, who is tabling the amendment on resentencing. This was originally proposed by Sir Bob Neil, Chair of the Justice Select Committee, and was rejected by the government back in 2023. Conservative Peer, Earl Attlee is the Grandson of the famous post-war Labour PM. He has long held an interest in criminal justice. He isn't confident that any of the amendments will get much support once they go back to the Commons and describes the political calculations being made by both the Labour and Conservative front benches.

Sam also catches up with Matthew Price’s lawyers Emma McClure and Andrew Sperling following Matthew’s inquest. The coroner released a Prevention of Future Deaths report on how the IPP sentence contributed to Matthew’s death, urging the Secretary of State for Justice to act and stop any further deaths occurring. This is one of an unprecedented three Prevention of Future Death notices relating to IPP prisoners, which have been sent to the Government this year.

At the Lord's debate on 12th March, the Labour Spokesperson for Justice, Lord Ponsonby and the Conservative Spokesperson for Justice, Lord Bellamy present a united front in opposing Baroness Fox's amendment: is it the end of the road for resentencing IPP prisoners?

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Follow the campaigners: www.ungripp.com @UNGRIPP & @ActionIPP

Contributors in order of appearance:

Lord Daniel Moylan

Baroness Fox of Berkeley

John Richard Attlee, The 3rd Earl Attlee

Emma McClure, Consultant Solicitor

Andrew Sperling, Solicitor Advocate

Credits:

Reporter: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu

Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS

Consultant: Hank Rossi

A Zinc Media Production for the Institute of Now

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

The IPP sentence has created a sense of hopelessness amongst prisoners, leading to poor mental health, self-harm and numerous suicides, so we are ending this series by asking ‘what does hope look like’ for IPP serving prisoners?

Sam asks this question to some of the many people who are campaigning to bring an end to this grievous injustice: including Andrea Coomber, from the Howard League for Penal Reform; Richard Garside from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies; Simon Hattenstone from the Guardian and Elisabeth Davies from the Independent Monitoring Boards. We also hear from Frank, an IPP serving prisoner, who has been inside for 15 years and counting, on a two-and-a-half-year tariff. 

Get in touch on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram @Trapped_Pod

For more info about UNGRIPP visit: www.ungripp.com / @UNGRIPP

ww.ippcommitteeinaction.com / X @ActionIPP

Contributors in order of appearance:

Frank, IPP serving prisoner

Lord David Blunkett

Andrea Coomber, Chief Executive, The Howard League for Penal Reform

Hank Rossi, campaigner and activist

Simon Hattenstone, Journalist, The Guardian

Richard Garside, Director of Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

Elizabeth Davies, National Chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards

Lorna Hackett, Barrister at Hackett and Dabbs LLP and a tenant at Millennium Chambers

Alexander Horne, Barrister and visiting Professor at Durham University

Voices in Archive:

Edward Argar MP, Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation

Sir Bob Neil MP, Chair of the Justice Select Committee

Kevin Brennan MP, Shadow Minister for Victims and Sentencing

John Mcdonnell MP

Dr Alice Edwards, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

Credits:

Reporter: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu

Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS

Consultant: Hank Rossi

A Zinc Media Production for the Institute of Now

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

Nicole, Madison and Matthew Price's stories.

Nicole and Madison both served Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. Now out on licence, Sam meets these two women in Parliament, whilst trying to lobby their MPs. She hears about life inside female prisons and how they are both doing now. As of December 2022, there were 40 women in custody serving IPP sentences.

Sam also talks to Emma McClure and Andrew Sperling, criminal lawyers who represented Matthew Price, who was on licence when he took his own life in May 2023. They describe the terror that Matthew faced knowing he could be recalled back to prison at any time. It's situation that is not unique for IPP serving prisoners on licence: to date, 19 people serving IPP sentences in the community have taken their own lives since 2020.

Read Matthew Price’s 'cry for help' email here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wgAUyjdjdr9j8gO5NWphtrno6eoI65OX/view?usp=sharing 

Get in touch on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram @Trapped_Pod

For more info on the campaign for justice for IPPs: visit UNGRIPP: www.ungripp.com / @UNGRIPP

and IPP Committee in Action www.ippcommitteeinaction.com / @ActionIPP

Contributors in order of appearance:

Madison, IPP prisoner on licence

Nicole, IPP prisoner on licence

Emma McClure, Consultant Solicitor with SL5 Legal @Parole_Lawyer@mastadon.world

Andrew Sperling, Solicitor-Advocate and Managing Director of SL5 Legal www.SL5Legal.co.uk / @AndrewSperling

Production credits:

Reporter: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu

Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg

Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS

Consultant: Hank Rossi

A Zinc Media Production for the Institute of Now

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