A desperate mother has spoken of her pain after her teenage son was jailed for 18 months – but he remains stuck in prison 18 years later with a cruel and indefinite sentence.
Luke Ings was given a controversial community protection sentence for robbery and brawling at McDonald’s when he was just 17 years old.
The prison sentences were abolished in 2012 due to human rights concerns, but not retroactively, leaving around 3,000 people languishing in prisons with no release date.
His mother Samantha, 57, said Luke, now 36, had spent his entire adult life trapped with “monsters” in maximum security HMP Wakefield, home to some of Britain’s most serious criminals.
She fears that unless the government takes urgent action, he may not survive amid rising rates of suicide and self-harm among IPP detainees.
“This is wrong, they need to fix this,” he said. Independent“I would understand if they had killed someone or raped someone. My son had been in a fight at McDonald’s and was involved in a street robbery.
“He was 17 years old and my mother had died two weeks earlier. He was off the rails. I don’t know what else I could have done to save him.
“There is no light in the tunnel for him,” said the woman, adding that without her late father’s help, things could have been much worse and that unfortunately she was unable to see her grandson released.
“I don’t think Luke would be in prison right now if it wasn’t for my dad – he’d be dead. He’d have killed himself.”
At least 90 prisoners have taken their own lives because they have lost hope of being released. Another 30 suicides are said to have occurred in the community – IPP prisoners are subject to strict licensing conditions and are therefore often taken back to prison for minor breaches.
Meanwhile, the government has begun releasing other prisoners who have served just 40 percent of their sentences to reduce overcrowding in prisons, in a move described as a “slap” to IPP prisoners.
Under the government’s early release plan, 5,500 prisoners are expected to be released by the end of October, although IPP sentences will see more than 700 IPP prisoners serve at least 10 years more than their minimum sentences.
“They need to look into this seriously,” the mother added. “They’re going to empty some of their prisons [if they release IPP prisoners]. My only fear is that some of them have been there so long, will they be able to cope outside?”
He said nearly two decades in prison had left his once confident and well-mannered autistic son a nervous man who struggled to make eye contact. His younger sister Millie, now 21, was just seven months old when he was given the IPP sentence.
But Mrs Ings, from Bracknell, Berkshire, said she still keeps Luke’s clothes in a drawer at home because she holds out hope that he may one day be allowed to return home.
“My little girl was seven months old when she went to prison. It’s so unfair that her brother missed 20 years,” she said.
“The way they treat them is terrible, and I know it’s not just him. It’s like our family isn’t whole. We miss someone — every Christmas, every birthday, every Easter, every time we get together — he’s missing.”
Labour’s Lord Woodley has called for a free vote in the House of Lords on a new private member’s bill that would see all IPP prisoners re-sentenced.
He described prison terms as “torture sentences” and said there was “no logic” in keeping around 3,000 prisoners locked up with abolished sentences amid a prison overcrowding crisis.
The bill is coming later Independent called for the sentences of all IPP detainees to be reviewed.
The architect of the flawed sentence was also backed by Lord Blunkett, president of the Prison Officers’ Association, and activists.
Earlier this summer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Dr Alice Jill Edwards called on the newly elected government to take urgent action to help those suffering “inhumane” punishment.
Sir Bob Neill, former chairman of the Justice Select Committee, also called on the prime minister to show political and moral courage to “do the right thing” and re-sentence IPP prisoners.
Under IPP sentences, prisoners must prove to the parole board that they do not pose a risk to society before being released under strict licence conditions.
Miss Ings said Luke was devastated after his probation service recommended he get a place in a boarding house last year, but he turned it down at the last minute.
He said: “I can’t understand it. They’re just finding excuses not to let him get parole. It’s a joke. It’s time someone gave him a break and let him come home.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “It is right that IPP sentences are being scrapped. The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to support those still serving IPP sentences.
“The Prison Service continues to provide additional support to those still in custody, including improving access to rehabilitation programmes and mental health support.”