Trapped: The IPP Prisoner Scandal

What Does Hope Look Like?

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Episode notes

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 current series by asking ‘what does hope look like’ for IPP serving prisoners?

 

The title of this episode was inspired by Roddy Russell, whose brother Robert is one of the 1269 IPP prisoners who are trapped in prison, and have never been released. Roddy asked Sam to put the question to Lord Blunkett, the architect of the Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence, who now campaigns against it. Today we hear from Frank, an IPP serving prisoner who has been inside for 15 years and counting on a two-and-a-half-year tariff. We also hear from some of those who are at the centre of the campaigning efforts 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.

 

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

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