A father trapped under an abolished indefinite jail term has made six attempts on his own life after serving 25 times longer than his original sentence, The Independent can reveal.
James Lawrence was handed a discredited imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail sentence with an eight-month minimum term in 2006 for threatening someone with a starting pistol.
Then aged 20, he told the court he was carrying the imitation gun for protection after nearly losing his life in a stabbing in the same part of Southampton the year before.
Now 38, he is believed to be one of Britain’s longest over-tariff IPP prisoners, having spent nearly 18 years in custody, as pressure mounts on the government to help almost 3,000 IPP prisoners still languishing in prison.
“In his time he’s seen murderers come in and murderers go home,” his heartbroken mother Mandy Lawrence told The Independent.
“It’s tormenting for his family, let alone him. I keep thinking will I see him properly before I die? I was in my 40s when he went in there and now I’m in my 60s. It’s heartwrenching, to be honest.”
At the time of his sentence – less time already served on remand – Lawrence needed to spend another four months and 14 days in prison before completing his eight-month minimum tariff. He was also handed a 10-month concurrent sentence for assault in a separate drunken pub fight, which has long-since expired.
Labour peer Lord Woodley, who earlier this month tabled a bill for all IPP prisoners to be resentenced, said the case was “shocking”. He hopes his bill will help get inmates like Mr Lawrence out of prison.
IPP jail terms were introduced under New Labour in 2005 and saw offenders given a minimum tariff but no maximum. They were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns, but not for people already detained.
Of 2,734 remaining IPP prisoners, more than 700 have served more than 10 years longer than their minimum tariff.
These include a string of injustices highlighted by The Independent such as those of Thomas White, who set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, and Abdullahi Suleman, who has spent 19 years behind bars for a laptop robbery.
At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives in prison as they lose hope of release.
Ms Lawrence revealed her son, who was once a talented footballer, has fallen into the recall merry-go-round experienced by many IPP prisoners, who can be hauled back to prison for minor breaches of strict licence conditions.
Over the last two decades, he has been recalled to prison five times and is still inside despite receiving no further convictions.
According to paperwork seen by The Independent, on one occasion Mr Lawrence was recalled two months after he was freed because he returned to his bail hostel two hours and five minutes after curfew.
On another occasion, he absconded for six months to be with his pregnant partner for the birth of their daughter.
The toll of the sentence, which has been described as psychological torture by the UN, has left the once kind and polite father struggling with his mental health.
The stress forced Ms Lawrence, 65, who lives near Winchester, into early retirement from her job as an NHS mental health nurse. Meanwhile, her parents did not live to see their grandson escape the abolished sentence.
“It broke my dad’s heart to be fair, because even though James was a bit of a scallywag, as he called him, he loved him,” Ms Lawrence said.
“James isn’t a bad person, he was really kind and polite, it just kind of escalated from nowhere. He was a brilliant footballer and went to a school of excellence and it all fell apart and nobody could do anything.
“I blamed myself for years. And then you worry about the times he’s tried to kill himself, will he try it again?”
She said Mr Lawrence has made multiple attempts on his own life, including two this year alone. On one occasion, he didn’t eat or drink for five days and was found collapsed in his cell.
The mother called for the government to urgently resentence all remaining IPP prisoners, starting with those with the lowest original tariff.
She added: “I think it [resentencing] should have happened when they disbanded the IPP sentence in 2012. Especially low tariff prisoners should have all been resentenced and then work their way through the ones who had longer.
“But no, they are not interested. I think the reason is they think they are going to try to get compensation from the government – and they deserve it.”
In 2022, the justice select committee issued recommendations for the then-Tory government to resentence all IPP prisoners, but this was rejected. Earlier this year they agreed to reduce the licence period for released IPP prisoners from ten years to three.
Lord Woodley said: “This is a shocking case; one among many shocking cases. I welcome the recent steps by the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to reduce the risk of unnecessary recalls to prison, which will hopefully help those, like James, in the future.
“But we need to get those IPP prisoners still languishing in prison, for years after the time set by their trial judge, out of prison. My resentencing Bill will help to achieve this.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. 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.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
