The harmful effects of imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs) are well documented. For Tommy Nicol and Francis Williams, whose sisters have both spoken to the Guardian about the impact of punishments with no end-date, the pressure was unbearable. Nicol, who was originally jailed for a violent robbery, took his own life during a mental health crisis at the Mount prison in 2015. Williams, also convicted of robbery, died of an overdose in Bognor Regis last year – hours after telling a probation officer that he was suicidal.
These tragedies are far from unique. At least 90 prisoners on IPPs have died by suicide in custody. Others, including Williams, died while on licence (Williams was on the verge of being recalled). One study found rates of self-harm to be 2.5 times higher among IPP prisoners. Evidence to the justice select committee from a forensic psychiatrist compared the clinical presentation of these inmates, almost all of whom are men, to “those who have been wrongfully convicted”. Such is the stress of being given this kind of sentence, which resembles a life sentence but was in many cases handed down for far less serious crimes.
