The open-ended sentences, which were scrapped in 2012 and have been described as psychological torture by the UN, have left thousands trapped in jail for up to 22 times longer than their original tariff. This includes many who were children at the time of their offence and handed a type of IPP sentence for under-18s called a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) jail term.
When I got on that roof, I was absolutely desperate, thinking I was going to die, he said. I'd been asking for help for days. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, I just needed to escape and feel safe in a system that makes that almost impossible. That moment was the only way I felt I could survive.