Fears for father on IPP term after he set himself alight

A desperate father who has languished in jail for 12 years under an indefinite jail term imposed after he stole a mobile phone has set himself on fire in prison. Thomas White, 40, was rushed to hospital after he started the blaze in his cell at HMP Manchester on Thursday. His family said he was assessed by medics for smoke inhalation and injuries to his arm.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

His devastated sister – who has been calling for him to be moved to a mental health facility – said the desperate act was an attempt on his own life. She fears it is only a matter of “days or weeks” before he makes a successful attempt, and that he has lost hope of ever being freed under his IPP (imprisonment for public protection) sentence.

Clara White told The Independent: “Yesterday he set a fire in his cell – not to harm anybody; it’s a suicide attempt. He had done it before a few weeks ago at HMP Garth. I fear it’s just a matter of weeks or days now until Thomas is successful in taking his own life.”

She called for him to be moved urgently to a hospital setting where he can be treated for severe mental health problems, adding: “They have been warned. I don’t know how many times we have warned them about my brother’s serious mental health.”

IPP sentences – under which offenders were given a minimum jail term but no maximum – were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns, but the abolition of the policy did not affect those already sentenced, leaving thousands trapped in jail for years beyond their original prison terms.