Britain's first IPP prisoner to make a public bid for freedom from an abolished indefinite jail term is "lost" and fears he will never be freed after a devastating parole refusal.
Nicholas Bidar was left broken and “humiliated” when a Parole Board panel refused to recommend his release or move to open conditions earlier this year. The 36-year-old was handed a controversial imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence with an eight-year minimum tariff for a string of robberies and using a gun to resist arrest aged 20 in 2008.
But 16 years later, he is still being held in a maximum-security Category A prison with no release date. To raise awareness of his plight, he applied to be the first IPP prisoner to have his parole hearing held in public after new laws came into force to increase transparency around parole decisions.
Ahead of the landmark hearing in March, Mr Bidar told The Independent how the reality of his uncertain sentence has impacted him, adding: “Every day feels like torture. I struggle daily to get through the day.”
He insisted his status as a high-risk Category A prisoner had left him a “political prisoner” after a 2021 parole review had recommended him for progression to open conditions, but this was blocked by the secretary of state for justice, who refused to downgrade him.
This story is from the October 06, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the October 06, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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