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A father who has developed paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis in prison after serving almost 13 years for stealing a phone will not be transferred to a secure hospital, his devastated family has learned.
Thomas White, who suffers from religious delusions and last year set himself alight in his cell, is languishing under a since-abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence.
The indefinite jail terms have been described as “psychological torture” by the UN as campaigners have pushed for all remaining IPP inmates to be resentenced.
White’s family claim he is being denied his basic right to healthcare inside Category A HMP Manchester, as they battled for him to be transferred to a hospital setting.
Two medical reports shared with The Independent this summer laid bare the toll of the devastating jail term as medics warned his “lengthy incarceration” was creating “impermeable barriers” to his recovery. Both called for him to be moved to a hospital.
In a previous report from 2023, a psychiatrist found that the indefinite jail term, which had a two-year minimum tariff, was the “probable cause” of his poor mental health.
However the hospital transfer has been blocked after a new assessment arranged by the prison in December concluded he lacks motivation in prison and will therefore lack motivation in a forensic psychiatric hospital.
After hearing the news, White, 40, told his family: “I am going to die in here.”
His heartbroken sister Clara, who has been battling for IPP reform, vowed to make sure politicians will never forget her brother’s name if anything happens to him while he’s incarcerated.
She previously turned to Lord David Blunkett, who admits he regrets introducing the flawed sentence in 2005 when he was home secretary under Tony Blair and now campaigns for reform, for help to secure prison visits for White’s son Kayden, now 14.
“If my brother dies by suicide, cardiac arrest or drug overdose I will spend my life making sure my brother’s name Thomas White will haunt this government,” she told The Independent.
“Thomas is just tangled in a web and I don’t think we are going to untangle it for him. I think he’s lost in this. I have been everywhere with this. I have been up and down the country, meeting David Blunkett and doing everything I can.”
The latest report suggested the father-of-one’s mental ill-health was linked to the misuse of spice in prison, a synthetic drug designed to mimic the effects of cannabis.
However, Ms White said his drug use only started when he realised he was not going to be released at the end of his minimum tariff, adding: “That is what hopelessness looks like.
“My brother never took spice in the beginning of his sentence. He thought he would do two years, maybe a bit longer, and be set free.”
As well as not supporting his hospital transfer, the latest report did not support his release from prison or progression to open conditions. However, it did recommend another prison transfer, which could see White moved for the thirteenth time in as many years.
With a parole hearing coming up in January as he approaches the thirteenth anniversary of his incarceration, the family has little hope for his release.
“He won’t get parole in January, then he will have served 15 years by the time he gets another parole hearing,” she said.
“I have not heard a single word from him since we got the bad news ten days ago. That tells me that Thomas is in a really bad place. He was really upset and just said ‘I am going to die in here’.”
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 over human rights concerns but not for people already detained – leaving almost 2,700 prisoners like White languishing in prison with no release date. At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives.
An assessment by an independent consultant forensic psychiatrist in August found White has been suffering panic attacks and pacing in his cell as he struggles with psychosis and religious delusions.
“Mr White expressed feeling depressed about his long imprisonment without a set release date, citing this as the reason for his previous suicide attempt,” Dr Deepu Thomas said, concluding he should be moved to a medium secure unit.
In November, Labour peer Lord Woodley urged the government not to be on the “wrong side of history” as he called for IPP prisoners to be resentenced in a private member’s bill.
However, prisons minister and Labour peer James Timpson has insisted the government will not support any form of resentencing, despite at least 700 IPP prisoners having served more than 10 years beyond their minimum term.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. With public protection as the number one priority, the Lord Chancellor is working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure appropriate action is taken to support those still serving these sentences, such as improved access to mental health support and rehabilitation programmes.”
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.
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