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For nine years, Haydar Jefferies lived under the shadow of his indefinite jail term. He knew he could be hauled back to prison at any time for even the tiniest infraction.
“I can’t even spit on the street,” he would tell his brother, fearfully, after he was freed in 2012 after serving six years for an assault under an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail term.
Despite the weight of the now-abolished sentence hanging over him, the publican thrived, as he spent almost a decade rebuilding his life and transforming his Oxfordshire pub and B&B into a community hub.
“He was a decent man that anybody could be proud of,” his brother said, recalling the “loving and generous” brother who always had a smile on his face.
However Haydar’s worst fears were realised when, still reeling from the sudden death of his husband Andrew from a heart attack, someone made a serious allegation about him to the police.
He was arrested in the middle of the night in January 2022 and hauled back to prison. Within months police confirmed they had dropped the investigation into the complaint, which the family say was entirely false.
But under the terms of the IPP sentence, which has been described as “psychological torture” by the UN, he could be held indefinitely until the Parole Board deemed him fit for release.
He languished for more than a year as his mental health drastically deteriorated. By 28 February the following year, he was observed naked on all-fours in his cell barking like a dog as he was in the throes of severe depression and suffering acute psychosis. Staff at HMP Coldingley, in Surrey, did not get him any medical attention.
The following morning, he tried to take his own life. He died in hospital several days later, aged 50.
This month an inquest found that a score of failures contributed to his death, including a gross failure by prison staff to procure him basic medical attention amounting to neglect.
Haydar’s grieving family has called for urgent change for IPP prisoners and an end to inmates being treated like “cattle” inside the overcrowded prison system.
His brother Iksandar Jefferies told The Independent: “When he came out of prison he was so scared. He always said even if I spit on the street I am done. He had that hanging over him for nearly a decade and then it happened.
“My brother has lost his life because of a false allegation. One phone call that a person made out of spite or anger.”
His devastated mother Zhora said those struggling under an IPP sentence are doomed because they cannot defend themselves, adding: “His life came to an end and ended in the prison that he didn’t want to go back to because of that label: IPP.”
The indefinite jail terms, which saw offenders handed a minimum term but no maximum, were introduced by New Labour in 2005 in a bid to be tough on crime.
They were abolished in light of human rights concerns in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands languishing in prison for years longer than their minimum term until they can prove to the Parole Board that they are safe for release. At least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives in prison as they lose hope of getting out.
Once freed, they are subject to ten years of strict licence conditions which can see them recalled indefinitely for minor infractions, including missing a probation appointment or being late for a curfew. The Tory government this year reduced the licence period from ten years to three, but the changes came too late for Haydar.
The jury inquest held at Woking Coroners’ Court said his IPP status and delays in his parole hearing “more than minimally contributed” to the development of his psychosis in a damning narrative conclusion.
The family said the publican’s mental health started to deteriorate when he was not released after the police investigation into him was dropped.
This was compounded by devastating delays in his parole hearing, which had been scheduled for March 2022 but was postponed by six months because a panel member was unwell.
By February, Haydar was ringing his family multiple times each day as he developed delusions that prison officers were trying to kill him.
Zhora and Iksandar made multiple desperate calls to the prison raising concerns about his state of mind, but the inquest found none of these were logged and no mental health support was sought.
A referral to the mental health team was finally made the day before he was found slumped in his cell, but no one was available until the following morning. He did not live long enough to see them.
“He was in prison for 14 months of no fault of his own just because the justice system was so messed up,” Iksandar said, noting the prison missed “every red flag imaginable”.
“I feel very scared for anybody in prison right now. There is no due process for protecting human beings at all. It’s scary to think you are literally cattle. You are just numbers that nobody cares about.”
His mother added: “I am devastated and it haunts me every single day thinking about Haydar, what he went through and reliving it in the coroners court.
“My life will never be the same without Haydar. I feel for all the other prisoner’s wives and mothers and everybody that’s got somebody who has an IPP hanging over them. It must be so damaging.”
The inquest, heard by assistant coroner Caroline Topping, found Haydar should have been put on constant supervision and taken to a place of safety.
“That none of this was done represents a serious failure by HMP Coldingley custodial staff,” the jury found.
Cormac McDonough, a civil liberties solicitor at Hodge Jones & Allen, who represented the family at the inquest, said: “It is extremely rare for a jury to reach a finding of neglect in this context, which demonstrates how fundamentally failed Haydar was while under the care of prison staff at HMP Coldingley.
“It was evident that Haydar was suffering due to the unjust circumstances of his IPP recall and that this contributed to his deteriorating mental state. Staff at the prison failed entirely to recognise his deterioration and to take appropriate steps to keep him safe. His family made repeated attempts to get Haydar the help he patently needed, after receiving multiple distressing phone calls, but no action was taken.
“Haydar deserved better than this. We welcome the highly critical narrative conclusion by the jury and hope lessons can be learned from the catastrophic failings which resulted in Haydar’s death.”
An HM Prison and Probation Service spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Haydar Jeffries’ friends and family.
“As with all deaths in custody, the Prison and Probation Ombudsman are investigating and we will respond to their report in due course.”
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