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The family of a prisoner who committed suicide after receiving a controversial “interminable” sentence has received compensation from the government in an out-of-court settlement, The Guardian has learned.
Tommy Nicol was incarcerated under the terms of the now-abolished imprisonment for public protection (IPP), under which offenders received a minimum but not a maximum sentence and critics had called it an “interminable sentence.”
Nicol, 37, died in hospital in 2015 after attempting to kill himself at Mount Prison in Hertfordshire. He had spent two years of his four-year minimum rate for stealing a car and injuring the owner.
His family had initiated a landmark claim in the superior court, alleging that the operation and administration of the IPP sentence constituted a violation of Nicol’s right to life under the 1998 Human Rights Act and led to his death.
In what appears to be a concession, the Ministry of Justice settled a claim with the family.
Despite the fact that the use of the power to impose sentences was eliminated in 2012, more than 3,200 prisoners remain locked up under the regime, including those who have been returned to prison.
Donna Mooney, Nicol’s sister, who lives in South West London, has since become an activist in support of the new sentence or the release of the remaining IPP prisoners.
She said: “Tommy’s death deeply hurt our family and we cannot heal that wound. The only thing that has kept me going since then is the struggle to try to ensure that no other family has to endure the pain we still feel. This cruelty has no place in a society that claims to be civilized. “
Nicol described IPP as the “psychological torture of a person turning 99”. The conviction assessment was one of the handwritten complaints filed while Nicol was serving his sentence for theft.
His time in prison was characterized by repeated setbacks with access to mental health care and rehabilitation courses that were crucial for him to advance his sentence and secure his release. On September 15, 2015, he was found unconscious in his cell. Four days later, at Watford General Hospital, he died immobilized and never regained consciousness.
In evidence seen by The Guardian, which would have been taken to high court, consulting forensic psychiatrist Dr. Dinesh Maganty said that Nicol and many other IPP prisoners were trapped in a vicious cycle where, to be released, they had to complete programs. that were not available in sufficient quantities.
Maganty said: “A human being has to suffer extreme suffering to be pushed to kill himself. In Nicol’s case, death was caused by that suffering and the deterioration of his mental health, together with hopelessness, led to his suicide ”.
Introduced under Labor in 2005, IPPs were designed to indefinitely detain serious criminals who were considered a risk to the public. The government expected about 900 people to be incarcerated under an IPP; peaked at more than 8,000. They were used much more than anticipated and handed over to criminals who committed minor offenses.
They were scrapped by Conservative Attorney General Ken Clarke in 2012, but the move was not retrospective.
There were 1,895 IPP prisoners at the end of September 2020. IPP sentences are attached with an indefinite period of leave, meaning that released offenders face being returned to prison for the rest of their lives. The number of IPP prisoners being returned to custody continues to rise; In the past year, the population of withdrawn PPIs grew 13% to 1,357.
There have been several deaths of IPP prisoners in recent years, many of which were recorded as suicide.
Charlotte Nokes, 38, David Dunnings, 35, Shane Stroughton, 29, Kelvin Speakman, 30, and Steven Trudghill, 23, all died over fees while serving IPP sentences.
Jocelyn Cockburn and Aston Luff, from human rights attorneys Hodge Jones and Allen, represented Nicol’s family. Luff said, “We don’t want anyone else to feel, like Tommy did, that they are hopeless. By winning this claim and telling Tommy’s story, this is another step forward in abolishing IPPs for good. “
A spokesman for the Prison Service said: “Our condolences remain with the family and friends of Mr. Nicol. We have provided specialized suicide and self-harm training to more than 25,000 employees and have recruited 4,000 new prison officers since 2016, allowing us to provide dedicated support to each inmate. “
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In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted by calling 116 123 or emailing [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Line is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the Lifeline crisis help service is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
