This week government figures are likely to show the prison population back to where it was before the last early release scheme.
But even though hundreds of prisoners have served only 40% of their sentences, there is a cohort of the prison population who have served extended sentences, years beyond their minimum term.
IPP sentences (imprisonment for public protection) were introduced in 2005 and abolished in 2012. But the law wasn’t backdated, so the legacy of prisoners serving indefinite sentences continues.
Image: Andy Logan, 45, from Kent, has had two IPPs
“It’s broken me as a man,” says Andy Logan. The burly 45-year-old from Kent has spent most of the last 20 years in jail on an IPP sentence, now he won’t leave home without his mother.
“I don’t go out, I’ve got no social circle,” he says. “I’m not in no family photographs, it’s like Back To The Future when he gets erased from the photos, I’m not there. I’m a ghost – I’ve been a ghost for 20 years.”
He was given IPP sentences twice, for two cashpoint robberies where he showed his victims a knife but didn’t use it. The minimum terms for each crime were two-and-a-half years and three years, but each time he spent far longer behind bars, the first time four years, then seven years. But that wasn’t the end of it.
After his release, Andy’s IPP hung over him. He could be recalled for any misdemeanour, including drinking too much alcohol, taking drugs, or missing probation appointments.
Over the next eight years he was recalled six times and would spend months behind bars waiting for a decision. His recall prison time alone has amounted to nearly four years. Twice the recalls were later deemed “unjustified”.
Image: Andy is so fearful of recall, he doesn’t go out without his mother
“I started my sentence with people who murdered people – and some of them got out before me,” says Andy.
“I lost all hope. I thought I’d never get out. I took drugs for four years. I exploded in weight. Self-harm started happening and I’d never self-harmed in my life.”
Andy lifts up his sleeve to reveal a red scar. “That one, I nearly did the artery on my last recall. I was just so frustrated I wanted to die.”
His lawyer Catherine Bond says he was often recalled for minor breaches.
She said: “One was in 2020 – Andy does struggle with alcohol addiction. He had started drinking more at that point.
“He kept his probation officer informed, but his probation officer recalled him anyway, and the parole board found the recall was unjustified because although there was alcohol use, that doesn’t necessarily equate to any increased risk.”
Image: Andy’s mother holds a picture of him as a child
Each IPP recall is ‘re-traumatising’
Ms Bond says the recalls have damaged Andy’s mental health.
“Each time you go back in there you don’t know when you are going to get back out so the whole process is re-traumatising, and I think it can make it more difficult for people to resettle when they get back out so each recall can increase the risk of further recalls,” she said.
But she also has IPP clients who’ve never been released – one jailed in 2005.
“It was a robbery – threat of violence. I’m not minimising that in any way but 20 years on it’s totally disproportionate and these are people’s lives,” she said.
“Of course, they’ve done something wrong but effectively it is the misfortune of having committed an offence at a particular time… meant they are in prison for this excessive amount of time.”
The number of unreleased prisoners on IPP has fallen from 5,000 in 2015 to 1,180 in early 2024. Around 700 of those have served 10 years longer than their minimum term.
Image: Source: His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service
The number recalled is rising with over 1,600 currently back in jail, mostly for licence breaches. The average time spent imprisoned on recall has risen dramatically from 11 months to around 26 months.
Andy is so fearful of recall, he doesn’t go out without his mother Betty. As Betty drives him to meet his probation officer, he says: “What if someone takes a dislike to me and says ‘who are you looking at?’ and makes an allegation against me – I’m in prison. So, I’m just terrified.”
Image: Andy’s mother Betty
But Andy hopes this could be one of his last visits to probation. Until recently, any IPP prisoner would have to wait at least 10 years after their release from prison before their licence could even be considered for removal by a parole board – but in February this year that time period was reduced to three years. For Andy that means in the next few months he could finally get off it.
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February: Prison recall population at record level
A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesperson 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.
“An independent report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons found the majority of recall decisions were necessary to keep our streets safe. However, to avoid waiting unnecessarily for parole board hearings, eligible IPP prisoners can now be considered for release earlier after a thorough risk assessment.”
The prison population is bursting and is set to run out of space within a year according to internal forecasts from the MoJ. But some of those taking up space – probably shouldn’t still be there.
A 19-year-old who murdered his family and wanted to be the worst mass killer the UK has seen had 33 cartridges on him to carry out an attack on his former school, a court has heard.
Nicholas Prosper shot his mother Juliana Falcon, 48, sister Giselle, 13, and shot and stabbed his brother Kyle, 16, at their family home in Luton on 13 September last year.
But he did not plan on stopping there, according to prosecutor Timothy Cray KC, who told Luton Crown Court he had prepared the murders “for months” and wanted to kill at least 30 schoolchildren.
“His planning was cold, deliberate and without sympathy or emotion towards the actual victims or potential victims,” he said, speaking at Prosper’s sentencing.
His “main wish”, however, was to “achieve lasting notoriety as a mass killer”, Mr Cray added, specifically to “imitate and even surpass other mass killers around the world”.
“He had conducted in-depth internet research on shootings in the United States of America, Norway, Australia and New Zealand,” he said.
“He understood his plans, if realised, would bring about the greatest number of deaths in a school or other mass shooting in the United Kingdom and possibly even in the United States of America.”
Image: Nicholas Prosper
The investigation suggests that the defendant “acted alone”, he added, and “his plans did not arise from any political or ideological cause”.
Prosper had undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the court heard, but he showed an “extreme lack of empathy with others and an extreme lack of remorse” that can’t be explained by ASD alone.
Up until Year 11, the court heard Prosper was a “geeky” and quiet boy with a small group of friends who were into computers, but problems began in sixth form and he wouldn’t engage with mental health support.
Gruesome murders
Prosper never reached St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, which was three-quarters of a mile from his home, as police arrested him after he escaped to a wooded area.
After he left, officers broke into his family flat at about 5.50am, following a call from a neighbour.
There, the court heard, they found Prosper’s little sister underneath a dining table in the living room, “as if she had been trying to hide there”.
His mother and brother – who was stabbed more than 100 times – were both found in the hallway.
Image: Giselle Prosper (left), Juliana Prosper (centre) and Kyle Prosper. Pic: family pics issued via Bedfordshire police
He had planned to kill his family in their sleep, but when his mother realised something was wrong and challenged him, it led to “an extended violent struggle”.
After the horrific and noisy attack on his family members, Prosper knew police would be on their way and so had to leave three hours earlier than he had anticipated.
The teenager was then arrested by a passing police patrol as he walked along a residential road in Luton.
He had hidden the shotgun and cartridges nearby.
Prosper admitted their murders at a hearing last month, as well as purchasing a shotgun without a certificate, possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life and possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.
Plans long in the making
These killings were planned for more than a year, the court heard, with Prosper managing to buy a shotgun with a fake firearms certificate.
He had put together a black and yellow uniform he wanted to wear for his killing spree, and he had filmed a video of himself holding a plank of wood as a mock gun.
Image: Nicholas Prosper has admitted killing his family
Prosper had included his own name, a picture and his real address on his fake firearms licence, the court heard.
He had also inserted the signature of a Bedfordshire Police firearms sergeant on 30 August last year.
On the same day, Prosper messaged a private seller who had advertised a shotgun for £450, offering to pay £600 if cartridges were included, Mr Cray said.
The seller agreed to drop the gun off to him on 12 September, the day before the killings, prompting Prosper to respond in a message: “I look forward to meeting you.”
Forensic examiners found Prosper had fired seven cartridges, the first being a test shot into a teddy bear in his bedroom.
Prosper’s step-by-step plan
A couple of months later, a prison officer found the notes in Prosper’s trainer sole after searching his cell on 13 November.
He had written the planned shooting would be “one of the biggest events ever,” Mr Cray said.
Image: Tributes were left outside the home. Pic: PA
“I was right in predicting no-one would’ve called the police had I killed them in their sleep. 3 shots under 30 seconds,” he had written.
“The only known phone call to police that day was made by the b**** at the door as a result of my B**** mother waking them up and it being turned into a long struggle.
“My plan wasn’t ‘stupid’. I was f****** right. MY MOTHER IS A STUPID F****** COW.”
The notes continued: “But why so early? So I’d have time to cannibalise my family, and rape a woman at knife point before the shooting.”
He had also written a step-by-step plan, detailing he would jump two gates and shoot down a glass door while children were together for “prayer/registration”.
He would then “shout that this is a robbery and for everyone to get down”, before shooting two teachers and killing children at Early Years Foundation Stage – the youngest.
That part of the note finished with: “Go to the next classroom. Kill a couple more. Suicide.”
‘Pain will never heal’
His father, who was also dad to Giselle and Kyle, said part of his soul died when he found out what his son had done.
In a statement read out by Mr Cray, Raymond Prosper said: “The pain of our loss will never be healed. This includes my whole family, our lives will never be the same.
“When I heard the horrific news on that day, part of my soul died too. This is a lose-lose situation for us all.”
A woman in her 20s has died after a van struck three pedestrians in central London.
The other two pedestrians were rushed to hospital following the incident on The Strand at around 11.40am on Tuesday.
One of the pedestrians has potentially life-threatening injuries, while the other has minor injuries.
The driver of the van, a 26-year-old man, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and driving with a concentration of a specified controlled drug above a specified limit.
The eligibility criteria for disability benefits will be narrowed in a bid to slash £5bn from the welfare bill, Liz Kendall has announced.
Speaking in the Commons, the work and pensions secretary said the number of new people claiming personal independence payment (PIP) is “not sustainable”.
She said the government will not freeze PIP – as reports had previously suggested – but instead make it harder to qualify for the daily living allowance component from November 2026.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is money for people who have extra care needs or mobility needs as a result of a disability.
People who claim it are awarded points depending on their ability to do certain activities, like washing and preparing food, and this influences how much they will receive.
Ms Kendall said that from November 2026, people will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to qualify for the daily living element of PIP.
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Currently, the standard rate is given if people score between eight and 11 points overall, while the enhanced rate applies from 12 points.
The changes will not affect the mobility component, Ms Kendall said.
It’s not clear how many people will be impacted as a result. The Office for Budget Responsibility will set out their final assessment of the costings at the spring statement next week.
Charities and unions reacted angrily to the announcement, with the Disability Benefits Consortium urging the government to reverse the “cruel cuts”, saying it will be harder for disabled people to manage.
What other measures have been announced?
Ms Kendall also announced a review of the PIP assessment, which she said will be done “in close consultation with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts”.
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Young people brace for benefit reform
There will also be a consultation on delaying access to the health top up on universal credit until someone is aged 22, with the savings to be reinvested into work support and training opportunities.
And the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), which determines if a person is fit for work or not, will be scrapped in 2028 with financial support for people who are sick or disabled determined solely through the PIP assessment.
Ms Kendall said the WCA is based on a “binary can can’t work divide when we know the truth is that many people’s physical and mental health conditions fluctuate“.
“Reducing the number of assessments that people have to go through is a vital step towards de-risking work”, she added.
Other reforms announced today include:
Merging jobseeker’s allowance and employment and support allowance
Raising the standard universal credit allowance by £775 in 2029/30
Introducing a “right to try” initiative so people who want to attempt to get back into work won’t lose their benefits while they do
Ms Kendall said: “This is a significant reform package that is expected to save over £5 billion by 2029.”
Chancellor looking for savings
The announcement comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to balance the books due to a poor economy and geopolitical events, with further spending cuts expected in her spring statement next week.
Image: Rachel Reeves
The cost of long-term sickness and disability benefits for working-age people has risen by £20bn since the pandemic and is forecast to hit £70bn over the next five years.
Ministers have said there is also a moral case for change, with one in eight young people not in education, training or employment – prompting fears of a “wasted generation”.
Ms Kendall said that while more people are now living with a disability, the increase in those seeking disability benefits is disproportionate.
Claims amongst young people are up 150%, while claims for mental health conditions are up 190% and claims for learning difficulties are up over 400%, she said.
Ms Kendall blamed the Tories for creating a system that is “holding our country back”.
She acknowledged that some people can never work, but said many sick and disabled people want to “with the right help and support” and they should “have the same chances and choices as everyone else”.
Reports ahead of the announcements had suggested there was unease around the cabinet table, with ministers including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said to have voiced concerns in private.
But the prime minister’s official spokesman insisted this morning that the government is united in its agreement on the need for reform.
Call to reverse ‘cruel cuts’
Charles Gillies, of the Disability Benefit Consortium, said: “These immoral and devastating benefits cuts will push more disabled people into poverty, and worsen people’s health.”
He said changes to personal independence payments will make it harder for disabled people to manage “the overwhelming additional costs of their condition, from wheelchairs to visits from carers”, calling on the government to reverse the “cruel cuts”.