Podcast series charting the #IPP prisoner scandal. Listen on #Acast #ApplePodcasts #Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Today there are over 2,500 people trapped in British prisons on the now abolished indeterminate IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentence, many for minor crimes like stealing a mobile phone. None of them know when they are getting out, or whether their IPP sentence could mean life in prison. To date, 95 IPP serving prisoners, with a lack of certainty and losing hope, have taken their own lives. The IPP has been called a ‘stain on the British justice system’, ‘psychological torture’ and 'state sponsored torture'. But many people have never heard of it…
In this ‘tragically brilliant’ and hard hitting multi-part podcast series, the investigative reporter Sam Asumadu and Roddy Russell, whose brother Robert is serving an IPP sentence, are digging deep into the plight of prisoners serving IPPs, and their families, to find out what has gone wrong with this sentence and to shine a light into the dark corners of the IPP story.
Featuring contributions from prisoners serving IPP sentences, their families, campaigners, criminologists, psychologists, journalists, lawyers, retired judges, MPs and Peers.
Get in touch on X, Facebook and Instagram @Trapped_pod
Trapped Substack: https://trappedpodcast.substack.com/
If you want to do something, you can tell a friend to listen to this series: knowledge is power and the more who know, the harder it is for injustice to take place.
If you want to do something more active, you can write to your MP and tell them to raise questions about prisoners serving IPPs in parliament.
Search the hashtag #IPPScandal on social media for more info.
For more information about the Campaign for IPP Justice: visit UNGRIPP www.ungripp.com/ | @UNGRIPP and IPP Committee in Action www.ippcommitteeinaction.com/ | @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp
Reporters: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu | Roddy Russell @1roddyRussell
Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg
Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS
Consultant: Hank Rossi
Ear Worm Productions for The Institute of Now
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast series charting the #IPP prisoner scandal. Listen on #Acast #ApplePodcasts #Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Today there are over 2,500 people trapped in British prisons on the now abolished indeterminate IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentence, many for minor crimes like stealing a mobile phone. None of them know when they are getting out, or whether their IPP sentence could mean life in prison. To date, 95 IPP serving prisoners, with a lack of certainty and losing hope, have taken their own lives. The IPP has been called a ‘stain on the British justice system’, ‘psychological torture’ and 'state sponsored torture'. But many people have never heard of it…
In this ‘tragically brilliant’ and hard hitting multi-part podcast series, the investigative reporter Sam Asumadu and Roddy Russell, whose brother Robert is serving an IPP sentence, are digging deep into the plight of prisoners serving IPPs, and their families, to find out what has gone wrong with this sentence and to shine a light into the dark corners of the IPP story.
Featuring contributions from prisoners serving IPP sentences, their families, campaigners, criminologists, psychologists, journalists, lawyers, retired judges, MPs and Peers.
Get in touch on X, Facebook and Instagram @Trapped_pod
Trapped Substack: https://trappedpodcast.substack.com/
If you want to do something, you can tell a friend to listen to this series: knowledge is power and the more who know, the harder it is for injustice to take place.
If you want to do something more active, you can write to your MP and tell them to raise questions about prisoners serving IPPs in parliament.
Search the hashtag #IPPScandal on social media for more info.
For more information about the Campaign for IPP Justice: visit UNGRIPP www.ungripp.com/ | @UNGRIPP and IPP Committee in Action www.ippcommitteeinaction.com/ | @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp
Reporters: Samantha Asumadu @SamanthaAsumadu | Roddy Russell @1roddyRussell
Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald @melissafitzg
Producer: Steve Langridge @SMLANGERS
Consultant: Hank Rossi
Ear Worm Productions for The Institute of Now
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The IPP campaign under the spotlight.
The Trapped team report on two new IPP campaigns: one inside and one outside of Westminster, during the Summer of 2025. On 18th July 2025, the Tik Tok campaign group injustice_of_ipp staged a demonstration outside Parliament. Protesters and former prisoners describe the inhumane impact of indefinite detention, including widespread mental health crises and suicides (95 deaths to date).
Inside Parliament, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, a former senior judge, reflects on how the IPP system was 'a failed experiment', intended to predict dangerousness but resulting in unjust, indefinite punishment. In June, 2025 Lord Thomas and The Howard League for Penal Reform published new recommendations to end the “IPP stain,” arguing that the government’s current IPP Action Plan is ineffective. How will the Prison’s Minister, Lord James Timpson, and the government, react?
Read the Howard League’s 2025 proposals to end the detention of people on IPP sentences: https://howardleague.org/news/expert-working-group-publishes-proposals-to-end-the-detention-of-people-on-ipp-sentences/
Get in touch on X, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram | @Trapped_Pod
For more info about the IPP campaign: visit UNGRIPP | www.ungripp.com | @UNGRIPP | IPP Committee In Action @ActionIpp | injustice_of_ipp
Contributors in order of appearance:
Deborah Ingram, mother of IPP serving prisoner Levi
Roddy Russell, brother of IPP serving prisoner Robert
Stacey Clough, partner of IPP serving prisoner
Andrew Morris, Former IPP prisoner and Trustee of the Howard League
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (2013 – 2017)
David Parker, IPP prisoner on licence
Mandy Slade, mother of David Parker
Katie Best, wife of IPP serving prisoner John
Melissa, former prison officer | Off the Cuff with Mel
Andrea Coomber, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform | howardleague.org
Voices in archive:
Lord Daniel Moylan
Lord James Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation
Production Credits:
Presenter: Roddy Russell | @1roddyRussell
Executive Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @Melissafitzg
Producer: Steve Langridge | @SMLANGERS
Consultant: Hank Rossi
An Ear Worm Production for the Institute of Now
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.