Thomas White to Be Moved to Psychiatric Hospital After 13 Years in Prison Under IPP Sentence

Manchester, UK — After spending 13 years in prison for stealing a mobile phone, Thomas White, now 42, is finally being moved to a psychiatric hospital — a decision his family calls a long-awaited victory.

White was jailed in 2012 under the now-abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) system, which meant he could not be released until he completed a rehabilitation program. However, during his time in custody, he developed paranoid schizophrenia and was transferred between 16 different prisons, preventing him from accessing the required course.

His sister, Clara White, who has campaigned tirelessly for his release, confirmed that the transfer to a secure hospital will now allow her brother to receive proper psychiatric care.

“He will now be treated with dignity and humanity,” she said, calling it a small victory in a much larger fight.

Thomas’s condition worsened during his years behind bars. According to psychiatric reports, he began suffering delusions and hallucinations, wore bedsheets as clothing, spoke in Roman numerals, and even claimed to be Jesus Christ.

Ms White believes the indefinite nature of the IPP sentence played a direct role in her brother’s mental decline.

The IPP Sentence Controversy

IPP sentences were introduced in 2005 to deal with repeat and dangerous offenders. However, they were also given for lesser crimes like White’s — who had been binge drinking in Manchester before stealing a mobile phone from two Christian missionaries. His minimum sentence was just two years, yet he remained locked up for 13.

The IPP system was abolished in 2012, just months after White was jailed. Still, more than 2,000 prisoners remain under the order as of late 2024, many far beyond their minimum terms.

An MOJ spokesperson acknowledged that while IPP sentences had been scrapped, public protection remains their top priority. Clara White, however, calls it hypocrisy: “The government is already releasing offenders to ease prison crowding. Yet people like my brother are still stuck behind bars for minor crimes because of a label they can’t escape.”

She now supports a bill proposed by Labour peer Anthony Woodley, which would allow all IPP prisoners to be resentenced. She says the system has failed hundreds of families, and that her fight isn’t over.

“We want people like Thomas to be moved into forensic psychiatric hospitals where they can recover. I owe it to the families. I will keep going.”