Prisoner sentenced to indefinite prison term forced into hunger strike

When Jacqueline Ali arrived at HMP Long Lartin to visit her eldest son, she gasped when she saw the man on the other side of the bars.

Her once witty and carefree son, who dreamed of getting out of prison and starting a florist business, was curled up on the floor of a cramped cell in the infirmary.

After nearly 60 days on hunger strike, Yusuf Ali was emaciated and looked like “a starving dog on the ground” – a shadow of his former self. The 50-year-old man, who is serving an indefinite prison sentence described as “torture” by a UN expert, is said to have starved himself twice in desperation, losing all hope of 'to be freed one day.

When he was sentenced to IPP (imprisonment for public protection) in 2008 for seriously injuring another prisoner, he was told he had to serve a minimum sentence of three years. But nearly 16 years later, after five failed attempts at parole, he's still inside.

After hearing about Ali's case, former justice committee chairman Sir Bob Neill called on the winner of the July 4 general election to take urgent action to help IPP prisoners.

“This desperately sad case sadly demonstrates all the harms that the justice committee reports warn about the sentences imposed by the IPP,” he said. “Any new government should act quickly to erase this stain on our justice system. »

Ali's heartbroken mother said he looked like a “skeleton” when she was allowed to visit him on compassionate grounds at Worcestershire's high security prison in January.

A letter from the prison governor, seen by this publication, confirms she was given special visits because he was “seriously ill” last year.

“When I first went to see him, he looked like a starving greyhound on the ground,” she said. The independent. “He only had his bones on the ground and his face was covered, so you couldn't see him.

“It was shocking and heartbreaking. It took my breath away. I just told Yusuf, if you can hear me, I love you and I completely understand why you did that.

With his mother's support, he finally consented to medical treatment and was taken to hospital where he was fed through a tube inserted into his stomach. She said he spent a total of 61 days fasting.

However, on May 23, he promised to resume his hunger strike and told his mother that this time he would see it through to the end.

“He said, 'I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore,'” she said, recalling her last phone call with Yusuf. “He said, 'I'm going to go on a hunger strike and I'm not going to stop it this time.' »

After days of frantically trying to contact the prison, Ms Ali, who suffers from fibromyalgia and complex PTSD and can rarely make the nearly 300-mile round trip from Bournemouth to visit her son in Worcestershire , was informed that he had been persuaded to end his detention. hunger-strike.

When The independent contacted the Prison Service for comment, but they denied he had started a second hunger strike. It is unclear how long he refused to eat on this occasion.

His mother is calling for urgent action to help Ali and almost 3,000 other IPP prisoners trapped by a sentence she says has “destroyed” her son.

The controversial sentences – under which offenders were sentenced to a minimum but not a maximum prison term – were scrapped in 2012 due to human rights concerns. But the policy's abolition did not affect those already convicted, leaving thousands languishing in prison for years beyond their original sentence.

After a deeply traumatic childhood – the full details of which we have chosen not to disclose in order to respect the family's privacy – Ali fell into crime and was first incarcerated at just 15 years old for a series of thefts in betting shops about teenagers using a stick in a bag as an imitation gun.

He then went on the run for about two years, during which time he became a father, but he finally surrendered to authorities in 1999, at the age of 26, and was convicted of other crimes, including driving offences, theft and burglary. He was automatically sentenced to two life sentences, with a minimum term of five years and seven months. Since then, he has been incarcerated.

He was detained at HMP Parkhurst, on the Isle of Wight, when he was sentenced in 2008 to an IPP with a three-year tariff for seriously injuring another prisoner during a fight.

The mother, who believes her son's offending is linked to PTSD from traumatic events in his childhood, said that when he first received the IPP sentence he was determined to do his time and to return home to his son.

But hope quickly began to fade as he faced multiple parole hearings without legal representation and his mental health deteriorated.

Ms Ali said The independent: “It devastated us. Death was slow.

“I've watched him go from a vibrant boy to a shadow of his former self, and there's nothing I can do. Impotence made me sick. My family is heartbroken.

“It’s been just horrible. His whole dream was for him to come home in time to become a father to his son, but he never got to see that boy and now he's 20 years old.

At a hearing in September 2022, the Parole Board noted that Ali had developed a stutter and a nervous tic in prison, which have been linked to the decline in his mental health, but did not recommend his release nor his time in prison. Among the risk factors they cited in refusing his release were “a loss of hope and a feeling of having nothing to lose.”

His next parole hearing is scheduled for this fall, but once again, Ali has no legal representation.

As he recovered from his hunger strike last year and was gradually reintroduced to a liquid diet, Ms Ali tried to remind him of her hopes for the future: to publish his poetry and realize his dream to own a Siberian husky.

She denounced the injustice of the sentence imposed on the IPP by calling for the review of all indeterminate prison sentences and a comprehensive reform of the prison system with an emphasis on rehabilitation.

She added: “The system failed him. I am devastated. I'm devastated for him.

“It’s just injustice. Why is my son treated so badly? Why did they treat him like a monster, when they let the monsters out.

Regarding the sentence imposed by the IPP, she added: “He will need support for the rest of his life. He is terribly anxious and he hears voices.

“IPP is now banned. It's against the law. So anyone receiving a PPI should be screened.

The independent has called for an urgent review of the sentences of all prisoners serving an IPP prison sentence. Of the 2,796 IPP inmates incarcerated, 1,180 have never been released and 708 have served more than 10 years beyond their minimum sentence.

Nearly 90 IPP prisoners committed suicide, including Scott Rider, who was sentenced to 23 months in prison and committed suicide out of despair after serving 17 years in prison.

The architect of the misguided sentence, David Blunkett, is among those who have led calls for reform after admitting he regretted introducing the sentence as New Labor home secretary in 2005.

Lord Blunkett urged the new government to accelerate a series of reforms recently passed under the Victims and Prisoners Bill to help prisoners like Ali; However, the changes do not correspond to the exercise in resentment called for by activists and the justice committee.

A spokesperson for HM Prison and Probation Service said: “There is no evidence to support allegations of ill-treatment by staff, and this prisoner is not on hunger strike. »

If you are experiencing feelings of distress or are struggling to cope, you can speak to The Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK & ROI), email [email protected] or visit THE Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you live in the United States and you or someone you know needs mental health help right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free and confidential helpline available to anyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can call www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.