A father sentenced to an indefinite prison term for stealing a laptop nearly 20 years ago still has no release date after being recalled to prison for missing a hospital appointment.
Abdullahi Suleman’s devastated wife Bernadette Emerson has accused the prison system of “exploiting” his poor mental health to keep him incarcerated under a now-abolished Public Protection Order (IPP).
The 41-year-old, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced to a minimum term of three years and 276 days for theft at the age of 22.
But he still languishes in prison 19 years later – despite having committed no further crimes – having been brought back to prison four times after mental health treatment was included as a condition of his parole.
In total, he has spent nearly 15 of the last 19 years in custody and is currently back in prison with little hope of release.
His case was described as “scandalous” by former justice committee chairman Sir Bob Neill, who said it was a clear example of the “vicious cycle” of deteriorating mental health suffered by many IPP prisoners.
Sir Bob urged the new government to have the courage to follow the committee’s recommendation to re-sentence almost 3,000 prisoners still serving their sentences, warning: “It must happen now.”
Mrs Emerson insisted her husband should receive “treatment rather than punishment” and demanded immediate help for IPP prisoners.
The 39-year-old said The Independent“It’s really wrong. They’re violating his human rights. They’re exploiting his illness.”
IPP prison sentences – which provided for a minimum sentence but no maximum sentence – were abolished in 2012 due to human rights concerns. But the abolition of the policy has had no impact on those already convicted, leaving thousands stuck in prison for years beyond their original sentence.
According to the latest figures released this week, some 2,734 people are still incarcerated under the abolished sentence, a drop of just 6% on last year. Of these, an estimated 700 have served at least ten years beyond their minimum sentence.
Suleman, a trained bricklayer and plasterer who fled conflict in Somalia as a child for a better life in Britain, was handed an IPP in 2005 for stealing a laptop from a Cardiff park.
He served six years in prison before being released for the first time, but was recalled two and a half years later after suffering a mental health relapse in the community.
Doctors prescribed a treatment plan for him, which was later added to the strict conditions of his parole. So when he missed a hospital appointment, he was recalled to prison – even though he had committed no other crimes.
In the years that followed, he was recalled three more times. Each time it was for “non-compliance with mental health regulations,” his wife said, adding that his detention was now “arbitrary.”
Mrs Emerson, from Cardiff, said each recall broke up their family, leaving her alone to raise their three daughters aged nine, 10 and 19.
He was last returned to prison in 2017 and spent nearly seven more years without release as his mental health continued to deteriorate.
“It really affected him psychologically,” Ms. Emerson said.. “He always describes immense psychological torture. I feel like it ended his life. It prevented him from turning the page on his pain and starting his life.
“It impacted every aspect of his life. It impacted his role as a father.
“I think it’s just painful for him to have lost so much of his adult years to this grief.”
Mrs Emerson’s concern about her husband’s situation was compounded recently when she lost contact with him for almost a month. She said a solicitor told her he had been stabbed at scandal-plagued Category B prison HMP Swaleside in Kent.
The Independent The Ministry of Justice understands that the department cannot find any evidence of assault and a spokesperson said an error in Suleman’s phone account has now been corrected – and apologised for the distress caused.
Emerson said when she finally heard from her husband on Friday, he seemed ill and was speaking rapidly. “I’m just happy to be in touch with him again,” she added.
Ms Emerson denounced the introduction of an “IPP Action Plan” which she said repeatedly interfered with Suleman’s mental health care in prison.
“I’m 39 now. I feel like my 20s and 30s have been dominated by the impact and hardship of IPP,” she said, adding that they were considering appealing her conviction after another Welshman, Leighton Williams, had his IPP conviction overturned earlier this year.
“I feel suffocated when I think that this will never end. When someone close to me is in prison and suffering from mental illness, it only makes my anxiety worse.”
Campaigner Shirley Debono, who co-founded the IPP Action Committee with Ms Emerson, has backed calls for Suleman to be transferred to a mental health facility where he can recover and has called on the newly elected Labour government to re-sentence all IPP prisoners.
She said she was “very disappointed” by the speech by the new prisons minister, James Timpson, who said IPP sentences would not be reviewed as part of a sentencing review aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.
Sir Bob, who was chairman of the justice committee before resigning as an MP earlier this year, condemned Suleman’s case as “outrageous” and blamed the state for the 41-year-old’s deteriorating mental health.
“It’s outrageous, and it’s the state that did this to him, and the state has an obligation to fix this because it continues to harm people,” he said. The Independent.
A 2022 Justice Committee report urged the previous government to review the sentences of all prisoners in deprived-of-liberty prisons, but this proposal was rejected. Plans to reduce the length of a prison licence from 10 to three years were passed.
“It demonstrates something that our committee has said about IPP prisoners,” he said. “IPP sentences worsen prisoners’ mental health, so they are trapped in a vicious cycle, because their mental health deteriorates, and they fear releasing them – but that is what the state is doing by sentencing them to IPP sentences. And that is what appears to have happened to this unfortunate man.”
Sir Bob urged the new Labour government to implement reforms, demanding: “It must happen now.”
He added: “There has been a lack of courage on both sides of the House on this. People are too fearful, but they need to have the courage to know when something is wrong – the start of a five-year term is the perfect time.”
Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said prisoners face enormous difficulty in escaping the “trick” of returning to prison, which often includes re-incarceration for minor offences.
He added: “If he had received the usual sentence, he would have been released long ago and, if he had not had other problems, he could have continued his life.”
A Justice Department spokesman said: “We have now corrected the error in Mr Suleman’s telephone number and his family have been contacted. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”
“It is right that police prison sentences should be abolished. The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organisations and advocacy groups to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to support those still serving police prison sentences.”
