Prisoner’s Decade-Long Sentence Ends in Hospital, Schizophrenia Diagnosis

After fighting for six years, a family finally secured a transfer to a mental health hospital for their loved one, who developed psychosis in prison. This marks a pivotal moment in their struggle against an indefinite sentence that spanned more than a decade.

A Long-Awaited Transfer

After serving over ten years of an indeterminate sentence, Thomas White has been moved to a mental health hospital for treatment. He was originally given a minimum two-year sentence in 2012 for stealing a cell phone. The lack of a set release date greatly contributed to the onset of White’s serious mental health issues; he was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

His sister, Clara White, said they received the news last Wednesday. She and her family had been pushing for this transfer since 2019. White had been residing in the hospital ward at HMP Manchester before his transfer.

“He just started to get sicker and sicker – the present system is definitely psychiatric abuse,” his sister, Clara White, said. “Without a doubt, he would have died in prison. He was dying. He was dying in front of us. We could see it. But now he has a chance of survival.”

—Clara White

A 2024 report revealed that roughly 20% of the UK prison population has a mental health issue, highlighting the urgency of addressing mental health within the prison system (Ministry of Justice, 2024).

A Downward Spiral

Before his incarceration, White had no history of mental health problems. His health deteriorated significantly beginning in 2016, after four years in prison with no foreseeable end. He began to exhibit erratic behaviors, like wearing bedsheets as clothing and claiming to hear voices. On one visit, his mother could not even recognize him.

Clara White explained that her brother spent inhumane periods in segregation. She added that he was moved between 13 prisons throughout his 13-and-a-half-year sentence. He was previously highlighted by a UN torture expert as an example of the psychological harm caused by indeterminate sentences.

IPP sentences were outlawed twelve years ago, but over 2,000 people still remain in prison under this type of sentence, and at least 90 IPP prisoners have taken their own lives.

Tony Woodley has put forward a bill in an attempt to resentence prisoners still serving under IPP sentences. However, Clara White is not optimistic, and she is grateful that her brother will now receive proper care.

Looking Ahead

Clara White has been supported by pastor Mick Fleming, who has highlighted White’s case in his new book, “Walk In My Shoes.” They intend to keep helping other IPP prisoners and hope to have White’s IPP sentence removed.

“We’re not going to walk away and forget about the others, hundreds of other people need help,” she said. “Thomas doesn’t hope. He doesn’t know what hope is anymore. He thinks that they’re going to change their mind and keep him in prison. That’s what IPP does to someone.”

—Clara White