Prisoner on controversial indefinite sentence like Charles Bronson found dead in cell

A young prisoner who had spent "most of his teenage years and adult life" behind bars took his own life after being denied parole, a watchdog has found. Tyrone Richards, 32, was found hanged in his cell at HMP in October 2022.

He had been serving a controversial indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, the locked up for years. The sentences mean a prisoner must remain behind bars for a minimum term and then indefinitely until

IPPs were scrapped in 2012, partly due to the severe mental health impact on prisoners who were being kept in jail with no release date for many years even after serving their minimum term.

Although no new IPP sentences can be issued, for people already sentenced under them, they remain in place. In February 2010, Tyrone Richards was sentenced to an IPP with a minimum term of two years and 163 days for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

A Fatal Incident Report into his death was compiled by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), which conducts an independent probe whenever someone dies in custody in England and Wales.

The report noted that in 2016 and 2018, Mr Richards had been released from prison on licence after being granted parole but was recalled both times due to poor behaviour. He was transferred to Manchester from HMP Lindholme in South Yorkshire in July 2022 and screened by staff, who found no indication of significant mental health issues.

By September that year he had been told his latest bid for parole had been denied, and he would have to to remain in prison for at least another two years. Author of the report, PPO Adrian Usher said Mr Richards was assaulted by another prisoner, which prison staff suspected was over a debt he owed to his attacker.

The attack happened a little over a month before his death. Mr Usher said Mr Richards was one of a "record number of prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) to take their lives in 2022".

As of July 2024, around 2,800 people were still serving IPPs. Mr Usher said Mr Richards had a "history of self-harm and attempted suicide".

However, he wrote: "While he also had other risk factors for suicide and self-harm, we are satisfied that there was little to indicate that he was at heightened risk in the time before his death."

An inquest later concluded Mr Richards died by hanging. The report also found that Mr Richards had not been prioritised for key work, a scheme to help prisoners integrate into prison life, and did not receive any meaningful key work sessions.

Since his death prisoners serving IPP sentences have been made a priority group for key work. A spokesperson for the Prison Service said: "It is right that IPP sentences were abolished.

"With public protection as the number one priority, the Lord Chancellor is working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure appropriate action is taken to support those still serving these sentences, such as improved access to mental health support and rehabilitation programmes."

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