Prisoner took his own life after resentencing refused

Keith Gadd was trapped on an abolished indefinite jail term

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN CRIME CORRESPONDENT

A prisoner trapped on an abolished indefinite jail term for 13 years longer than his original sentence took his own life weeks after the Conservative government refused to right the historic wrong.

Keith Gadd died aged 60 inside category B HMP Bristol with no friends or family left to contact. He had never been released from the controversial imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail term he was handed in 2006, despite serving almost five times longer than his original tariff of three years and five months.

Mr Gadd is among 94 IPP prisoners who have taken their own lives after losing hope of being freed from the open-ended jail term, which has been branded “psychological torture” by the UN. The sentences, which were scrapped in 2012, have left thousands trapped in jail with no release date, with some serving up to 22 times longer than their original tariff.

A prisons watchdog found staff missed key warning signs before Mr Gadd’s self-inflicted death on 9 March 2023 and said they needed to do more to recognise the increased risk of suicide and self-harm for IPP prisoners. His death came a month after the then justice secretary Dominic Raab refused recommendations from the cross-party justice committee for all remaining IPP prisoners to be resentenced. “missed an opportunity to right a wrong that has left nearly 3,000 people behind”.