Prisoner on indefinite term is cleared of rooftop protest

A prisoner trapped on an indefinite jail term has been cleared of multiple counts of criminal damage to a maximum-security prison after using the toll of his sentence as a defence in what is believed to be a legal first.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN CRIME CORRESPONDENT

Joe Outlaw, who has ADHD, anxiety, paranoia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, said he was “absolutely desperate” and had been asking for help for days when he lashed out inside HMP Frankland.

On Monday, he was acquitted of 12 counts of criminal damage to the prison in Brasside, Durham, in May 2023, after telling the jury he was being starved in prison segregation.

However, he was found guilty of two counts of criminal damage and sentenced to three years for damaging a cell wall on 26 May 2023 and staging a rooftop protest the following month, which resulted in more than £170,000 of damage.

The 39-year-old has served almost 14 years in prison after he was handed a four-and-a-half-year Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence for robbing a takeaway with an imitation firearm in 2011.

Jurors at Teesside Crown Court were told the jail term, which was scrapped in 2012, has been repeatedly described as a “stain” on the justice system and linked to higher rates of suicide and self-harm, with at least 90 inmates taking their own lives in prison.

Following the verdict, Outlaw thanked his family and legal team, led by Christopher Tehrani KC, and vowed to keep fighting for those trapped under IPP jail terms.