UN highlights ‘psychological harm’ to UK man jailed since 2012 for phone theft

Exclusive: UN expert reiterates call for review of indefinite sentence of Thomas White, whose family say he now has severe mental health issues

• Number of offenders with indefinite sentences recalled to prison soars

A UN torture expert has called the case of a man driven to psychosis after being jailed in the UK for more than a decade for stealing a mobile phone “emblematic of the psychological harm” caused by indeterminate sentences.

Thomas White was handed an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence in 2012 for stealing a mobile phone – four months before such prison terms were abolished. He has been jailed ever since after initially being given a minimum two-year tariff.