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SIn a video link from the Welsh prison where he has spent most of his adult life, Leighton Williams said what he witnessed in the courtroom 274km (170 miles) away “doesn’t seem real”.
He was freed, a judge in London told him, after ruling that the controversial indeterminate sentence handed down to a 19-year-old drunken brawler was a mistake.
He was to be given a fixed sentence of five years and is expected to be released after serving half of that time. He will come out when he is 22.
But now 36 and having served more than 16 years – mostly in custody – he realizes that the prison for public protection (IPP) he was convicted of has robbed him of some of the best years of his life.
“I’ve missed growing up with friends,” he said The Independent. “Going out. Ask for trade, can work. Just a normal life.
“I deserve to go to jail – I know that. There’s no doubt about it. But the length of time – I don’t think you can justify that.
In his first interview since he was finally released in May, Mr Williams railed against the injustice of the IPP sentence, which he described as “mental torture”.
He was outraged when he learned of the government’s early release scheme which would see prisoners released after serving only 40 percent of their fixed sentences to reduce overcrowding, while nearly 3,000 IPP prisoners still languish without a release date.
The IPP prison sentence – where offenders are given a minimum but not a maximum – was abolished in 2012 due to human rights concerns. But the repeal of the policy did not affect those who had already been sentenced, leaving thousands trapped in jail for years beyond their original prison terms.
Of the 2,796 IPP prisoners currently incarcerated, 708 have served at least 10 years longer than the minimum rate.
The Independent campaign for all IPP prisoners to have their sentences reviewed.
Mr Williams is the first to admit he deserves jail after he and some friends got into a fight in a park after a day of drinking in his home town of Caerphilly, Wales, in August 2007. The victim suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone in the attack.
So when he was sentenced to IPP at the minimum rate of 30 months at Cardiff Crown Court the following year, he did not appeal.
“When I came in, I didn’t know what IPP was,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on until four or five years ago – the realization started.”
He eventually learned that he would be held in prison indefinitely until he could convince the parole board that he did not pose a risk to the wider public.
He described life in sentence as “pointless, hopeless” and “empty” as he is repeatedly thrown out at parole board hearings every year, adding: “It’s not like there’s a way out.”
He was jailed for almost nine years before being released on strict license conditions.
During her four years of freedom, she started a family and her first two children were born. But he was taken back to prison after being recalled after a neighbor called the police after hearing noises in the back garden.
Mr. Williams was arrested, but not charged with any crime. However, due to his license conditions, he returned to prison under the same IPP sentence and found himself back in the square – waiting for the parole board to decide to let him go.
He served two more years, during the Covid-19 pandemic, before being released again, only to be recalled twice in 2023 for forcing people outside a pub.
Back inside and in the sixteenth year he served the sentence of IPP, losing hope that he will be able to escape from the endless prison, he decided to write to the Court of Appeal “not suddenly” in 2023.
He served a further 13 months at HMP Parc – the scandal-hit medium security men’s prison in Bridgend, where 10 inmates have died in three months – before three appeal judges acquitted him on May 9 after finding the original sentencing judge had miscounted a previous offence, committed at the age of 17, to him.
He decided: “The indeterminate sentence for public protection will be canceled. We will replace the specific sentence of five years’ imprisonment in a young offender institution with immediate release.
Three weeks before the parole hearing had been resolved a stand-in probation officer, who had never met Mr Williams, told him he would not recommend parole after reading the file the night before.
“It was just maddening – one day my parole was revoked and three weeks later I was released,” he said.
He added: “It doesn’t seem realistic. If I can appeal 16 years later and they can change my sentence, overturn my sentence, and give me five years to finish my sentence in 2009 – so all those years are just lost years.
Now a father of three, with a son and two daughters aged five, seven and 11 months, he lives with his mother in Caerphilly until he can find a flat with his partner.
Her focus now is to make up for lost time with her family as she tries to rebuild, but she fears the scars from the sentence will take time to heal.
He said, “I was just mentally tortured. Just injured.
“I don’t even like to go places. I try to spend as much time as I can with my children. It’s also difficult for them because every time I go out the door they say ‘where are you going??’ He thought I would never come back.
While he has thought about seeking compensation, he said he doesn’t know where to start.
In the meantime, he called on the new government to move quickly to help others suffering in the sentences being handed down, described as “torture” and “arbitrary detention” by UN experts.
The cross-party justice committee called for the Tory government to first carry out a reprisal exercise for all remaining IPP prisoners, but it refused.
He urged elected Sir Keir Starmer to have the courage to “do the right thing”.
“Many IPPs never return home. It just makes it 100 times worse and nobody else,” he said.
“I think he’s forgotten and nobody cares. He’s just suffering and suffering, like that, like there’s no way out.”
Figures released this month show 2,734 people remain in prison as a result of IPP sentences.
About 121 people have committed suicide due to despair under the sentence – including 90 in prison and 31 in the community.
Another tragic case highlighted by The Independent including Yusuf Ali, who did not eat for 61 days because he had lost hope of being released; Wayne Williams, who has spent 18 years in prison at a rate of 23 months for trying to injure a police officer in a fight; and Thomas White, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in prison after serving more than 12 years for stealing a phone.
Emergency measures announced this month to release more prisoners early to ease the overcrowding will not help those serving indeterminate sentences.
Reacting to the news, he continued: “I’m just angry. These kids should be a priority but they’re just being forgotten. It doesn’t feel like anything is happening or changing.”
He urged all IPP prisoners who have not exhausted the appeal process to follow their lead and write to the Court of Appeal.
Shirley de Bono’s campaign, the IPP Action Committee, is supporting Mr Williams as he tries to adjust to life outside.
He said, “Even though he is no longer in prison, it ruined his life. It took his youth from him. He will never come back and there is no help or support for him.
“What I want is to invite all IPP inmates to appeal their sentences. For 16 years, he thought it was useless until one day he decided to take a chance.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The prison system is in crisis and we are aware of the significant impact on our justice system.
“Indeed, the sentence of IPP was abolished. The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organizations and campaign groups to ensure appropriate action is taken to support those still serving IPP sentences.
