Handing himself in at Cardiff Bay Police station last week, Shaun Lloyd had no idea how long he would spend behind bars.
He and his mother explained to the officers who took him into custody that, under the terms of his indefinite jail sentence, he could serve years on recall even though he has committed no further crime.
“It’s really hard for myself to be here and hand myself in,” he told the officers. “Someone’s made an anonymous phone call and because I’m an IPP I’m recalled like that – no investigation, nothing.”
He hugged his loved ones goodbye before he turned to his mother and waved: “I’ll be back."
It is the fifth time Mr Lloyd has been hauled back to prison indefinitely under the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail term he was handed aged 18 for snatching a mobile phone from someone on the street.
In total, he has already served almost 14 years in prison for the relatively minor crime, which he committed more than 20 years ago. Meanwhile, his co-defendant served less than a year.
The UN is investigating Mr Lloyd’s case, which formed part of a major complaint submitted to the working group for arbitrary detention last year over the “national scandal” of indefinite jail terms. The UN’s response is due to be published in the coming weeks.
His latest recall was triggered by an anonymous phone call to police, which the family say was malicious. His mother, Shirley Debono, said she was astonished after officers came to check on her after the caller alleged he had strangled her.
“I said I don’t think so, I would have marks on me,” she told The Independent. “I was flabbergasted by it.”
Despite not being arrested, questioned or charged over the allegation, Mr Lloyd was recalled to prison indefinitely for failing to immediately report the incident to his probation officer.
Ms Debono, who has spent two decades campaigning against the injustice of IPP jail terms, said: “They don’t even know where the phone call has come from. It’s malicious and this has got to stop.
“This is cruel. All these recalls are affecting his mental health. It’s torture. The torture continues.”
Mr Lloyd was told he must serve a minimum of two and a half years when he was handed an IPP sentence in 2005.
The open-ended punishments were scrapped in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands languishing without a release date. They have been linked to 96 suicides in prison and described as “psychological torture” by the UN. However, successive governments have refused to resentence almost 2,400 still serving the abolished jail terms.
Once released, many IPP prisoners find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of recall, often for minor breaches of strict licence conditions.
Unlike most offenders, who serve a fixed period of 56 days on recall, IPP prisoners are back at square one: in jail without a release date until the Parole Board lets them go. They serve an average of 28 months each time they are recalled, regardless of whether they have committed any further offence.
Mr Lloyd served more than eight years before he was first released, but has been repeatedly returned to prison, including for relapsing into drug misuse after he developed an addiction in prison.
This time, Ms Debono, who co-founded campaign group IPP Committee in Action, hoped their nightmare might finally be at an end when Mr Lloyd was released on 27 February.
Now 38, he spent two months at an approved premises in Cardiff until he moved back home, wearing an ankle tag, and secured an apprenticeship in railway track maintenance.
“He was so looking forward to getting a job,” she said. “They took it all away from him, snatched it away from him. These IPPs don’t stand a chance.”
In a letter of support, his apprenticeship manager praised his enthusiasm, reliability and commitment, adding: “He deserves the chance to continue on this positive path.”
His recall to custody comes as Mr Lloyd faces a serious health scare after he was referred for an urgent scan for suspected throat cancer, of which his family has a history.
Ms Debono has appealed to the justice secretary, David Lammy, to support her son’s urgent re-release under special powers called Risk Assessed Recall Review. This would enable him to be freed without having to wait for a parole hearing, which can take up to two years.
Mr Lloyd has also applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), arguing the sentencing judge failed to take into account his young age when he was handed the harsh punishment.
In April, six IPP prisoners had their sentences quashed because of their immaturity when they committed the crime. The CCRC is currently reviewing more than 150 similar cases.
The recall has left Ms Debono and the whole family devastated and separated the father from his two children, aged seven and 10.
“I can’t cope with this,” she added. “I have been living with this since my early forties. I’m 66 now and still doing this fighting for him. Shaun has been living with this since he was 18. Is it ever going to end?
“He hasn’t had a life. Even when he does really well to get out, he does everything asked of him and more, getting an apprenticeship, and then they take him back. You are living on eggshells.”
Ms Debono said Mr Lloyd was going to tell his probation officer about the anonymous call and police visit at his scheduled appointment two days later, but when he arrived he saw officers were already waiting to take him back to prison. He panicked and spent the weekend at large before handing himself in.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on individual cases, recall remains an essential measure to protect the public, and there is a higher threshold for IPP offenders.
“There is no evidence that IPP offenders are being recalled unnecessarily, as confirmed by the Chief Inspector in his independent review of IPP recalls in December 2023.”
