Man still in prison 20 years after stealing phone

His son served a life term behind bars, according to the father of a Cardiff man who has spent 20 years in jail for stealing a cellphone. Leroy Douglas, 44, was sentenced to a minimum of two-and-a-half years in 2005 for a robbery, but he remains in jail as he is subjected to an indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection ( The controversial step was postponed in 2012, but campaigners are calling for those currently serving an IPP to be released and have filed a lawsuit against the United Kingdom before the United Nations. The Ministry of Justice reported that it released the largest annual number of IPP prisoners on record last year, as well as additional assistance to those in jail.

IPPs are a form of sentence, implying that prisoners will be detained indefinitely if the parole board determines that it is not appropriate to release them. They were designed to arrest criminals who posed a significant risk to the public, but after being sentenced to less serious offences, they were chastised. Defendants must complete a minimum term before being considered for parole by the parole board, but this is not automatic. They are also subjected to licence conditions, and they must comply or risk being recalled to jail once they are released.

Anthony Douglas, 63, said his son was a normal boy growing up who was easily led to bad decisions. Leroy Douglas, who is now in HMP Stocken, Rutland, began to get into trouble with friends and colleagues, and was found guilty of shoplifting as a youth and young man. However, when the dad-of-two was jailed for stealing a cellphone belonging to his cousin's boyfriend in 2005, it

all escalated. He received an IPP instead of a set term two and a half years in prison, which his family described as a

shock to everyone.

He's been in there for two and a half years, and the next thing I know is that he's still in there all these years,

Mr Douglas said. "I wanted him to do half of the two-and-a-half years and start fresh.

Since being convicted, Mr Douglas hasn't been able to visit his son in person, but he does talk to him on the phone often. While in detention, Leroy Douglas had to be told of his daughter's death after she suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage at the age of 20, as well as losing his grandparents and other family members, something that his father said had an effect on his mental stability. Mr Douglas has been moved to various places a number of times, resulting in him having to repeat training and courses required for him to be eligible for release.

We are not the only ones hurting, the whole family is in danger due to him being in jail,

he said.

Mr Douglas admitted that his son had struggled with bad behavior while in jail, but that being in a jail environment from a young age had produced the product he is today.His family is outside, so the only role models he sees are those that are already in jail,he said.He began to act out because he doesn't think it's fair that he's been in jail for so long,

says the author, so it may have had an effect on his behavior.

While Leroy Douglas has suffered with heroin in the past, his dad said he had tested negative for opioids while in jail.

Andrew Taylor, a criminal prosecutor at Apex Chambers, has represented around ten clients who were given IPP sentences. He characterized the situation as draconian and unfair.I've had clients who were on the face of it without IPP sentences, they may have been sentenced to four or five years in total terms, giving them a definite release date,he said.But if you have an IPP, it's still works for life. For the most minor sentences, many people who were accustomed to them are recalled often. Mr Taylor said that resentencing of people exposed to IPPs must take place on alarge scale.

There is no longer a need to have people locked up like this,

the narrator said,

not all those who are subjected to them would have been released right away.

These people are hopeless, they have no intention of getting out, which can lead to violent conduct in jails, and there is a significant shortage of jail spaces,he said.The first aim of prison should be rehabilitation, and IPP sentences go against this.

According to statistics from June, there are about 2,500 prisoners who have either never been released or have been recalled to prison under the IPP scheme. Campaigners from Wales, including Shirley Debono, whose son Shaun Lloyd, who was given an IPP sentence aged 18, went to Downing Street on Thursday to demand that the sentences be abolished retrospectively, and for those that are still affected, apprehension was served. Before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the group has also filed a lawsuit against the UK government. The campaigners' letter urged the government to

do the right thing by securing one of the largest miscarriages of justice and restoring hope and dignity to thousands of IPP prisoners and their families. The children had

grown up separated from their parents," and there is no way to know when or if they will see them again.

According to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics, the number of people released from jail has decreased from 3,018 to 1,134 between December 2023 and March 2025, but those with an IPP have been reduced from 3,18 to 2,134 between January 2023 to 20,134 In the first year, a total of 602 recalled IPP prisoners were released from detention in the last 12 months, the most number of annual releases on record.