Phone thief's hospital move after 13 years in jail

A mobile phone thief who has spent 13 years in prison is set to be moved to a psychiatric hospital following a lengthy campaign by his family.

Thomas White, 42, was jailed for a minimum of two years in 2012. Because he was under an indeterminate imprisonment for public protection (IPP) order, he had to complete a rehabilitation course before he could be released.

Clara White said because her brother developed paranoid schizophrenia while in custody, he was moved between 16 different prisons and was not given the chance to complete such a course.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) told the BBC it was "right" that IPP sentences were abolished four months after White was jailed.

More than 2,000 people remained in prison on IPP sentences in late 2024.

Introduced in 2005, indeterminate sentences were intended for the perpetrators of serious crimes and persistent criminals.

While they were designed to only be in place until the offender no longer posed a significant risk, they were also handed out for relatively minor offences.

An MOJ spokesperson said the department was "determined to make progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those in prison, but not in any way that undermines public protection".

White had been binge-drinking in Manchester before he stole a phone from two Christian missionaries.

He is currently detained at HMP Manchester, where he was initially jailed in 2012.

Ms White said she considered her brother's imminent relocation to a psychiatric hospital to be a "victory" following a long battle.

She said he would now be treated with "dignity" and "humanity".

He could be kept in hospital indefinitely, however, since he will still technically be serving an IPP sentence.

"The stain of IPP is almost tattooed to him," she told the BBC.

"I will continue to fight to have IPP removed."

She said she was supporting a bill, proposed by Labour peer Anthony Woodley, which would allow all IPP prisoners to be resentenced.

Ms White complained that the government was "already releasing offenders on to our streets to free up [space in] the prison population - it's hypocritical".

Ms White said one of her brother's psychiatric reports found he had developed mental health issues, including delusions and hallucinations, due to the indefinite nature of his imprisonment.

She said he began "wearing" his bed sheets, called his family to speak "in Roman numerals" and identified himself to fellow inmates as Jesus Christ.

"Myself and my mum started to see that Thomas's mental health had really gone to a level that I don't think any family should have to have witnessed."

Ms White said she was determined to keep fighting for other families of people in prison with severe mental health issues.

"We want them released into forensic psychiatric hospitals that can build them up and where they can be treated with dignity," she explained.

"I'm going to stay in the campaign - I owe it to the families."

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