UN torture expert urges UK government to review all indefinite sentences

Deeply flawed' imprisonment for public protection rules causing severe distress among prisoners and families, says rapporteur

A UN torture expert has called on the UK government to urgently review all sentences imposed on prisoners held indefinitely under the widely discredited" imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme.

Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said the sentences, scrapped in 2012 but without retrospective effect, caused severe distress, depression and anxiety among both prisoners and their families.