My partner is IPP he was given this in 2008, he was told 2 and half years he wasn't released till 8 and half years later.
He is now back in custody after being charged for theft and assault, he was given a 20 weeks sentence, went back to custody in February 2019.
There is no doubts he committed these offences and not making excuses for him he was struggling with his mental health and had issues with drugs. He had been given a flat with a support worker who was never available to support him and he had discussed with his probation officer his issues with drugs none of these were addressed.
At this time I was 6 months pregnant with our first son I was devastated, one minute we are looking forward to having our child then suddenly thrown into this nightmare that has no end date. Every week I would visit him alone and then when our son was born continued the weekly visits and trying to get the odd family day when we could. He sat a parole hearing in October 2019 but they refused his release saying he needed more time to consolidate his skills from a course he had to complete. They sent him to cat d open prison for this.
Our son is now 13 months old and it is heart-breaking that his dad has now missed that first year of his life all the milestones like his first word, first steps and just little things like putting him to bed and bath time. My partner has worked hard to show he has consolidated his skills, he has kept his enhanced status has a trusted job and is engaging with prosper who are supporting him with his mental health, drugs ,he has been clean now for over a year, and any other things he needs support with. We are now awaiting a date for his next parole hearing.
I think the most worrying and stressful thing about being a partner to someone who is IPP is sitting here and not knowing when we will be a family again. It doesn't just affect the prisoners it has a major effect on the partners and children of them too. There definitely is a bigger picture with IPP which I honestly believe is being over looked and that is what it does to families.