There are over three thousand forgotten prisoners languishing in jail in England and Wales, held indefinitely with no idea when they’ll be released, even though they completed their sentences years earlier. They’re IPP prisoners – people who were given an additional indeterminate sentence, Imprisonment for Public Protection. Martin Read’s film looks at the punishment described by Conservative former Justice Minister Ken Clarke as ‘a stain on the Justice System’, following both the stories of individuals trapped in a Kafka-esque world of labyrinthine bureaucracy that has seen them swallowed up by a system, and those campaigning for their rights as human beings to have their lives returned to them.

Documentary

Britain's Forgotten Prisoners (2024) is currently not available on any services.