Joe Outlaw, a prisoner with ADHD, anxiety, paranoia, and OCD, was acquitted of 12 counts of criminal damage after defending his actions as a response to his indefinite jail term. He claimed he was desperate for help when he damaged prison property. The jury heard that he had served almost 14 years under a now-scrapped IPP sentence, which had been linked to high suicide rates among inmates. Outlaw was ultimately found guilty of two counts of damage and sentenced to three years, but he continues advocating for reform.
When I got on that roof, I was absolutely desperate, thinking I was going to die, he said. I'd been asking for help for days. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, I just needed to escape and feel safe in a system that makes that almost impossible. That moment was the only way I felt I could survive.
The jail term, which was scrapped in 2012, has been repeatedly described as a stain on the justice system and linked to higher rates of suicide and self-harm, with at least 90 inmates taking their own lives in prison.
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