Doncaster prisoner's hunger strike enters 11th day in protest at sentence

Thomas Reay, aged 39, is locked up at HMP Doncaster for a spate of armed robberies.

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He was sentenced to an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) after being deemed a danger to the public and ordered to serve a minimum of six years.

Reay has served 11 years so far but IPP legislation means that prisoners remain locked up indefinitely until they are no longer deemed a risk by the Parole Board.

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A petition has been launched calling for Reay’s release but the inmate, originally from Newcastle, has also gone on hunger strike to draw attention to his case.

His family and friends fear he may die behind bars in his fight for freedom.

Reay was part of an armed gang which targeted bookmakers in the north east.

He had previous convictions for robbery and wounding with intent and was on licence after being released mid-way through a nine-year prison sentence when he committed the raids for which he is now locked up.

A Facebook page has been set up providing daily updates on Reay’s hunger strike, which appear to have been written by the inmate himself.

In his latest post he said: “Thank you all for keeping me going through this hard time.

“All the years that these people have kept me in jail for robbing a shop is a joke. Yeah I committed the crime so I have done my time, but why all this extra?

“We all know that nobody was hurt during my crime yet rapists and paedophiles get little sentences, get out and do it again to defenceless women and children.

“Where’s the justice in this?”

Serco, which operates HMP Doncaster, said staff are aware of the hunger strike and the inmate is being seen daily by medical staff.

IPPs were introduced in 2003 by the then MP and Home Secretary, David Blunkett.

They were designed for serious sexual and violent offenders but were used more widely by judges than had been anticipated and were scrapped in 2012.