A CONVICT on the run from prison posted a video criticising his ‘disgraceful’ sentence, after being kept behind bars for two years longer than his jail term.

Michael Presley, who has served five years following a three-year sentence for GBH, escaped from prison and called on the Ministry of Justice to release him and thousands of other inmates serving controversial indeterminate sentences.

The 24-year-old from Didcot then handed himself back on Wednesday less than 24 hours after escaping HMP Spring Hill in Aylesbury.

After a drunken fight in Didcot ended with Presley breaking another man’s jaw in February 2011, he was eventually sentenced – 18 months later – to three years in prison.

But he was given a Sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) which only sets a minimum time behind bars.

He has now served more than five years in prison.

Presley, who has a five-year-old daughter, was told he would have to wait another 15 months for a Parole Board review shortly before he escaped prison on Tuesday night.

In his video, he said: “The sentence is a disgrace. You took me away from my daughter, my family, every single person I loved got taken away from me because I made one stupid mistake when I was 17.

“It’s not acceptable – I’m saying this to get my voice out and for every other IPP prisoner that’s serving.

“It’s not right, I’ve lost absolutely everything, I lost hope, I lost faith and I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”

He is one of more than 3,000 currently serving an IPP – which sets a minimum sentence only.

A prisoner must then satisfy a Parole Board that he or she is no longer a danger to the public.

He called on the Ministry of Justice and Justice Secretary David Lidington to commute IPP sentences.

The Government abolished IPP sentences in 2012 just months after Presley was sentenced. It followed a joint report in 2010 by the chief inspectors of prisons and probation which said that IPP sentences were unsustainable with UK prison overcrowding.

Presley’s brother David, who lives in Didcot, told the Oxford Mail he was concerned about the high suicide rate among IPP prisoners and that Michael felt ‘no hope’ after being denied the chance to even face the Parole Board on several occasions.

His sister Kim, who was his legal guardian at the time of the offence, said: “The biggest issue is the mental health side of things - he’s been left in there for years not knowing when he’s going to come home.

“These IPP sentences don’t just affect the prisoners, they hurt the whole family - we have been hoping and praying every time a new appointment with the Parole Board is scheduled that maybe this time he will come home.

“We are not saying he is innocent, but he’s not the same boy who went in - we are proud of the man he has become and he has served his time - he should be released.”

The 27-year-old said her brother had changed since being behind bars and was well-liked by fellow prisoners and guards during his time at a maximum security prison in Milton Keynes.

But she said the family were ‘disgusted’ by his escape from prison.

She said: “We are disgusted at what he has done and it means the wait will be even longer.

“He just wanted to be heard.”

Alex Hewson, Policy and Communications Officer at the Prison Reform Trust said: “As this tragic case shows, frustration, anguish and despair are the enduring legacy of the IPP sentence, despite its abolition five years ago.

“Thousands remain stuck in our prisons, years longer than was ever envisaged; not there for what they have done, but for what they might do.”

He added: “Despite recent welcome efforts by the Parole Board and prison service to speed up the release of the remaining IPP prisoner population, without legislative action thousands of people will continue to be caught in indefinite detention.

“The Parole Board has already made sensible recommendations for executive release and conversion to determinate sentences, the onus is now on the government to act and finally put an end to this unfair and unjust sentence.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are determined to address the challenge of making sure all IPP prisoners have the support they need to show they are no longer a threat to public safety.

“We have been working closely with the Parole Board to process these cases as quickly as possible and, earlier this year, we set up a new unit focused on this and improving the efficiency of the parole process.”

Presley was charged with escaping from lawful custody and appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates Court yesterday.