Prisoner who staged 12-hour protest on Strangeways roof is named as Joe Outlaw

A prisoner who staged a 12-hour protest on the roof of Strangeways can be named as Joe Outlaw.

The 36-year-old, who is an inmate at the prison, scaled the roof of one of the buildings in the prison grounds yesterday afternoon (Wednesday).

Outlaw, who was jailed for robbery for an indeterminate length of time in 2011, sketched the words 'FREE IPPZ' on the prison roof and continually shouted out the same phrase during his protest. The message is believed to refer to The Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence (IPP) sentence, which was abolished in 2012 and branded 'unjust'.

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Outlaw, who has 33 previous convictions, has previously shared videos on YouTube and TikTok in which he talks and raps about the 'injustice' of IPP sentences. In one video posted earlier this month, he urged people to 'look into' IPP sentences and vowed to raise awareness of the issue.

During yesterday's protest, Outlaw could be seen waving his arms in the air and repeatedly shouting at the top of his voice while wearing a bin bag.

He remained on the roof for almost 12 hours as a crowd of spectators showed up to watch the incident unfold. At one stage, he was seen making a love heart gesture and wearing a makeshift poncho as the rain lashed down.

As the night fell, he could be seen drying his clothes on the roof using one of the shiny metal chimneys, seemingly undeterred by the plummeting temperatures.

The protest eventually came to an end in the early hours of this morning (Thursday). Police said he "willingly came down from the roof" at about 4.15am and was "back in the custody of prison staff."

Prison bosses have vowed that Outlaw "will now face punishment" for his