Clad in fluffy slippers and dressing gowns, filming for Snapchat or going live on TikTok they gathered outside Strangeways prison.
Their attention on a man in a bin bag on the roof in the fading light and drizzle. Officers had swarmed the streets around the perimeter of the city centre prison shortly after 4:30pm, cordoning off roads and warning those who stopped to quickly snap their own pictures to swiftly move away from the scene.
In the distance, the small figure of a man, wearing a bin bag, could be seen on all fours scaling the roof of one of the buildings in the prison grounds, before waving his arms in the air and repeatedly shouting at the top of his voice. READ MORE: LIVE: Prisoner spotted on roof of Strangeways prison - latest updates The saga continued when the inmate sketched “Free IPPZ” onto the roof of the building before continually shouting out the phrase, in what appeared to be a protest against the abolished court sanction titled Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences (IPP).
As the rain lashed down on Wednesday evening and gusts of wind grew stronger, many watching on assumed he would give up. He could be seen visibly sodden, shivering and rubbing his hands together to try and keep warm - but remained stationed on the roof for hours more.
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