In 2006 James Ward was serving a 12-month prison sentence for arson, but 11 years later he remains behind bars.
During his time in jail he set fire to the mattress in his cell.
As a result he was given an IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentence of 10 months.
But he remains in jail; there are concerns for his safety because he regularly self-harms.
IPPs were abolished in 2012 but there are more than 3,000 people in England and Wales still serving these sentences, which means they have no release date.
The chairman of the Parole Board, Nick Hardwick, says ministers ''must act now'' to address the backlog.
Zoe Conway reports for BBC Radio 4's Today and the Victoria Derbyshire programme. »