PRISON

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Bullwood Hall jail in Essex and Canterbury in Kent, have been opened exclusively for foreign criminals at a cost of £15m a year. Other jails, such as The Verne in Dorset, already have seven in ten inmates from abroad and officials said that more foreigner-only prisons could be opened if they are judged a success. The move is partly due to foreign inmates having different language and other requirements but it also makes it easier for immigration staff struggling to deport foreign criminals.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said Gordon Brown had pledged that all foreign criminals would be deported, but now around one in seven of the prison population were from abroad. Last year, the then Home Secretary John Reid offered convicts from outside the EU a £2,500 package if they agreed to serve their sentence in their own country. But the offer has failed to attract much interest. Details of the all-foreigner jails only emerged in a report into the mental health of inmates, by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said, "The decision to create foreign national prisons reflects our need to deport foreign national prisoners as quickly as possible. Five Border and Immigration Agency officials work in each jail to identify immigration issues and expedite deportation procedures. We are reviewing the role of the foreign national prisons to see if the model has worked." (Source: Daily Mail, Oct/07)

More than 100 of the “most dangerous people in the system” could be released from prison after the Court of Appeal ruled that their continued detention was unlawful. Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice Scott Baker and Lord Justice Hughes, ruled that the Home Office was wrong to block the release of a prisoner sentenced to 10 years in jail. The inmate had argued that he was entitled to unconditional release after serving threequarters of his sentence. Paul Stellato, jailed for offences including arson, was released on bail and could claim damages of about £25,000 for being unlawfully held for a year after his sentence should have ended. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Dec/06)

London's Wandsworth Prison is turning a Christian chapel into a Mosque because a surge in Muslim inmates, where they now make-up almost a fifth of all prisoners, has left them without enough room to prey. The Prison Service has responded by closing the Anglican chapel and telling Church of England convicts they must share with Roman Catholics. This is despite the prison having 800 Church of England and Roman Catholic inmates, compared to 265 Muslims. The move is likely to cost tens of thousands of pounds. (Source: Daily Mail, Oct/06)

Women prisoners at Drake Hall jail in Eccleshall, Staffs, have been given two high-definition 40in plasma TVs at a cost of £3,500. A third plasma TV has been put in the prison boardroom and inmates already have TVs of their own in their cells. Drake Hall governor John Huntingdon said the £3,500 bill was justified, saying, “The facility is well used by staff and acts as an incentive to them to improve their general health. This reduces sick leave, which has really improved at Drake Hall.” A furious prison officer said, “There are very few people in Britain who own high-definition screens. It is a scandal prisoners should be pampered and enjoy pinpoint-sharp TV pictures at taxpayers’ expense. There is no justification for this.” (Source: The Sun, May/06)

Belmarsh Prison bosses have given £1,000 laptops to 28 top terror suspects to "help the men prepare their legal defences." A Prison Service spokesman said, "Belmarsh has received a delivery of laptops for prisoners. Under Prison Service Orders, prison inmates must have access to adequate facilities to prepare their legal cases. Much of the information provided by the Crown Prosecution Service relating to their cases is stored in electronic format. Prisoners must be able to read this evidence."

Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers, said Belmarsh do not understand the social and religious behaviour of Muslims and was concerned that four remand prisoners on terror charges were allowed to meet only in pairs and were banned from communal Friday prayers. She said, "It is vital that prisons understand the prisoners they hold and can assess the relationships between and within different groups of prisoners in order to be able to manage them safely."

However, a source at the jail said, "The governor does everything possible to accommodate the Muslims' needs. During Ramadan, staff stayed up all night cooking for men who had fasted during the day. We cater for their special diet needs and accommodate every religious festival in the Islamic calendar, but when prisoners asked for a Midnight Mass service at Christmas they were told we didn't have the staff." (Source: Daily Mirror, Mar/06)

Two "weekend jails" will be open for inmates under a Home Office pilot project. The jails will house offenders who would normally be given a prison sentence but are not considered high enough risk for immediate jail. They will spend either weekends or weekdays there, and the rest of their time living in the community. New facilities at two prisons in Preston and Lincoln will house the "intermittent custody" prisoners. While in the community the offenders will be under the supervision of probation officers, either working, looking for a job or doing unpaid community work. If behaviour is not up to scratch they may be sent to jail full time. The units at Kirkam and Morton Hall prisons have been purpose-built.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said, "Intermittent custody can play a key role by punishing offenders at the same time as ensuring they undertake programmes to address their behaviour and make reparation to the community." Prisons minister Paul Goggins said, "Many offenders serving short sentences lose their jobs and homes, and their family suffer from the separation, but the Prison Service do not have long enough to work constructively with the prisoner." Pilot magistrates courts will have the power to impose an overall sentence of up to 26 weeks for a single offence, including up to 45 custodial days.

In the Crown Court, the sentence for a single offence will be up to 51 weeks including a maximum prison element of 90 days. The Probation Service will assess offenders' suitability for the new scheme. As well as looking at the degree of risk posed by the offender, they will consider whether issues such as drug or alcohol abuse make them unsuitable for part-time custody. Chief executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity, Paul Cavadino, generally backed the initiative but warned there was a real risk that courts could misuse intermittent custody for offenders who would not otherwise have gone to prison.

He said, "If this happens, it will simply increase the total jail population and provide no relief for an overstretched prison system. For most offenders community sentences are a far better option than either part-time or full-time prison, as they are much more likely to change attitudes to offending."

Fewer women should be jailed to prevent a "tragedy of wasted lives" for them and their children, Cherie Blair says. The prime minister's wife, a top QC, was speaking at a conference in London organised by the Prison Reform Trust. Over 17,700 children a year are parted from jailed mothers, says the trust, which wants urgent action to improve support and resettlement services.

Ms Blair said, "We do not help society, victims, offenders or their children by holding so many women in prison." At the conference, at the British Library in St Pancras, north west London, the PM's wife called on courts to use the "range of sentencing options which enable women offenders to account for their crimes while avoiding the negative outcomes of imprisonment".

Trust director Juliet Lyon said, "Why do we persist in locking up young mothers, who have mostly not committed serious or violent offences, holding them miles away from home and damaging another generation of small, dependent children? Given the comparatively small numbers involved it would be possible to establish local support and supervision centres for women who offend."

Joanne Sherlock, manager of the trust's Young Parents in Prison project, said, "Wherever possible, courts should avoid custody and look to use community sentences which can allow offenders to put something back into society, while also ensuring that families stay together."

The Home Office insisted prison was already intended to deal with the most dangerous sexual, violent or serious offenders but, a spokesman added, "Offenders who continue to commit crime, despite being given every opportunity to get away from crime, should also expect to go to prison."

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