PRISON

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
 

All "low-risk" convicts at Drake Hall Prison, Staffs, are to be offered 10 lessons each once they have passed their theory test and got a provisional licence. The courses are with the British School of Motoring and would normally cost £250. They are meant to help the prisoners find work when they are freed. Prisoners have also been given a hi-tech driving simulator.

The scheme is being led by the West Midlands Employers' Coalition, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions. A spokesman said, "This initiative is part of the drive to get people off benefits and into work." An officer at Drake Hall, which has 300 inmates, said, "It's amazing these women are being treated to free BSM driving lessons. What kind of deterrent is that? Commit a crime and learn how to drive for free." (Source: Sunday Mirror, Jan/08)

Ministers are investigating reducing the length of time that prisoners spend in jail by 20% as an emergency measure to cut the total number of inmates, which yesterday reached a record 81,135. Thousands of prisoners would be released early after serving only 40% of their sentence instead of the present 50%. Another possible solution is to increase the present emergency early-release scheme from 18 to 23 days. The latest prison population figure, which includes 332 being held in police cells, comes after the Government was forced in June to announce that thousands were being freed 18 days early because the prisons were full. Numbers have risen throughout the summer, leaving only 780 free spaces.

Ministers are expected to resist taking a decision to allow the early release of prisoners as long as possible because of what it could do to the Government’s credibility on law and order. Under the present rules the great majority of prisoners, other than those serving life or indeterminate sentences, are released after serving half their sentence or they become eligible for parole at that time. Of the 1,6325 offenders released under the 18-day early-release scheme introduce in June, 176 have been recalled to jail, including 65 for alleged reoffending. Forty-eight of those recalled are on run. (Source: Times Online, Sep/07)

Gerry Sutcliffe, the minister responsible, said it is impossible to stop inmates walking out of open prisons. He was responding to accusations of a "lax" security regime at Ford open prison in West Sussex. He pledged to visit the jail after claims by local MP Nick Herbert two inmates a week were walking out of it. Mr Herbert claimed security at the Category D establishment had become a "laughing stock" and it was "no wonder the prison had been dubbed HM prison Butlins".

One retired prison officer said the gap in the security fence at Ford "has been a permanent fixture for years". Prisoners had also been seen by local people walking into nearby Littlehampton to drink at pubs and even hiring taxis to collect "up to 30 fish suppers at a time" from the town. And one inmate, serving life for murder, had not been registered as missing until he had been picked up by police and returned to the prison.

Prisons minister Gerry Sutcliffe denied the categorisation of prisoners had been "secretly relaxed" because of overcrowding, insisting proper assessments were being carried out. He also denied local "rumours" a higher security Category C prison was to be built at Ford, saying there were no such plans at present. He defended the role of open prisons in helping offenders back into society but said it was in "the very nature" of such establishments that some inmates would abscond. (Source: BBC News, Jan/07)

Roger Gleaves, a serial paedophile has been given more than £40,000 in legal aid to fund his court battle for a lavatory in his prison cell. He has been awarded the taxpayers' money because he claims his human rights have been violated. The paedophile, jailed in 1998 for raping two 14-year-olds, could win tens of thousands of pounds in compensation if successful. Gleaves claims that the lack of a lavatory in his cell means he sometimes is inconvenienced by having to wait for a warder to unlock his door and let him out.

Around 45 other prisoners, including killers and other rapists, at Albany Jail on the Isle of Wight, will win payouts if he does. There are hundreds of inmates at the four other prisons still without lavatories in every cell who could also cash in. Gleaves previously won days out from prison by launching a high court case against the Home Office in 2004 to contest disciplinary proceedings against him for describing a warder as a "kraut". (Source: Mail on Sunday, Sep/06)

Prisoners freed early from jail are being allowed to take foreign holidays while still "on licence". It means thousands of offenders, including rapists or armed robbers, could be enjoying themselves abroad, while technically serving out their sentence on probation, even though there is no indication that foreign authorities are even being informed. The change, approved by Baroness Scotland, the prisons minister, took effect this year but was not announced to the public or MPs.

The holiday ruling affects virtually all prisoners who have been released part way through a fixed sentence, but remain on licence, with supposed restrictions on their movements and behaviour, for months or years to come. Until this year, offenders on licence could go abroad only in "exceptional compassionate circumstances" such as a family funeral. But trips abroad are now permitted "on the grounds of business, recreation or holiday". Before going abroad, offenders must obtain the permission of a senior probation officer, who will judge whether they pose a risk and whether they are likely to return.

Explaining the ruling, John Scott, the head of the National Probation Service's public protection unit, said regional probation boards "may now permit temporary travel outside the UK on the grounds of business, recreation or holiday where they are satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist". A Home Office spokesman said, "Requests must be considered on their individual merits, not interfere with the sentence plan or increase any risk of re-offending or risk of serious harm, and should contribute positively to the rehabilitation and resettlement of the offender." (Source: Sunday Telegraph, Jun/06)

All of Britain's 73,000 prisoners will get £50 gifts on Christmas Day and a knees-up costing £3,650,000 on top of normal jail running costs. At Wakefield the celebrations will be better than many decent families can afford. The day will start with a full English breakfast and lunch will be turkey, ham, roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, peas, parsnips and cranberry sauce, followed by Christmas pudding. In the afternoon there will be competitions at pool, bingo, chess, table tennis, backgammon and cards. Prizes include books and DVDs with titles like War of the Worlds, Star Wars, Peter Kay, Batman Begins and Lee Evans' comedy show.

Classic Christmas movies will also be shown. In the evening they will round off the day with cold meat sandwiches, pies, salad, crisps and nuts. Prisoners will also get extra toiletries, cigarettes and phone cards to ring friends and relatives. A Home Office spokesman said, "At Wakefield prison the prisoners' cash entitlement will be doubled for Christmas week. This is not tax-payers' money. It is at the discretion of the govenors whether this happens at other prisons. How much each prisoner is entitled to have varies from prisoner to prisoner. Wakefield Prison is not allocating any extra money for prisoners' presents." (Source: The People)

Adrian Rayment is refusing to leave his “cushy” remand cell to face a judge for a string of offences. He has been ordered to court five times but he won’t leave HMP Peterborough where inmates enjoy soothing massages, aromatherapy and reflexology to ease stress. Rayment was due in court to answer 11 charges including theft, driving while disqualified and possession of an imitation firearm. A district judge had previously ordered prison governor Mike Conway to force him to attend but the hearing had to be adjourned again last week when Rayment failed to turn up.

The prisoner’s solicitor Andy Brumhill has written to Mr Conway to ask why Rayment is being allowed to stay in his cell. He said, “It is a total waste of money. If a defence solicitor had defied the court like this we would be liable for the wasted costs. Mr Conway needs to take responsibility for his actions, or as it seems lack of action, and to force this defendant to come to court. (Source: The Sun, Jun/06)