Law -
Prison
Prison
officers were fuming after Bank Holiday leave was
cancelled to lay on a barbecue at a women’s
jail. Two pigs, costing £120 each, are to be
spit-roasted at Drake Hall jail, Eccleshall,
Staffs. Other items on the menu included onion
bhajis, a Mediterranean flan and vegetable
dishes. The 320 inmates were also treated to a
talent show and a karaoke evening.
One officer said, “It’s just an excuse
for a knees-up. No special food has been laid on
for Muslim or Jewish inmates, who won’t be
best pleased at pigs being roasted.” Norman
Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said,
“Barbecues should not be part of a prison
regime.” The Prison Service said, “This
will promote equality and good relations.”
Prisoners
are being let out of prison to work at a
Citizens' Advice Bureau. Thomas Ejedwe and Brown
Ukandu jailed for 13 and 14 years for conspiracy
to import drugs, deal with people who want help
on drug addiction and have been given their jobs
with the blessing of the Prison Service and CAB
bosses. Ejedwe, who is due to be released in
February 2005, works as an unpaid volunteer.
Ukandu, set for freedom next summer, gets a
nominal wage. The pair travel the 15 miles from
HMP Springhill, Bucks, to the bureau in Oxford
city centre five days a week and have to report
back to jail each night.
Drugs campaigners, prison officers and victims'
groups are outraged. Paul Betts, whose daughter
Leah died after taking an Ecstasy tablet, said,
"Convicted drug dealers should not be in a
centre where people are likely to come in for
advice about drugs." Norman Brennan, of the
Victims Of Crime Trust, said, "This is
ridiculous." Bureau manager David Scott
said, "Volunteers' backgrounds are not
important and we do not check people's criminal
records. All we care about is that they can give
good, accurate advice." A Prison Service
spokesman said, "The inmates gain vital
skills to boost their confidence."
Prison
Governor Mick Bell issued a grovelling apology to
lags for dishing up roast beef instead of turkey
after a firm which supplies the birds every week
let him down. One prisoner officer at Castington
Young Offenders Institute, said, "I cringed
when I saw it. I am thinking not only of crime
victims but honest families who only have turkey
at Christmas and roast beef once in a blue moon.
They would love and appreciate a piece of roast
beef." Mr Bell's note to 400 prisoners, who
include murderers, said, "I have had to
purchase an alternative. For this Sunday only the
first choice will be roast beef. I am afraid it's
too late to change everyone's choices. Again I
can only apologise. Many thanks for your
co-operation."
Castington, near Alnwick, Northumberland, holds
prisoners up to the age of 21. They pick from
menus including curry with chips and rice, pizza
and coronation chicken. Victims of crime
spokesman David Hines said, "It is
disgusting. There is no way we apologise to
prisoners for a menu change. This is a slap in
the face for crime victims." Mr Bell refused
to comment. A prison service source said,
"Keeping everyone informed is a key part of
the custodial process."
A
convicted murderer managed to escape from his
guard while on a visit to Birmingham, by slipping
away near a busy shopping centre and the city's
main railway station. The prisoner was on a
"familiarisation" trip aimed at getting
prisoners nearing the end of their sentences
ready for life on the outside. He had been
serving a life sentence at Featherstone prison,
Wolverhampton, after being sentenced at Leeds
Crown Court in July 1986 for murdering a man by
strangling him with a scarf and stabbing him with
a pair of scissors.
A
17-year-old prisoner escaped while taking part in
a Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme after completing
a 10km walk across the Brecon Beacons in Powys.
He was one of six inmates from Ashfield Young
Offenders Institute in Bristol taking part in the
walk and had been let out on licence for the day
when he disappeared.
Two
murderers escaped from Leyhill open prison near
Thornbury, Gloucestershire where they were
serving life sentences. The pair were classed as
not dangerous, or category D, by the Home Office,
although police are warning the public not to
approach either man. The Prison Service said
later a third man, who was serving 11 years for
robbery, also absconded from Leyhill Prison at
the same time.
In
1998, the Government spent nearly £1.5 million
installing colour TV sets in hundreds of cells,
and prisons have spent thousands of pounds buying
electronic video games for inmates. Former Chief
Inspector of Prisons, Sir David Ramsbottom even
called for inmates to be given satellite TV.
Copies of the European Human Rights Charter are
now common in prisons.
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