the National Newspaper for Prisoners & Detainees a voice for prisoners 1990 - 2015
A ‘not for profit’ publication / ISSN 1743-7342 / Issue No. 194 / August 2015 / www.insidetime.org An average of 60,000 copies distributed monthly Independently verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations
Places of ‘violence, squalor and idleness’ where one prison officer ‘wouldn’t keep a dog’: Prisons are in their ‘worst state for 10 years’ HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Nick Hardwick launches his latest and last Annual Report 2014-15 Trevor Grove reports page 11
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insidetime a voice for prisoners 1990 - 2015
the national newspaper for prisoners published by Inside Time Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The New Bridge Foundation, founded in 1956 to create links between the offender and the community. Inside Time is wholly responsible for its editorial content. Comments or complaints should be directed to the Managing Editor and not to New Bridge.
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Reoffending or recall?
..................................................... TERRY LEGGATT - BETHLEM ROYAL HOSPITAL
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Probation still claim that they are supportive and tolerant to those who are struggling and the sad thing is that they might actually believe that - but who is deceiving who, here? What Probation says and what we
Trevor Grove - Former Editor Sunday Telegraph, Journalist, Writer and serving Magistrate. John Carter - Former international healthcare company Vice-President. Geoff Hughes - Former Governor, Belmarsh prison. Eric McGraw - Former Director, New Bridge (1986-2002) and founder of Inside Time in 1990. John D Roberts - Former Company Chairman and Managing Director employing ex-offenders. Louise Shorter - Former producer, BBC Rough Justice programme. © © a Alistair a H. E. Smith B.Sc F.C.A. - Chartered not Trustee and Treasurer, not Accountant, New Bridge profit profit Foundation. publication service
The Editorial Teama
Congratulations and a £25 cash prize for this month’s Star Letter.
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Star Letter of the Month
I am a life-sentence prisoner who has spent 4 decades behind bars. As most people may be aware, in 1996 the role of the Probation Service changed. Pre-1996 it was about befriending the released prisoner and helping him to find work, getting some money in his pocket and supporting him so that there was less chance of him reoffending. Post 1996 it was no longer about befriending but about protecting and serving the public. It was no longer about helping ex-prisoners but about cracking down on them - zero tolerance, protect the public by getting more prisoners put back in prison. Probation went from being a ‘service’ to being a ‘force’.
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hear through the grapevine from recalled prisoners is two different things. Recalling lifers to prison for being a couple of minutes late for appointments is absolute madness, recalling people because you don’t agree with their opinion is equally as mad. But returning people to prison because no alternative accommodation can be found for them is absolutely criminal. Zero tolerance from Probation is giving the general public the wrong impression about released prisoners. If you ask the average man in the street he will believe that prisoners are only recalled to prison for committing further offences, but this is obviously not the case. I don’t believe the general public know the difference between ‘recall’ and ‘reoffending’, though they are paying for it. As a matter of fact, the most recent figures for lifers who reoffend is 00.01%. Zero tolerance recall and overcrowded prisons is not a good mix. When will these people wake up? Website Comments page 17
Will I ever be allowed to get married? Rachel Billington OBE Novelist and Journalist
John Roberts Operations Director and Company Secretary
Eric McGraw Author and Managing Editor
Noel Smith Author, writer and former prisoner
Editorial Assistants
........................................................................................................ DAVE E FERGUSON - HMP WAKEFIELD Blavo Nov to 2012_Blavo Dec 2008and red to border SHADOW.qxd 1 to In 2013 I proposed my partner, Carol, my absolute joy she13/11/2012 accepted. In09:42 2014Page I applied the prison for permission to get married.
After being issued the relevant forms, I completed and submitted them. Cutting a long story short, the prison ‘lost’ my paperwork. I reapplied in January 2015, stating that my fiancé and I wished to be married in mid-August. Since then I have had to constantly chase the prison authorities to find out why my application has yet to be signed off. This even involved the Deputy Governor instructing the Head of Residence Governor to have this issue resolved ASAP. Yesterday I was told that the prison had, yet again, ‘lost’ my application to marry. It is inconceivable that this could happen two years in a row!
Layout & Design Colin Matthews
It is now a little over two months until our chosen wedding day, a date that the prison has yet to book a Registrar to perform the ceremony on! Aside from Article 12 of the Human Rights Act providing a lawful right for my fiancé and myself to marry, HMP Wakefield claims to promote ‘positive family ties’. Really? This claim is utterly hollow in my view, considering the prison has done all it can to obstruct our lawful right to marry for two years running.
Correspondence
Editorial note: This letter has been sent to NOMS for a response.
Lucy Forde - Former prisoner education mentor Paul Sullivan - Inside Information Compiler
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My life is like a black hole
..................................................... EB - HMP WOODHILL I grew up in care, like many others, and suffered abuse at the hands of ‘the authorities’ of the home. As I grew older I had an ever-increasing personality disorder and by the age of 23 I was given a life sentence for attempted murder, with a 5½ year tariff. That was 15 years ago, back in 2000. In 2006 I had a Parole Board, which was a pointless exercise, and shortly after, I attacked another prisoner and my tariff was extended by a further 6 years. I went to Rampton Hospital in 2007 in order to get help working on my personality disorder. It was advised that I challenge what happened to me as a child when I was abused, so I did and it destroyed me. I began self-harming on a major scale, so much so that I spent long periods in a pinel belt as I used to bite chunks out of myself snapping tendons and teeth in the process. I was on a lot of medication to keep me calm but I was at an all-time low despite this. One of the female care workers showed an interest in what I thought was my welfare, I was subsequently sexually abused by this care worker. I knew I had to return to prison so I refused to engage in treatment. I was sent back to HMP Full Sutton in September 2013 where, after 2 suicide attempts failed and after spending 3 months in York hospital and nearly dying, I contacted the police liaison officer and reported my abuse. The person who abused me has now been charged with 13 counts of sexual abuse towards a mentally disordered person. Six of those charges refer to me and the other seven to other patients who came forward. I asked to be re-refferred to hospital but was denied because whilst at Rampton I refused to engage. What a joke! My life is like a black hole, I live day-to-day and cannot trust any official, but they don’t seem to get that! I sit here in my CSC cell on regular 23 hour bang-up and I wonder where will it all end? I don’t think I can take much more, I really don’t.
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‘Worlds within Worlds’ Open University ..................................................... ANDREW - EX BELMARSH Six years ago I was wrongly remanded in custody and spent a month in Belmarsh. Nothing had prepared me for the horror of the reality. Three to a cell, locked up a MINIMUM of 23 hours a day, no exercise for the first 3 weeks, regular verbal abuse and mind games from some of the prison officers. Written requests torn up and thrown on the floor by a PO who then just sat and stared at me, refusal of any medical treatment for severe laryngitis, food that was truly shocking, showers infested with bugs, no cleaning equipment for cells, a broken chair and table, no phone calls for almost three weeks as they only had one part timer processing the paperwork - and they then entered a wrong number. This list could go on and include the court losing ALL the paperwork, a probation officer who failed to turn up to court so I was sent back for three nights, being told that there was no point in applying for classes as they were all full and then a probation officer who wrote a report based on someone else’s case. It was a mind-blowing education. The place was full of men with mental health or drug problems, there was zero attempt to rehabilitate or educate and it changed my views for ever on the pointless and inhuman futility. I am sure that there are some good people in the prison service who do their best, but as a society my experience was one of massive and really stupid failure, led by the tabloid hysteria. By contrast, I also met many men, often with almost no education but who wanted to talk and who had good hearts and wanted to be able to escape the cycle but had no help and simply didn’t know how. Maybe all MPs should spend a month in jail before they talk about the subject. But in the month I heard or saw of no sexual harassment or problems of any kind. But three men on my corridor slashed their wrists and one quiet but very disturbed young guy was constantly taunted by a particular PO until he screamed - and was then flattened and physically carried away by the response unit. These are worlds within worlds that no one wants to think about and it is a real stain on society.
..................................................... JIDEOFOR TAGBO HMP BELMARSH I am writing with regards to a letter I received dated 26th May 2015 from the Open University. It says in the third paragraph ‘Students in prison cannot study towards a law degree’. I am so shocked and disappointed that prisoners are treated as sub-humans, literally. Please can Inside Time refer this issue to the Ministry of Education and other relevant authorities for immediate review/explanation? Should the Open University legally be allowed to prevent students who want to pursue a law degree? Is this fair? Where is the justice? I thought equality should be expressed in the law! Or is the system afraid that people will become more knowledgeable concerning laws that affect them? Please help!
The Open University
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I am sorry that Mr Tagbo has been given the impression that the Open University would actively seek to prevent a student in prison from studying a module or qualification. Over 1000 students in secure environments are currently studying with us. The University has an extensive curriculum and adaptations are required (particularly where there are new pathways to qualifications) which accommodate the restrictions of the prison environment. All of the modules and qualifications currently available and
accessible are contained in the Open University Guide for Learners in Prisons. Where a module has elements which require internet use, access to external databases and collaborative working the adaptations made must not only guarantee the accessibility of new pathways but also retain the learning outcomes, meet the criteria for accreditation and satisfy NOMS security requirements. The current Law Degree is a new qualification introduced in October 2013. Whilst continuing students are able to complete the old framework qualification studying the previous accessible pathways, the structural changes to the programme mean that adaptations are needed before the degree can be successfully studied in prisons. The Virtual Campus (we currently deliver our Access modules to students using this platform) offers options not previously available and will play a key role in future delivery alongside the production of on-line material in alternative formats where appropriate.
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Contents Mailbag ............................. pages 2-9 Newsround ..................... pages 10-16 Website Comments ................. page 17 Diary ............................. pages 18-19 Comment ........................ pages 20-32
Barack Obama speaks to David Attenborough ....................................................... page 22
Inside Justice ......................... page 33 The Rule Book ....................... page 34 Education ............................. page 35 Short Story ........................... page 36 Faith in Prison ....................... page 37
The Open University is committed to maintaining a core curriculum for its students in prisons (and secure units and hospitals) and I am sorry that the letter Mr Tagbo received did not explain that the new Law Degree is not as yet fully accessible. We in the Offender Learning team are working with colleagues in the Open University Law School to address this and we will be happy to offer Mr Tagbo module choice advice in the interim.
© Fotolia.com
Paul Sullivan looks at world religions and faiths. This month he focuses on Islam
Terry Waite Writes ................. page 38 Wellbeing ............................. page 39 News from the House ......... pages 40-41 Legal ............................. pages 42-45 Legal Q&A ...................... pages 46-47 Reading .......................... pages 48-49 Inside Poetry ................... pages 50-51 Jailbreak ......................... pages 52-55 National Prison Radio ............. page 56
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (concise and clearly marked) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. Please note letters for publication may be edited.
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To avoid any possible misunderstanding, if you have a query and for whatever reason do not wish your letter to be published in Inside Time or appear on the website, or yourself to be identified, please make this clear. We advise that wherever possible, when sending original documents such as legal papers, you send photocopies as we are unable to accept liability if they are lost. We may need to forward your letter and/or documents to Prison Service HQ or another appropriate body for comment or advice, therefore only send information you are willing to have forwarded on your behalf.
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Views expressed in Inside Time are those of the authors and not necessarily representative of those held by Inside Time or the New Bridge Foundation.
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‘Joint Enterprise is an outdated doctrine’
..................................................... KELLY SMITH - HMP STYAL
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........................................................................................................ ANDREW WILKINSON I left Leyhill in May 2014 with the intention of setting up a business that would not only provide refurbished laptops to prisoners as they left, but give them the chance of employment as well. Reclamation agencies have thousands of laptops, desktops, cables, printers, servers, and other IT equipment that are heading for landfill or cheap export unless salvaged by such a scheme. I contacted Terry Waite (a long time advocate of more IT courses within prisons), Inside Time and even checked out the support I could obtain from the Probation Service. I consulted ‘one3one’ which is part of NOMS and got support from them, but nobody could really put this project to maximum use and benefit without the approval of the Ministry of Justice. To make sure I had my figures correct and that my plan wasn’t just castles in the air I went on a business course where they studied my ideas and agreed it was very likely to make a profit, especially as the MOJ could reduce the costs of the units that came from government sources. My scheme ticked numerous boxes including being a green initiative, and one that would reduce re-offending rates. In the current market place the chances of employment are scarce but with a criminal record, nigh on impossible; my scheme would give ex-offenders the opportunity to showcase their skills as their workshop records would become part of their CV. In May this year I wrote to the MOJ outlining everything that I had thought should be included in the project and listed the potential benefits, but got no response. I wrote again at the end of June in case my first effort had “got lost in the post”; I’m still awaiting a reply. In a recent interview Michael Gove described prisoners as “potential assets” which seems odd if he isn’t going to allow them to showcase their skills. The scheme could easily be set up without massive costs, and yet I cannot get those in power to understand the benefits. If you have constructive comments to make on this proposal please email me at
[email protected] or write to Inside Time. Editorial note: This letter has been sent to NOMS for a response.
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My sister and I are both serving life sentences under the ridiculous Joint Enterprise law. We did not commit the murder, we were not present when the murder was committed and we did not know the people responsible. We met our co-defendants for the first time at our trial. So I ask this question of the British legal system - how is it possible for a law that has never been approved by Parliament to be used in this way? Joint Enterprise was a doctrine that was used in the days of duelling, which allowed the authorities to show their opposition to men settling their differences outside the law by shooting or stabbing each other. It allowed the authorities to arrest and prosecute everyone present at a duel. This is an outdated doctrine and should have no place in a modern legal system. It was brought out of mothballs over a decade ago in order to tackle gang crime, but is now being used indiscriminately. It is responsible for many innocent people ending up in prison. I am hopeful that all the good work done by JENGBA and my family will turn a spotlight on this terrible blight on our justice system and consign it to where it belongs - in the dustbin of history. But in the meantime it is ripping innocent families apart and costing the taxpayer millions.
Deaf prisoners
..................................................... AARON EASTLEY - HMYOI AYLESBURY I am a deaf prisoner who has been moved from one prison to another. HMP is not very deaf-friendly but there are certain small changes that would help. I believe that all deaf prisoners should be issued with a vibrating alarm clock, given to them when they arrive in prison. This is not a great expense and would allow deaf prisoners to be up for meds, education and work. Also, for the benefit of any hearing cellmates, you should understand that deaf people need to use the subtitles on television and DVDs. But most importantly for prison staff, it is no good standing at the end of the landing and shouting my name, I cannot hear you, make the extra effort to come to me in person and please face me so I can lip-read what you are saying.
‘Legal highs can kill’
..................................................... NAME WITHHELD - HMP DOVEGATE I am a recovering addict so this is written with experience of some of the dark places drugs can take people, both mentally and physically. I have just been watching the Daily Politics Show and a so-called professional named Professor Knutts has been condemning the government’s bill to ban all legal highs. Amazing! How can a man sit there and say legal highs don’t kill more than 5 people a year? One a year is too many! Even if legal highs do not kill instantly then they most certainly will over a period of time as mentally, drugs like Spice are more dangerous than cannabis. I’ve seen more and stranger things happen to grown men who have smoked Spice than I ever witnessed in a crack house. I’ve seen men throwing themselves over landing rails or running face-first into metal gates. I never saw that happen to people who take heroin or crack. Men are spiralling into places they may not come back from. And it is not only a physical death these legal highs can cause, but the deaths of family life, mental health and normality. I am an ex-soldier who became a ‘minder’ for a major North London crime family, so believe me when I say I was physically and mentally stronger than most after 3 tours in Northern Ireland and then 6 years protecting my employer all over the world. But I got bored and decided to take drugs, now I’m sitting here with mental health problems and nightmares that most people could never imagine. I’ve seen what drugs like Spice do and I’d advise people to think hard before taking it. No one is in control of drugs, they are in charge of you. So listen to the men whose lives have been ruined by drugs, and not the overpaid professionals who only know what the statistics tell them.
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‘Threatened by staff’
Taking liberties without Legal Aid
No comparison
I feel I must write about a recent event that left me shaken to the core and worried for my own safety in this prison. In late May I was in a workshop when I was verbally threatened with physical assault from a female instructor who told me I would get a ‘few punches and slaps’ to my head. I told her that she couldn’t do that and she stated - ‘It won’t be me hitting you it will be a few officers who I know, and don’t even think about complaining because I’m above the law as far as you’re concerned, you’re just a prisoner’.
This is my third attempt to get a letter out to you, both my previous attempts were returned with a covering letter quoting PSI 37/2010 Prisoner’s Access to The Media; para 2.2 ‘refers to prisoners/members of staff in such a way they may be identified’. At first I thought it was the censor who had returned my letter but I now find it was the ‘business centre’. Who are these people and who gave them the right to interfere with my mail? I notified them of ECHR Article 10 Freedom of Expression, but like everyone else in this place, since the slashing of Legal Aid for prisoners, they think they don’t have to follow prison law.
I read with interest a letter a letter in the May issue, from someone at HMP Highpoint, about conditions in prison, but at the end of the letter the writer tried to compare the prison system of the 1970s to today’s system. As far as I am concerned there is no comparison. I was in prison from 1974 for a few years and, although conditions were a lot poorer than today, the overall day-to-day running of the prison system was much better.
..................................................... AARON GADSDEN - HMP LITTLEHEY
I have filed an official complaint but it seems to have disappeared into the ether, but since the complaint was filed I have been sacked from the workplace, IEP’d and been adjudicated against - I believe there is a personal vendetta against me. I have 4 witnesses to the instructor threatening me but what do I do next? I have reported it to the IMB but they seem to be dragging their heels. Is reporting this to the police an option for me? Since Legal Aid was cut we now have to rely on the complaints system and this is obviously open to abuse when the complaint is about staff. I can’t go to the Ombudsman until the internal complaint system is exhausted and I’m getting nowhere with the complaint system so can someone tell me what I am supposed to do next? Editorial note: You may like to consider the following: Write to your local police, requesting a Crime Number. Keep a detailed record of all events. Place a formal complaint concerning your ‘mislaid’ complaint and reiterating that. Make a Confidential Access complaint to the Governor and make a Data Protection Subject Access request for ‘All data’ to find out what that will throw up in reports and memos about you.
........................................................................................................ L PETCH - HMP FRANKLAND
My original reason for writing was the stoppage of a letter to a PO Box address. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that in 2008 a judge ruled on this matter and stated that as long as the letter was open when I handed it over then the Prison Service have no right to stop a letter to a PO Box, and you don’t need the Governor’s permission. Can anyone quote the case report so I can use it in my case? The address I wrote to was - Post Office Customer Service Centre, PO Box 567 Preston. Obviously a dodgy address! My second point is about illegal cell searches. You can imagine my surprise when reading my parole bundle for my oral hearing in November 2014 to find out that the Dedicated Search Team (DST) had carried out a search of my cell in 2013 and taken items of property from it. In PSI 12/2011 it states that all inmates must be given the reasons for a search and a list of all items taken. They did neither of these requirements. I refer to R (Campbell & Ferguson) v HMP Wakefield 2011, when Judge Pelling stated that PSO’s and PSI’s were law and it was mandatory for governors to follow the letter. Obviously the governors here are way above the law and can ignore a Judge’s ruling. In 2014 a further search by DST was made, this time I was present and four ring-bind folders and some loose paperwork (both OU coursework and legal) were taken. Again no reason was given for the search and I received no list of items taken from my cell. One of the folders contained all of my education certificates, for which I have still not been given an explanation. After many written complaints I finally got my certificates back but minus the folder they were in. I then realised that both of these searches occurred just prior to my parole hearings, so no great leap is required to realise these were fishing expeditions on behalf of OMU before the hearings. At my second hearing, which was an oral hearing, a member of the Parole Board gave the OMU rep a very rough time when asking about these searches because I had mentioned them in my submission and inquired when my property might be returned. The OMU rep blatantly lied and said my property was ‘with security’ when I knew different, so I felt bound to write the Probations Director and notify him that a member of his staff had lied to the Parole Board. That member of staff no longer works here. I went through the internal complaints process and got nowhere, so I tried sending a COMP 2 to the Deputy Director of Custody as marked on the form. It got sent to the Area Manager, who returned it and said he had passed it over to be ‘handled locally’. The complaint was about the head of OMU and a governor - who can rule on them ‘locally’? These are just some of the effects of the cuts in Legal Aid.
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The regime never changed throughout my entire sentence and I always knew what I was doing - what time the cells would be opened, the time of gym and education sessions and what time the door would close in the evening. Nothing was unexpected, unlike today’s system. Back in the 1970s prison officers classed the prison service as a career, but these days, to many staff, it is just a job, and it shows in their attitude. Nowadays if you have a concern or a problem and go to prison staff with it they are mostly not bothered or interested in helping you, they will just fob you off. I find a lot of prison staff unapproachable. Recently I heard someone mention a problem to a member of uniformed staff and his response was - ‘Tell someone who gives a shit!’ This is from someone who is supposed to be helping us to move away from crime, to rehabilitate us and show us that the ‘straight’ society he is a part of should be our goal! I would rather be serving my sentence in the 70s - yes it was tougher and we had nothing, but there was a bit of mutual respect and you knew exactly what you were going to be doing on any given day. The modern system seems full of uncaring and disrespectful staff and prisoners and everything changes at a moment’s notice.
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..................................................... ALAN WILTSHIRE - HMP MOORFIELD
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Mailbag
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If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (including your name, number and prison) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
‘Ridiculous and discriminatory letter…’
..................................................... ANTHONY LOWERY - SUFFOLK
..................................................... W A - HMP WHATTON
n I have many friends who are unfortunately in prison and I am an ardent reader of Inside Time and a campaigner for improving prison conditions. Having just read your July issue I am surprised you even bothered to publish the ridiculous and discriminatory letter from Craig Jenkinson, HMP Doncaster, ‘Why should I have to read about sex offenders?’ July issue. His ignorance is only compounded by his skewed logic and if followed to its ultimate conclusion, you should not publish letters from Muslims in case they are terrorists, violent burglars, unlawful car drivers who could potentially kill a child, drug dealers who ruin people’s (including kids) lives and, of course, murderers.
n In reply to the mailbag from Craig Jenkinson ‘Why should I have to read about sex offenders?’ Shame on you! Sex offenders could say the same about drug pushers, burglars, muggers, wife-beaters, cruel fathers, cruel pet-owners, hooligans, terrorists, arsonists, violent thugs, benefit cheats and/or compulsive liars - all of whom and more are on the main wings of prisons. But we do not complain about the aforementioned criminals sharing their views and problems in Inside Time. We choose not to whine. Remember Mr Jenkinson, society sees you as a ‘sicko’ because you are in prison and undeniably a criminal…
Everyone in prison has or is believed to have committed a crime, and regardless of the nature of that crime, it left a victim or victims and potentially a large number of distraught and innocent people. I notice that Mr Jenkinson did not mention the reason he was in prison. His comments are the typical stance of drug dealers in prison who consider that they have committed no wrong and that the proliferation of drug abuse amongst the young and the large number of lives and families destroyed by this evil trade is not their fault. Whatever crime you have committed Mr Jenkinson, your actions affected, hurt and damaged other innocent people, remember that before you start throwing stones in glass houses.
..................................................... A SICKO - HMP STAFFORD n So you would have people’s voices silenced because you don’t approve of them? Who is the real ‘sicko’ here? Your inane comments show exactly where your head is at…
..................................................... A S - HMP CHANNINGS WOOD n Most sex offenders (approx 80%) only ever have one victim, but criminals like Craig Jenkinson, these two-bit wannabe gangsters, spend most of their adult lives creating victims. People like him are the real cowards who refuse to face up to the damage they do or acknowledge how they have affected their victims. And national statistics show that 4 in 10 of ‘main’ prisoners are sex offenders, so
how many of the people you talk to and see every day are the ‘sickos’ that you seem to loathe so much? You cannot judge me, you do not know me or my circumstances…
..................................................... M Y - HMP GARTH n I would like to remind Craig Jenkinson that we are all in prison for crimes and have already been judged by the courts. Every crime has a victim or victims so look to your own crimes and see the victims you yourself have created…
..................................................... G W - HMP DARTMOOR n In response to the letter by Craig Jenkinson about correspondence from sex offenders. As the editor rightly points out, Inside Time does not and should not discriminate based on offending behaviour. Whilst most of us find sex offending reprehensible it is essential that freedom of speech be allowed in a democratic society. None of us like to read reports such as ‘sex assaults on children soar to 85 cases a day’ (IT July 2015) but we do not have to read them. Let us hope Mr Jenkinson’s halo doesn’t trip him up.
..................................................... G W - HMP LITTLEHEY n This is my very first time as a sex offender after three stints as a mainstream prisoner and I would estimate that 70-80% of the inmates here look and act pretty much the same as mainstream prisoners, we are not ‘sickos’. The people who burgle houses, leaving whole families, including kids, terrified and devastated seem to try and take
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org an undeserved moral high ground. It’s crazy, we are all offenders and have caused damage. I hold my hands up to what I did to my ex-partner, it wasn’t nice and it wasn’t right. But nor is breaking into people’s homes or beating someone to a pulp because of some perceived slight. The majority of sex offenders are neither paedophiles or bushjumpers and they certainly aren’t ‘sickos’.
..................................................... V ADAMS - HMP PARKHURST n I am doing life for a sex offence and I consider this a just sentence. I have learnt to live with other convicted prisoners biased opinions but I do often wonder if it is only sex offences that leave victims damaged and traumatised. The answer is a simple NO, all crimes leave a victim or victims, be it drugs, murder, mugging, burglary. So, instead of trying to be a judge and jury for crimes you don’t agree with, perhaps your time would be better spent thinking about your victims instead of pointing the finger at others to distract from your own crimes.
..................................................... B D - HMP OAKWOOD n I am currently serving a 15 month sentence for a sexual offence, and I would like to say to Mr Jenkinson, and any other readers who share his views, the disgust you feel towards myself and others convicted of a sexual offence is NOTHING compared to the disgust I feel for myself for what I have done. But in my opinion, regardless of offence, all prisoners should be given a voice, so thank you Inside Time for giving prisoners that voice.
YOU’RE MEANT TO BE DOING TIME… ...NOT PERSONAL INJURY You’ve committed the offence, been found guilty and now you’re doing time at Her Majesties pleasure…….and time is all you should be doing. You may not have your freedom but you do have your rights. A wet floor, loose stair, trip in the gym, attack by a fellow inmate or even intimidation from prison staff. If you think you have suffered personal injury
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Mailbag
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (including your name, number and prison) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Bone marrow donors
.....................................................
One J-Cloth per day?
..................................................... SUZANNE CLEAVER - HMP STYAL I write regarding the shortage and rationing of cleaning materials, i.e. J-Cloths. I am located in a double cell and we are told to collect all cleaning materials by 10.30am. The laundry orderly states that the cleaning officer permits us only 1 J-Cloth per day. With that we have to clean our cell, plates, ashtrays, toilets and floor! This is a disgrace, I know there have been budget cuts but one J-Cloth per day is just outrageous! There are bedbugs in this jail and they are spreading due to girls being moved around so much to other cells and units. The whole jail is filthy and rotten to the core. The mops are so old they are falling to bits, and are washed in the same machine that is used to wash the clothing of 75 girls. The staff go on about us keeping our cells clean and IEP warnings are issued if we don’t, but how are we supposed to keep everything clean with such meagre cleaning material issued? There is no disinfectant at all. Can NOMS please tell us what our minimum daily issue of cleaning materials is? Editorial note: This letter has been sent to NOMS for a response.
In the July issue we had a letter from Somes McFarland at HMP Gartree enquiring about becoming a bone marrow donor. He asked: ‘Can anyone enlighten me on what to do next? And who can I apply to?’ Natalie Smart - NHS Blood and Transplant Services
Writes
In principle there is no bar to prisoners donating blood. We regularly take donations from prisoners who are out on licence or on remand and not actually in prison. We also accept donations from ex-prisoners, providing (like all donors) they comply with the Donor Health Check and are declared fit and able to donate. All of our potential donors can check their eligibility to donate via our website: www.blood.co.uk/donor-information/ From an NHS Blood and Transplant perspective, we only recruit bone marrow donors from the existing blood donor panel. If prisoners are registered as blood donors and have signed up to the British Bone Marrow Registry (BBMR) the only issue would be their availability to actually donate, as this would require temporary release to undergo the donation procedure.
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British (in)Justice, why it is so easy to prosecute sex offences
........................................................................................................ NAME WITHHELD - HMP PARC For those of you who are still unaware of the facts, no evidence is required to convict on sexual offences. The Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and recent statutory amendments to the criminal justice system have combined to create a two-tier criminal justice system, something that is contrary to the concept of ‘everyone being equal in the eyes of the law’. These days a person’s legal rights are determined by the offence(s) with which they have been charged. For offences such as theft, robbery, burglary etc., that are classed as ‘standard criminal offences’ and therefore not political and not included in tabloid media vilification programmes, the intentionally accepted legal ‘norms’ have been preserved and the Prosecution are still obliged to prove ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’ that the defendant committed the offences, and this still requires the corroboration of any verbal accusation made by provision of evidence; i.e. something tangible, to not only prove the offence but also to link the accused to the offence. However, for politically contentious offences, i.e. sexual offences, the international norms have been removed so that the premise of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ has been removed. The Prosecution no longer have to prove ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’ that the offence occurred. The civil burden of proof has instead been inserted into criminal trials, leaving the jury to make their decision based on the ‘balance of probabilities, which is a much lower burden of proof, whereby no evidence is required to prove the offence and no corroboration is needed for the accusation. The need for corroboration was removed by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Section 32 and 33, which make false accusations not only possible but also more probable as well as automatically creating a second class tier of criminal offences for those accused of sexual offences. This has been achieved simply by changing the rules of evidence and reducing the burden of proof necessary to convict. It has been made easier to convict by the fact that the checks and balances such as the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty had come from Common Law and was therefore not a part of the statutory legal framework, meaning that any change necessary could be achieved by the burden of proof thus changing the treatment of the accused. So the accused is now, in effect, guilty until proven innocent and has to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that he is innocent of the charges. Before this the Prosecution had the burden of proof which went far beyond mere accusations, but this no longer applies to sexual offences in the UK. This means the defendant is now guilty until (or if) they can prove themselves innocent. And everyone knows that to prove a negative is virtually impossible. This is contrary to Articles 6 (1) (2) and 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which provides the presumption of innocence in criminal trials (see Funke v France (1993) 16 EHRR297). The principle assumes that the Prosecution needs to provide evidence (not merely accusation) of guilt in a criminal trial. Accusation now seems to be treated as ‘evidence’. ‘My Friend Tom’ page 26
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Mailbag
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (including your name, number and prison) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Battery farm style courses
..................................................... JON WALDRON - HMP HUMBER Here at HMP Humber I’m starting to notice a pattern emerging from the Programmes Department (OMU). Prisoners are being lined up for courses such as TSP and RESOLVE in a battery farmer’s system, filled with promises of open prisons, unicorns, free candy, etc. Yet a vision of no progression, stagnant conditions and pipe dreams are the reality. I have just completed the RESOLVE course, along with 9 other prisoners, and every single one of us has been refused recategorisation. I was mystified by this so I started asking around for others who have successfully completed RESOLVE and I seem to be getting the same answers, they have been refused recat by OMU. How can people be successfully completing these accredited offending behaviour courses sanctioned by the MoJ and yet still have not discernibly lowered their risk? So I wondered why would a prison be running such courses as if they were going out of fashion if there is no light at the end of the tunnel? Then a member of staff hit the nail right on the head - the prison gets paid when you complete an OBC! So as long as we keep doing the courses the prison continues to rake in the cash that helps top up their slashed budgets. These courses are just a big con, legalised fraud to dupe the taxpayer. The truth is that
SCC
STERLING COURT CHAMBERS
the MoJ’s flagship courses do not lower your risk as the OMU departments just ignore them. They are only in it for the cash. I have 2 questions for those in authority 1) How many inmates have undertaken the RESOLVE course since they started offering it? 2) How many of these inmates have progressed to open conditions upon completion of the course?
‘Massaging the figures’
..................................................... MARK DOWLING - HMP THE MOUNT Here at The Mount they have a tyrannical approach to OBCs (Offending Behaviour Courses), or ‘tick box exercises’ as the staff call them. You will be placed on courses regardless of what crime you have committed. ADM (Assertive Decision Making), victim awareness, drug & alcohol awareness are just a few courses that this prison will put you on no matter what. These courses only last a few days but they will hold up your progression as you wait for them. Even if your Sentence Plan shows you have completed the courses you will be forced to do them again. If you only have 12 months left then you will be put on these courses almost instantly, but if, like me, you are doing a longer sentence then you have no chance. These courses are the remit of the AAP or Activity Allocation Panel, a department whose only job is to ‘massage’ the figures in order to make it look as though prisoners are doing ‘productive out-of-cell activities’. So, in essence - don’t believe the hype.
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Thank you Northallerton
........................................................................................................ STEPHEN WHELAN - ASHWORTH HOSPITAL I just want to say thank you to the staff at HMYOI Northallerton despite the prison closing recently. Even though it was a long time ago that the officers there helped me, they left an impression on me. Now that I am in a better place, psychologically and emotionally, I’d like to say thanks. During my time at Northallerton I assaulted an officer and even under those circumstances they treated me sensitively and with respect, and I have never forgotten that. People are quick to criticise officers when they make a mistake but very rarely are they acknowledged or praised for the good they do.
The PIPE unit
It makes you think
I am writing to you from the PIPE unit, here at HMP Frankland, which stands for Psychologically Informed Planned Environment. This is a unit for Category A prisoners who have been in the prison system for many years and have completed a lot of treatment but for many reasons are unable to get downgraded to Category B.
I felt compelled to write after reading Quote of the Month (Miss Wells) in the June issue. It really made me think about the impact offences have on individuals and how they reach much further than just the victim. It has hit harder because the quote is from an actual victim.
..................................................... JS DUNBAR - HMP FRANKLAND
This is not a treatment unit but a unit where you are able to show that you can use the skills that you have learned from the treatment you have completed and can use them in this type of environment. This is not an easy option and for those of you who think it may be, think again. For those of you who have heard rumours that this place is a ‘con’, look at the facts and figures of how many people have come here and been downgraded. Since I have been here there have been 7 people downgraded, that is nearly half the unit. Clearly this place works for those who are prepared to put the effort in.
..................................................... NAME WITHHELD - HMP ASHFIELD
Probation, offending behaviour programmes, the Courts can all tell us how our offences hurt other people, but hearing it from the victims themselves make it ‘real’ and harder to hear. Restorative Justice should be more widespread and used more often so that victims get the chance to voice their thoughts, feelings and questions directly to the person who has caused them harm. Maybe this would cause the offender to think twice before repeating their behaviour, hearing the harm it has caused directly from the victim. Miss Wells should be proud that she had the courage to come forward.
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Mailbag
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (including your name, number and prison) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Can prison work?
..................................................... ANEIRIN TRENCH-JELLICOE HMP HINDLEY Can prison work? This is entirely dependent on the objective. If functioning individuals are what we want then the current system is clearly flawed. This is because whatever the political stance, the truth is that punishment still takes precedence over rehabilitation and will only ever deliver negative results. If you want an angry, violent, unhappy world then punish mercilessly and you shall have it. What we need is a nurturing society which supports individuals in their development, so they will learn personal responsibility and regain control of their lives. The mantra here, at HMP Hindley, is of empowerment and this is implemented through vocational and academic training. I would be the first to champion this strategy, but only as part of the solution. For, educated or not, we will still be saddled with many unhelpful and destructive behaviours. This inherent truth can be widely observed in society’s dysfunctional relationships. To resolve this problem the real challenge is to identify destructive and constructive behaviours in individuals. Once identified, the destructive behaviours can be lessened or even removed from the behavioural vocabulary. While this is being done tools need to be supplied to assist in decision-making, behavioural awareness can be nurtured and moral values rediscovered. So, why engage in this process? After all, these behaviours have served our condemned well in their criminal lives, enabling them to
survive many difficult situations. The only time someone will choose to change their behaviour is when they perceive a better need-fulfilling alternative. What becomes crucial is not only recognising which behaviour is the rational choice, but importantly, also choosing it. Unless these behaviours are challenged, these people will never function well in the type of society we all want. The next step is to be aware of the basic needs that these behaviours are serving, so it helps if we know what they are and how they are frustrated or fulfilled. All of us need, in varying quantities, love and belonging, safety & security, fun, freedom and personal power/ control. When any of these basic needs are frustrated we feel uncomfortable and so will try to meet our needs in other ways. Without our new awareness of personal responsibility, behaviour and choice tools we will often choose the quickest fix to hand - though these solutions are rarely the best and are often destructive, e.g. drug addiction, violence, anger, blaming, complaining, bribing, criticising, threatening, nagging and punishing (ourselves and others) to name a few. I would argue that more constructive behaviours we can use to resolve our frustrations are; supporting, listening, encouraging, accepting, respecting, negotiating and trusting. Therefore, the crux of the issue is to recognise our basic needs, know when they are frustrated and reorganise our behaviours accordingly so we may meet them in a sustainable way. If we employ CBT and Choice Theory principles to do this in schools, home, work and, crucially, in prison, it has been shown that we will gain not only better relationships, but the natural product of them, happiness - our ultimate goal.
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A female prisoner with her 3 month old baby in the mother and baby unit at HMP/YOI Askham Grange
© prisonimage.org
Mother and Baby Units
...................................................................................................... DIANA RUTHVEN - COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, BARROW CADBURY TRUST Sheffield Hallam University and Action for Prisoners’ and Offenders’ Families are producing a report examining the role, function and benefits of Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) in women’s prisons, a project that has been funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust (an independent Quaker foundation that has supported penal reform for 100 years). Although the research team was able to speak to a wide range of charities and professionals working in MBUs, it has not been possible to interview women in MBUs or women who have experience of them. The Barrow Cadbury Trust believes it is vital that research is informed by the voices of experts by experience, and that those voices are given the opportunity to (as the old Quaker saying goes) “speak truth to power”. We and the project team believe this work will be enhanced and strengthened by hearing and reflecting the voices of women with this experience of MBUs.
• We have sucessfully challanged one of the UK’s largest ever confiscation orders and reduced the relevant amounts by over £10 million.
If you have experience of MBUs (you might currently be in an MBU, have experienced one in the past, or have applied to access one but not been able to attend) we would be really pleased to hear from you - whether your views on MBUs are positive or negative. Because we won’t know whether contributions we receive are representative of the range of views of women with experience of MBUs, they won’t be included as part of the formal research programme, but would stand alongside it. At the same time that the research report is published, a summary of the contributions we receive would be made available on our website and in other publicity, but no names of individuals or prisons will be used. Please send us your views of MBUs by the 1st September 2015 to: Diana Ruthven at the Barrow Cadbury Trust, 6 Kean Street, London, WC2B 4AS. If you have access to email, you can also reach us at
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Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org continued to make progress, although they needed to improve the provision of work, training and education.’
THE INSPECTOR CALLS ...
Most prisoners reported feeling safe and there was ‘robust action to challenge poor behaviour’. Use of force was, however, high and the report suggests that more vigilance was needed to ensure it was proportionate.
Nick Hardwick - HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Inside Time highlights areas of good and bad practice, along with a summary of prisoner survey responses at HMPs Pentonville and Peterborough (Male). These extracts are taken from the most recent Reports published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.
HMP Peterborough (Male)
Local and resettlement prison for category B prisoners with an extension for category C men sentenced to between 12 months and four years Managed by Sodexo Justice Services CNA: 759 Population: 678 (Feb 2015) Unannounced Full Inspection: 16 - 27 February 2015 Published: 30th June 2015 Last inspection: April 2011
were much higher than in similar prisons; l prisoners struggled to gain daily access to showers and to obtain enough clean clothing, cleaning materials and eating utensils; l prisoners said drugs were easily available and the positive drug testing rate was high; l the prison remained very overcrowded and the poor physical environment was intensified ‘Outstanding work to resettle by some extremely dirty conditions; back into theexperts community’ specialist team are committed to helpingprisoners victims of abuse and are in l most Our prisoners described distant relationships with staff and were frustrated by their such as social services, and residential bringing action against local authorities, 4.3% IPP/Life inability to get things done; institutions, such as children’s homes. Prisoners 14.3% Number of foreign nationals 7.6% Prisoners on l little was done to meet the needs of the Our and dedicated teamethnic of malepopulation, and female lawyers have a proven trackwell record Recall 72% Treated in with Reception large black minority sexual, physical and emotional abuse claims. disabled prisoners and older prisoners; 22% Food is bad or very bad 40% Don’t l prisoners had little can timetake unlocked; said abuse a long 72% time to come toknow termswho with and can be difficult for with Child IMBit are 81% Treated they got less than 4 hours; respect byRegardless staff 32%of Number victims to speak out about their traumatic experiences. how long who ago have l the delivery of Education was inadequate; the abuse took place, you may stillfelt beunsafe able to 28% make Victimised a claim. by staff 44% there were not enough education, training or to levels see dentist 28% Easy to get Anything you say to us will be handled with Difficult the utmost of professionalism, work places for the population; drugs 24% Not engaged in any purposeful l acute staff shortages had undermined sensitivitythe and understanding. activities 26% Less than 4 hours out of delivery of offender management, which was Child abuse claims are often eligible for pubic cell funding andNoJordans arePlan recognised by 41% Sentence very poor;
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HMP Pentonville
Cat. B local for sentenced and remand men Managed by HMPS CNA: 908 Population: 1,264 (Feb 2015) Unannounced Full Inspection: 2-13 February 2015 Published: 14th May 2015 Last inspection: August 2013
‘Further deterioration’
6.8% Recall 28.8% Foreign Nationals 11.3% Sentenced to less than a year 24% Lost property on arrival 43% Treated well in Reception 43% Had legal letters opened 62% Food is bad or very bad 35% Don’t know who IMB are 52% Treated with respect by staff 66% Number who have felt unsafe 48% Victimised by staff 64% Difficult to see dentist 40% Easy to get drugs 48% Not engaged in any purposeful activities 72% Less than 4 hours out of cell Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons says that ‘HMP Pentonville had deteriorated still further and needed to improve ... it is a large, overcrowded Victorian prison holding over 1,200 adults and young adult men. It continues to hold some of the most demanding and needy prisoners and this, combined with a rapid turnover and over 100 new prisoners a week, presents some enormous challenges’. l most prisoners felt unsafe; levels of violence
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HMP Peterborough holds both male and female for renovating and improving the physical prisoners. The female section was inspected in environment have been prepared, but at the 2014. This report is on the male section. time of this most recent inspection, the prison had deteriorated even further … the very poor Inspectors said; ‘The previous inspection in standards we observed - some of which were 2011 found an improving institution and Call Christine Sands team on 01924 868911 put right during the inspection when and we the inspectors praised some innovative work to demanded it - and the
[email protected] staff culture, Email resettle prisoners on release. This more recent evidenced, in our view, a failure of manageinspection a prison Write to Neil Jordan House, Wellington Road,describes Dewsbury, WF13which 1HL has ment and leadership.’ produced very good outcomes and which has
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Responding to a criticism of lack of purposeful activity places, Michael Spurr (NOMS Chief) said a new ‘activity building’ is in the pipeline. Relationships between prisoners and staff were described as ‘excellent’ which, Inspectors said, underpinned much which was good about the prison. Despite good support for prisoners at risk of self harm there had been four self-inflicted deaths in the past four years. Chief Inspector Nick Hardwick, said; ‘Overall, Peterborough is an impressive local prison with a positive staff culture which emphasises decency and professionalism … Peterborough is already better than most local prisons we have inspected in recent years, and is well placed to provide an exemplar to other similar institutions across our healthy prison tests.’ Recently published HMCIP Reports Belmarsh - May 2015, Brinsford - July 2015, Bristol - February 2015, Brixton March 2015, Deerbolt - May 2015, Dovegate (Training Prison) - May 2015, Dungavel IRC - July 201522, Foston Hall - February 2015, Guys Marsh - March 2015, Highdown - June 2015, Hull March 2015, Kirklevington Grange - June 2015, Long Lartin - March 2015, Low Newton - March 2015, Manchester - May 2015, Nottingham - February 2015, Oakwood - February 2015, Pentonville - June 2015, Styal - March 2014, Swansea - February 2015, Wetherby - June 2015 Copies of the most recent report for your prison are available in the library.
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Newsround
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Chief Inspector’s latest and last report Muslim chaplains The report observes: ‘It is hard to imagine anything less likely to rehabilitate prisoners than days spent mostly lying on their bunks in squalid cells watching daytime TV. For too many prisoners, this was the reality.’ The rehabilitation revolution had yet to start.
Trevor Grove writes:
This should cut some ice with Mr Gove, who just the other day said: ‘Every individual has something to offer, every one of us can earn respect. People who are currently languishing in prison are potential assets to society. They could be productive and contribute.’ His scrapping of the ban on books being sent to prisoners is a promising start. But if he really means what he says, he will have to confront the main thrust of the inspector’s last report. ‘As I have argued before,’ writes Mr Hardwick, ‘overcrowding is not simply a matter of two prisoners sharing a cell designed for one with an unscreened toilet - undesirable though that is. It means that a prison will not have the activity places, the support mechanisms or the rehabilitation programmes it needs for the size of its population…’
Nick Hardwick’s stark final report as Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons will have In March this year, the prison population in made grim reading for the new Justice England and Wales was 85,681 or 97.7% of Secretary. The report usable capacity. As the for 2014-15 reveals An average week in prisons number of inmates that by almost every rose, staffing levels measure, adult male in England and Wales between 2010 and 2014 prisons in England fell by nearly 30%. It is and Wales have been l Four to five prisoners died. only realistic to deteriorating. They l One or two of those deaths was conclude, as Mr are less safe than five self-inflicted - most using a ligature Hardwick does, that years ago, with more fixed to a bed or window. ‘there is a real need to prisoners murdered, l There were almost 500 self-harm match the demand for killing themselves, incidents. custodial services to the self-harming or being l There were over 300 assaults and resources available. attacked. They are more than 40 of them were serious. A Detention is one of the overcrowded and blunt instrument or blade were the most public services where u n d e r m a n n e d . common weapons. demand can be Assaults on prison l There were about 70 assaults on staff managed. Alternatives staff are up. Psycho- and nine of them were serious. to the use of custody active drugs, so-called l On average there was a homicide once may be unpalatable legal highs such as every three months. but so, no doubt, are Chief Inspector’s Report 2014/15 Spice and Black the other public Mamba which sell for expenditure choices far more inside than outside jail, have that government has to make.’ become a cause of violence and debt. Should he wish to use it, there is ammunition Furthermore, what should particularly here for Michael Gove, who lately said about dismay Michael Gove, whose department prisoners: ‘If we look at them only as problems champions a ‘rehabilitation revolution’, is Mr to be contained we miss the opportunity to Hardwick’s ‘dismal’ picture of inadequate or transform their lives and to save ourselves under-used facilities for teaching and purand our society both money and pain.’ poseful activity. The outcomes for 2014-15 were the worst for a decade, with one in five Trevor Grove, Chairman of Inside Time inmates spending less than two hours a day Board of Directors, serving Magistrate out of their cells. and former Editor Sunday Telegraph
Chief Inspector of Prisons finds flaws in RoTL System In a report just published by the Chief Inspector of Prisons into three cases of serious offences committed by prisoners whilst on RoTL in 2012, he found serious flaws in the decisions to allow RoTL. Whilst Nick Hardwick praised the process and the way it is used to reintegrate prisoners back into society, and test them in readiness for release from long sentences, he did identify some problems, mainly caused by staff incompetence and their ignoring of mandated instructions. He says there is a presumption to grant RoTL and for some higher risk prisoners there are insufficient safeguards. Overall, though, Nick Hardwick said RoTL was an important and cost effective process with only 1% reported as failures and only around 5 in every 100,000 releases resulted in arrests whilst on RoTL. There were nearly half a million RoTL releases in 2012. He said; ‘ROTL is an important part of the process of preparing prisoners for release and reducing the risk that they will reoffend - and so where it works, we all benefit.’
in prison are key to beating extremism
11
The things people say…
Muslim chaplains working in prisons should be given an expanded role as part of a new five-point plan to prevent the spread of extremism, Nick Hardwick, the Chief Inspector of Prisons says.
“We are moving Britain from a high welfare, high tax economy to a lower welfare, lower tax society” Mr Hardwick, speaking at a London conference on tackling prison radicalisation, said that five key elements were needed to combat extremism, starting with improved security to combat criminal activity and bullying. But he warned the battle to prevent extremism spreading in prison was likely to fail without reforms to improve the overall prison standards. “Attempts to radicalise will be less successful in a prison where prisoners feel safe, where their dignity is respected whatever their background or faith, where they are engaged in purposeful activity and where they have real hope they can build a new life with their families after release. We need to see combating radicalisation as a wider part of prison reform. What we have to do now is bring all prisons up to the standard of the best”.
Parc Prison to ban prisoners smoking in cells A privately-run prison in Wales is to ban smoking by February 2016, the Ministry of Justice has announced. The decision follows High Court action launched by a non-smoking prisoner at Parc Prison who said sharing cells with smokers was making him unwell. A second case, due to be heard by the Court of Appeal, will test whether prisons operated by the Prison Service are able to claim exemption. An MoJ spokesman said: “We are committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of our staff, visitors and prisoners and have introduced a number of precautionary measures to reduce the risk of exposure to second hand smoke. We are continuing to consider how to reduce the prevalence of smoking across the prison estate, including through the use of electronic cigarettes.” A spokesperson for Welsh ministers added: “With regard to the use of e-cigarettes in prisons, the statement of policy intent for the Public Health (Wales) Bill makes it clear there is no intention to entirely restrict the use of nicotine inhaling devices in prisons in Wales.” Up in smoke page 30 E-Burn update page 31
Chancellor, George Osborne presenting the Budget on 8 July 2015. Overall, this isn’t a lower tax budget. There are some tax cuts, worth £24.6bn in total over this parliament. The big giveaways are: the tax-free personal allowance, extending inheritance tax relief. But these are wiped out by £47.2bn of tax raises - on dividends, insurance premiums, vehicle excise duty and pension tax relief among others. Footnote on George Osborne’s austerity programme… Figures on the Office for Budget Responsibility website reveal that, over 10 years, the Chancellor will spend an annual average of £729bn in real terms. During Labour’s final decade in office the figure was £632bn.
Michael Gove on a mission Michel Gove, the Justice Secretary, wants to close some of the country’s ‘ageing and ineffective’ prisons and also offer prisoners ‘earned release’ if they work hard and gain qualifications. He recognises that more than a fifth of prisoners need help with reading, writing and maths and only half have any kind of educational qualification compared with 85% for the population as a whole. It is little wonder that the only career option open to many prisoners on release is a return to the previous life. Clearly things need to change and Mr Gove has now made it his mission to make necessary changes.
Overweight officers could face the sack Police Officers who cannot complete the annual Metropolitan Police fitness test will be given time to lose weight – but will be fired if they fail to do so. The Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, warned: ‘If [colleagues] shout for help, they want fit people. They don’t want somebody waddling over.’
12
Newsround
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
The things people say…
Free the children Vulnerable children are locked up in Immigration Detention Centres for adults owing to Home Office blunders.
Awards for North East work in crime reduction Probation/Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), prison officers and others who work with prisoners in the North East, have been presented with awards for their efforts to support rehabilitation and reduce re-offending. The awards for helping prisoners to turn their backs on crime after release are given annually by Nepacs, the North East charity that works with prisoners, their families and the community to promote resettlement and support prisoners’ families. This year’s awards and certificates were presented at an event on Thursday 2 July 2015 at Lumley Castle in Chester-le-Street.
Children fleeing the horrors of war in countries such as Syria and Afghanistan are being wrongly classified as over-18 and locked up by immigration officers in adult detention centres in breach of Government policies and legal guidelines. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found that UK border and asylum officers are sending teenagers as young as 14 straight to adult detention centres despite clear evidence they are children and without referring their cases to social services, as guidelines dictate. Five children have been found in the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre since the start of the year, the Bureau has established. Other figures released by the Refugee Council show at least 127 minors have been found classified as adults in UK detention since 2010. In May that year the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced the end of child detention in the UK, meaning children could only be held in specific, child-friendly facilities - and only then for a maximum of seven days. However, the Bureau has discovered that scores of children are slipping through the net to be mistakenly assessed as adults by Home Office staff and then left for months in conditions that many have described as “distressing” and “scary”. Lawyers believe these numbers are merely the tip of the iceberg. The Bureau has also found that children as young as 14 have been assessed as adults, with immigration officers making decisions based on the person’s appearance with no apparent suggestion the person is “significantly over 18”. Government policy states anyone undergoing an age assessment should be first released from detention into the community and stay there until the results are known. But the Bureau has found through Freedom of Information requests that social workers have been sent to perform age assessments inside at least four adult detention centres in the last three years, in breach of guidelines.
Recycling scheme wins award
Derek Jones (3rd from left) and the Unilink Prison Services team
Social housing provider West Kent Extra, joined YOI and HM Prison Rochester in an innovative scheme where prisoners restore old bicycles that would otherwise be dumped in landfill sites so that they can be sold at an affordable price from one of the Abacus social enterprise stores.
Emailaprisoner wins a Digital Award UK SME Prison Technology Services, part of the Unilink Group, has been awarded not one but two prestigious Digital Leaders 100 awards at the tenth National Digital Award ceremony: Emailaprisoner, which helps family and friends communicate easily with prisoners to maintain relationships that are key to reducing reoffending, has been awarded ‘Best Citizen App’ and has also been recognised with the award of the overall 2015 Digital Leader. Founded by Derek Jones (pictured 3rd from left), an ex-offender, and now part of Unilink, Emailaprisoner is an international success story operating through the UK, in the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. The Justice Select Committee recently recommended that the government look into the cost benefits of self-service across the prison estate; if there is new investment in Justice highlighted that NOMS will now consider what already works well in the UK.
“When I represented miners in South Derbyshire straight talk was appreciated. You won’t always like what I have to tell you, I’d say, but I won’t lie to you… if only politicians would realise that the truth is preferable.” Former Conservative Minister Edwina Currie writing in a no-nonsense column in the Daily Telegraph on June 26. In 1989 Mrs Currie sued The Observer for printing an interview that had implied she was an adulterer. She convinced the jury of her monogamous 17 year marriage and The Observer had to pay her £5000 damages, plus six figure costs. In 2002, after she had left the House of Commons, Currie revealed sensationally that at the time of The Observer article she had recently ended a four-year affair with former Prime Minister John Major. Given that Jeffrey Archer was jailed for winning libel damages dishonestly, why Currie wasn’t also charged with perjury remains a bit of a mystery.
The team behind the innovative scheme, which has already seen nearly 1,000 cycles or bike parts saved from landfill and 370 bikes repaired, cleaned up and sold to new owners, was presented with a prestigious National Recycling Award in a ceremony at London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel. HMP Rochester and Abacus Furniture Project won the award for Best Partnership Project, recognising that the partnership with FCC Environment, which rescues the bikes from household waste sites, has resulted in more effective and efficient performance.
Tyler is no longer a Bio Hazard Adult Learner Week have recognised the achievements of Tyler in the BICSc & Bio Hazard Workshop at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. The remarkable story of turning his life around was sent to the Awards Board members as a nomination in Adult Learner Week and although he did not win the award outright, he received a commendation from them which as described in their letter, is a massive achievement in itself. Tyler is proof that no matter what the history of an individual, custodial or otherwise, education, further learning and constructive activity can contribute to reducing re-offending and as long as the individual is committed, they can get a lot out of what the service has to offer.
Charity shop at Drake Hall raises more than £5000 in 5 months Prisoners at Drake Hall in Staffordshire have donated thousands of pounds to charity by opening their own shop. The shop, run by prisoners for prisoners, is a work experience project, and has been running for five months. So far they’ve raised more than £5,000, which has gone to Katharine House Hospice in Stafford. Each prisoner at HMP Drake Hall, a female only prison, has a job that pays £30 a week. One prisoner, Teresa works in the shop. She said it meant “everything” to her.
Newsround
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
US Republican presidential candidates open gates to prison reform The US is home to 5% of the World’s population but about 25% of its prisoners. Prison reformers have long complained too many people are jailed for non-violent drug offences. Now Republican presidential contenders have spoken about the need for reform of the criminal justice system. Right-wing activists are also stirring Washington into action.
The Prince of Wales meets young people who are turning their lives around at Parc Prison The Prince of Wales visited HMP/YOI Parc to meet a group of young people taking part in the Prince’s Trusts’ ‘Get Started with Football’ course - a course run in partnership with Cardiff City FC Community and Education Foundation and the Premier League. During the visit HRH heard from one young man who had taken part in the course when facing a five-year sentence for drugs offences. Toby Guest, 27, is now employed by Cardiff City FC to deliver the course and help other young people prepare for life after prison. Toby said: “I made mistakes in the past but the course helped me to gain the belief that I could restart my life in a positive light. Before that, I was unmotivated, and I’d lost all my confidence. The programme and the support I received helped me to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I am extremely grateful to the Prince’s staff at Cardiff City for believing in me and giving me the opportunity of a fresh start.” The Prince’s engagements were filmed for a landmark ITV documentary, presented by Ant and Dec, who are following HRH The Prince of Wales as he looks forward to the 40th Anniversary of The Prince’s Trust.
13
NEWS IN BRIEF
As Operation Yewtree combs the BBC for clues the police find a disturbing image on David Attenborough’s computer.
Much of the tough-on-crime legislation that boosted prisoner numbers was passed while Bill Clinton was president. Yet it is also about money. Keeping 2.2 million people locked up is expensive: in New York State, keeping a prisoner costs £39,000 a year - more than sending someone to university. Prison is also it seems ineffective, with roughly two thirds of prisoners back in jail within three-years of release.
America has...
Greece lose their marbles…not for the first time.
5%
of World’s population
25%
World’s prison population
2.7m
Children have a parent behind bars
£39,000
Spent every year on each New York state inmate
51%
Of the prison population has been jailed for drug offences
66%
Of released prisoners are back behind bars within three years
Fifa President Sepp Blatter receives support from North Korea to host the World Cup in 2026.
Obama visited federal prison US President Barack Obama visited an Oklahoma federal prison and the White House says it is a first by a sitting president. He visited the federal correctional institution in E1 Reno, near Oklahoma City and met with prisoners and law enforcement officers. The medium-security prison houses about 1,300 male prisoners.
Most attacks in the USA are homegrown, not jihadist study finds Migrants entering country by the back door The number of EU citizens living in the UK who were born outside Europe has tripled in a decade, leading to fears of new “back door” routes to Britain. Thousands of non-European migrants have arrived in Britain having earlier gained citizenship in other EU states according to a new report. Many were from India, South Africa, Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as Canada and the United States. The findings will fuel fears that as the government clamps down on non-EU migrants coming in Britain, some have found a way of exploiting EU free movement rules to enter the UK. Overall, the number of EU citizens living in the UK who were born outside the European Union rose from 78,000 in 2004 to 264,000 at the beginning of this year, according to the report by the University of Oxford Migration Observatory. Migrants who had become citizens of Portugal made up almost a fifth of the total, followed by Italy on 36,000, France 33,000 and Spain on 30,000. Almost 10 per cent were originally from India, followed by South Africans, the United States and Canada, Brazil and Sri Lanka.
Non-Muslim extremists killed nearly twice as many since 9/11 reports the New York Times. In the 14 years since Al Qaeda carried out attacks on New York and the Pentagon, extremists have regularly executed smaller lethal assaults in the United States, explaining their motives in online manifestoes or social media rants. But the breakdown of extremist ideologies behind those attacks may come as a surprise. Since September 11th 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims, 48 have been killed by extremists who are not Muslim, including the recent mass killing in Charleston, compared with 26 by self-proclaimed jihadists, according to a count by New America, a Washington research centre. The slaying of nine African-Americans in a Charleston church recently with an avowed white supremacist charged with their murders was a particularly savage case.
14
Newsround
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
STRANGE BUT TRUE
l The French-language Scrabble world championship has been won by a New Zealander who does not speak a word of French, competition organisers say. Nigel Richards defeated a rival from Frenchspeaking Gabon in the final in Louvain, Belgium, in July. Mr Richards is said to have memorised an entire French Scrabble dictionary in nine weeks earlier this year. A previous English Scrabble champion, he originates from Christchurch, New Zealand, and is now based in Malaysia. He beat Gabon’s Schelick Ilagou Rekawe two games to nil in the final. l Most people hate them, but mosquitoes are being honoured with their own festival in one Russian town. Residents of Berezniki, in the Ural mountains, will gather at a local pond to celebrate the bloodsucking insects for three days from 17 July, the Interfax news agency reports. Perhaps the oddest part of the event is the “most delicious girl” competition, in which women will be judged based on how many mosquito bites they receive after standing around in shorts and vests for 20 minutes.
per cent. It also said 85 per cent of the UK’s apple crop and 45 per cent of the strawberry crop rely on bees to grow. Those two crops alone brought in £200 million to Britain in 2012.
“An expert panel of judges, including a doctor, will examine their bodies and the winner will be the one with the most bites,” says organiser Natalya Paramonova. In 2013, the “winner” was apparently covered in more than 100 bites. l Policemen forbidden to ride bikes without “appropriate training”, firemen refusing to enter two feet of water, dustmen afraid to collect refuse from slippery areas – and now the latest nonsense is a postman who feels too nervous to cross a road in a 30mph zone despite his predecessor having done so six days a week for 40 years. Instead of telling him to grow up and get on with the job the Royal Mail defends him and respects his wish “not to place himself at risk”.Perhaps he needs his very own lollipop lady? l Bees contribute more to the economy than the monarchy, figures show. Researchers reckon the insects contribute £651 million a year, £150 million more than the Royal family brings in. The University of Reading study examined how heavily food crops rely on bees, and how much the sale of such crops add to the economy. The figures show the bees’ overall economic value has increased from £220 million in 1996 to £651 million in 2012 – a rise of 191
NEWS IN BRIEF
© Fotolia.com
l Police became involved in a stand-off with a snake before realising it was a garden ornament. Officers who were called to reports of a reptile on the loose found a “venomous adder” that was “lying very still on a patio” at a block of flats. After observing it from a safe distance, the intrepid officers moved within two yards to take a photograph. It was not until they had been at the scene for several minutes that a resident told the officers that the snake was not in fact the real thing. A police spokesman said that the officers “refused to be rattled” during the incident in Sutton, south-east London. “Police were called at 6.36am by the RSPCA who had received a call from a member of the public, who was especially concerned because the snake was spotted near local schools”, said the spokesman. “It wasn’t moving but they can stay still for a long time. We didn’t want to move in too close in case we disturbed it.” A local man said: “I could have told you it was a fake snake because the paint is peeling off it.”
On a visit to a care home George Osborne is struck by the thought that even if they don’t play Bingo for money he can still charge them for the gaming licence.
At Windsor the Queen starts to suspect that her Birthday fly past has been hi-jacked by Health and Safety.
UKIP claim there is further evidence that foreigners are using up NHS resources.
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Newsround
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
The World’s deadliest creatures
Here are totals by numbers of human deaths per year from animals.
12,000
3
1.6 million
The assassin bug carries disease which damages the heart and nervous system.
Sharks are scary but they killed only three people worldwide in 2014.
Homo Sapiens. From car accidents to murder, humans kill more humans each year than any animal does - approximately 1.6 million.
Source: World Health Organisation and Time Magazine. All images on this page © Fotolia.com
Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary
3250 Scorpions.
755,000
1000
Mosquitoes. Scientists plan to release millions of genetically modified male mosquitoes engineered to keep their partners from producing offspring.
Crocodiles.
10th July 2015 was the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, when Hitler tried to seize control of the skies in preparation for invasion. Here’s how one of the pivotal battles of the Second World War played out -which forced the Nazis to rethink their plans.
Key Dates
200,000
300 Elephants.
The Aircraft
July 10 Initially, the Luftwaffe concentrated on attacking shipping in the English Channel and attacking coastal towns and defences. August 12 Focus shifted to the destruction of airfields and radar bases. Also air battles were fought between fighter planes to definitively break British strength.
Fresh water snails in tropical and subtropical climates can carry deadly parasitic disease.
94,000
15
100 Deer can be deadly when they run in front of motor vehicles.
Snakes.
Spitfire
Engine Rolls-Royce Merlin Span 36ft 11in Length 29ft 11in Max speed 362mph (19,000ft) Armament Eight 7.6mm Browning machine guns
September 17 onwards It was now clear to Hitler that his air force had failed Planes Destroyed to gain air superiority so, he postponed his plans to invade Britain. His attention was now 700 focused on the invasion of the 649 Soviet Union, although the 600 Luftwaffe continued to bomb Britain until the end of the war. 500
Airmen Losses
30
Dogs with rabies are killers in Asia and Africa.
Jellyfish.
Engine Daimler-Benz DB Span 32ft 41/2 in Length 28ft 8in Max speed 357mph (12,300ft) Armament Two 7.9mm machine guns, two 20mm cannon
Luftwaffe
RAF
579
400
366
300
61,000
Messerschmitt
363
318
200
2,662 Luftwaffe
100
138
537 RAF
0
146 70
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
16
Newsround
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
m Do you know...?
l The Robin was elected Britain’s national bird. The bookies’ favourite, it got 34% of the vote, putting it 22 points ahead of its closest rival, the barn owl. However, the poll’s organiser, ornithologist David Lindo, was not entirely happy with the result: in a statement, he noted that while the robin was “cuddly”, it was also aggressive and even murderous, and “not quite as staunchly British” as one might suppose.
l More people world-wide now say they favour the US and Barack Obama, with an average of 69% approval in 40 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Cenre. This is an increase on 65% in 2013 and 2014. The US enjoys worldwide support on its fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, with 62% approval.
l A growing number of men are breaking with tradition by taking their wives’ surnames. According to the UK Deed Poll Service, the practice was all but unheard of five years ago, but is now becoming relatively common. Yet these husbands may not be motivated by feminism: surnames discarded by men included Bogg, Pratt and Cock.
l Figures for England and Wales show that more people than ever were prosecuted last year for violence against women and girls. The CPS says there were 107,000 cases brought in the year up to April, an 18% increase on the previous year. The data also shows rape convictions fell to 57%.
l Restoring the Houses of Parliament could cost as much as £5.7bn and take more than 30 years according to a new report. But if the politicians moved out for six years it would cost just £3.5bn. The buildings need significant restoration work to prevent subsidence, remove asbestos and introduce better communications.
l The first Glastonbury Festival (called Glastonbury Fayre) took place in 1970. Entrance cost £1 with free milk included. Some 1,500 people attended. It was headlined by Tyrannosaurus Rex who stepped in for the Kinks who failed to show up. l The UK’s population is at a record level after it increased by almost half a million to 64.6 million within a year. The increase between mid-2013 and mid-2014 included net immigration of 259,700. Over that period 582,600 migrants arrived in the UK, compared with 322,900 people leaving the country - accounting for 53% of the increase, say the Office for National Statistics
l 29% of British people drink at “harmful” levels (according to the NHS’s
classification). Among 25 to 39-year-olds, the proportion rises to 36%; among 18 to 24-year-olds it is 41%. YouGov l The Turin Shroud, a 14ft piece of linen cloth some believe covered the body of Jesus after crucifixion, was proclaimed a medieval forgery from the 1300s after radiocarbon dating tests in 1989. l The planet Earth has entered a new period of extinction and humans could be among the first casualties. The research, led by the universities of Stanford, Princeton and Berkeley, said vertebrates were disappearing at a rate 114 times faster than normal. Its author said: “We are now entering the sixth great mass extinction event.” l Writers at the guide book publisher Lonely Planet have voted Kent the top summer holiday destination in Europe this year, ahead of County Kerry in Ireland, Normandy in France and the Black Forest in Germany. The revival of seaside towns, a burgeoning gastronomic scene and clean beaches were praised. l Wearing socks with sandals is the worst fashion faux pas, a survey has found. Competing with the outfit of shame for top place were streaky fake tan and wearing a
England v Canada, Quarter Finals FIFA Womens World-Cup
England football teams, both men and women, have reached the semi-finals or better at a World Cup on only three occasions - 1966, 1990 and the women’s side in Canada 2015.
Shaw & Co
l More than 230,000 glasses of Pimms, 100,00 pints of beer and 350,000 cups of tea were drunk at Wimbledon this year.
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l UK banks are losing ground to their global rivals. HSBC, a global leader in 2008, tumbled from fifth to ninth place in The Banker’s global league table. Chinese and American banks now dominate world rankings, with four banks each. ICBC is the world’s biggest bank, according to The Banker, and employs more people than the entire UK banking sector. l A new version of Bubble Wrap won’t have the one distinctive feature most of us love it for - the “pop.” Sealed Air, its manufacturer, said that the new version called iBubble Wrap won’t be studded with little air pockets that pop, satisfyingly, when you press them. Instead, there will be columns of connected pockets, where the air will go into neighbouring bubbles if you press down on one.
l Lung cancer rates for British women have risen more than a fifth in the last two decades with a record 20,000-plus cases now being diagnosed each year, new figures have shown. The soaring number of victims is a legacy of the 1970s, when women in the UK were most likely to smoke. Despite the declining popularity of smoking today, the fall out from damage inflicted at that time is still being felt, experts believe.
l Jurassic World has smashed box office records after taking $1bn (£634m) in the fastest time ever. The film, made £19m at the UK box office in its first weekend. Guinness World Records said the film, the latest instalment in the Jurassic Park saga, made $1bn worldwide in 13 days from 10 June. That puts its ahead of the previous record holder, Fast & Furious 7, which took 17 days to make that much.
Personal Injury Specialists
l It may soon be time to wave goodbye to your charger - smartphones that are powered by human movement have come one step closer. Oxford-based Tekcapital has acquired two energy harvesting technologies to power phones by human movement. The device will use systems originally designed to capture the energy of a beating heart to charge pacemakers.
l 95% of the population (60.9 million people) eat chicken, and they tend to do so at least twice a week, reports the British Poultry Council. Over the course of a year that’s 6.3 billion occasions where chicken is eaten in homes, schools, hospitals, and restaurants across the country.
l “Twerk,” the word describing the dance move popularized by Miley Cyrus, can be traced back to as early as 1820, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The word is one of 500 new entries, including “twitterati” (describing users of the social media service), and “fo’ shizzle” (meaning “for sure”), added to the dictionary.
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strapless top with bra straps. However, the survey of British adults found that 60% of us believe the biggest summer fashion no-no is socks with sandals.
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Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Website comments via www.insidetime.org Not only does he need the daily care which I provided, I have found my own health now deteriorating somewhat. As he could not be any kind of threat to society: would it never be considered that perhaps the tagging system would be a much better way to deal with people who are aged, infirm, and whose families could give them the care they need at a much cheaper cost,while the justice system could still keep them in their radar?
Older prisoners
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman addresses the Annual Perrie Lectures on learning lessons about older prisoners P - The nature of the prison estate in England and Wales is not geared up to properly manage older prisoners. Serious offenders are receiving longer sentences, convictions for historic offences are increasing, and the amount of elderly prisoners in the prison population is rising. Either the justice system shifts to incorporate diversion strategies at sentencing and early release strategies during sentence, and yes based on age, or we get used to an increase of predominantly elderly men receiving inadequate healthcare and dying in prison. W - As my husband is one of the elderly men currently in prison, this article is very relevant. He will maintain his innocence, as he did not commit any crime. However, as he is also very disabled, and needs quite a lot of medical care, I am constantly in a state of anxiety about him.
Maintaining innocence and progression
emotional blackmail: “yes Mr X you can go to the prison near to your family, but only if you do SOTP” he then risks jeopardising any attempt to appeal his convictions later on. I know of such a case, where the guy said he would do the course but on arrival at a local prison, refused point blank to do it. At the time he was officially an appellant. His daughter had gone to the police and retracted. Appeal was refused because although the guy agreed to do the course and then refused to partake, the judges at CA decided that he must have done ‘something’ otherwise why agree to do it? Grossly unfair and grossly unjust. Many PMIs will do it as a way of getting parole when serving a very long sentence. SOTP has been proven to rarely do any good. It’s about bums on seats and payment for that. Nothing else…..
M Khan looks at the issues of maintaining innocence and progression. H - Prisons and probation receive large amounts of money for each bum on seats in SOTP courses inside prison and out. Although when a PMI protests innocence is accused of failing to lower his risk, it’s not actually always about risk at all. It’s about filling quotas and “risk” is, I believe merely an excuse to make sure quotas are filled. I have known PMIs on release threatened with recall to prison for failing to lower their risk. What is meant of course is that probation are failing to fill their quotas. I think that is the nub of it. If a PMI agrees to undertake SOTP due to
child. Is this reader really suggesting that if a mother or pregnant woman commits a crime serious enough for prison they should be let off?! What type of mother would commit an act likely to separate her from her child? S - Why should women be treated any differently just because they are having a baby or have a child? If the crime is serious they should go to prison, just like men. However, I do agree that there are a lot of people in prison for petty and trivial things who shouldn’t be there.
‘Refuse and you will be recalled’ Ben Barnes from HMP Frankland writes about hostels
Mothers in prison Ms Paul - HMP Send
E - Whilst I do feel sorry for mothers and their children it is the mother who decides to commit a criminal offence so it is she who is responsible for the plight of her baby and
S - Ben Barnes is totally correct in his description of Probation hostel rules. I was recalled back to prison on suspicion of smoking in my room. I never wanted to go to a Probation Hostel, but was forced to by my offender manager, even though I had a bed of my own at my mothers. I would also urge anyone who might have to reside at an Probation Hostel to seriously think about it. Your chances of being recalled are so high that it just isn’t worth the hassle. Do your sentence, all of it cause you’ll be finishing it off anyway if you stay in those hovels.
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Diary
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Month by Month by Rachel Billington
Rachel hopes to be hopeful about the Minister of Justice’s new plans, likes an extension of the Six Book Challenge and enjoys Drake Hall’s magazine. permitted. Both these changes will come into effect on September 1st 2015. Issuing the announcement, Michael Gove said: ‘People who are currently languishing in prison are potential assets to society. They could be productive and contribute. If we look at them only as problems to be contained we miss the opportunity to transform their lives and to save ourselves and our society both money and pain.’
I
always like to be hopeful - but find it very difficult when it comes to prisons, particularly under the last government. But in July Michael Gove (pictured), the relatively new Minister of Justice took a different approach to his predecessor, Chris Grayling. First, Gove removed the remaining regulations surrounding sending books to prisoners. Since last summer when, along with other writers, I presented a petition to 10 Downing Street, there have been improvements - although only when the courts ordered restrictions unlawful: books could be sent into prisons but needed to go through approved retailers. Now that need has been abolished and books can be sent directly from the sender’s home. Moreover there is no longer a limit to the amount of books that a prisoners can hold in their cell so long as they don’t exceed the limits on the volume of personal possessions
Now, as I write, the justice secretary is addressing the Prisoner Learning Alliance in a speech which is certainly surprising and almost shocking in its wish to change and improve the educational experience in prisons. Cynics will argue that we’ve seen the failure of Ken Clarke’s so-called ‘Rehabilitation Revolution’ which continued under Mr. Grayling so there is no reason to believe Mr. Gove’s ideas are any more likely to lead to positive change. As Steve Gillan, the Prison Officers’ Association General Secretary, proclaimed on Radio 4 this morning, ‘You need policy, understanding and resources’ to make changes. Obviously, with many prisons running with a third less staff than a few years ago any extension of education is a very big ask. However Michael Gove has thoughts on this too. The speech comes against a background of the report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, highlighted on our front page, which calls prisons ‘places of violence, squalor
and idleness.’ Perhaps it is best to let the Minister speak for himself: ‘In prison there is a - literally - captive population whose inability to read properly or master basic mathematics makes them prime candidates for re-offending’. ‘Ensuring those offenders become literate and numerate makes them employable and thus contributors to society…’ ‘The failure to teach our prisoners a proper lesson is indefensible. I fear the reason for that is, as things stand, we do not have the right incentives for prisoners to learn or for prison staff to prioritise education. And that’s got to change.’ Mr Gove also proposes that governors should have more control over their prisons, saying that one of ‘the biggest brakes on progress in all prisons is the ‘lack of operational autonomy and genuine independence by the governors… Yet we know from other public services - from the success of foundation hospitals and academy schools that operational freedom for good professionals drives innovation and improvement. So we should explore how to give governors greater freedom - and one of the areas ripe for innovation must be prison education.’ This is quite radical stuff and no-one can say right now how it will play out against continuing budget cuts. Nevertheless, I can’t help feeling hopeful. With overcrowding, violence and suicides continuing to increase, things can’t get much worse.
..................................................... n There was a heatwave in London the day I went to the Royal Court of Justice - uniform on the streets shorts and sandals. My boiling hot Central Line tube train broke down for half an hour so it was with some relief that I entered an air-conditioned upper room beside a row of smart modern courts. I was there to hear about a new programme from The
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The meeting was chaired by Sharon Barratt, the head of Learning and Skills at NOMS who told us that there would be more grant funding from NOMS and that the new aim was to target better readers to extend their reading habits. Vicky, from National Prison Radio, showed us adverts that go out fifty times a
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I sometimes think prisons would either explode or grind to a halt without all the good work done by charities. Reading Ahead is in fact the new name for an extension of The Six Book Challenge project which was founded in 2008. This started as a simple way of encouraging readers at whatever level of ability. The challenge was for a prisoner to pick six reads and record their reactions in a diary in order to receive a certificate. In 2014, 9,000 prisoners took part across 110 prisons and young offenders institutions in the UK. Thirty prisons achieved fifty or more completers, nine of which had 150 or more.
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Diary
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org week to promote the programme and, from The Reading Agency, Genevieve Clark and David Kendall talked about the excitement of engaging more and more prisoners in the scheme and the importance of making links with colleges outside prisons. David reported that so far this year 5000 dictionaries (provided by the charity Give a Book) have been given out to those who have completed the challenge - plus chocolate for some extra lucky ones! He emphasised that the programme introduces many prisoners to the library which they probably wouldn’t otherwise have visited. He also stressed their aim to integrate with education departments and commented that he found it much easier now to get governors to attend awards ceremonies which spread the word further.
..................................................... n I’m very pleased to be able to read and write about another very good prison magazine. This is called Take A Drake and comes from HMP Drake Hall, a women’s prison. I was sent it by the writerin-residence, Mary Fox who also mentioned that the women enjoy Inside Time and would like to contribute to the paper. Thank you, Mary, and yes, please encourage women to write to us, letters, poems or articles. That’s what we’re here for. The first item in the magazine is ‘The Governor’s Reply’, a question and answer session with Governor Carl Hardwick. The emphasis is on practical problems, such as the lack of privacy when making telephone calls. Other
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pages offer information on programmes such as the Shannon Trust, a romantic short story and a moving piece by ‘Hafida’ about visits from her children. I was also interested by a charity boutique, called Roses Boutique, run within the prison where women can buy items, often very cheaply, and so raise money for charity. Intriguingly, formal outfits can be hired for a visit to the courts. So far £5000 has been raised for the Katharine House Charity. I wonder whether the idea would take off in a male prison?!
..................................................... n Finally, a picture especially drawn for Inside Time from Mark Critchley. He wrote rather sadly that we’ve never printed any of the poems he’s sent us and now it’s too late because he’s leaving prison. So at least we’ve published your picture, Mark, and best of luck for the future!
Help make NPR even better… National Prison Radio is your station, so help us make it even better. We want to hear what you think about National Prison Radio. In this month’s Inside Time you’ll find two copies of the National Prison Radio survey - one for you and one to give to a friend. The survey is easy to complete and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. We want to know what shows you like, what shows you don’t like and what you want to hear more about. Last year nearly 100 prisons responded to the National Prison Radio Survey. You told us you wanted to hear more about employment and leaving prison, as well as drug abuse and recovery. This led to two of our biggest campaigns for this year - Job Junction and Synthetic Drugs. We’re also running a competition to see which prison sends in the most responses. Last year the winner was HMP Eastwood Park, so represent your prison and let us know what you think. Once you’ve answered the questions, put the form in an envelope and post it back FREE of CHARGE to Freepost Prison Radio Survey. While you’re sending us the survey, pop a request, shout-out or poem into the envelope too.
Get your family and friends involved Get your family and friends involved in NPR’s most popular show. Staying in
touch with your family and friends is one of the most positive actions you can take while you’re inside. 40% of people in prison interviewed for a recent study said that support from their family would help them stop reoffending. One way of maintaining that bond is to get your loved ones to take part in National Prison Radio’s Request Show. The Request Show broadcasts every weekday between 1pm and 3pm, repeated between 7pm and 9pm. Thursday’s show is different. The requests are made by the family and friends of people inside. It’s simple for someone on the outside to make a request. They just have to visit our website - www.nationalprisonradio.com Or they can just do a search on the internet for ‘National Prison Radio’. There they’ll find a simple form where they can put your name and location, request a song for you and leave a simple message to be read out on National Prison Radio. Why not mention it next time you have a visit or are writing a letter to someone? It’s a great way for family and friends to stay connected with you in a very special way.
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Comment
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org However, in reality, it is hard to imagine how this isn’t going to happen. If the witness is told about the defence’s case it is human nature to apply that to your own evidence. For an honest witness this may be done subconsciously; tailoring their story to give an account of what they believe is most useful or relevant. For a witness with an ulterior motive it allows them to make conscious steps to change his or her evidence to meet their own ends.
Charlotte Bull Churchill Fellow
I
n many criminal trials there are two competing principles at odds with each other. On the one side you have the rights of the prosecution witnesses; specifically their right to protection and their right to special measures. On the other side you have the rights of the defendant and his or her inalienable right to a fair trial. The CPS is currently considering whether to implement guidance which will allow prosecutors to speak to witnesses about the case before they give evidence. In brief, the guidance aims to help witnesses give their best evidence in court. To achieve this aim the CPS wants to see prosecuting barristers play a more active role in preparing witnesses. The idea is the prosecution will have a private meeting with witnesses before they enter the box to answer any questions they may have about giving evidence. This includes letting the witness know in advance what the defence will be arguing. Therefore a witness can be told that the defence will be arguing selfdefence, or that they will be questioned on their previous criminal convictions or sexual history. Essentially the draft CPS guidance allows prosecution witnesses to prepare for the defence’s cross-examination. It is accepted that the adversarial system we have in England and Wales can make for a tough time for many who give evidence in court. The verbal tongue lashing Nigella Lawson received in the witness box about her drug use and marital issues captured the public’s attention, not just for the salacious details about her personal life but also for the way she was treated in cross-examination. The issue has also been popping up for years in high profile cases where it is widely felt that the treatment of witnesses has been unacceptable. Certainly where the witness is also the
One of the main criticisms of some crossexaminations is that they ambush the witness. Whilst this isn’t appropriate merely to cause upset or alarm, it can be important to some defence cases. A witnesses’ reaction in court, particularly to a key issue can be very telling and can act as a useful indicator for the judge or jury about credibility and truthfulness. Preparing a witness by furnishing them with the defence’s case theory completely removes this element of surprise and with it an important element of the trial process. © Fotolia.com
Tipping the scales:
protecting witnesses but endangering justice? alleged victim it is not difficult to see why the practice of barristers ripping apart testimony and leaving a distressed individual in their wake is an unsavoury sight. The temptation to improve the experience for witnesses is understandable, however the CPS proposals go about this in completely the wrong way. The defendants’ right to a fair trial should be
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sacrosanct. It is the lynchpin of the criminal justice system, around which all other rights needs to revolve. Our adversarial system should support the defendants’ right to a fair trial, it should allow for a case to be put as strongly as possible, evidence to be challenged robustly and inconsistencies exposed. The draft CPS guidance makes explicit mention of the importance of witnesses not being coached by prosecutors.
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These arguments do not aim to trivialise the experience of witnesses. Clearly witnesses need support in giving evidence, particularly if they are the alleged victim or have a specific vulnerability such as a mental health condition or learning disability. Making sure that witnesses give their best evidence is important in the interests of justice, however there should be no role for the prosecutor in this process. Witness and Victim Liaison Officers are available to all witnesses who give evidence in court. If properly funded and equipped they should be able to provide the right level of support without contaminating important evidence that may be crucial to deciding the guilt or otherwise of the defendant. The CPS is currently considering the final text of the guidance after the public consultation ended in March. In the coming months the text should be out and we’ll be able to see how far the scales of justice have tipped away from the rights of the defendant.
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Time to destroy courtroom cages? Without them there’s a better chance of acquittal says John O’Connor
N
othing can take away the sense of fear and intimidation when your trial commences with you standing in the dock. Even now, 25 years later, I can still remember vividly the moment I was first placed in the courtroom dock which felt more like entering a cage. Although an experience I’ve never had to repeat, it is also one I have never forgotten. And now the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas has lent his support to a report calling for the removal of the glass-panelled full height security cages found in modern courts. The prejudicial and negative impact they create in the minds of a jury has been highlighted in a report produced by Justice, the civil liberties organisation. It says defendants should no longer be automatically placed in secure courtroom docks because they compromise an accused’s right to a fair trial, undermine the presumption of innocence and make it more difficult for them to participate in trial proceedings. Justice says it is time such docks were removed and instead defendants be allowed to sit with their legal team (solicitor and/or barrister) in the well of the court, as happens in America. The reason for the modern widespread use of enclosed docks is security but this has become a “wholly disproportionate response” says the report and with a “direct bearing on the fairness of the criminal trial”. The risk of an unfair trial is created when a defendant is prevented effective participation in his or her defence and offends against the presumption of innocence. Anthony Burton, a criminal defence lawyer and council member of Justice, said courts should be redesigned : “The dock marginalises the defendant. As a practitioner it becomes absurd to 11.05.15_Layout communicate with a client 530 CGtrying Wide Ad 1 11/05/2015
delivered a guilty verdict when the defendants was confined to a glass encased dock, 47% when located in an open dock and 36% when they were placed next to their lawyer. Therefore, based on this study, a defendant has a much better chance of getting off when sitting alongside their legal team.
© Fotolia.com
placed in a secure dock. There are many occasions during a trial when the client wants to say something and struggles to get their lawyers’ attention. There is a compelling need for greater engagement of defendants with their own trial. The dock is undignified. This relic should be confined to a museum”, he told The Guardian. The historic context of confining defendants to a dock stretches over centuries. It was not until the 17th century that separate enclosures first appeared. But it was in the 19th century that docks became more elaborate and fortified. Even today cartoonists often depict courtroom docks as being chest high topped by a railing of jagged spikes almost obscuring sight of the defendant. If that wasn’t bad enough, it wasn’t until 1898, according to Justice’s report, that defendants were actually allowed to be witnesses 15:57 Page 1in their own defence; previously
their evidence had been deemed unreliable. But for anyone hoping for a rapid implementation of the Justice recommendations, despite being supported by the Lord Chief Justice, they shouldn’t hold their breath. For in the 1960s the Law Society made similar recommendations. They met with a mixed response sufficient to end up going nowhere. And opposition to these latest proposals may well come from an unexpected quarter - the Crown Prosecution Service and indirectly, the police. Both have a vested interest in securing a conviction and so won’t be happy to learn from the Justice report of something particularly beneficial to defendants when allowed to sit with their legal team. For recent research by the University of Western Australia found that 60% of jurors
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Adding to the support by the Lord Chief Justice for the removal of enclosed docks is John Berry, a retired prison governor. But he asks that courts also have the levels of security that are available in U.S courtrooms when the defendant becomes violent. Ex-governor Berry goes further when advocating a better use of resources. “Making use of video conferencing technology to run trials for defendants remanded in prison would also reduce prison escorting costs”, he said. But perhaps without realising the implications of this suggestion inasmuch it is a future foretold, what it amounts to is the replacement of a physically enclosed dock with a virtual version. Welcome to the digital age...
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Without doubt there will always be concerns about risk of physical injury caused by a violent defendant running amok. This has been the main justification (along with preventing escape) for installing completely enclosed docks. But how real is this risk? Of the 165,000 trials held last year only an exceptional few were disrupted by escapes or assaults. Even then they can have their funnier side according to lawyer Gregory Stewart. He recalls a teenager throwing a can of drink at a district judge for finding him not guilty, because he wanted to go to a detention centre rather than return to a children’s home.
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Barack Obama: Sir David Attenborough, thank you so much for being here. I’ve been a huge admirer for a very long time. How did you get interested in nature and wanting to record it? When you look back over this historic career, what is it that led to such a deep fascination? David Attenborough: Well, I’ve never met a child who wasn’t fascinated ...So just the simplest thing - a five year old turning over a stone and seeing a slug and says ‘what a treasure!’, you know, how does it live, what are those things on the front; children love it. They understand the natural world. So the question is, how did you lose it? How can anyone lose the interest in nature? I never lost it. But if you do lose it - and I imagine there are lots of other attractions that can divert your attention - you’ve lost a very very great treasure. BO: At what point did you decide you wanted to make it your life’s work? DA: I don’t think I ever decided it was going to be my life’s work; after all, when I started, there wasn’t any television and all I knew was that I wanted to try to understand the way the world works, the natural world works. It had a great fascination and so I took zoology and natural sciences at university but then I had to go into the navy - it was the end of the war and I was conscripted into the navy for a couple of years, and then when I came out I didn’t think I was cut out to be a proper scientist. But anyway, I went into television and managed to - I was going to say - manipulate television to allow me to go and see these wonderful things which is what I’ve been doing ever since, pretty well. BO: Growing up in Hawaii, it was one of the things that taught me not only to appreciate nature but also that you had to care for it and because we spent so much time outside and I think there was part of the native Hawaiian culture which is true of so many native cultures, the sense of needing to care for the environment that sometimes we lose when we live in big cities. What was the most dangerous or most scary experience you had in your travels as you were trying to record these amazing things? DA: Well, the truthful answer is that I’ve very seldom been in any danger but the one time you are in danger is if you encounter a male homosapien who doesn’t speak your language and has had a bit too much to drink ...
DA: I believe that if we find ways of generating and storing power from renewable resources, we will make the problem with oil and coal and other things disappear because economically we will wish to use these other resources and if we do that, a huge step will have been taken towards solving the problems of the earth.
Barack Obama meets David Attenborough In May 2015, Sir David Attenborough, on his 89th birthday, met Barack Obama, President of the United States at the White House. President Obama, the boy from Hawaii, grew up watching his films up and then you can see these great sharks coming in from the ocean - that has to be one of the great sensations - a new world. BO: When I heard that you had dived into the Great Barrier Reef again - sixty years after the first time that you did it, that impressed me! DA: But I was in a sub! A very very remarkable research sub. And we went down to over 300 metres. And that was just mind blowing of course. BO:Tell me how the Great Barrier Reef looked to you today compared with the first time you went there and what story does that tell us about how we are doing in conserving these incredible treasures? DA: Well of course the whole population of Australia has increased a very great deal so the population up the east coast of Queensland has grown and so has industry and wherever
there are human beings and wherever there is industry there are consequences and the consequences on a coast are likely to be not too good for the reef, which is quite true and the Australians are addressing that. The real problem on the reef is what is happening with the increase of acidification and the rise in the ocean temperature and the Australians have done research on the coral now and they know for sure it will kill the coral, will kill the species of coral, and what they are concerned about now - I mean, that seems almost inevitable, is can they find the right species to maintain the reef’s population? BO: What are the prospects for this blue marble that we live on in the middle of space? Do you get a sense that we are going to be able to get ahead of these problems, that the prospect of climate change, rising populations that it is realistic for us to be able to get a handle on these issues and reverse these problems or are you more pessimistic?
DA: That indeed is the case but the problem is that as soon as you find solutions along those lines, the problem grows bigger. Because the increase in population in Kenya is very very considerable and it’s very difficult if you are growing a family and you want to grow your own food and so on and you can see all that space occupied by elephants or whatever so what are you going do about us? So population growth is one of the huge problems. BO: I’ve been spending a lot of time, including working with my wife, about girl’s education. It turns out that when young women are getting proper schooling and careers, they are less likely to have children early, smaller families, population stabilises. And so it ends up helping not only those young women to succeed and look after their children but it also helps the environment as well. DA: Certainly so. So you have to have a literate, informed population with an understanding of what medical problems are and what’s available and then the birth rate falls. It’s not the end of the story but the birth rate falling is a start. BO: The internet has been a powerful tool for this generation to become aware of all the wonders of the world. When you were starting off, maybe you could get a programme on every so often now you can get a programme on the internet and on your telephone .
BO: ... They are dangerous creatures ... especially when they are in packs ... DA: They are dangerous creatures. Otherwise, I’ve never been seriously attacked. But mainly that’s because I’m a coward - I don’t want things to attack me so I don’t get too close ... BO: When you think of your favourite trips or your favourite discoveries or places in the world that you wish you take everybody to so that they could really appreciate what this marvellous gift we’ve gotten is, what comes to mind? DA: Well, I think you would agree with me that the moment that you first dive on a coral reef so that you are weightless - being weightless is a memorable enough event for you but when you can do it on a reef with this multitude of multicoloured organisms, the like of which you have never seen before, and with a flick of your finger you can go down or
BO: I think you are right, that there has got to be an economic component to this. You know, my father was from Kenya and I still remember the first time I went to Masai Mara and the Serengeti and saw the great migration and it’s like going back into the Garden of Eden when you see the wild beast and zebra and the rangers out there, they are dealing with the poachers and other problems but the real problem that they had out there was that the populations around the parks didn’t feel any economic incentives to help preserve them and when the national parks started to work with the local farmers and say to them that there’s ways for you to do well whilst still preserving this great treasure that we have, that’s when you got co-operation. I think all too often we pose this as ‘economic’ versus ‘environment’ problem without realising that there’s a way to make those two work ...
The Great Barrier Reef
DA: Well, it is an extraordinary paradox, isn’t it, that statistics tell us that over 50% of the planet’s population are urbanised which means that, to some degree, they are cut off from the natural world - well, some people are totally cut off, they don’t see a natural creature from dawn to dusk unless it’s a rat or a pigeon, and yet at the same time, mass media can inform those people as to what the natural world. And if they don’t understand about the natural world, they won’t take the trouble to protect it. That’s one of the roles that the media should have, maintaining a link between the population and understanding what goes on in the natural world. Because why should they give up money - taxes -
Comment
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
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TV or not TV? PRISON REFORM TRUST
Francesca Cooney Advice & Information Manager
L
ast week, there were two news stories about television. The first, in the Mirror and Express stated that it was ‘outrageous’ that the Ministry of Justice had spent £8.4 million on TVs for prisoners. The Ministry of Justice responded, explaining that the cost was covered through charging prisoners to rent the sets. In reality, the TVs don’t cost the taxpayer in the long run because the money is recovered and the rental income can generate £2 million a year.
“This is the planet on which we live, the only one we’ve got and that we’ve got to protect it and people do feel that, deeply and instinctively” unless they actually care about it. BO: The interesting thing is that I find my daughters are much more environmentally aware, more than previous generations. They do not dispute, for example, the science around climate change - they understand that we’ve got a problem and that we’ve got to do something about it. DA: Certainly, the letters I get, they bring tear to the eyes, from children of all ages. Young people, they care. This is the world that they are going to grow up in and spend the rest of their lives in. But I think it is more idealistic than that; they actually believe that the human species has no right to destroy and despoil regardless - they actually feel that very powerfully. What concerns me is that when we are sitting in Europe, we see what you are doing saying, we are going to put a man on the moon in ten year’s time, what would happen if you said, in ten years, we will energise the world to find a solution, to find a way of producing energy with no problems and finding ways of storing energy because if you did that, so many of our problems would be solved. BO: If you were to think about how we could raise awareness, because you’ve been a great educator as well as a great naturalist; how do you think we can reach the public around these issues? Not only to make them aware of the dangers around an issue like climate change but also to feel a sense of urgency and capacity to change it? Another way of asking this is maybe to ask, what do you think are some of the most stubborn misconceptions about nature that lead us sometimes to not get out in front of these problems?
DA: I think sometimes unfamiliarity. I don’t see how you can hope to find somebody who has spent the first sixteen years of his life surrounded by bricks and mortar and then put him in the middle of a rain forest and expect him to find his way or know how to live, how to survive and find food. I’m not sure if that’s absolutely necessary anyway. I think what is required is an understanding, a gut feeling that you understand that the natural world is part of your inheritance. This is the planet on which we live, the only one we’ve got and that we’ve got to protect it and people do feel that, deeply and instinctively. The natural world is after all where you go in moments of celebration and in moments of grief. It is the greatest prop and stay for humanities own feeling of itself. BO: If you think about it, in all the world’s religions, when you are seeking wisdom, when you are seeking to hear God, you are in the desert, or you go to great waters or you go to great mountain peaks - the amazement of the natural world and its powers, that’s what speaks to what’s deepest in us and what’s critically important is to make sure that we are passing that onto future generations. You and I, we’ve been blessed to be able to see it and experience it and be moved by it and I want to be sure that my daughters and their children are experiencing that same thing. DA: Mr President, thank you very much. BO: Well, I was a good pupil of yours...
This is an extract from a programme by the BBC broadcast on 28th June 2015.
The second news story was about the TV licence fee and the new arrangements for funding the licence for people over 75. Prisoners, like diplomats and the Queen, do not have to pay the licence fee because prisons are ‘crown exempt’. There is no national policy about whether prisoners over a certain age are exempt from paying the £1 rental fee. You can ask the prison staff to consider waiving the fee in certain situations. This could be if you have disabilities that mean you spend longer in your cell or you are an older prisoner or in health care. The prison staff will consider whether you have more time in your cell than other prisoners and whether the mental stimulus of TV might be helpful to you. This is on a case by case basis and is not related to privilege levels. At the moment, different prisons have their own policies on this. The recent annual report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that the practice of asking retired prisoners to pay for their televisions pointed to the need for a strategy for older prisoners and a standard approach across all prisons. TVs in prison are a privilege -and dependent on good behaviour and having an income. Not everyone in prison has access to television: for instance, people who are on basic, in segregation or who have little money. Why are televisions in prison important? The recent Harris review looked at self inflicted deaths of young people in prison. They were
fisher meredith
concerned that the Incentive and Earned Privileges system does not always take into account the impact of things that might appear to be unimportant. Little things can make a big difference in a prison environment. The Prison and Probation Ombudsman has also found that fatal incidents occur more often among prisoners on the basic privilege level, as this reduces protective factors such as association, activities and access to television. Televisions were introduced because of the lack of activities in prisons, and the difficulties getting on to workshops and courses. It was thought they might help emotional wellbeing and relieve some of the stress that can come through boredom. The rules are set out in annex E to Prison Service Instruction (PSI 30/2013) on Incentive and Earned Privileges (IEPs). TV is not allowed when someone should be working but can be allowed during the day for people who can’t work or if no work is available. The TV set is rented from the prison and prisoners are responsible for looking after it, can be fined for any damage and have to replace any batteries for remote controls themselves. For many prisoners on a low income, and with no family to send in private cash, the cost of TV is a significant part of their weekly wage. The inspectorate annual report also found that one in five prisoners said they spent less than two hours a day out of their cells during the week. This means there are not enough activities for at least 20% of prisoners at the moment. Television isn’t a substitute for activity and time out of cell but it can make being in a cell more bearable. Ideally, prisons would have enough staff and resources to make sure the regime mirrored the working day in the community. If you would like a copy of annex E or have any questions you can contact us at the Prison Reform Trust, FREEPOST ND6125 London EC1B 1PN. Our free information line is open Mondays Tuesdays and Thursdays 3.30-5.30. The number is 0808 802 0060 and does not need to be put on your pin.
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Comment
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
An open letter to Michael Gove
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
D
ear Mr Gove, As a former prisoner who writes regularly about prison and its impacts, I thought I’d share a few thoughts with you. You’ve had a couple of months in your new post as Secretary of State for Justice so perhaps now is the time to start thinking about how the current crisis - and it is a serious crisis - in our prisons can be addressed. In your recent comments, both during your appearance before the Justice Select Committee and in your address to the Prisoner Learning Alliance, you have spoken encouragingly of the need for change within the prison system. In particular, you expressed the view that prisoners should be seen as “potential assets” rather than as liabilities. You have also emphasised the importance and value of education within our prisons, backing this up with the welcome announcement that restrictions on prisoners receiving books from family and friends are soon to be lifted. While all of this is very positive - particularly following the nightmare years of your unlamented predecessor Chris Grayling - you undoubtedly have an uphill battle to fight if you really are committed to reforming our prisons. In part this is due to decades of under-investment in both buildings and people - policies that began long before you (or I, for that matter) had any involvement with the criminal justice system. However, there are also conflicting underlying cultures that will need to be addressed if sustainable reform is ever to be achieved. The first question that I think you will need to reflect upon is what is the actual purpose of imprisonment? It is first and foremost a punishment for offences committed, but one of the declared objectives of the Prison Service is to facilitate reform and rehabilitation. I think you are by now well aware of the fact that the present system is unfit for purpose, as evidenced by the most recent annual report issued by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. As things stand, our prisons do not - and indeed cannot - deliver against the Prison Service’s own stated aims beyond providing unsustainably expensive human warehousing from which many individuals emerge back into the community at least as dangerous, disturbed, distressed or disruptive as they were when they were committed to custody by the courts, in some cases even more so. The reality is that, in far too many cases, there has been no attempt at rehabilitation whatsoever. In some cases reoffending is a virtual certainty. My advice is not to be misled into becoming too focused on physical conditions in prisons. In my time as a prisoner I experienced a range of modern establishments and decrepit Victorian-era piles. Beyond basic safety and hygiene the bricks and mortar are much less relevant than the key issues of overcrowding and understaffing. Even a grim red-brick fortress can provide an effective range of educational opportunities and other purposeful activities if it is appropriately staffed, while a brand new state-of-the-art facility can fail monumentally if prisoners are confined to overcrowded cells for 22 or 23 hours each
day. This is essentially a question of resources and budget and given that your department is planning further cuts, then reducing the current historically high prison population is probably the most effective means of balancing the books. Another key issue that demands your urgent attention is low morale among prison staff. Believe me, this is at rock bottom, no matter what others may tell you. A vital question is whether the Prison Service is really recruiting the right sort of people with a high degree of commitment and professionalism - as well as an essential sense of humanity? Once recruited, are they being properly trained? I have encountered wing officers who have put their own lives at risk to save prisoners and have shown genuine concern and kindness, but I have also witnessed terrible acts of cruelty and inhumanity, particularly towards elderly, vulnerable prisoners or those living with serious mental illnesses. One of the places that those who have sadistic tendencies should never be permitted to work is prisons. An internal culture marked by brutality and contempt can be infectious and a handful of abusive staff members can undermine any efforts at rehabilitation. Too many prisoners come from violent, abusive or neglectful family backgrounds and, at times, the experience of incarceration merely reinforces their distorted views of society. Too many inmates are being bullied and assaulted whilst in the care of the Prison Service - including being subjected to sexual abuse - by fellow prisoners and this also needs to be tackled as a priority. How many trainee prison officers have ever spoken to an ex-prisoner or had the opportunity to ask them questions? As a practical suggestion, why not involve some articulate former inmates in training sessions, particularly those who have gone on to achieve success after their release? Let new officers meet them and benefit from their wisdom and experience, as well as having personal prejudices concerning prisoners challenged. Retaining the best officers and prison managers also requires significant investment, as well as offering opportunities for career development. Anyone who is going to spend a significant proportion of their own professional lives locked up behind high walls and barred gates (even if they do have a set of keys) also deserves to be treated as a professional, rather than as demoralised ‘turnkeys’ prowling the landings, spreading misery and contempt in their wake. Based on my own experience, I can assure you that a little respect goes a long way in prison and too many officers demand respect without behaving in a professional, respectful manner toward those in their care. Surely prison staff should serve as role models capable of defusing tensions and conflicts. Sadly, a substantial minority aren’t. Restoring a much higher degree of local autonomy to prison governors as you have suggested recently will be a very welcome reform. Individual senior managers are often best placed to achieve positive change, particularly if the restrictive shackles of bureau-
cracy can be loosened. Appoint reformers with ideas, rather than faceless civil servants. A degree of risk-taking can be healthy even in a high security environment. My advice is to give governors back the real power to make decisions, recognising that they - like any senior manager in the public service - must also be accountable and take responsibility. In respect of rehabilitation, I agree that education can and should play a vital role. However, there is also a dangerous tendency towards coercion in prisons that undermines what can be achieved in the classroom or workshop. It’s worth remembering that many prisoners who live with literacy problems have previously failed in school and, as adults, may be fearful and resentful of being coerced back into formal classroom settings. Having worked as a peer mentor in prison education departments, my advice is to adopt policies that encourage positive participation and achievement, whether that be academic or vocational. For some prisoners, work assignments in prison - whether as cleaners, wing painters, kitchen staff or in the stores - may be the first regular ‘employment’ they have ever experienced. This presents an opportunity to mirror the job market on the outside and develop relevant skills. Why not encourage governors to introduce proper recruitment procedures for work assignments that could include help to prepare a written CV and an application? Perhaps a formal interview could take place. Don’t simply let the current culture of ‘jobs for the lads’ - those prisoners who are either over-friendly with or else subservient to officers - continue unchallenged. Why isn’t every new reception to prison asked from the very beginning what they feel they can contribute to the life of the establishment? Another suggestion is to ensure that education is valued and recognised. Some prisons used to award small cash bonuses to prisoners who gained qualifications and vocational certificates. Why not reintroduce this system across the prison estate? It would represent a relatively modest investment in education as part of the rehabilitation process? Moreover, prisons could consider holding special family visits during which certificates earned could be presented by a governor… or even a government minister. Every prison has a contingent of well-educated inmates, many of whom will be first time offenders. Why not make better use of their skills and experience by expanding the existing peer mentoring systems across the prison estate? Encourage prison labour boards to match prisoners’ qualifications with mentoring roles, rather than squander such resources. Further expansion of the voluntary Toe by Toe adult literacy scheme to encourage individual prisoners to improve their skills should be regarded as a key priority, particularly since it is so cost effective for the taxpayer as it relies on volunteer peer mentors trained and equipped through the Shannon Trust. Not only does this system deliver impressive results, but it also contributes to the sense of achievement of those who offer
mentoring while serving their sentences. Moreover, when prisoners have taken the initiative to enrol in distance learning courses particularly as these are now funded by the individual or via an education loan - why not count these inmates as being in full-time education and give them study periods paid at the usual rate for classroom attendance, rather than marginalising such activities that can play a major role in reducing reoffending and improving the chance of successful resettlement upon release? Another suggestion is to give governing governors more control over education in their respective establishments. This may require reviewing the current Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) arrangements, but I believe that you recognise prison education is much more than ticking boxes and payment by backsides on classroom seats. Too many prison education providers recruit cut-price tutors who have failed in classrooms outside - through inexperience, laziness or incompetence - and within a prison setting mediocrity and failure has been tolerated and permitted to thrive for too long. Many more prisoners will respond positively to an inspirational teacher than a bored individual who is sitting at the back reading a newspaper for most of the session. The present arrangements do little to encourage or reward good teaching. There is also concern that rehabilitation interventions that actually demonstrate positive results in reducing reoffending - such as the Sycamore Tree victim awareness programme - are facing funding cuts by your ministry. Will you undertake to review such decisions personally? Finally, please don’t allow the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to continue excluding researchers, prison reformers, journalists and fellow politicians from our prisons. The current effective information lockdown, where establishments in England and Wales often appear less accessible than those in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, does our country a serious disservice. Encouraging a greater spirit of openness, as well as wider public awareness of the reality of our prison system, can only assist in your mission if you are genuinely committed to achieving positive change. I hope that the above reflections might be of interest to you, particularly since they are based on personal experience within our prisons. I would not have written such an open letter as this to Mr Grayling. It would have been attempting to have a dialogue with a concrete wall. However, you have expressed yourself and your ideas with unusual openness and have provoked much interest and debate within the media and among the public. You have the chance to tackle the crisis in our prisons and to bring to an end the current culture of failure, waste and hopelessness. Please don’t allow your own enthusiasm for reform to end in disappointment and disillusionment like Ken Clarke’s much-vaunted ‘rehabilitation revolution’ did. I genuinely wish you every success. Yours sincerely, Alex Cavendish Alex Cavendish is a social anthropologist and author. He is also a former prisoner who was released in 2014. He is an active participant in the debate on crime, prisons and probation. You can read more articles by him on his blog: www.prisonuk.blogspot.co.uk
Comment
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Who self-harms?
Many people self-harm - men, women and young people of all ages. It happens a lot in prisons. Everyone has their own reasons. Prison is a stressful place and some people can find it difficult to cope with day to day life.
Why do people self-harm?
There are lots of reasons why you might selfharm. For example: l coming into prison for the first time; l being on remand and not knowing what’s going to happen; l feeling alone, and l worrying about something outside, such as money, work or family problems. Self-harming might make you feel better if you are finding it difficult to cope with how you are feeling. It can show others how you are feeling.
Self-harm in prison Polly McConnell Senior Criminal Justice Officer - Rethink
S
elf-harm is very common in prisons and the number of incidents continues to rise. The Ministry of Justice recently reported a 13% increase in self-harming in the last two years. There were 25,775 self-harm incidents in 2014 with 1,749 needing hospital treatment. Women have the highest rate of self-harm although they make up such a small percentage of the prison population. A lot of people self-harm and it can be a way of coping with difficult situations such as not knowing what to expect in prison. Self-harm is
not always a sign of having a mental illness, but it does suggest there is something wrong. There is help available in prison if you are selfharming.
What is self-harm?
Self-harm is when you hurt yourself on purpose. For example, by: l Cutting or scratching; l Burning; l Banging or breaking bones; l Pulling out hair or picking skin; l Drinking alcohol or taking drugs to harm yourself; l Strangling yourself; l Swallowing things that will harm you. People might self-harm once or twice, or lots of times.
You might self-harm to have some control. It can be frightening going into prison and you might feel you have no control over your life now.
Who can help?
There are people in the prison who can help you: l prison staff such as the healthcare team, personal officer or chaplaincy; l other prisoners such as Listeners or Insiders; l Samaritans. Speak to wing staff if you want to see any of these people.
How can I help myself?
If you self-harm, it can be difficult to stop. There are things you can do that might help: l speak to another prisoner, a Listener or Insider, or staff; l ring a family member or a friend, or write them a letter; l write down whatever you are thinking at the moment; l find other ways to show your feelings, such as writing, drawing and doing prison activities; l do something else instead of self harm. For example, do exercise in your cell, such as yoga or sit ups, draw on the place you want to cut with a pen or massage wherever you want to hurt yourself;
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l allow yourself to cry, some people find crying a release, or; l take your mind off self-harming by choosing a random object and thinking of 30 different uses for it or count up to 500. You might not find all of these things helpful, and it can take time to find out what works for you.
Useful Contacts
Samaritans There are different ways for prisoners to contact Samaritans. All prisons should have direct lines to either the local branch or the national number. Address: Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK, Chris, PO Box 9090, STIRLING, FK8 2SA Telephone: 08457 909090 Website: www.samaritans.org Face to face: If there is no Listener service at your prison, Samaritans can visit you. If you are on ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence), © Karl Batty MOJ you can visit your local branch. Prison Phoenix Trust They help prisoners with yoga and meditation in prison. You can ask them to send free books to help with relaxation in your cell. Address: The Prison Phoenix Trust, PO Box 328, Oxford, OX2 7HF Telephone: 01865 512 521 The Rethink Mental Illness Advice Service provides practical information and advice to people affected by mental illness and their families at all stages of the criminal justice system. If you would like a copy of our ‘Self-harm - for prisoners’ factsheet, please contact us and a copy will be sent to you. Address: Rethink Advice and Information Service, FREEPOST RRYH-TZBT-GEHU, 15th Floor, 89 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TP. Telephone: 0300 5000 927. We are open 10am to 2pm Monday to Friday. Email:
[email protected] Would you like to share your mental health experiences? By sharing stories from people with mental health problems, we can help challenge stigma and discrimination and show that mental health problems can affect anyone at any time and nobody should feel ashamed to talk about it. If you would like to share your story, please contact our Time to Change team using the same Freepost address above.
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Comment
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
‘My Friend Tom’ An ex police officer discovers the truth about crime and punishment
‘You can judge a society by how well it treats its prisoners’
T
he above words were uttered by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky who lived from 1821 to 1881 and never have they been brought home more dramatically to me than of late. Six months ago, a friend of mine was sentenced to some thirteen years imprisonment following a weeklong trial at Crown Court for nearly 20 charges of historic indecency offences with five children. All of the children knew each other extremely well. Indeed, some of them were not only related to each other but to my friend in turn. My friend, who I shall call ‘Tom’, was condemned by a Judge as having a ‘sinister and depraved’ character and now languishes in a prison having led an unblemished life in entertainment and publishing. Well known in the local community, he was widely respected and regarded as being kind, dependable and generous. My background is entirely different. For that reason I have also asked that my name be withheld because, as many will be surprised to learn, I retired a few years ago following 30 years in the police service where I had investigated crimes and their perpetrators both as a uniformed policeman and then on CID. Thirty years which saw me doing my best but which left me feeling a distinct sense of unease at some of the things I saw and heard towards the end of my career. Now I appreciate that not everyone likes the police and often there is good reason for feeling that way. There is corruption and there are bad police officers but there are also some very fair ones constricted perhaps by the plethora of rules and frequent political interference by inept and transient politicians. I was glad to walk away at the end, needless to say!
The first I knew of Tom’s plight was when he rang me to tell me of the police investigation following allegations made by these girls. Not being privy to the statements at that time, I could only base my advice given to him on what he told me and the fact that he insisted he was innocent of any of the allegations. Ultimately and knowing the system as I do, I advised him to get a good, investigative lawyer and to have little to say to the police or anyone else unless he had first spoken to that lawyer. As it happened, my initial feeling was that Tom was indeed innocent and I was very shocked to hear of the allegations. A very long and agonising time later, he appeared in the local Magistrates Court and his case was sent to the Crown Court for trial. That length of time was inhumane and I watched helplessly as my friend declined in health due to the enormous stresses and burdens placed upon him. Tom pleaded not guilty and was duly represented by a Barrister funded by legal aid. I did not attend the trial but received daily reports from Tom and his supporters. Essentially, Tom stood alone whilst the prosecution witnesses gave their evidence against him remotely by video link. Odd really, given that they had been freely associating with him right up until the start of the police investigation. Amazingly, the defence called no character witnesses for Tom and all the jury heard was the allegations of those five witnesses. There was no forensic evidence, no corroboration by professionals such as doctors or social workers, merely their words and there was even clear information that they had colluded and planned what they would say. Their motive was clear for, as one of them pointed out, they were after money in the form of compensation, not that that fact ever emerged in open court. My friend really didn’t stand a chance quite frankly and I was with him on the day he was ‘sent down’.
I saw the devastation in him and I felt angry. Angry that his defence had been half hearted, angry that there had been no investigative work carried out by the defence and angry at the obvious bias of the Judge. In my very humble opinion Tom had not received a fair trial and had been treated appallingly. A cut price legal aid funded defence had let him down.
A few months later, Tom was transferred to another prison and by that time we had identified a lawyer. We put him in touch with Tom and so the lengthy process began. For a cool £2,500, we could secure a review of the case and a legal opinion on the possibility of an appeal. Well the money has been paid and the file and court transcripts including the Judge’s summing up have been sent for.
Before my first prison visit, I saw Tom’s life in the community disappear. His rented home was emptied of his possessions and everything sold off.
A copy of my lengthy analysis has also been sent to the new lawyer and I trust he reads it. As I concluded, I would have been ashamed to have put my name to the investigation yet alone the case management.
I spoke to the person he had entrusted the closing down of his affairs with and together we read through Tom’s copy of the prosecution case. I was shocked once again as I identified flaw after flaw in the file, a shoddy and half hearted police investigation and an even shoddier defence. Over a period of several weeks, I took the case apart and as Tom dealt with the harsh realities of his new life, I prepared a huge list of matters worthy of further investigation and which should have been properly addressed by his legal team. Then I made the long journey to the prison where he was being held, and having been searched thoroughly, met up with him. I was glad to be told by him that he continued to maintain his innocence. I listened as he flagged up issues which were of concern to him and then of his life in the prison itself. Tom is a state pensioner. I was more than surprised when he told me that his state pension had been taken from him. I question the legality of this and believe that this is a direct contravention of many basic rights. He shared a cell with a broken window with an old blanket stuffed in it and with an open toilet in the room. Meals, if they could ever be called such, were taken in the cell within feet of the toilet. A broken down television paid for out of his meagre allowance was his only entertainment as such and his cell mate was in his 80s and wanted to die. I felt very depressed indeed at his plight and for the first time in a while, I felt helpless. I realised that frequent reports in the Daily Mail of a luxury life style in prison were grossly exaggerated but I did not expect standards to be so poor. I looked around the meeting area and saw old men, many on sticks, some in wheelchairs and a few in tears and it was brought home to me that there is something very wrong in a society which treats human beings like this. Now, I am not suggesting that criminal acts should go unpunished, far from it, but I seriously question the effectiveness and reasonability of sending old men to prison where many of them will die. Tom explained that due to staff shortages he spent hours locked up in his cell and that the highlight of a meal was swiftly demolished by the reality of half a cup of soup, a white bread roll and a broken up packet of crisps. Meanwhile the work outside continued as we shopped around for a more suitable lawyer to take on a possible appeal. I realise that just as with the police, there are good, average and bad lawyers and I knew that what would be needed was one with some record of success and a bit of aggression.
I visited Tom last week. He is making the most of his time inside and clinging on to the hope of an appeal. How that will be financed is yet to be determined though. Again, he is locked in from 5.30pm until 8am daily, fed on an inadequate and unhealthy diet, subject to a system of requests for any variances dogged by quite unnecessary and needlessly inflexible bureaucracy, denied the right to participate in more than one type of spiritual activity, confined to purchases made within the slow prison regime and surrounded by many, many others in the same situation. That so many self harm and attempt suicide or even give up the will to live comes as little surprise to me because to survive the experience of such confinement calls for a certain type of person. Inner belief in oneself is certainly all important. I looked around the room again during my last visit to see different inmates but still with old folks shuffling around on sticks and in wheelchairs. There are some who are hopeful in the appeals process and seeing the appalling levels of evidence currently being used to convict people in an increasingly vindictive, post Savile society, I know that I am not alone in realising that innocent men are now being convicted on the most questionable of evidence. The current focus on a miscarriage of justice is Hillsborough. I am shocked to hear of the many irregularities emerging but also realise that such things were common back then. Senior police officers instructing more junior ones to change their statements was a frequent occurrence in the 1970s and 80s and now the full truth is finally emerging. Many of those junior officers, now retired, are rightly speaking out. I also fully expect that in time to come, the current policy of convicting people on what we used to call unsubstantiated hearsay will also bring about a call for an investigation into miscarriages of justice. I certainly hope so. I wish all those who know inwardly that they are innocent well and I say, believe in yourself and never give up and get a lawyer who investigates and not one who merely reviews the prosecution case as presented. There are people like me around who were part of the system and who now see it for what it is, for what I and others see in prisons is appalling and inhumane and not compatible with a first world country and is also expensively ineffective. This writer wishes to remain anonymous
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Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
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n spite of any mistreatment or antiMuslim propaganda, from reading an English translation of the Koran, I believe Islam to be a noble religion that, like the Bible, promotes peace, tolerance and respect for all of God’s creatures. We should not forget the positive influence that Islam has had on the world. Through surgery, art, astronomy, mathematics and architecture, its contributions globally have been invaluable. Islam has always promoted the pursuit of knowledge for the good of all. Yet, just as within the Christian community, there are extremists who misinterpret the Koran’s teachings and are selective about which tenets they choose to follow. I do not believe that these people represent the Muslim community as a whole, yet they are still a powerful and influential minority. The willingness of some of our young men and women to travel halfway across the world to a war zone where they then commit some of the most barbaric acts imaginable does not shock me as much as it probably should. For years I have seen countless young men of all religions, raised on a diet of Gangsta Rap, Grand Theft Auto, Medal of Honour, and other violent video games, come through the prison gates. I have never known a time in the last three decades when young prisoners have been so desensitised to the pain of others, taking advantage of the weak and mocking those who dare to express remorse for the pain they caused to their victims and families. Aside from prison bravado, statistics demonstrate a heightened level of violence within our prisons and youth custody centres which is both gratuitous and sadistic in nature. Where once, prison violence was as a direct result of a perceived slight, or for revenge, it now appears (to me, at least) to be just for the sake of “entertainment”, where weak prisoners are despised almost to the point of hatred. Among their number are youths converting to an extremist form of Islam, right under the
Moderately radical In the final part of her trilogy, Sarah Baker gives some more thought to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and its effects on young people noses of the prison authorities. When some of the more psychopathic types begin to groom and radicalise these young inmates, their fate is sealed and they begin to embrace an ideology that appears to give their messed-up lives some meaning. Many years ago, I was imprisoned on the same wing as Fawzi. He is the only terrorist to survive the Iranian embassy siege in London,
and as I know him to be a rational, friendly and well-balanced man, I was curious to know how he could have done the things he did. He did not appear to be psychotic, displayed appropriate levels of empathy towards the other prisoners, was respectful to staff and unremarkable in appearance. After we had known each other for about a year, without seeking to minimise his actions,
he told me how his anger towards the then Iranian government had been exploited by a ruthless psychopath who had also groomed other idealistic Iranians. Once they had all been introduced to each other, the group dynamics made it impossible to leave, for fear of being labelled a coward, or, worse, executed. The group then verbally vented their anger to each other, which served to reinforce their belief that “something must be done”. With a persuasive psychopath playing this group like puppets, they were so fervently caught up in their naïve “need for justice” that when it was put to the group that if they invaded the Iranian embassy and demanded that they be given their own part of Iran, they actually believed that they would achieve their goal. They totally failed to realise how insanely stupid the whole idea was. No consequences were ever mentioned within the group, nor was the level of evil that they would go on to commit. The only focus of the group was that of a positive outcome. There was no room for dissent, no expression of doubt, and it had not even crossed their minds that Margaret Thatcher would send in the SAS with orders to kill. I didn’t know what to say. All of my sympathies lay with Fawzi’s victims, and I told him so. I could see the embarrassment and shame in his eyes. Yet I could also see how my own crimes could have been prevented if I had been more mature and stronger as a teenager. Like Fawzi, I had never seriously considered how my actions would impact on my victims or how painful the consequences would be to them. My dysfunctional childhood had encouraged me to see everything about the world in a negative light. To me, it was a dog-eat-dog existence where if I wanted something, I had better take it from someone else. Within the isolation of my peer group, kindness, compassion, compromise and forgiveness had no meaning. By the time I had reached adulthood, the trail of destruction and hurt that I had left behind was so unforgivable
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Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org that I have never sought a forgiveness that I will never deserve. Now that I hear of all these young people going down the same destructive path as I did, I hope that they will soon come to their senses before they, too, allow themselves to commit acts so horrific that they can never be forgiven - not by God, their victims, or, ultimately, themselves. Islamic State recruits and its supporters now pose some of the greatest threats to our national security. I have explored ways of preventing our young from destroying the lives of innocent people, and indeed, their own. From all my years of living with murderers, terrorists, serial killers and diagnosed psychopaths, I am afraid that there may be no human or civilised way in which these people can be beaten. Instead of looking to our politicians to make our country safer, maybe we should be looking towards experts in psychopathy or personality disorders. Only such scientifically qualified specialists will understand the thought processes that would enable someone to cast aside all society’s norms and surrender to their base instincts. Most members of the public would achieve a low score on the psychopathy spectrum if they were tested, but those who score highly would generally share certain characteristics. They are usually ruthless, charming, charismatic and lacking in empathy or conscience; they are fearless, impulsive and have an ability to remain focused under high levels of pressure. Such people can be found anywhere and can be quite successful in achieving their goals. However, probably the most dangerous people on the planet are those who are both highly intelligent and willing to use violence.
William James, father of American psychology, once wrote: “Such men do not remain mere critics and understanders with their intellect. Their ideas possess them; they inflict them, for better or worse, upon their companions, or their age.” These are people who know no boundaries and care not what people think of them. Indeed, the narcissism that is another characteristic of their personality disorder means that they would revel in the hatred they receive from the world. Any attention is like a drug to them and their biggest fear is of being ignored. They would interpret being ignored as an intolerable form of provocation. Every snake has a head, and by cutting it off we would only be turning it into a martyr, which is often a psychopath’s greatest wish. The more they are punished, the more they would feel that their actions were justified. That impressionable young people are like putty in the hands of such people would not surprise an expert in psychopathy. If you are young, lonely and feel alienated, the attractive qualities employed by psychopaths can be almost impossible to resist, especially when the first contact is made via the internet. Surveillance cameras are only useful after a crime has been committed, and none of the estimated twenty million cameras that Britain already uses would make any difference whatever to a violent psychopath, since they often control their high level of impulsiveness by manipulating others to do their dirty work for them. By allowing the government to restrict the movement of its citizens, we are just making
knee-jerk reactions that will achieve little in the long run. As in the war on drugs, I feel our intelligence services are merely sweeping up those on the bottom rung of the ladder - like expendable pawns in a game of chess. We need to attack the bank accounts of those at the top of the ladder, who are funding Islamic State itself. Personally, I would scour the prison system for the most psychopathic prisoners and drop them into the strongholds where the IS lunatics are holed up. If our prisoners don’t just slaughter the terrorists, the least they would do is turn the terrorists against each other, just for the entertainment value! Just as the saying goes that you should set a thief to catch a thief, why not set a psychopath to catch a psychopath? I fear that only actions as unpalatable as this will combat an organisation whose motto is that it welcomes death as much as we love life. Just what a psychopath would say! The only viable alternative would cause mass infringement of our civil liberties, which could tear our nation in half. Whilst our leaders continue to churn out their platitudes about fighting a war on terror which they personally will not have to fight, they are also preventing those who wish to fight IS from leaving Britain. Whether they be good or bad people, the public, like sheep, will respect and follow a strong and decisive leader into the gates of hell! The sycophantic crop of current politicians in power, more interested in pursuing the interests of their party, will not win the hearts and minds of a public that has become cynical and mistrusts politicians of all colours. I predict that psychopaths with an Islamic State agenda will continue to turn gullible young men and love-struck young women
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against British citizens on our own mainland because, with all our government in-fighting, we appear weak to the world. Why have all the websites that promote Islamic State and its cohorts not been shut down? If anyone wants to leave Britain and go to Syria, why not let them go and prevent them from ever returning? If people who harbour a deepseated hatred of our country and its way of life want to leave, why not give them the price of a one-way plane ticket, with our blessing, and send them on their way? Only a fool would force them to stay. Perhaps the way forward for our country is Voltaire’s idea of a benign dictatorship - albeit without the occasional assassination! Maybe then a leader would emerge that the British people truly deserve, rather than the squabbling two-party dictatorship that we have at present - though, given the history of modern dictatorships, who would dare trust the chosen leader to remain benign? Every age has seen its young “radicals” who reject the values of the society in which they live. They have sometimes committed unspeakable acts in the name of their ideals, but eventually all have passed into history. We must continue to be vigilant and aware of the risks posed by a few extremists, but at the same time, we should keep a sense of proportion and remember the French proverb: Tout passé, tout casse, tout lasse, tout se remplace. (Everything passes, everything breaks, everything wearies, and everything can be replaced). Nothing is forever!
Sarah Baker is currently resident in HMP Lewes
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Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Up in smoke
with such a narrow focus on the health and occupational health effects of smoking is the blindsiding of other live issues. Certainly, in the state of Queensland, assaults on prison officers have doubled since the introduction of a total smoking ban.
Why a smoking ban in prisons has led to trouble Down Under
Smoke rises from Melbourne’s Ravenhall prison after the riot on 30 June
Olivia Fisher writes from Justice Action in Sydney Australia
T
he July introduction of smoking bans in prisons triggered a prison riot of historical scale and intensity in the Australian state of Victoria. Twelve hours before the ban commenced, outraged prisoners lit fires and caused $10 million worth of damage to prison property. Authorities retaliated with tear gas and firearms in a bid to control the chaos. Corrections Victoria chief Jan Shuard said that a violent inmate reaction was unexpected. But did the riot really come as a shock to authorities? A recent investigation into prison overcrowding by the New South Wales Inspector of Custodial Services anticipated growing unrest in prisons. The report highlighted the danger of exposing already uncomfortable inmates to the extra stress of smoking bans. The report added that authorities should not be surprised by prisoner non-compliance and riots. Banning
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smoking is degrading to prisoners. It causes resentment and increasing the likelihood of their re-offending upon release.
Victorian experience. Despite this, Corrective Services NSW does not seem willing to negotiate or reconsider the bans.
As of 10th August, smoking bans will be enforced in prisons in the state of New South Wales. Parties such as the Prison Officers’ Union have voiced concern that this will spark riots and protests in a similar vein to the
Corrections Victoria justified its ban on the grounds that ‘smoke free prisons provide a healthier and safer workplace for everybody, a safer prison system and a better quality of life for people who quit smoking.’ The problem
The loss of stress relief adds to the trauma and mental health stress of those living in tense environments. In already overcrowded facilities, the loss of human choice ushers in a level of punishment beyond the original sentence being served. Indeed, smoking bans work to deny a central piece of prison culture. In the UK, an estimated 85% of prisoners describe themselves as smokers. A similar 84% of Australian inmates identify as such. Prisoners spend $28 of their $30 wages on tobacco. Everybody knows that smoking has positive effects on the mental and emotional health of prisoners. Controlling the personal pleasure of prisoners lowers violence rates and maintains safe prisons. Smoking provides relief from the boredom and stress that defines time inside. It is a social activity that can bridge differences and unify prisoners. It is one of the few available avenues of self-determination and responsibility. Smoking has a role as a currency, being used by inmates to trade varied items and favours. It is one of the few things that inmates can bring inside, granting them continuity and comfort. According to addiction expert Dr Alex Wodak of St Vincent Hospital in Sydney, Australia, banning cigarettes leads to the creation of black markets, intimidation and smuggling by correctional staff. Prisoners turn to harder drugs and violence as substitutes. Given its importance and nature, smoking should not be banned. It is unjust and amounts to the deliberate torment of people who have already lost everything. In any case, there is clear evidence that bans do not work. Steve Kisely from Griffith University Medical School affirms that people only quit smoking in the long-term because they want and intend to do so. Studies show that where inmates are forced to give up smoking, almost all resume the habit immediately upon release. Such findings should not, of course, be used to deny a role for programs that encourage and support inmates in a quest to quit smoking.
Inside Time Editor, Eric McGraw, on a private visit to Sydney met the Justice Action Team including Brett Collins (pictured third left) and visiting students from Hong Kong studying criminology (pictured front right).
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Smoking bans jeopardise the possibility of genuine care in prison programs and management. They deny inmates the physical, mental and emotional health rehabilitation to which they are entitled. Balance must be found between respect for smokers and respect for non-smokers. There are effective and fair ways to achieve this balance without resorting to bans. For one, smoking could be limited to use in open yards so non-smoking prisoners and staff are not subject to exposure, as was successfully trialled in 2012. Alternatively, e-cigarettes could be introduced to combat nicotine dependence. Research suggests that e-cigarettes have lower toxicity levels than traditional cigarettes. The absence of carbon monoxide also means any second-hand smoke ingested is not as harmful. Justice Action has asked prison authorities to adopt the UK experience with e-cigarettes to avoid the chaos that confounds us all.
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Update on e-Burn and electronic cigarettes in prison ment it was confirmed that: “The responsibility for managing prisons in Wales lies with NOMS.”
F
ollowing the publication of the details of E-Burn, the new e cig product designed for prisons, and the issue of the pricing in prison of other generic e cigs, Inside Time and E-Burn have been inundated with enquiries for further information. This interest comes not only from around the UK but also from overseas. Smoking in prison is an issue that the authorities are struggling with both in the UK and several other countries and all are very keen to find solutions and avoid the problems any outright ban on smoking is likely to cause. In contrast the Welsh government is proposing to ban all electronic cigarettes in enclosed public spaces and workplaces in Wales and this has naturally given rise to a degree of confusion amongst prisoners in Wales who are unsure of the impact on them should the proposed ban go ahead. Firstly, we understand pilots of e cigs will take place in a number of UK prisons during August 2015 with the view of a national roll-out. However there has been no official confirmation about which brands will be included. The outcome of the pilots, should they be successful, will determine the way forward and what range will be made available to prisoners in England and Wales. Regarding the Welsh government’s plan to ban e cigs in public spaces and workplaces, it has now been confirmed that the resulting Bill being considered will not impact directly on prisons. In a response from the Welsh Govern-
We reported that Guernsey Prison was to be the first prison to switch to E-Burn following the very successful trials. In a letter from Dave Matthews, Governor of Guernsey Prison he states that “… E-Burn from a security perspective is a superior product to generic disposable e cigarettes available on the market”. He added that “The States (of Guernsey) Analyst’s Department also ran a series of tests on the E-Burn with encouraging results. I would not hesitate in recommending the company and the product to other establishments”. It should be noted that Guernsey Prison is independent of the UK and HM Prison Service.
Bumper crop of prisoner nominations for Butler Trust Awards … life in jail feels normal when we are around him”
Sheriff Leon Wilmot from Yuma Arizona USA discussing E-Burn with Darren Haley
Further afield we understand E-Burn has been launched in the USA at two National Sheriff Association events in Baltimore and San Antonio. Being such a unique product there was a great deal of interest and trials in the US are now planned. Reports of the tests in the UK have been forwarded to the relevant authorities. Darren Haley, former senior prison officer at HMP Leeds, founder and now Director of E-Burn told Inside Time: “The level of interest at these events in the USA was phenomenal and as in the UK they can be sold to prisoners cheaper than the standard and less secure brands of e cigs. We are very pleased with the progress made and positive feedback we have received to date”.
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O
nce again prisoners have made a major contribution to the 2015-16 Butler Trust Awards, which recognise outstanding work in prisons, and probation and youth justice settings. This year, we received 287 nominations for people working in prisons (out of a total of 330), and one-in-four of them came from prisoners.
“The man is a legend and a credit to every single person alive on this planet” The full set runs to thousands of pages, a pile a couple of feet high, and the Butler Trust’s expert panels will spend the next few months sifting them, before whittling them down to a shortlist for the judges. The final Awards and Commendations will be announced early next year.
“She has demonstrated to me the way a person should be” Prisoner nominations, it must be said, are particularly appreciated, not only by those nominated but also by other people involved in the award process. Because individuals are nominated for, in some way, going ‘above and beyond’ in their work, prisoners inevitably bring a unique perspective to such work. So when a prisoner says someone is outstanding, that carries a certain weight.
“He takes time out to help everyone out with their issues
Another reason prisoner nominations are appreciated is that the very language used in their nominations is often immediate, fresh, and engaging. In a mere sentence or two they will often really bring alive a sense of the impact someone’s work has had on their life.
“Thank you for all your support which changed my life for always” Our experts, tasked with reducing hundreds of nominations to a couple of dozen Awards and Commendations, pay particular attention to the often distinctive and frequently striking voices of prisoners, and regularly comment on their quality and potency.
“I am truly thankful for making me feel comfortable enough to open up to him, just his listening alone has healed a lot of my problems” Indeed, there’s a growing body of recent research evidence that suggests writing can be a very powerful therapeutic tool indeed and going by the quality of many prisoners’ nominations, perhaps more should consider taking up writing!
“He has telepathic sensitivity ... he is an expert at getting the best out of people” Finally, The Butler Trust would like to thank every prisoner who has been involved in the process - whether they personally nominated someone or contributed to detailed feedback for a nomination.
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Comment
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
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couple of weeks ago the FBI and the Justice Department of the United States admitted that forensic scientists from a DNA unit had given seriously flawed evidence in nearly all criminal trials spanning a 20 year period.
and final acquittal of Amanda Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, was based on cross-contamination of a LCN DNA sample from the murder weapon. Amanda Knox’s DNA was found on the handle of the kitchen knife used to kill Meredith Kercher. Not surprising, she used to cook with it. However, an LCN DNA sample from the blade was misidentified as Meredith Kercher’s. Belated re-examination of the blade confirmed that cross-contamination had occurred, and Knox and Sollecito were finally acquitted, much to the disappointment of The Sun.
Evidence given by 26 forensic scientists engaged in DNA analysis of microscopic hair samples were ‘seriously talked up’ to favour prosecutors in over 200 convictions, from which 32 defendants were sentenced to death, 14 of which have already been executed or died in prison. Whilst the FBI and the Justice Department are to be commended for finally admitting that the convictions may have been based on bad science, initially, on realising that they were dealing with one of their country’s biggest forensic science scandals they halted investigations in August 2013. The Justice Department ordered the FBI to re-open their investigations early in 2015 following a damming report by the Justice Department’s Inspectors. Since 1989 there have been at least 329 DNAexoneration cases in the US where DNA evidence has been re-examined primarily by the American ‘Innocence’ Projects. Peter Neufield, one of the founders of the Innocence Projects has stated - ‘The FBI’s 30 year use of DNA hair analysis to incriminate defendants is a complete disaster. We need an exhaustive investigation to look at how the FBI…and the courts allowed this to happen’. For example, it took around 5 years for the FBI to identify around 60 death row inmates whose cases required further examination, and in that period at least 3 prisoners were executed. In coming clean, the FBI have also admitted further problems with pattern-based forensic techniques such as shoe and bite-mark comparisons. In March 2011, The Times ‘Law Central’ reported problems with junk science and commented that British forensic scientists were using scientific results that could not be validated due to ‘commercially sensitive’ computer programmes and methods which prevented defence scientists from challenging the prosecution evidence. The Times warned that junk science was leading to unsafe convictions in criminal trials. In the FBI cases above many of the hair samples were analysed by a British Forensic
© Fotolia.com
Junk Science Keith Rose updates the controversy surrounding Low Copy DNA Science Service (FSS) who invented a method known as Low Copy Number DNA (LCN DNA) or alternatively as Low Template DNA (LT DNA). There is no doubt that DNA profiling has revolutionised the use of science in criminal cases. Without making the explanation overly complicated, normally, DNA is separated from a sample, repeatedly copied (amplified) by a process known as a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), then analysed using gel electrophoresis, (this is the simple explanation). However, the use of LCN DNA is controversial due to the microscopic amount of a DNA sample required to obtain a profile. Theoretically a full DNA profile can be obtained from a single cell, but usually a sample of as little as 0.5-2.5 of a nanogram is required. A ‘nanogram’ is one thousand millionth of a gram, about 150 cells. The Low Copy Number DNA method was designed to analyse smaller amounts of DNA below 100 picograms (a picogram is one million, millionth of a gram).
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With such very low numbers of template DNA molecules, the LCN DNA amplification process may fail, leading to problems interpreting a profile. Furthermore, sample cross contamination is ever present. Shake hands with someone and your DNA is on their hand, if they open a door then your DNA is now on the doorknob. Brush past someone and your DNA is on their clothing, DNA is exchanged by merely being in the same room as the other person. The FSS enthusiastically praised the claimed benefits of LCN DNA, but the process was panned by sceptics. In 2011 the only countries prepared to accept LCN DNA as courtroom evidence was Britain, Australia and the Netherlands. The scientific community concluded that a 28-cycle PCR process had been validated successfully, but an extended 32-cycle LCN process was not a reliable evidential-quality process. In Italy, the conviction, acquittal, reconviction
However, future problems with cross-contamination of DNA is looming on the horizon. UK police forces are trialling technology that allows ordinary police officers to analyse DNA samples in custody suites after a 2-week training course. Police custody suites are hardly sterile areas, and a 2-week training course is hardly likely to turn plod into a forensic scientist, yet the proposal is that ordinary police officers will soon be able to input DNA profiles directly into the National DNA Database. The DNA ‘RapidHIT’ machines were developed by IntegenX in the US and are marketed in the UK by Key Forensic Services. Police forces who have trialled, or are currently trialling the machines, are the Metropolitan Police, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire together with other undisclosed forces. Paul Hackett, Managing Director of Key Forensic Services stated that he had full confidence in the technology, saying - ‘Like every area of DNA analysis there are risks throughout the whole end-to-end process and nobody claims that the current means of DNA testing in the UK is risk-free or contamination free’. So much for the billions to one in a DNA match then? NB; Inside Time has a previous article, (May 2011 issue) ‘Elements of Forensic Science, Low Copy Number DNA’, on the use of, and controversy surrounding the methodology of LCN DNA with further details of the process used which may be found at www.insidetime.org
Keith Rose BA Hons currently resides at HMP Whitemoor
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investigating alleged miscarriages of justice Insidejustice
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
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‘Standing shoulder to shoulder’ Irish Innocence Project Conference on miscarriages of justice inspires international audience cente, to assist the formation of innocence project throughout Latin America.
Charlotte Rowles Inside Justice Case Worker
And in case we thought miscarriage of justices and those who battle to overturn them was something new or primarily occupied students, that evening we heard from the grandson of a man wrongly imprisoned for a murder that happened over 70 years ago.
I
nside Justice travelled to Ireland to attend the first- ever Irish Innocence Project International Conference.The conference brought together around 100 lawyers, academics, journalists and campaigners. The organisers had lined up an impressive group of speakers including the former Irish President Mary McAleese and human rights solicitor Gareth Peirce as well as leading American lawyers Barry Scheck & Peter Neufeld, founders of the first US Innocence Project which is in its 23rd year. The conference boasted an international audience; from as far afield as Thailand, Israel and across Europe. The event was opened by the former President of Ireland Dr Mary McAleese who described the newly wrongly convicted as being “frightened beyond measure.” Keynote speaker human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce continued with the theme telling campaigners: “you should trust your instinct, when something seems wrong.”
“ There is no question there
are wrongful convictions all over the world. There’s no country that is free from wrongful convictions and no country that would not benefit from making its criminal justice system more reliable and more just. It’s a worldwide issue ” Peter Neufeld American civil rights lawyer and Innocence Project co-founder
Over two days, events focussed on students’ learning experiences at university innocence projects to the role of the media in challenging wrongful convictions and understanding the human cost for those with personal experience of unjust imprisonment. There followed a selection of international films, including a special report from CBS News’ correspondent Erin Moriarty on the case of Ryan Ferguson, freed after ten years. The highlight of the film festival was the closing event featuring a screening of the award-winning ‘In the Name of the Father’ hosted by its director Jim Sheridan. There was a presentation of an award in honour of Gerry Conlon and attended by members of his family. Speaking to the Irish Independent newspaper about the conference, Sheridan
Kevin Gleeson spoke movingly about his grandfather, Harry, who was hanged in 1941. The Justice for Harry Gleeson group; a group of people who knew Gleeson and his family persuaded the Irish Innocence project to take the case on. In January this year, after years of campaigning, Harry Gleeson became the first recipient of a posthumous pardon, a legal landmark. © Fotolia.com
said “I am just really happy to be there to try and support it“.
overturning Dwaine Brooke’s murder conviction in 2014.
In a presentation entitled ’Innocence, The Seed Planted’, Founders of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck and his colleagues showed how they have earned an enviable reputation for successfully challenging wrongful convictions. Their website proudly reports that over the last three decades, the work of the Innocence Project has led to the freeing of 329 wrongfully convicted people, including 18 who spent time on death row. Scheck said “To teach new generations about wrongful convictions is very important”.
In the afternoon, we heard from Professor Justin Brooks, a lawyer who heads up the Innocence Project based in California who brings his years of experience as a defence attorney to bear in the academic setting. The project has four staff attorneys who operate within the university to oversee teams of students, reviewing and litigating wrongful conviction cases.
The lawyer also discussed Conviction Integrity Units (CIU) - a growing innovation in the States where prosecutors and investigators join forces to re-examine cases where there is concern about the safety of a conviction some years after the trial. With the release of around 30 people found to be wrongfully convicted by the Dallas Unit, this is an approach that is adopted across the US. Scheck concluded “This (CIU) are potentially a big development… less adversarial and more about discovery”. The founder of the Irish Innocence Project, David Langwallner commented on the elements needed for a positive student experience. “Innocence projects fail when led by academics exclusively and a project needs practising lawyers who are also good teachers”. Professor Keith Findley, Law professor at University of Wisconsin and former president of the innocence network said it’s also vital to have students for “one full calendar year so they can take ownership of cases working with a supervising lawyer”. In the UK, university projects need to learn some of the lessons of success in challenging wrongful convictions from the US. Here the first and, so far, solitary success has come from lawyer Julie Price, colleague Dr Dennis Eady and their students at Cardiff Law School in
“The greatest moment of my career was getting a wrongly convicted man out of prison. Since 1999, we have released 20 people from prison, assisted in the creation of a dozen new laws related to wrongful conviction, and trained hundreds of law students and lawyers.” The scale of the Innocence Project operation in California is immense with an average of 2,000 cases being reviewed every year. Not content with this progress, Professor Brooks has set up a new project called Redino-
This brings me back to the stated aims of the Irish Innocence Project: • Increase understanding and awareness of wrongful convictions as a human rights issue. • Promote the role that both law and the media has in addressing miscarriages of justice. • Inspire a new generation of young people to pursue innocence and human rights work. Judging by the conference, they achieved their goals, in spades. www.innocenceproject.ie for more information about the conference and films they screened.
Inside Justice, part of Inside Time, is funded by charitable donations from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Inside Time and the Roddick Foundation. Website: www.insidejusticeuk.com Facebook: insidejusticeUK Twitter: @insidejusticeUK
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
The Rule Book
© Gstudio Group - Fotolia.com
Issued: 06 Feb 2015, Effective from: 06 Feb 2015, Expiry Date: 22 Jan 2019 This PSI replaces PSI2011-045 and explains the processes for the provision of a library service in prison establishments to support prisoner resettlement, rehabilitation and purposeful activity. It emphasises provision that supports literacy and reading for pleasure expands on the instructions for the operation of prison libraries and prisoners’ access to library materials including CDs and DVDs. The Prison Rules 1999 and Young Offender Institution Rules 2000 as amended, which are Statutory Instruments made under the Prison Act 1952, place on the Secretary of State the responsibility for ensuring that each Prison Service establishment has a library, and that the prisoners of those establishments have facilities to use and exchange books. Prison Rule 33 states: ‘A library shall be provided in every prison and, subject to any directions of the Secretary of State, every prisoner shall be allowed to have library books and to exchange them.’ The PSI states; ‘Part of the purpose of a prison library is to support prisoner resettlement, rehabilitation and purposeful activity. A focus on improving literacy and other barriers to effective resettlement assists prisoners in making the transition from custody to community.’
Para. 1.11 says that; ‘Governors must ensure that prisoners’ statutory entitlements to library provision are met.’ Para. 1.12 explains that when prisoners are not able to visit the library e.g. when in segregation, hospital in-patients or for other reasons, a service must still be provided. These prisoners must at the minimum be able to borrow and exchange reading books or audiovisual material. Para. 1.20 states that governors must ensure that library service providers are informed when materials are proscribed for individuals and across the establishment particularly with reference to the Public Protection Manual chapter on Controlled Materials. What Paras 1.18, 1.20 and 3.10 say is that the prison governor may decide that certain materials are not to be allowed for certain prisoners but only on a prisoner by prisoner basis.
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Inside Time’s Paul Sullivan has a look into Prison Rules and Instructions
PSI 2015-002
Para. 1.6 is a mandatory instruction and states; ‘Governors must ensure as a minimum that a prisoner’s statutory entitlement to library provision is met. Access to the library must be weekly, for a minimum duration of thirty minutes.’ A mandatory instruction is one which governors must obey. Para. 3.2 adds that Accessibility may be more frequent and for longer duration for prisoners wishing to research legal issues or in support of education requirements. Para. 3.4, in relation to preparing for court; ‘Prison libraries must stock Archbold’s Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice: The Civil Procedure Rules: current Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) and Prison Service Orders (PSOs), excluding those that have restrictions placed on them. It is not necessarily the case that the library is the only facility in which a prisoner could prepare a case but where it is, or it is the most convenient place to do so, consideration must be given to affording visits on a more frequent basis or of a longer duration.’
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The Rule Book
The Library Service - and censoring magazines and books
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Para. 3.10 says that; ‘Governors may restrict an individual’s access to some material on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the Public Protection Manual, for example where this is necessary in light of the prisoner’s offence or offending behaviour work. Librarians must ensure they comply with any such rulings and have an informed approach to provision of and requests for items.’ Para. 3.13 adds; ‘Decisions to proscribe [censor/ban] materials, in compliance with the Public Protection Manual need to be linked with the management of offending behaviour or maintaining good order and discipline. All decisions on public safety, good order and offending behaviour are matters for prison staff and ultimately the Governor. Such decisions should not be made by prison library provider staff.’ Para. 5.2 deals with censorship and restriction to library stock and says; ‘DVDs and computer games with ‘18’ rated (or equivalent) or unrated certificates are not permitted in prison libraries and should not be ordered or stocked.’ Finally, Para. 7.1 states: ‘The prison library will be open at times that facilitate access by prisoners … Establishments are encouraged to maximise resources by opening libraries during the evening and at weekends, so as not to disrupt other regime activities.’ PSIs are available in prison libraries to read, or copies can be requested (a charge may be made). Please Note: The Rule Book - June Issue Polygraphs A new PSI has just been published which replaces PSI2014-018 mentioned in that article which was due to expire in 2018. The new PSI is PSI 2015-012 ‘Licence Conditions, Licences and Licence and Supervision Notices’. Effective from March 2015, it was again updated on 7th April 2015 and includes changes to licence conditions criteria.
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Education
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
‘Prioritise education in prisons to reduce reoffending’ At an event hosted by the Prisoner Learning Alliance, which Prisoners’ Education Trust had set up, Mr Gove reveals his grand ambitions to drive change in prisons. Rod Clark
Justice Secretary Michael Gove speaking at the Prisoner Learning Alliance event on 17 July 2015
Prisoners’ Education Trust, Chief Executive
J
uly was an eventful month for prisons news. On 1 July Lord Harris’ review on deaths of young people in custody called for leadership and a clear statement on the purpose of prison to rehabilitate. On Tuesday 14th, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ final annual report revealed a litany of problems, not least in falling purposeful activity, for which outcomes were only good or reasonably good in 25% of the adult male prisons inspected. At a parliamentary hearing the following day, the new Justice Secretary, Michael Gove told a group of MPs both reports were ‘difficult reading’. Then on Friday 17th, at an event hosted by the Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA), which Prisoners’ Education Trust had set up, Mr Gove revealed his grand ambitions to drive change in prisons by prioritising education in prisons to reduce reoffending. Mr Gove’s first major speech on prisons was markedly different in tone from what we have come to expect from previous Justice Secretaries. He stated very clearly that ‘prison is a place where people are sent as a punishment, not for further punishments’ and he quoted Winston Churchill who said: “there is a treasure, if you can only find it, in the heart of every man.” The positive rhetoric continued as he said prisoners could become ‘assets’ if they had positive people to ‘admire’ and something good to ‘aspire’ to. The PLA welcomes plans to give both prisoners and staff the right incentives to learn. We know people who don’t take part in classes are not lazy or apathetic, that many people want to study but in practice the regime has restricted access to education and formal courses in an intimidating classroom environment are not always appropriate for all learners. Whilst Mr Gove’s prepared speech focused on literacy and numeracy, when my colleague at PET, Nina Champion asked about the need to have further education, such as A-levels and degrees, Mr Gove agreed 'progression is hugely important'. He agreed with PLA members Prison Reading Groups about issues with library access and User Voice who asked whether offenders should be part of the solution. New suggested policies Mr Gove announced at the event included closing the old Victorian prisons in London to generate revenue and ‘earned release’; if prisoners commit to education and work hard to acquire qualifications employers recognise.
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agreed and said ‘absolutely’ and added that is why he is keen to incentivise Governors to allow them to make decisions on this locally. Nathan believes that support with recovery from drugs and education programmes are equally important, and were both key to his way out of crime. Now ten years after leaving prison, he says that studying courses funded by Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET) were ‘integral to his recovery.’ In his words: “It helped me to realise my potential and develop self esteem as well as the knowledge that I was able to achieve academically. What I needed was some encouragement, for someone else to believe I could do it as I didn't, and for someone to help me with the funding. I had never achieved anything, other than an extensive criminal record, so had no belief in my ability to achieve anything constructive at all.” Now a family man and father of two, Nathan has dedicated his career since leaving prison to helping others in his role as a drugs counsellor. He says: “I ended up doing two years French, two years Criminology and three years Sociology. The last couple of years finished off in the community after my release. I have now been out of prison for nearly 10 years... I have a diploma in Criminology, a mixed subject degree, two NVQ 3s an NVQ 4, am a trained A1 assessor, have completed basic teacher training, various management courses and quite a job too.” Nathan entered the prison system without any formal qualifications or skills. He completed Maths and English Levels 2 and 3 and an Art and Design NVQ provided by the prison, but didn’t find them challenging enough. He said:
Mr Gove said: “We must be more demanding of our prisons, and more demanding of offenders, making those who run our prisons both more autonomous and more accountable while also giving prisoners new opportunities by expecting them to engage seriously and purposefully in education and work.” There was also much focus on the autonomy of Governors, and moving control away from the centre so that Governors can take local decisions about education and rehabilitation. The PLA supports a move in this direction. Education cannot simply be left to an external provider to look after; every member of staff and every department in the prison need to work to support prisoner learning by encouraging prisoner learners, enabling them to access classes and embedding educational opportunities into activities across the establishment. As Mr Gove asserted to the Commons Justice Committee, education can really be “at the heart” of rehabilitation. Mr Gove’s new policy ideas are innovative and it is refreshing to hear a Justice Secretary talk about prison education with such passion, but it will be difficult to realise improvements with no extra finances and the success of many of these ideas will depend on getting the detail right. It was therefore encouraging that Michael Gove expressed himself open to ideas and ‘keen to engage with the widest range of voices’. Other members of the Prisoner Learning Alliance and I are looking forward to taking up that offer and to contributing our expertise and experiences on the ground to helping the Ministry of Justice find ways to implement policy improvements most effectively.
Nathan: “Opportunities like this offer people hope.” Nathan, 42, has been out of prison for nearly 10 years after spending more than a decade serving various sentences but now he wants to go back in. He told the Justice Secretary this at an event full of journalists, charity workers and politicos organised by the Prisoner Learning Alliance on Friday 17th July. As a manager working for PLA member RAPT, Nathan regularly comes across obstacles getting his staff back into prisons so they can work with others in recovery from addiction, despite the fact that their stories are so inspirational, because they’re now working to help others. When he asked ‘should ex-prisoners be allowed to return to prisons to help rehabilitate and inspire others’ Michael Gove wholeheartedly
trapped? trapped?
“There were no other courses I could do and I was very aware that these qualifications were useless to me in getting a job or starting a career... This seemed to be the case in all the prisons I had been in. There was only ever basic skills, or key skills, and art classes available and no further education or way to progress after this... Opportunities like this open up a whole range of choices and create real life chances for people who otherwise have very little hope.”
If you would like advice or funding to study a distance learning course or tell us about your experiences of prison education - write to FREEPOST Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET) or call 0203 752 5680.
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Short Story
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org © Fotolia.com
A Letter to Myself... The 2014 winners, runners up and highly commended of the English Pen Prison Writing Competition have featured in Inside Time over the past few issues. To end the series we feature three entries with the heading, ‘A Letter to Myself’ Oisin Hendrickse - HMP Wormwood Scrubs Runner-up/ Prose We’ve not spoken in a while… So long I barely know you. Now confined in these four walls you’d think I’d be forced to listen, but sometimes those closest to our hearts receive the least of our attentions, so now with these words I hope that maybe we can have some time to say, I know I did you wrong. And I’m sorry. Yours have always been the hardest words to digest, your praise is often bland and unseasoned, your scorn thick, coarse and stodgy, and often with no mind paid to my delicate tongue and sensitive palate. These words are not weapons, though they may cut you. They are not tools, though I hope to build you with them. And my tongue is not silver, though it may seek to buy your favour in return for good fortune when I say, I know I did you wrong, and I’m sorry.
Steven Millward - HMP Guys Marsh Flash Fiction/Winner
Don-Carlos Ellis - HMP Long Lartin Poetry/ Runner-Up
Well hello Ste, oh oh, when will come the day you perform to your age, stop doing crime, earn an honest wage, stop taking drugs that you think enhance your brain you think you’re entertaining like you’re on a stage. I COME BACK TO LIFE as I’m gazing at the silver sky, that reflects off the lake, as I contemplate when I lost my soulmate, out of jail a single male, even the air that I taste is stale, as I swig from the bottle of ale, on license for blackmail, chasing my tail, I lost a good female, I never got bail she came to visit me in jail, I’m trying to shake that memory, closed visits at HMP, saying this was the end of our story, I say to myself ‘mate, what a mistake!’, how long were you standing there freezing by the lake, I remember shuddering ‘cause I felt the slam of the gate, we were engaged I was going elsewhere getting laid, getting pissed and coked up with your mates, leaving her sobbing all night left here in a state, one night I come back in a state, a letter on the side she’s had enough ‘OH’ yeah she said don’t forget your ID parade, Ste do you remember getting her bathrobe, sniffing the last trace, tears in the back of your throat, you could taste looking where her perfume used to be, there’s an empty space, looking at a photo of when things were great - is this fate? Or have I made a mistake, lying on the bed looking at the green mould, remember pinching her mole on the bus, laughing as we went to sign on at the dole, remember Ste how you felt so alone, the cold, the dead goldfish Joel just floating around the bowl, looked in the mirror - grew a beard, lost weight, remember Ste you lost your soul, time to walk away from the lake, just don’t do this again mate, make your own break, TAKE CARE MATE.
Sometimes I feel I have no one to talk to Sometimes I feel I have let everybody down All alone, inside I am yelling out ‘help!’ So I pick the pen up and write a letter to myself I ask myself what’s important to me? Family, wealth and health But first what ways can I better myself Good or bad decisions, they say the pen is more powerful than the sword So it’s good to have things handwritten What’s a Man without a plan so my plan is written They can take away my freedom but not my ambition I ask myself what have I learned Would I take a step back, what way will I turn I have learned how to have patience I have learned that education leads to greatness I have learned that repetition is more important than reputation There is a lesson to be learned in every situation I write a letter to myself but I won’t receive a letter back I have learned why pick up a weapon when I can pick up a pen and pad I have learned to use my time wisely, because time waits for no man You can spend it but can’t get it back I write a letter to myself but I won’t send this letter off How can one find himself if he is never lost? I have learned that to learn is a blessing So I express myself, with words of expression
You barely turn to face me anymore. I loved your fickle dreams, I fanned your selfish fires and catered to your wanton needs, spent a lifetime raising you up in delusion, a king of a lonely kingdom, God of an empty space. Have I built you a lonely cell to rule over? Did we find ourselves a dark corner to rock in, back and forth for eternity shrouded by illusions of unachievable utopia - do we live there now? Alone in this place I need you more than ever but find I’m more distant than I’ve known, and before I seek the forgiveness of others I’ll seek the redemption of the only one who truly knows me and say, I know I did you wrong, and I’m sorry. In this room away from the civilised world where they make of great men, beasts and cattle, and though you never listened to a single word I said, it’s time we had a simple conversation, for all the quick replies that seem to rattle round my head, all the good and bad advice and mysteries unravelled and the crumbling institution of myself, I want you just to know that I recognise your pain, and I’ve robbed you of your health. I know I did you wrong. Sincerely
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Faith in Prison
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org It is obligatory for Muslims to perform ritual prayer or salah, five times a day (before sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset and at night). These may be performed in the mosque, in groups elsewhere or individually. Each prayer must be performed within a specified time. In accordance with Islamic teaching, ritual washing is required before prayers, and it is recommended to have a bath/shower on Friday morning, if one is able to. Prisoners may require a prayer mat to pray, and may also wear a prayer cap - although neither are essential. Female prisoners will require a scarf to cover their heads for prayer. In addition to salah, a Muslim is also encouraged to make dua, which is a personal prayer, which requires no conditions and is just a matter of calling on God.
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Islam Inside Time’s Paul Sullivan looks at world religions and faiths. This month he focuses on Islam
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slam means peace and submission and a person who submits to the Will of the Creator is called a Muslim. The core of Islam is the belief in the Unity/Oneness of Allah (God) and that God sent a series of prophets to guide mankind throughout history, beginning with Adam and including
Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Jesus and culminating in Muhammad (peace be upon all of them). All the Prophets were the best and most beautiful examples of piety, humanity, and compassion. All taught the same fundamental message of monotheism and service to humanity. Muslims are expected to be good and avoid evil to the best of their ability. Islam has 1.3 billion followers worldwide and is the second largest but fastest growing religion. There are about three million Muslims in Britain, mainly in England. Islam has its primary source of teaching and law in the Qur’an (the final revelation and direct word from God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Hence Muslims treat the Holy Qur’an, whether in Arabic or any other language, with great reverence. A second source of Islamic teaching and law is the Hadith or Sunnah. These are sayings, actions and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who is regarded as the best role model for all of mankind.
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Friday is the most important day of the week for Muslims, during which congregational noon prayers are obligatory for every adult male Muslim. It is essential that the Friday prayer takes place within the specified time frame. This time frame differs with the seasons and the exact geographical position within the UK. At the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) prayer time starts roughly at 12.00 and prayers must be concluded by 13.35 (times in GMT). In summer, the time frame is much wider: from 13.20 until 17.30 (times in BST). PSI 2011-051 states that prisons MUST enable this to happen. Women are not obliged to attend Friday prayer in congregation, and, if it is not possible to congregate on a Friday, it is essential to provide facilities for corporate worship on another day of the week. The Prison Service tries to ensure that religious requirements are met for prisoners and for the 12,225 Muslims this includes providing Halal food. The meat of cattle and poultry is Halal when the animal is slaughtered with a very sharp knife to ensure the least amount of stress and anxiety to the animal. The Prophet (pbuh) disliked Muslims to sharpen a knife in front of an animal nor that one animal should see another one being slaughtered. For the meat to be Halal the slaughterer must be a Muslim, Jew or a Christian and say simply ‘In
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the name of God’ in whatever language they are able to, while slaughtering. Islam is also very strict regarding cleanliness and personal hygiene. Muslims remove underarm and pubic hair and prisoners must be allowed razors or cream for this purpose. In addition they must regularly wash, shun body odour, brush their teeth regularly, be groomed well and not be untidy etc. In Islam marriage and family life are central constructs. Muslims are forbidden from sex before marriage, but within marriage are encouraged to beautify themselves for the other, and not take each other for granted. The husband is divinely ordained to work and earn in order to look after the wife and family, but if the couple mutually agree, then he may stay to look after the children, and the wife go out to work. Islam is not only a religion, but a complete way of life. It encompasses within it guidance on societal issues: economics, criminal justice and politics; as well as guidance on personal relationships and individual and communal worship. Many Muslims teach each other about their faith and its practices. Muslims believe every action will be judged by its intention and all are recorded by angels: hence the aim in life is to worship God, love His Creation, do as much good as possible, prevent harm, and continually pray for the Grace of God both in this life on earth and in the afterlife beginning from the Day of Judgement. Abdullah ibn Amr narrates that the Prophet (pbuh) said: Whoever would love to be delivered from the Hellfire and entered into Paradise, then let him die with faith in God and the Last Day, and let him treat people the way he would love to be treated. (Sahih Muslim). This article has been written with advice from Ahtsham Ali, Muslim Adviser , NOMS Chaplaincy HQ
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Terry Waite Writes
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
From over the wall Terry Waite writes his monthly column for Inside Time “After working all Terry Waite CBE
I
day on a local farm they would set to and make homemade spaghetti. They rolled out long strips of the dough, or whatever you call it, and hung them over the branches of trees to dry. Thus, so some ancient locals claim, originated the idea that spaghetti grows on trees! ”
live in the heart of rural England in a house that was built some seven hundred years ago! That’s a long time by any standards but the building has been considerably renovated over the years. It boasts some very fine carved oak beams which, so I am told, indicate that it was occupied at one time by a person of some standing in society. Today it is full of my books and papers and is the place I prefer to be after spending so much time travelling the world. The village in which the house is set is nothing more than a hamlet with about 350 residents and once contained seven pubs! Today there is just one pub and a butcher. We lost the village store some years ago and it was converted back into a dwelling. There is a small garage which does repairs, but the antique petrol pumps outside ran dry years ago. Just about a mile up the road I am told that in World War Two there was a small prison camp housing Italian captives. None of them wanted to escape and return to combat so they had quite a good deal of freedom. After working all day on a local farm they would set to and make homemade spaghetti. They rolled out long strips of the dough, or whatever you call it, and hung them over the branches of trees to dry. Thus, so some ancient locals claim, originated the idea that spaghetti grows on trees! I can’t vouch for the absolute truth of this story but I have heard it repeated often enough and whatever, it’s a good story.
which is an inevitable part of prison life. We all know that life inside can take away a man or woman’s self respect. It’s humiliating to be always under observation and never to have any privacy. For the first week of my incarceration I had my own clothes. Although I was chained by hand and foot I managed to find a way of removing my trousers at night and placing them on the floor under my mattress. That way I hoped to keep them creased and thus keep myself reasonably smart. The guards thought I was totally barmy and when I asked for a brush to polish my shoes they thought I had flipped totally. They then exchanged my clothes for pyjamas and that was that.
Prisoners across the years have had to be innovative if only to combat the boredom
It was difficult to maintain good physical health as I was chained most of the day and
Good mental health is another matter altogether. Slowly attitudes towards mental illness are changing and so they ought. Depression, which is so common, is a real killer. No matter how hard an individual tries, once the black cloud descends then he or she is captured. Illegal substances might seem to provide an escape route but the truth is that they lead individuals further and further into despair and often into further trouble. I think there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that cannabis use leads to mental illness. Only two nights ago I was speaking to a young woman who had been the victim of violence from her partner. She was totally shocked by his behaviour which landed him in the cooler for the night. It turned out that for some time he had been abusing drink and drugs. It’s a depressingly familiar story but still people go on injuring themselves both physically and mentally. It’s tough to keep yourself healthy especially when one is inside, but it’s possible. There is a life beyond the prison gate and most reading this will make it. Make sure, as best you can, that you leave in a healthy state of mind and body. I know the difficulties and the problems you encounter but you still have a measure of control over your own life. Exercise it.
thus got no exercise. The diet was meagre and I simply had to eat what was provided. I didn’t starve and, although the food in civilian prisons in the UK might be variable, no one will die of hunger unless they go on strike.
Terry Waite was a successful hostage negotiator before he himself was held captive in Beirut between 1987 and 1991 (more than 20 years ago). He was held captive for 1763 days; the first four years of which were spent in solitary confinement.
Summer Holiday Competition The competition is open to children of any age (please pass on the info if you think your children/relatives would be interested) The design can include anything they wish (our charity name, favourite character etc…)
Prize Entry Details:
The winning logo will be used as our profile picture on Facebook/Twitter and in literature/resources that we produce in the future. The winner will also get a £20 voucher and a framed print of the design.
Post your design to: Storybook Dads, HMP Channings Wood, Denbury, Newton Abbott, TQ12 6DW
E-mail your design to:
[email protected] The child will need to include their name, age and contact details with their entry
Deadline for entries: Friday 11th September
Wellbeing
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Yoga to calm down
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Sphynx 10 breaths
Cross Legged Forward Bend 10 breaths, then swap the legs over and do another 10 breaths
The Prison Phoenix Trust It is difficult to stay calm all the time. There are so many things that can cause us to be angry or upset - from small things like irritating noise drifting into your cell, to much bigger problems like a sentencing decision not going your way. What a lot of situations that stress us out have in common is that they’re very difficult (or perhaps impossible) to change. However, what we can always change is our attitude to what happens to us. Yoga helps to do that. Legs up the Wall
Through this routine, keep your breathing calm, deep and slow. Often, if you can get your breathing to calm down, your mind will follow soon after. Pay attention to every breath, and enjoy the time you spend in these positions.
20 breaths
Child’s Pose 10 breaths
Happy Cat / Angry Cat Flow slowly between them with the breath. Do each pose 10 times.
Sitting Sit like this, or on a chair or the edge of your bed, comfortable and upright. Focus on your breathing. If you like, count your out-breaths up to ten and then start again at one. If your attention wanders, just return to concentrating on your breathing. Do this for 5 minutes, or longer if you like. Try it every day, building up to 25 minutes over time.
THE PRISON THE PHOENIX PRISON TRUST Head doingTRUST you in? PHOENIX Stressed out? Head doing you in? Can’t sleep?
Cat Twists 5 breaths each side
ON YOUR SIDE Being on your side is one thing. Fighting your corner is another. We do both. • Miscarriage of Justice experts • Defending false allegations • Crown Court advocacy • CCRC applications • Prison law specialists • Parole applications • IPP and Lifer reviews • Adjudications • Recalls • Sentence progression We offer Legal Aid and Fixed Fees along with a nationwide service. For more information contact us using the details below.
Stressed out? Can’t sleep? Simple yoga and meditation
practice, working Simple yogawith and silence and the breath, meditationmight practice, working with silence just transform your and the breath, might just transform If you want a free book and CD to help you life in more ways set up a regular yoga and meditation your life in more ways than practice write to: The Prison Phoenix Trust, than youyou think... think ... Interested? PO Box 328, Oxford OX2 7HF. The Prison Write to The Prison Phoenix Trust P.O.Box 328, Oxford, OX2 7HF.
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Phoenix Trust supports prisoners and prison officers in their spiritual lives through meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath. The Trust supports people of any religion or none. We also run weekly yoga classes for inmates and prison staff.
Write We’d to love The Prison Phoenix to hear from you anytime and have Trust several 328, free books,Oxford, which could help you 7HF P.O.Box OX2 build and maintain a daily practice.
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News from the House
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Parliamentary Questions Highlights from the House of Commons Prisons: Drugs
State for Justice, how long each prison governor at each prison has been in post.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many prisons there are no illegal drugs.
Andrew Selous: The length of time for which the governing governor of each public sector prison establishment had been in their current post on 31 March 2015 is on average 1.9 years.
Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has a comprehensive drug strategy for prisons, which includes elements to both reduce the demand and supply of drugs in prisons. The success of the strategy is illustrated by the reduction of drug misuse in prisons, as measured by the random Mandatory Drug Testing (MDT) programme, which has declined by 17.5 percentage points over the past 17 years, despite the fact that NOMS is testing for more drugs than previously. Positive rates were 7.8% in 2009/2010 and 6.9% in 2014/2015. 81 prisons in England and Wales reported no drug misuse, as measured by random MDT, in at least one month of the 2014/15 financial year. Editorial note: In this issue we report on the Inspectorates Survey of Prisoners (page 10) At Peterborough 28% of prisoners claim it is ‘easy to get drugs’. In the July issue the Survey of Prisoners at Deerbolt claimed 29% of prisoners said it was ‘easy to get drugs’ yet both prisons are on the list of 81 prisons with no reported ‘misuse of drugs’.
Editorial note: 1.9 years for a prison governor but the figures for a Tesco employee, packing shelves, is much longer.
Prison Officers
Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers (a) were recruited to and (b) left the Prison Service in each month since January 2014.
MPs were handed a 10%% pay rise despite warnings that it would further damage the reputation of politicians. Officials confirmed that the pay increase will be backdated to May when MPs took their seats following the General Election. MPs will be paid £74,000 a year, up from £67,060. The decision comes after the recent Budget announcement that public sector pay rises would be capped at 1% for the next four years. Meanwhile it is now understood that the Chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) (the people who fix MPs salaries) receives a salary of £182,000 and several senior managers more than £100,000. Can it be that working as a senior member of IPSA staff is more important than the work of an MP?
YOIs: Restraint Techniques
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents where restraint was used in each young offender institution in each year since 2010. Andrew Selous: All prisons submit a central monthly return setting out the number of times force, including restraint has been used against individual prisoners. These figures include any incident where physical force was used against a prisoner no matter how small, including incidents where staff defend themselves from attack and where prisoners are handcuffed. The main measure used for recording use of force is the number of prisoners on whom force has been used, rather than number of individual incidents. All prisons must have local procedures in place to monitor and review the use of force within the establishment, including monitoring trends. Since 2010 the number of times force has been used has fallen. Number of young people and young adults on whom force was used. 2010 10,098 2011 11,323 2012 9,528
Open Prisons
2013 10,310 2014 9,080
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what offences were committed by prisoners serving sentences in open prisons on the most recent period for which
information is available. Andrew Selous: Prisoners may be categorised and allocated to the open prison estate towards the end of their sentence and as a preparation for release from custody. Public protection is paramount, only those prisoners who are assessed as having reduced their risks of escape or abscond and risk of harm to the public and who are judged to be trustworthy in conditions of very low security will be allocated to open prison. Progression to open prison is never automatic, and prisoners must generally be within two years of release before they can be considered for allocation to an open prison. The offence for which prisoners (held in open conditions in March 2015) were sentenced. Violence against the person Sexual offences Robbery Burglary Drug offences Motoring offences Other offences Offence not recorded
Prisoners
1,099 341 358 255 1,126 35 433 2
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the longest period of time is that a serving prisoner can request to be absent from prison for any reason.
Andrew Selous: Prisoners may apply for release on temporary licence (ROTL) only for activities that have been identified as in line with their agreed, individual sentence or resettlement plans; or in exceptionally compelling circumstances, such as a visit to a dying close relative. The duration is limited to what is required to conduct the agreed activity and the majority of releases are measured in hours. The maximum duration for the various types of release on temporary licence is set out in national guidance. There is provision for offenders selected for the national Community Service Volunteers (CSV) scheme special programme for offenders to be released for up to 4 weeks. The offender must be in or suitable for open conditions and be within three months of their release date. These placements are only granted under strict conditions, and as such, very rarely. In addition to applying all the usual risk and suitability assessments, before authorizing release, the governor must determine that the resettlement benefits outweigh the impact on public confidence of that particular offender being on temporary release for a lengthy period. CSV placements are governed by a memorandum of understanding between prison governor, offender manager, offender and the CSV placement organiser with specific monitoring and review arrangements.
Prison Governors
Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of
Andrew Selous: Information on the number of band 3 to 5 prison officers that were recruited to the Prison Service in each month since January 2014 is shown in the table below. The recruitment figures include existing National Offender Management Service staff of other grades who become officers during the period. Prison Officer joiners and leavers to the Prison Service by month, January 2014 to March 2015 2014 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Joiners* 40 30 30 30 40 60 40 100 230 220 110 10
Leavers 300 110 140 90 100 120 110 110 140 120 140 120
2015 Jan Feb Mar
360 330 170
120 100 110
Total
1810
1930
* Including internal candidates All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Prisoners: Females
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the offences and length of time served in prison are of each of the 20 longest serving female prisoners. Caroline Dinenage: Of the twenty female prisoners who had served the longest amount of time in custody, as of 31 March 2015, twelve had served between 14 and 18 years and eight had served 18 years or more. All bar two of those female offenders were impris-
News from the House
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org oned for violent offences against the person.
Prisoners’ Release
Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are taken by the National Probation Service to ensure that prison leavers can access benefits and food when they leave prison.
by offenders who had previously been convicted of murder and so were serving a life sentence at the time they committed the subsequent murder(s). This figure relates to 11 separate offenders; one offender was responsible for two separate murders following his release from custody on life licence.
Andrew Selous: From 1 May 2015 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have been delivering a Through the Gate (TTG) resettlement service to the vast majority of offenders, so that they benefit from continuity of support from custody to the community. Resettlement services delivered to offenders include help with finding or retaining employment and accommodation, and advice on finance and debt. CRCs are delivering TTG services to both National Probation Service (NPS) and CRC managed offenders. The NPS can also commission additional rehabilitation services from CRCs above mandated TTG services where they believe it will help reduce reoffending.
An offender serving a life sentence for murder will only be released into the community on life licence where the independent Parole Board assesses that it is no longer necessary for that offender to be detained in custody on the grounds of public protection. Any offender on a life licence is subject to strict controls and conditions and managed by the Police and Probation Services, working with other agencies, as necessary. An offender subject to a life licence may be recalled to custody if he breaches the conditions of the life licence in such a way that the protection of the public would be put at risk by allowing him to remain in the community.
Editorial note: The PQ that needs to be asked is: Exactly how many prisoners released from custody have received a Through the Gate resettlement service?
Prisoners: Travellers
Homicide
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been murdered since 2007 by people who were previously convicted of murder and then released having served their prison sentences. Andrew Selous: From 1 January 2007 until 31 May 2015 12 people have been murdered
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prisoners identify as being from a Gypsy, Traveller or Roma background. Andrew Selous: As at 31 March 2015, 1.1% of the total prison population that have ethnicity declarations recorded on central systems identified themselves as having Irish Traveller or Gypsy background. But a survey by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, published in 2014, suggested that some 5% of prisoners identified themselves with a broader category of Gypsy, Romany or Traveller.
UN tells Britain to outlaw smacking children at home but anything leaving a bruise or other serious mark is outlawed. The Committee also condemned Britain for not giving prisoners the right to vote and attacked government plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights.
© Fotolia.com
The report also attacked cuts in legal aid and called on ministers to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 12.
The UN Human Rights Committee urged the government to ban all forms of corporal punishment in an assessment which also called for anti-terror laws to be weakened and votes given to prisoners.
It called for a limit on the length of time that immigrants can be held in detention and for a reduction in the number of children in the juvenile justice system.
Conservative MPs criticised the 18-strong committee, which has members from countries with questionable human rights records including Uganda, Algeria and Egypt. The Committee demanded that all smacking be “fully outlawed in the home” adding that the government should encourage parents to use other methods to control their children. Parents are allowed to discipline their children with a smack as long as it complies with the “reasonable-chastisement” defence,
Michael Purdon Solicitor Advising prisoners nationwide since 1994 Our excellent former Tooks Chambers barristers continue to maintain a close relationship with Michael Purdon of Solicitor, supplementing Tooks,working the London based barristers chambers Michael Mansfield a wealth of experience our specialist teams across all criminalwith and and Patrick Roche has in developed a close working relationship prison law areas. We also work closely with Central Chambers, a Michael Purdon Solicitor, supplementing the wealth of experience in Manchester chambers. bring together our ‘in house’based specialist teams These acrossrelationships all criminal and prison law highly regarded lawyers with a passion for human rights. areas.
Criminal Appeals, CCRC, SOPO Judicial Review Challenges This relationship brings together two&highly regarded organisations with a passion for human rights. the imposition of IPP sentences, led We have successfully challenged the way in the review of mandatory tariffs as well as being central to
Criminal Appeals, CCRCchallengers and Judicial Review challenges... the development of prisoner to delays in progression and
the timing of parole reviews. We have an arsenal of experienced counsel who have worked with us for a number of years in High Court and Court of Appeal cases. Supreme Court To we have successfully the imposition of IPPCourt Wedate presently have permissionchallenged for challenges in the Supreme sentences, led the way in the review of mandatory tariffs as awell as relating to oral hearings for Cat A reviews and also seeking being centraloftothe therestrictive development of prisoner challenges to delays reappraisal aspects of the case of ‘James’ relatingin progression and the timing of parole reviews. to whether failure to provide courses gives rise to compensation.
It criticised parts of the anti-terror laws, including the relocation of terror suspects away from their homes, the UKs definition of terrorism and the pre charge definition of up to 28 days for terror suspects.
Britain should outlaw parents smacking children in the home, according to a controversial human rights report published on July 23rd.
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Dominic Raab, the Justice Minister, said: “A Bill of Rights will strengthen, not weaken, human rights. As for prisoner voting, it’s for parliament to decide if prisoners get the vote, not the UN. Frankly, it’s pretty absurd for a UN committee, with various individuals sent by governments that don’t hold proper democratic elections at all, to be lecturing us on this issue.” Editorial note: The UK’s blanket ban on allowing prisoners to vote was first found to be illegal by the European Court of Human Rights in October 2005.
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We haveand a particular interest in clients facing further allegations where Crime Cold Case Reviews... new evidence has come to light due to forensic science advances as well as new charges relating violence, sexual offences We have a particular interestto in serious clients facing allegations relating and to fraud. Our expert knowledge of both crime and prison law puts us in a old unsolved offences especially those where new evidence has strong position to protect clients interests both at court and at the come to light due to forensic science advances. Parole Board. We have represented clients in criminal Crown Court matters as far afield as Chester, Liverpool, Preston, Chelmsford, Founding members, serving for first 3 years Birmingham, Guildford, Basildon, Cambridge and Ipswich.
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Legal
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Family Drug and Alcohol Courts coming to a court near you!
parent who has overcome their addiction can maintain this. In traditional care proceedings around the rate of child neglect or abuse one year after the proceeding end is around 56%. For families that have been though the Family Drug and Alcohol Court the rate is 25%. The Family Drug and Alcohol Court have received many awards for its work, including the 2011 Safeguarding Children Award and the 2012 Working in Partnership Award at the Children and Young People NOW awards.
Blavo & Co’s Hannah Bibby on the new Courts
O
ften drugs and alcohol play a significant role in Public Law Children cases. The Mother and Father often struggle to show that they can abstain from substance misuse in the 26 week time limit that is imposed upon care cases. The adversarial nature of traditional care case proceedings can sometimes fail to motivate parents to change within the time frame allowed. These two factors often lead to the removal of the child from the parents. To combat these issues District Judge Nicholas Crichton set up the Family Drug and Alcohol Court following a model he saw working in the US. What is the Family Drug and Alcohol Court? The FDAC is a court that has been set up as a ‘Problem Solving’ court. It is a collaboration of many different agencies including a designated intervention and assessment team, the local authority, child and adult rehabilitation services and any other agencies that may be relevant to the proceedings, for example housing services. The aim of the FDAC is to give families the chance to overcome their drug and alcohol problems and meet their children’s needs. The court is an exemption to the 26 week statutory time limit, providing that there is evidence to show that the parents have motivation to change, an ability to maintain the change and that the change can be accomplished within any of the child’s time scales.
The child’s timescales are key stages in the child’s life that would require the parent to be able to care for the child for them to reach this mile stone. For example, a child reaches a peak for forming attachments at between 6 and 18 months. Therefore in the case of a child removed at birth the decision whether to return the child must be made before the child reaches 6 months old to enable the child to form an appropriate attachment with the parents. What happens in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court? To qualify to enter into the Family Drug and
Alcohol Court the parents of a child must have a significant substance abuse problem. They must also have the motivation to tackle their problem within their child’s timescales. Once the parent has been assessed as fulfilling this criteria the court will then time table the matter for both possible outcomes of the case, reunification of the family, and permanent removal of the child. Usually the family will be introduced to their designated intervention and assessment team on the first day of the proceedings. This allows the team to complete initial assessments and set out a treatment plan for the parents without delay. The team can usually have the treatments up and running by the following week. Parents are expected to engage with the treatment plan that are very intensive, often there will be several appointments a week, or even a day that must be attended along with attending contact with their child. These plans can often mean that the parent must end destructive relationships, relocate themselves and address the traumatic events that have led them to addiction. The PLO sets out hearings that are mandatory, however in addition to these hearings the family must meet with the Judge every two weeks where the plan is reviewed, this review takes place without solicitors present. The plan can then be revised in court every two months if the family and other agencies involved feel that it is necessary. The case will be allocated to a Judge and this is the only Judge that the case will have. This allows parents the chance to form a relationship with the Judge. Where it is not possible to keep a family together the Family Drug and Alcohol Court try to make a swift decision to remove the child and find a suitable placement that can provide a loving home that cause’s minimal disruption to the child. Kinship placements are often found for children that face removal from parents, when this is the case the team that have worked with the parents work with the family as a whole to address any triggers or signs of relapse of the parent.
CLARKE KIERNAN SOLICITORS
Results from the Family Drug and Alcohol Court Despite government funding being pulled out at the end of the pilot in 2012 the Local authorities that were involved in its creation, plus others, continued the funding themselves.
Following the success of the FDAC in London and then the subsequent roll out to Milton Keynes it was announced on the 18th February 2015 that the FDAC would be rolled out to more parts of England with the Department for Education announcing that FDAC’s will be established in approximately a quarter of Family courts. The Government is backing this roll out with £2.5 million. There are also plans to look at ways that the model can be used for cases involving parents with domestic violence and mental health issues.
The results that the FDAC have seen during its pilot in London, and since funding was stopped and subsequent roll out to Milton Keynes have been positive. Around 40% of Mothers and 25% of Fathers who have been through the Family Drug and Alcohol Court stopped abusing substances. Compare this to 25% of mothers and just 5% of fathers who have been through the traditional care proceedings ceasing to abuse substances. Families that use the Family Drugs and Alcohol Court have higher rates of reunification than those who use traditional care proceedings. Equally important as reunifying families is the need to ensure that the families that are reunified can then stay together and that a
By ensuring that parents resolve the issues behind their drug and alcohol issues the FDAC ensures that where children are reunited with their parents, the homes that they are going back to are more stable and more likely to succeed in the future. This can only be a positive thing for families, children and society. Hannah Bibby is a Caseworker within the Family Law department
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Compensation for delay for lifer and indeterminate IPP prisoners David Wells Senior Partner, Wells Burcombe Solicitors
L
ifer inmates are some of the most appallingly treated in the prison system. The endless delays and difficulties in progressing towards open conditions or release; sentence plan targets which are impossible to meet ; being in a prison which doesn’t even offer a course which has been recommended and an understaffed and under resourced parole board incapable of keeping up with a busy workload doesn’t even scratch the surface. The upshot of all this and more is that we have a prison population at bursting point. An alarming number represent over tariff prisoners, in some cases considerably over. Two relatively recent appeals will be of much interest to all serving indeterminate inmates. These two cases have helped establish that a prisoner serving an indeterminate sentence whose detention has been prolonged by the Parole Board’s delay in reviewing his/her case following the expiry of his/her tariff should be entitled to damages by way of compensation for breach of the right to a speedy review of detention under article 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The appeals of R (Faulkner) v Secretary of State for Justice & Anor, and R (Sturnham) v Parole Board of England and Wales & Anor [2013] UKSC 23, were considered against a backdrop of indisputable failures to ensure that the proper resources were made available to prisons and the parole board to deal with an ever increasing and non-progressing IPP and lifer population. In the case of Faulkner, an award of £6,500 was made for a 10 month delay in releasing on licence. The Supreme Court in Faulkner recognised that damages should be considered not just for the delay in release, but also to reflect the mental suffering, frustration and anxiety associated with delay. But it is not quite as simple as saying that damages should be paid just because an inmate is over tariff. There has to be some connection between the delay and an identifiable failure of the parole board. For damages to be awarded, it will need to be established that an earlier parole hearing would have resulted in an earlier release. For cases where release or progression wasn’t being recommended, modest damages may instead be considered where the delay has caused sufficiently serious frustration and anxiety. There are therefore two scenarios. Firstly, damages can be considered where there is delay on the part of the parole board because they have not got round to reviewing release in cases where release would have been recommended, and cases where there has been delay in cases where release would have not been recommended but which nonetheless have caused significant anxiety and frustration.
Faulkner and Sturnham had both been serving indeterminate sentences. In each case, there had been a delay between the expiry of the tariff period and the Parole Board hearing. In each case the delay had been caused by the parole board being under-resourced. Both were released following the eventual reviews. Each sought judicial review claiming that the failure to review their detention speedily was a breach of their human rights under article 5(4). The test is one considered on a balance of probabilities, namely, it needs to be shown that, but for the delay, the prisoner would, on a balance of probabilities (more likely than not) have been released earlier. Inmates will not, however, be awarded damages merely for the loss of a chance of early release. This means that in cases where there has been delay but no real prospect of relase, damages are not likely to be awarded. However, in such cases, anxiety and frustration may permit a much smaller award to be granted subject to the anxiety and frustration being regarded as sufficiently serious. Each case will be considered on its own merits and is a question of fact and degree. One further important issue to note is that damages are unlikely to be awarded unless the delay is ‘significant.’ A few days or weeks is not likely to be regarded as ‘significant.’ As mentioned in Faulkner , the Court decided that had his case been reviewed, he would have been released 10 months earlier. Damages were assessed at £6,500. Although the IPP sentence was abolished in 2012, it leaves a legacy of destruction to the lives of many inmates and their families. As with other lifer inmates, there are an alarming number of over tariff inmates. Many in the future will go beyond tariff through no fault of their own. If you are such an inmate whose parole review is significantly delayed we would invite you to write to Wells Burcombe who are looking to review individual cases for over tariff inmates to establish if claims for damages can be made. Wells Burcombe continue to fight for IPP and lifer inmates. In addition to reviewing individual cases for compensation, Wells Burcombe routinely review IPP and lifer sentences and conduct parole reviews nationwide.
43
Parole Board delays set to continue as solution still not close at hand an annual need to hear about 4020 cases. Given the high deferral rate to cater for that demand the board sat an average of 450 hearings per month.
Philip Rule Barrister
T
he Parole Board of England & Wales has published its annual report for the year 2014-2015. Many prisoners and their families will have direct experience of delays that have been occurring in the parole process since the Supreme Court in a case known as Osborn decided that the Board should allow an oral hearing to more prisoners than it was to enable those prisoners to have a fair process for deciding their future for the next year or so. The process was undoubtedly unfair to many prisoners who had become ‘stuck’ in the system and without even the benefit of going before an oral hearing panel to have their case discussed and potentially ways forward for the future identified for those individuals. The bad news is that despite some steps taken there is not likely to be a solution found soon to the unlawful delays many prisoners continue to experience (unless the courts intervene). The Parole Board has increased the total number of oral hearings from 5174 in 2013-2014 to a figure of 6872 in 2014-2015. However a large number of those are deferred so that the prisoner returns to the number waiting for a final hearing. Completed hearings have been increased by 1213 (from 3835 in 2013-2014 to 5048 in 2014-2015). That sounds like good news of course, but the problem is that it does not deal with the increased level of demand. The first problem for indeterminate sentence prisoners (IPPs, DPPs, and lifers) is that half of the increase in the number of oral hearings are 1-member oral hearings for determinate sentence recall cases the three-member oral hearing panels they require. The increase over the year in the number of three-member panels that sat that was achieved was just 616. The most important statistic however is that prior to the Supreme Court’s judgment the average number of cases referred for an oral hearing each month was 335 cases. That meant
Since Osborn the total number of cases referred for an oral hearing each month is either (because the annual report gives two different statistics) 570 or 610 cases every month. This means that the annual requirement has increased to a figure between about 6840 to 7020 during the year. That means an increase of between 2820 to 3300 prisoners per annum requiring an oral hearing. That clearly means the increase of 1213 does not in fact keep pace with the increased demand: it is much less than half the number needed. For prisoners caught in the lengthy delays it is important to know that some cases can and will be granted priority. The Board presently looks for exceptional circumstances, and applies a very restrictive definition to that and a very limited approach to granting priority. That may however be about to change in the near future dependant on the outcome of a judicial review case in which Mr Justice Collins has granted permission to proceed with the claim for priority on behalf of a client of Philip Rule, barrister at No5 Chambers. If you are affected by delay and feel your case may have good reasons for priority you are entitled to seek priority. The best way to do this is of course through a qualified and expert lawyer (a solicitor or barrister). If you have a lawyer working on your case you should ask them what can be done in your case. If you do not have a lawyer and would like advice or assistance with a delay in accessing your parole hearing you may write to the prison law experts at No5 Chambers c/o Mr Brett Moloney, Clerk, No5 Chambers, Fountain Court, Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, B4 6DR. If you already have solicitors acting for you you may ask that they contact the No5 team if appropriate in your case. The author, Philip Rule, is an expert in judicial review and criminal appeals. ©
beesleyandcompanysolicitors Specialists in: Appeals against Conviction & Sentence, CCRC, IPP Appeals and Parole, Prison Adjudications & Discipline, Criminal Investigations, Confiscation & POCA proceedings. For advice and assistance anywhere in England & Wales, either in person or via video link, please call or head office: 5 Holywell Hill, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 1EU
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Legal
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The Role of the Psychologist in Parole Board proceedings Luke Deal
benefits of having this person present at your hearing.
Hine Solicitors
When should I get an Independent Psychological assessment?
Prison Law Department
A
psychologist can be a pivotal player in a prisoner’s parole board proceedings and can be represented within a number of agencies. For example, the panel you sit before may, for whatever reason, have a psychological member on the panel in order to assist the independent members on such issues. Equally, the prison may be represented by a member of their psychology team to provide evidence in relation to their assessment of a prisoner and what further rehabilitation may be necessary. Finally, and most importantly, prisoners may be entitled to have an Independent Psychologist assess them and to comment on the opinion of the prison psychologist or other reports. An independent psychologist can play a significant role in assisting a prisoner in their Parole Board proceedings. They can also be a cause of many delays and deferrals within a parole process. This article seeks to explore when a prisoner should consider instructing an Independent Psychologist and explores the
An independent assessment will often be appropriate in the following circumstances:i) If a member of prison psychology provides a negative report which you may disagree with or that may have a detrimental effect on your success at your Parole Board hearing. ii) If a member of prison psychology or your offender manager is suggesting that you undertake further courses or rehabilitative work, which you may disagree that you require. iii) Where there may be a question of outstanding psychological issues which have not been addressed and it may assist the board to have an independent assessment. This list is by no means exhaustive however it does outline the most common circumstances in which an assessment may be beneficial. How do I instruct an Independent Psychologist? A Psychological Report would usually be arranged by your solicitor who can apply to the
Legal Aid Agency for funding to instruct an expert who can prepare a report. This process is often lengthy and it is not guaranteed that funding will be approved. If your case is not funded under Legal Aid, then you may have to fund your expert privately. You should be aware that the cost of this can vary greatly dependent upon the nature of the report and the experience of the expert. Who do I choose? The choice of psychologist is imperative. Most solicitors will have an expert directory which will include a list of trusted experts who have been used by the firm previously. Independent Psychologists have different areas of expertise. Some may be more focussed on Sexual Offences/Treatments whilst others may specialise in Domestic Violence Cases and Treatments. A specialised Prison Law Solicitor will be able to advise you on the best expert to instruct in your particular case. It is not only the report which is important, it will also be how the expert comes across in giving live evidence. You and your legal team need to be sure that the psychologist will be an appropriate witness at your hearing. How will my psychological assessment and report be undertaken? A report will usually involve the psychologist having access to your dossier and also the reports provided by prison psychology. The psychologist will usually visit you in prison to undertake a psychological assessment to assist with drafting their report. A psychologist may in some circumstances require a copy of your medical records in order to assist with their report. Most GPs will request a fee for any request that can be covered by the Legal Aid Agency or can be paid for privately.
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The psychologist will then take the assessment from the meeting and the information contained in your dossier and draft a full report with recommendations. Your solicitor will usually take you through the content of your report at a further meeting. It is important to note that an independent report is subject to legal privilege and can only be disclosed to the Parole Board with your approval. Unfortunately, an independent report does not guarantee a positive recommendation just because it has been requested by you or your legal team. If your psychological report is unhelpful then your solicitor is likely to advise against serving it on the Parole Board. This does raise a tactical question as to whether to notify the Parole Board that you are seeking your own assessment because, if you do not serve it upon the board, they may come to their own conclusion as to why not. This shall be a matter for your solicitor to discuss with you. What role would my Psychologist play at a Parole Board hearing? The Panel Chair of your Parole Board will decide what witnesses shall be required. If you
have disclosed your report to the Parole Board, your solicitor will make representations to the Panel Chair requesting that the independent psychologist attend the hearing to give evidence. This is a matter for the panel as to whether they require your psychologist to appear in person to give live evidence. In most cases, as the independent psychologists are instructed to comment on issues in dispute then they are usually required to attend an oral hearing. Your legal representative will always have the opportunity to put questions to your psychologist as will the Parole Board. The Parole Board expect psychologists to comment on the following:i) To be able to explain how they have reached their conclusions and to provide defensible recommendations with regards to risk. ii) To be able to comment on risk factors, protective factors and outstanding treatment needs / targets. iii) To comment on risk level and imminence of risk. iv) To make a recommendation as to whether outstanding risk factors should be addressed in closed conditions (Cat A, B, C), open conditions (Cat D) or in the community (release). v) To make recommendations for risk management in the community. vi) Add anything further they may have been overlooked by the panel. It is then usually for the psychological member of the panel to provide guidance on the evidence put before them. Ultimately, a psychologist can play a vital role as to the direction that your Parole hearing can take. This is due to the fact that the Parole Board shall give great weight when assessing a prisoner’s risk in the community with regards to psychological needs. If you have any psychological issues in question it is always beneficial to seek legal advice as to whether an independent expert shall be appropriate. An independent report may not always guarantee results, but it does give you the opportunity to seek an alternative perspective. In cases where a report is positive, an expert can be the difference between remaining in closed conditions or potentially being released into the community or moving to a Category D establishment. The clear advice is to not hesitate in acting when you are aware that your case will involve psychological issues. If this is ignored, it can often result in delays later on when these matters are highlighted and the hearing that you have been waiting months for, is delayed. It is best to try and obtain your dossier at the earliest opportunity in order to identify any psychological issues and then set the wheels in motion to take the appropriate action required as your liberty may very well depend upon it.
Luke Deal of the Prison Law department at Hine Solicitors
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46
Legal Q&A
If you have a question you would like answered please send to: ‘Legal’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. (including your name, number and prison)
SM - HMP Guys Marsh
Q
I was dropped from enhanced to basic after an alleged fight with another prisoner. I was also given an adjudication for which two months later I was found not guilty. Should I now be given my enhanced status back as I am not guilty? I also lost my job for a separate incident in which I was accused of having an improvised charger, whereby I was eventually found not guilty. I have not been given my job back, is there anything that can be done?
A
Inside Time Legal Forum Answers to readers’ legal queries are given on a strictly without liability basis. If you propose acting upon any of the opinions that appear, you must first take legal advice. Capital Defence Solicitors, Olliers Solicitors, Hine Solicitors, Cartwright King Solicitors, Crowns Solicitors, Wells Burcombe LLP Solicitors, Carrington Solicitors Send your Legal Queries (concise and clearly marked ‘legal’) to: David Wells, Solicitor c/o Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. For a prompt response, readers are asked to send their queries on white paper using black ink or typed if possible.
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Your issues are dealt with in PSI 30/2013 on IEP which states at 5.15 that if an adjudication is quashed, dismissed or not proceeded with, a further review must take place to determine the appropriate IEP status for a prisoner. It would be best for you to find out if this has happened via an application or the COMP 1 system.. Response supplied by Hine Solicitors
..................................................... Anon - HMP Edinburgh
Q
I was released in January on license after serving half of a 30 month sentence for sexual offences. I also have a 2 year extended sentence so my license was until April 2017. I was recalled in April 2014 for alleged contact with the victim of the index offence. My SED (custodial) is April 2015 and a SED (community) of April 2017. The prison is saying I will not be released until the SED (community) date. The Judge said to me when I got sentenced that I would serve 30 months in custody and 2 years in the community, how can the Parole Board over rule what the Judge said? Is this legal and can I challenge this?
A
The way you are being treated is as the legislation intended. Although an extended sentence is in 2 parts - the custodial term and the extension period - it is treated as a single custodial sentence for these purposes.
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In other words, if there is a breach it is treated as if the licence being breached was for a long-term custodial sentence comprising the total period of the custodial and extended periods. The length of your custodial term alone is not the crucial period. Response supplied by Capital Defence Solicitors
..................................................... RFB - Isle of Man Prison
Q
I would like some advice on why, in the Isle of Man, prisoners sentenced to more than 4 years are subjected to Parole at the halfway point?
A
The Isle of Man operates a slightly different sentencing process to English law. Under Isle of Man law, any prisoner who receives a sentence of more than 4 years is known as a long term detainee. This means that they will be considered for release at the halfway point of their sentence by the Parole Committee. Release at this stage is not guaranteed. If release is not granted, the prisoner will remain in custody until the two thirds point, and will then be subject to licence until the three quarter point. In England, a determinate sentence in most cases means that a prisoner will be released on licence automatically at the halfway point. This is not always the case however; some prisoners sentenced under English law do receive a sentence which operates in the same way as the Isle of Man process detailed above. This is dependent on the nature of the offence and the date of its commission. If you have further concerns about your sentence you should consider approaching a solicitor who operates within the jurisdiction of the Isle of Man for further advice. Response supplied by Hine Solicitors
..................................................... BK - HMP Buckley Hall
Q
I am a Dutch national who has been a resident in the UK since 2000 and have been in custody since 2013. I have been sentenced to 8 years and have served 18 months. Would it be possible to help me understand my position regarding Cat-D as I’m worried about being sent back to the Netherlands?
A
As a determinate sentence prisoner serving 8 years you will automatically be released into the community at the half-way point i.e. after 4 years. You will then be on licence in the community for the remaining 4 years. Decisions to re-categorise a prisoner to
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Category D must be based on the prisoner’s proven trustworthiness and manageable risks. It could therefore be said that by complying with bail conditions in the past, you are a trustworthy prisoner. Two years is considered to be the maximum time a prisoner should spend in open conditions. It may therefore be said that a transfer to Category D is premature in your case, however, it all depends on a prisoner’s individual needs and of course taking into account low risk. The categorisation procedure applies equally to British citizens and foreign national prisoners. However, in assessing whether a foreign national prisoner should be downgraded to Category D, the decision-maker must assume that deportation will take place and the effect that would have on the risk of escaping or absconding, unless a decision not to deport has already been taken. Unfortunately, the facts you provide do not enable me to offer any guidance on the prospect of you being deported. The policy guidance on the categorisation and allocation of foreign national prisoners is in PSI 52/2011 which should be made available in the prison library. Response supplied by Hine Solicitors
..................................................... DH - HMP Wealstun
Q
I am a British Citizen who has lived in the Republic of Ireland since 2001. I have a release date of June 2016 and I’m serving a sentence of 3 years and 8 months. Are there any legal complications that would not allow me to serve my license in Northern Ireland as it is in my province of Britain and therefore under English jurisdiction?
A
Under the PSI 01/2013 at section 3 it states:Unlike with requests for resettlement abroad, the presumption with transfers between UK jurisdictions is that the offender will be subject to equivalent monitoring following transfer. There is, therefore, no requirement that an offender must spend a minimum period of time on licence in England and Wales prior to transfer. However, the receiving jurisdiction may wish for a period of resettlement to occur in some high risk cases, where a move to the new area may occur as part of a move-on plan rather than immediately. In summary, a move to Northern Ireland is possible, however it may be that a period of resettlement in England and Wales needs to be demonstrated prior to any application to move to Northern Ireland. Response supplied by Hine Solicitors
If you have a question you would like answered please send to: ‘Robert Banks’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. (including your name, number and prison)
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
and advocates should give effect to the general intention of Parliament by never referring to a spent conviction when such reference can reasonably be avoided.’
Banks on Sentence Robert Banks, a barrister, writes Banks on Sentence. It is the second-largest selling criminal practitioner’s text book and is used by judges for sentencing more than any other. The book is classified by the Ministry of Justice as a core judicial text book. The 2015 edition of the book and app was published recently. The app is for Apple iPads and Windows 8 tablets and computers and costs £99 (incl. VAT). Updates will appear in the relevant paragraph. The print copy costs £106 and there will be regular updates on www.banksr.com. There is also a discount available when the print copy and app are purchased together. If you have access to a computer, you can follow Robert on Twitter: @BanksonSentence and you can receive his weekly sentencing Alert.
www.banksr.com
Q
I am aged 71. I pleaded to attempted sexual assault on a 14-year-old boy. The sentence was 3 years reduced to 2 years because of the plea. I think I was sentenced on my record, which is: 1981: Attempted sexual assault on a male, aged 14 and 12 years old (sic). Non-custodial. 1978 (Approx): Attempted sexual assault on a male aged 17. Non-custodial. 1972: Buggery of a 14-year-old male. 10 years’ imprisonment. 1969: Buggery of a male aged 18. 3 years’ imprisonment. (I can’t be sure whether the male was aged 18 or 15 as I am having trouble with your writing.) 1967: Attempted sexual assault on a male aged 18. Non-custodial. I thought after a certain time convictions became spent. Seven years ago I was told to do jury service and I told them about my record. The Court said the convictions were spent and they said I had to do jury service and I did it. Should I appeal my sentence?
A
You ask whether, after so long a time, your old convictions should not be taken into account. Unfortunately there are a number of principles operating here. I will divide them up. Rehabilitation The first appears relatively simple. Each type of sentencing order imposed has a rehabilitation period. A fine has a rehabilitation period of 12 months for adults and 6 months for those aged under 18. The rehabilitation periods for custodial sentence are below:
In March 2014 these shorter periods were introduced, it was said, to assist members of the ethnic minority communities into employment. The new system means that if you received a fine on 1 June 2015, on 1 December 2015 that fine would be a ‘spent conviction’. This means from 1 December 2015, if you are asked about your convictions, you do not have to declare this conviction, unless the person asking is in a special category, like a local authority employing teachers or a police force assessing applications for jobs. If, however, you are convicted of another offence before the conviction becomes spent, the 1 June 2015 offence may continue as a disclosable conviction. The rule is quite complicated. The official description of a rehabilitated person is someone who ‘shall be treated for all purposes in law as a person who has not committed or been charged with or prosecuted for or convicted of or sentenced for the offence or offences which were the subject of that conviction’. What about spent convictions and sentencing? As you would expect, the authorities give with one hand and take away with the other. The rehabilitation procedure does not apply to court proceedings, Rehabilitation Act 1974 s 7(2). The Lord Chief Justice has, however, issued Criminal Practice Direction 2014 EWCA Crim 1569 para V 35A.2. It says, ‘Section 4(1) of the 1974 Act does not apply, however, to evidence given in criminal proceedings: section 7(2)(a). Convictions are often disclosed in such criminal proceedings. 35A.4 It is not possible to give general directions which will govern all these different situations, but it is recommended that both court
Length of sentence
The rehabilitation period for adults
The rehabilitation period for those aged under 18 at date of conviction
Custodial sentences of more than 48 months
The conviction will never be spent
The conviction will never be spent
Custodial sentences of more than 30 months and not exceeding 48 months
7 years
3½ years
Custodial sentences of more than 6 months and not exceeding 30 months
4 years
2 years
Custodial sentences of 6 months or less
2 years
1½ years
So what actually happens at court? The rules about how a criminal record shall be compiled clearly state that those offences which are spent should be specifically marked as such. In fact, in my experience, with all the cutbacks this is not done. The rules are both complex and confusing as the legislation was worded badly to start with and the series of amendments are just as badly drafted. Also it is my experience that most judges, barristers and solicitors simply don’t know the rules and the whole list of convictions is used without written reference to whether any are spent. So what about your convictions? The 1972 offence of buggery on a 14-year-old male is not spent. Your 1967 and 1978 convictions should be disregarded as the conduct is now legal. Your 1969 conviction, depending on the age of the other party, may also need to be disregarded for the same reason. Your 1981 conviction may or may not to be a spent conviction. This will depend on which Court dealt with it. How should the Judge have approached your 1972 conviction? Criminal Justice Act 2003 s 143(2) states: ‘In considering the seriousness of an offence (“the current offence”) committed by an offender who has one or more previous convictions, the court must treat each previous conviction as an aggravating factor if (in the case of a conviction) the court considers that it can reasonably be so treated having regard, in particular, to: a) the nature of the (previous) conviction, and b) the time that has elapsed since the conviction.’ So each previous conviction is an aggravating factor when it is reasonable to treat it as such. Further, in considering whether it is reasonable, the court must have regard to ‘the time that has elapsed since the conviction’. This principle has not been interpreted by the Court of Appeal as far as I know. In R v Halliwell 2015 EWCA Crim 1134, a very recent case, the defendant pleaded to section 18 and ABH. He had stabbed his daughter in the shoulder area and in the back. D was now aged 45 and between 1982 and 2005 he had 13 sentencing hearings for 29 offences. He had two section 47 offences in 1984 (a fine and 21 days’ detention). In 1987, he had a section 20 wounding (community order). He also had a long history of alcohol abuse. The Court of Appeal held that the 1984 and 1987 offences were historical offences and [could not be used] to assess dangerousness and whether an extended sentence should be upheld. The Court noted that there had been no violence on D’s record for 25 years. They quashed the extended sentence. It is left to the Judge to use his or her discretion. If it was down to me I would consider it unreasonable to increase your sentence because of convictions 43 and 40 years ago. I also think it is unfair because there would be no records, and therefore few details of the offence would be available. Without the details false assumptions can be made. I suspect your Judge had a very different approach. What about the offences where the conduct is now legal? This falls into two parts. The first part is the barring system and the second is about the criminal record kept by police. Gay offences which are now legal and the barring system When a defendant is convicted of most sexual
Legal Q&A
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offences the defendant is subject to automatic notification whether or not the judge mentions it. He or she has to comply with the terms laid down. Where notification is for buggery and gross indecency and the other party was aged over 16 and consented to the sexual act, Sexual Offences Act 2003 Sch 4 provides the defendant with the opportunity to apply to the Secretary of State for the notification to cease. The opportunity applies to people with convictions and cautions for such offences. It is hoped that no one is now subject to notification for such activity. Gay offences which are now legal and your criminal record Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 s 92 enables a defendant with a conviction or caution for buggery, gross indecency, Offences against the Person Act 1861 s 61 and Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 s 11 to make an application for the conviction or caution to be disregarded. Parliament sought to include corresponding offences but whether it did is open to argument. The inclusion of section 61 is interesting as it relates to concealment of birth, an offence which was abolished in 1957. That section does not fit in with the later sections of the 2012 Act and is clearly a drafting error. I think Parliament intended to include section 68 not 61 as section 68 deals with gay offences committed by members of the Royal Navy. Section 11 is interesting as that was known as the blackmailers’ charter and was used to prosecute Oscar Wilde, who made such withering attacks on the Victorian penal system. Many of his criticisms are valid today. Section 11 was abolished in 1957. For the conviction to be disregarded, the other party must have consented to the act and have been aged 16 or over at the time. Additionally the conduct was not sexual activity in a public lavatory, as that is still illegal. You may think this is a bit rich, as in the 1950s and 1960s the state forced gays to seek sex in public lavatories as it was a refuge from the war of terror the state was conducting against them. (For younger readers, at that time the state invaded gays’ bedrooms, clubs and meeting grounds, forced them out of employment and put them in prison for having sex with adults. It caused many to commit suicide, like Alan Turing, the code-breaker.) Your appeal So the answer to your first question is quite involved. I am afraid I cannot answer your question about whether you can appeal as I know so little about your case. I will ask David Wells to write to you so he and I can see whether you have an appeal.
Asking Robert and Jason questions: Please make sure your question concerns sentence and not conviction and send the letter to Inside Time, marked for Robert Banks or Jason Elliott. Unless you say you don’t want your question and answer published, it will be assumed you have no objection to publication. It is usually not possible to determine whether a particular defendant has grounds of appeal without seeing all the paperwork. Analysing all the paperwork is not possible. The column is designed for simple questions and answers. No-one will have their identity revealed. Letters which a) are without an address, b) cannot be read, or c) are sent direct, cannot be answered. Letters sent by readers to Inside Time are sent on to a solicitor, who forwards them to Robert and Jason. If your solicitor wants to see previous questions and answers, they are at www.banksr.com.
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Reading
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Shared Reading
Reading group round-up
Jo Jungius reads with the prisoners in the PIPE at HMP Send.
Image courtesy of Matthew Meadows
The report this month comes from Matt at HMP Warren Hill where Prison Reading Groups (PRG) supports a new group run by Julian Earwaker, the Writer in Residence there. The inaugural meeting of the Maple unit, HMP Warren Hill’s PIPE, book club took place back in October 2014 with a reading of Stephen Fry’s Moab is my Washpot. Fortunately the intention of the group is to introduce prisoners to authors and genres they may otherwise overlook and to encourage communication through discussion. Had it been a popularity contest, Mr Fry would have been better titling the first volume of his memoir Moab is my Washout. Bestseller it may be, but in our group it bombed in spectacular fashion, the unanimous view being that the beautifully descriptive language was greatly overshadowed by the pretension and pomposity of the author. Our second outing, Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture, invoked a similarly unanimous response from the group. On this occasion however the consensus was that of genuine affection for the protagonist and a real sense of immersion thanks to the depth and poetry of the prose. By far the most thought-provoking and debated book of our group’s short history has been Russ Litten’s debut novel Scream if You Want to Go Faster. Described as ‘urban tragedy’ by the author, whom we were lucky enough to meet for a Q&A, Scream… offers a
glimpse into the lives of several, seemingly disparate characters over one weekend in October 2007. This is ostensibly a collection of short stories written in the first person from each character’s point of view, but Litten links these vignettes of modern urban life into a wonderfully gritty tapestry through their interactions with one central character: the frenetic Hull Fair. With its depiction of casual racism, violence, financial and emotional desperation, crossdressing, fragile love and grief, interspersed with humour ranging from wry to black, this novel engendered the most contention and diversity of opinion of those read thus far. Though fictional, Scream… provides a fly-onthe-wall view of real life in inner-city Britain, to which every member of the group was able to relate and respond to one degree or another. Our group has subsequently tackled heavyweights in Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, Game of Thrones by George R R Martin and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It’s a relief to find that our current read, 2015 Costa Book of the Year, H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, weighs in at under 300 pages…
The Warren Hill group is part of the Prison Reading Groups (PRG) network, sponsored by the University of Roehampton and generously supported by charities including Give A Book www.giveabook.org.uk If your prison doesn’t have a reading group, encourage your librarian to have a look at the PRG website www.roehampton.ac.uk/ prison-reading-groups PRG also worked with National Prison Radio to set up their book club. If you have access to NPR, listen out for details and ways to take part.
Parole? Recall? Adjudication?
OLLIERS SOLICITORS CAN HELP Life Sentences
IPP, MANDATORY, DISCRETIONARY, AUTOMATIC LIFE SENTENCE PRISONERS - ORAL & WRITTEN REPRESENTATION
Recall
PAROLE BOARD REPRESENTATION
Adjudications CONTACT: JEREMY PINSON or TOM CAWLEY FREEPOST NEA 13621, MANCHESTER M3 9ZL
0161 834 1515
Possession
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox That which we had we still possess, Though leaves may drop and stars may fall; No circumstance can make it less Or take it from us, all in all. That which is lost we did not own; We only held it for a dayA leaf by careless breezes blown; No fate could take our own away. I hold it as a changeless law From which no soul can sway or swerve, We have that in us which will draw Whate’er we need or most deserve. Even as the magnet to the steel Our souls are to our best desires; The Fates have hearts and they can feelThey know what each true life requires. We think we lose when we most gain; We call joys ended ere begun; When stars fade out do skies complain, Or glory in the rising sun? No fate could rob us of our ownNo circumstance can make it less; What time removes was but a loan, For what was ours we still possess.
We read this poem alongside a fairy-tale - The Fisherman and His Wife by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The story had us discussing things like what makes us happy in life, and how do you go about finding that happiness. It also made us think about greed and power, and how you should be careful what you wish for! On our first reading of the poem, V said “oh no, one of Jo’s horrible poems again!” K agreed, saying “oh English poems are just awful, awful.” We all felt we needed a moment to ponder, and re-read it again, slowly. K picked out the line ‘No circumstance can make it less’ occurring at the beginning and end of the poem. She said “I think that is, do not give yourself up to circumstances, you should choose your own path. You have to be unchangeable from that path whatever the circumstances. Believe in yourself.”
We talked about how hard it can be not to be influenced by others or external circumstances. K re-read the last line ‘for what was ours we still possess.’ We wondered if this was like an inner feeling of strength, something that can’t be taken away from you. You always have it within you; maybe you lose it sometimes, but nobody can take it away. Officer S was intrigued by the lines ‘even as the magnet to the steel our souls are to our best desires.’ There was a real sense of strength and power between the magnet and steel. We could feel the pull of the magnet, and the steel trying to resist that urge. What did it mean when it talked about loan? Officer S said “well perhaps, you are born in this life as a being or whatever, and your television, car, etc. are just possessions, material things, and they are sort of on loan to us.” V said she felt the poem was not about material possessions but knowledge. Knowledge that you have of yourself, and knowledge that we gain throughout life. She felt knowledge should be a treasured possession rather than focusing on material things. We reflected on the idea that that seems to be something we all do too much of in this day and age. That which is lost we did not own; we only held it for a day V said “you are born into this world with nothing.” “ Yes”, said K, “we come with nothing, we go with nothing.” Reading through the poem again, we came to ‘The Fates have hearts and they can feel - they know what each true life requires.’ V wondered if true life was like the true path your life should take. It is like your life. What is fate? Is that the true path? “Maybe it is like your path in life” said V. “Yes”, said K, “is it destiny?” We have that in us which will draw Whate’ver we need or most deserve. “We can wish for more” K said, “but we already have inside what you need to survive.”
TurningPages
That brought us back to thinking about changeable circumstances, and self-belief again.
Prisoners who can read teach prisoners who can’t
Definitely one of those poems that got us thinking, and leaves us thinking long after the session is over.
The Shannon Trust Reading Plan (Turning Pages) is a simple & efficient way of helping people to learn to read. If you would like more information on how to become involved, as either a Mentor or a Learner, contact the Reading Plan Lead in your prison (ask a Shannon Trust Mentor who this is) or write to: Shannon Trust, Freepost RTKY-RUXG-KGYH The Foundry, 17-19 Oval Way, LONDON SE11 5RR.
ShannonTrust
The Reader Organisation is an award-winning charitable social enterprise working to connect people through great literature. In weekly sessions, a practitioner reads aloud a short story or extract and a poem. Anyone in the group may choose to read too: some do, others don’t. In this way, connections are made with thoughts and feelings; some people reflect on these privately, others are more vocal. Either is fine. The emphasis is on enjoying the literature.
Reading
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
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The life and death of a prison writer Andy Croft, ex-Writer in Residence at HMP Moorland commemorates a friend and fellow writer
J
acquesy is dead. A few weeks ago Carl Jacques was found dead in his pad at HMP Walton. Jacquesy was thirty-eight years-old when he died. He had spent nineteen years of his life in prison. Police are not treating the death as suspicious.
articles for the Morning Star about the criminal justice system.
I first met Jacquesy several years ago when I was working for the Writers in Prison Foundation as a writer-in-residence at HMP Moorland. He was one of the founder-editors of our monthly prison magazine Unlock, often writing half of each issue and typing most of it.
Sitting in a prison cell all day, watching the world turn, is Chris Grayling’s idea of a rehabilitation revolution. He wants to spend money on prison uniforms but then cuts the funding for education. He makes up sound bites for TV and the tabloids, appearing to be tough on ‘lags’, insisting that we have to earn our privileges (which we already do) and threatening to take away satellite television (which only a handful of private jails have anyway).
Although my residency ended in 2013, Jacquesy and I continued to correspond regularly. Most of his letters were about authors he had lately discovered and enjoyed - Primo Levi, John Berger, Douglas Coupland, George Jackson, John Stuart Mill and Herbert Marcuse, Dostoevsky...
Here is an extract from an article he wrote for the Morning Star a couple of years ago about the ban on prisoners receiving books through the post. It’s pure Jacquesy:
Jacquesy also gave me a good deal of help and advice when I was writing a novel about a prisoner on release, Forty-six Quid and a Bag of Dirty Washing (SPCK, 2014).
The truth is, prison authorities love the fact that most prisoners have a TV in their pads. They wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll tell you why. The digital cosh that is television keeps the majority of us content (if not comatose). This makes the screws life a lot easier.
Last year he told me that he had started writing a book based on some of the philosophers he had read. He was an inveterate letter writer to Inside Time, and he wrote occasional
Sometimes I am grateful for the solitude behind my door. Time to read, time to think, time to get away from the bullshit about who’s the hardest and who’s ‘nailed’ the best bird.
But I sometimes wish they would take away our televisions. We end up staring at the thing day after day. It’s an amazing tool for turning the mind off. Your brain doesn’t retain information from a screen like it does when you read a book. When the lads are watching talent shows, Jeremy Kyle or Housewives of Atlanta, our horizons are not exactly being broadened, are they? Before the advent of the black box in the corner, most lads used to read. They would pass the books around, talk about them and discuss ideas arising from them. Especially books about the way we live, the law, prison conditions. The talk on the landings these days should be about Legal Aid, justice on the cheap and Grayling’s reforms. Instead, all you hear is who wants to ‘nail’ Charlotte from Big Brother, or repeated catchphrases from Celebrity Juice. Nonsense, basically. As Gore Vidal put it: ‘Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which they live is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of a corrupt
government entails risk of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one’s self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker, but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.’ Of course our jailers are happy with this. The last thing they want is for us to pick up a book and empower ourselves with knowledge and ideas about ourselves and our fellow humans. We need to turn off the TV and switch on our minds. Given an IPP sentence for robbery in 2008, Jacquesy was increasingly worried about the institutionalising effects of indefinite incarceration. A couple of weeks before he died, he reported grimly that his latest application for parole had been turned down. ‘The parole hearing did not go well my friend. I got a minimum one year knock-back. I was tempted to say that I didn’t want to get released because jail feels like my home and I’m scared to get out. We’ll see...’ Jacquesy was one of life’s intellectuals, a real thinker and a talented writer. I will miss his letters more than I can properly explain.
BITTER P ILLS YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO SWALLOW
compensation you deserve.
lawyers Michael Jefferies have been successfully representing prisoners in cases of clinical and dental negligence for many years. We have won compensation from 100’s to 1000’s of pounds all on a NO WIN NO FEE basis.
N INJURY SO L RI
pila
YER AW
S ASS OC
Call: 0161 925 4155 I Click: jefferies-solicitors.com I email:
[email protected] or write to us at: Jefferies Solicitors Limited I Ashley House I Ashley Road I Altrincham I Cheshire I WA14 2DW
OF T H RS E P BE
due to a lack of resources or inept practitioning there is no excuse if your health has suffered physically or mentally, as a result you could be due 1000’s of pounds in compensation. Negligence may not just affect you now it could have painful or expensive
As one of the countries leading personal injury
If you feel you’ve been badly treated, misdiagnosed or kept waiting for an unacceptable amount of time contact us now and we will get the
ME M
The reported cases of clinical and dental negligence during confinement is on the increase. Whether it is
repercussions far into the future which is why you need expert, experienced advice to secure the compensation which is due to YOU.
N TIO IA
Clinical negligence is as unacceptable inside prison as it is out.
50
H
Inside Poetry
If you would like to contribute to the Poetry section, please send your poems to ‘Poetry’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Star Poem of the Month
The Library David Walton - HMP Kirkham I sit in the prison library Viewing human traffic Rubbernecking in aisles of knowledge With no immediate intent to pick and select Fingers brush static but dust covered book spines Noses twitch when meanings literally astound them As authors reach out and titles jump out with confrontation Carpet tiles sigh with relief As another weightless thought moves on More crime walks the walk than talks the talk Offenders spending non-functional time With each second hoping That following a lifetime of coping They can now become yet another educated man With time well spent Understanding silent words to be spat from silent books Crime thrillers, reference spillers Historical facts and figures Bedtime fillers Softback Hardback Paperback Floppy back Never to be given back Fiction or fact Or so it is told The suspended ceiling hides evaporated topics of conversation The unseen book thief fulfils his desperation Raised eyebrows amongst seated readers avoiding retribution Another snot covered finger flicks another memory As words thought in anger provide no sense of information Daily papers rustle when turned Journals snap crackle and pop when slapped shut Hardback thrillers thump as they are forced upon a shelf DVD and CD cases crack open and closed The telephone echoes its internal ring across unfurnished walls Each librarian enjoys forever vacant conversation As they thwack the date stamp onto an unsuspecting page Hello or goodbye repeats its daily chorus As another customer enters or exits vacant space Sat here viewing this esplanade of life Is such a vision of education As I eyeball each of the chosen few Forever scholars of a future learning For it is never too late to learn! Congratulations to this months winner who receives our £25 prize for ‘Star Poem of the Month’.
This Is Me
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Fat and Misery
Lee Heathfield - HMP Elmley
George Worraker - HMP Aylesbury
I could write for hours on hours Of all the things I wish I could be But the truth of the matter is simple People are not poetry I know that I wish I weren’t awkward That sweet words could roll right off your tongue But my time here is too short just to worry How each single sentence is strung It’s okay to be rough round the edges To be bruised up broken and scarred But it’s not okay to let people tell you That it’s a reason to change who you are My hair doesn’t always sit neatly The way a poem sits so neatly in lines And sometimes I might feel like a word That nobody has learnt to define I may not be a star that lights darkness Or a bird that can teach us to soar But it’s okay, because I am too complex To be crammed into one metaphor It’s okay to not know what I’m doing Since my feelings don’t have to all rhyme Though a poem once complete is eternal I have the freedom to change over time I’m much more than can ever be written There is no title to say, “This Is Me” I can’t be trapped in the lines of a notebook Because people are not poetry
Days fade in and out beyond the battered bars The sun smiles sadly through the mesh Cutting deeper than the self-inflicted scars The fingerprint of prison in the flesh Liberty, uncherished, walked away Progress met the grave Self-did nonchalantly self-betray And seize upon the shackles of a slave My soul leaks hope like the dripping of the tap That’s scaling up my sink I’ve carved my soul into a gap And sat down on the brink I’m dead to flower, colour, sun and star Generosity and chivalry Resigned to drench my heart in tar And fat and misery The nadir of life is easily achieved The mirage of joy is easily dismissed The ersatz good that we believed Is the smouldering coal to part the Devil’s lips
The Jingle Jangle of the Keys Vassos Hadjigeorgiou - HMP Humber
Tell me your heart don’t go, when you hear them keys Don’t come to my door, please, please, please Jingle jangle, jingle jangle When your pad’s all quiet, and you hear that echo Your heart skips a beat, I think it’s about to blow Jingle jangle, jingle jangle Like the first time I held a girl’s hand When you get that pecker, best not stand Jingle jangle, jingle jangle When they shake or when they stop Eventually they gonna turn in that lock Jingle jangle, jingle jangle When you’re on your own, or sat on the loo Don’t lie and say it’s not a problem for you Jingle jangle, jingle jangle Now I can hear the jingle jangle of that key Difference is, I know this place ain’t for me Admit it, your heart does go!
Is Anybody Listening
Andrew Bennett - HMP Gartree Could somebody answer me this one question? It’s something I’m not supposed to mention! How am I meant to get out of jail? When the system is set up so that I fail! I try doing it all by the book Yet probation don’t really give a f**k! All they want is to prolong this torment To keep their jobs and pay their rent! They pay no attention to all the hard work I’ve done It’s just a game to them a bit of fun! Soon as I slip up and make a mistake You’re not ready for release yet, “Oh for f**k sake!” There’s another course we want you to do Don’t look so down Andrew, it’s perfect for you! It will bring your risk down and get your Cat-D You might get out by the year 2033! Come on Andrew, pull yourself together What you’re doing now is not very clever! All we want is you to do ANOTHER course Then we’ll know if you are showing remorse! Oh and maybe another psychology test Let’s prove you’re really trying your best! I promise you after this we’ll move you on You’ve already been in jail too long! So another jail, another fresh start For one more offender supervisor to break my heart! By saying the same rubbish I’ve heard before Just one more programme, Andrew you know the score! Because right now you’re a danger to us all There’s no safety net out there in case you fall! So we’ll keep you in for a few more years Another heart break with plenty more tears!
If you would like to contribute to the Poetry section, please send your poems to ‘Poetry’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Inside Poetry
51
Solitude not Loneliness
Stephen Mason - HMP Portland When that back door closes on an evening you have solitude Your mind is full of that day’s madness Did you accomplish all those things you had set out to do? Did you report that blocked sink? Did you receive your medication morning and night? Did you send out those letters that took all morning to write? Did you thank that unknown inmate who gave you the O/L envelope? One to post this very verse? © Fotolia.com
Alive Joseph McNew - B.R.C.F Florida
The Right to Be Forgotten Douglas Chadwick - Prison Supplied
Should the night slip away it’ll pass on by And if the day never comes, no one can ever ask why The dusk from the sun will sprinkle stars in the air The final sleep that never wakes, sneaks the unprepared
“The right to be forgotten” Has now become part of the law Internet searches can’t link us To our past life and crimes any more
Clouds that hide the moon collect the mist of darkness When sun shines through pouring rain, its proof the earth’s entirely fortress Time is boundless way beyond any powerful grasp Destiny and destruction may collide, but your soul should never collapse
Eager to check, I type in my name And soon I’m astounded to see “No records identified matching your search” So it’s true - they’ve forgotten me
The dirt is soil that became dry and bitter Crazy that trees shed their leaves getting naked for a winter Water flows through the land to the ocean that gives life back Should everything suddenly vanish we’d be fiction and not fact
Just to make sure, I refine my search And try without matching case The computer blinks, but then says the same I’m forgotten, not even a trace
So from here I’ll fade away into the night’s silence Soul searching the reason I’m a victim by my own violence Making it through another year, hope has survived If I could just stop the memories from hurting I’d be thankful I’m alive
Jailbird’s Song Paul Lumsden - HMP Castle Huntly Sing little bird, sing Bring the sound of the sea Gently swaying Onto shores where I stand free. There’s flow, mellow and low A friendly voice in the dark A hopeful, heartfelt echo, A soft breeze blowing on a spark. Sing little bird, sing Bring the music of the meadow To where living Is shades of iron and sorrow. There’s a face in the mirror A pace to the left And one I can’t recover, How often can one be left bereft? Sing little bird, sing Bring a garden at dawn Dewdrops sparkling, A little joy where there is none!
Next I try adding my home town My full name, number and rank But it really does seem I no longer exist The results page still remains blank
Sin City Keith Burton - HMP The Mount
Jaymz Bell - HMP Nottingham
But wait - this computer’s in OMU There’s no internet access from here It’s NOMS intranet that I’m searching… It suddenly all becomes clear
There’s no sin in here None whatsoever No cloudy skies No rainy weather
New European Court rules aren’t needed They won’t make a difference to me NOMS forgot me a long time ago… When they gave me an ISPP
There’s a new beginning Out there it’s waiting No negativity No anticipating
When I close my eyes I have more mates But my legs go wooden and I can’t escape When I awake it starts all over Every day I feel lower and lower All the bad has made me sad My idiot father, he was bad When I cried, it made him mad I got beat for crying as a young lad
We will award a prize of £25 to the entry selected as our ‘Star Poem of the Month’. To qualify for a prize, poems should not have won a prize in any other competition or been published previously. Send entries to: Inside Time, Poetry, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire, SO30 2GB. Please put your name, number and prison on the same sheet of paper as your poem. If you win we can’t send your money if we don’t know who or where you are!
My mother I tried to protect Where’s the police, why they never inspect?
By submitting your poems to Inside Time you are agreeing that they can be published in any of our ‘not for profit links’, these include the newspaper, website and any forthcoming books. You are also giving permission for Inside Time to use their discretion in allowing other organisations to reproduce this work if considered appropriate, unless you have clearly stated that you do not want this to happen. Any work reproduced in other publications will be on a ‘not for profit’ basis. WHEN SUBMITTING YOUR WORK PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING PERMISSION: THIS IS MY OWN WORK AND I AGREE TO INSIDE TIME PUBLISHING IT IN ALL ASSOCIATE SITES AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS AS APPROPRIATE.
insidepoetry Volume 6
Copies are available at a special discount price of £7.50 +£1 p&p for Inside Time readers, family & friends. Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Hampshire SO30 2GB. Tel: 0844 335 6483
There’s no sin in here No matter what you say I won’t believe it Go on make my day There’s new dreams and hope In such abundance Nightmarish past Is so redundant There’s no sin in here!
Post-Traumatic Stress
I feel guilt; I bury myself under my quilt Into sleep I finally fall deep Trying to escape up a ladder but it’s too steep I keep seeing my mum lying there in a heap Bleeding out I scream and shout My dad runs and I have to sort the blood out All the pain, now it’s too late I’m in prison was this my fate? My dad walks free, so much hate When he’s in hell shut the gate!
Jailbreak
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Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Crossword
TWENTY QUESTIONS TO TEST YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 1. Which American supermodel was formerly married to singing star, Billy Joel? 2. What is the profession of the Australian Gemma Ward?
13. In which year were women over the age of 30 first awarded the right to vote in England?
4. Which leading Yorkshire Rugby League team is nicknamed the Rhinos?
14. In a story from The Arabian Nights, how many thieves does Ali Baba encounter?
5. Which flightless bird has given its name to people born in New Zealand?
15. ‘Royal Rumble’, ‘Summerslam’ and ‘King of the Ring’ are events associated with which TV sport?
7. With which track and field event is athlete Ashia Hansen most associated? 8. In Ireland, camogie is a women’s version of which stick-and-ball game? 9. Which French footballer holds the record since 1958 for scoring the most goals at a World Cup finals tournament?
Down
1. A supporter of the royal house of Stuart after the deposition of James II in 1688 (8) 5. Indigenous religion of Japan (6) 9. One of the daughters of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco (8) 10. Great Anglo-Saxon king of Wessex (6) 12. Mineral used as abrasive and polishing agent (5) 13. American author whose books include “The Prince and the Pauper”(4,5) 14. American astronaut nicknamed Buzz (6) 15. — Sassoon, celebrated British hairdresser (5) 18. Wayne —, dancer awarded the OBE in 1998 (5) 19. A hanging spike formed by the freezing of dripping water (6) 22. Breed of horse, originally from America, typically having a spotted rump (9) 24. — Marsh, popular author of detective stories (5) 25. Ravel’s best-known composition (6) 26. Total forgetfulness (8) 27. “Neither a borrower nor a — be”(Shakespeare: Hamlet) (6) 28. The branch of botany concerned with the study of fungi (8)
1. Someone employed to ride in horse races (6) 2. An opera by Bizet (6) 3. A dive into water in which the body lands horizontally (5,4) 4. Author of the novel “Beloved” that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 (4,8) 6. Monsieur —, film role played by Jacques Tati (5) 7. Area of the D-day landings in 1944 (8) 8. First, second, third, fourth, etc. (8) 11. An actress who takes the leading male part in a pantomime (9,3) 15. American film star noted for his roles as a romantic and dashing lover (9) 16. The largest city and former capital of Turkey (8) 17. A large German airship of the early 20th century (8) 20. A type of cotton cloth originally imported from India (6) 21. — Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols (6) 23. Great in size (5)
Jim Reading HMP Exeter (A1109DJ) S R F H U U H G R E V O R D N A L J U G
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Ammo ACTS COLOSSIANS Army CORINTHIANS DEUTERONOMY Bergan EPHESIANS EXODUS Catterick GALATIANS HEBREWS Guardsman ISAIAH Gunner JAMES JEREMIAH Land Rover JOB JOHN Marine JOSHUA LUKE Medic MALACHI Para MARK
RAMC MATTHEW NAHUM Rations PETER PHILIPPIANS Rifle PROVERBS PSALM Royal Air REVELATION ROMANS SAMUEL Force THESSALONIANS Royal Navy TIMOTHY TITUS
Patrol
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Sapper SAS Soldier Tabbing
Thanks to Jim Reading HMP Exeter for compiling this word search. If you fancy compiling one for us please just send it in max 20 x 20 grid & complete with answers shown on a grid. If we use it we will send you £5 as a thank you!
12. Which Dutch band had a number one hit single in 1994 with the song ‘Doop’?
3. Which common English vegetable has three types known as ‘white’, ‘red’ and ‘savoy’?
6. The 2005 film Memoirs of a Geisha was set in which Asian country?
Across
championship?
10. In the field of education, what does TEFL stand for? 11. Which BBC TV presenter won the women’s singles in the 1976 French Open tennis
Inside Chess by Carl Portman Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) is the governing body of chess. Its motto is Gens una sumus which means ‘we are one family’. The ‘we’ in this case is the chess playing community across the world. And, dear reader - we are indeed one family. It should not matter where we are, what our circumstances we can all enjoy the game and engage in combat across the chess board. I have personally witnessed, and had testament from many inmates who only through chess have made new friends, built confidence and finally found a way to cope whilst inside. I have seen people from differing wings who would not normally speak, come together to play chess. It is magical and I ask all readers to continue in this spirit and spread the word. Share the beauty of the game, introduce it to other inmates and explain the benefits. Don’t keep the game to yourself. I never have, and that is why I give my time on a voluntary basis to work with prisons chess. I believe chess to be a force for good, a foundation for better things. It is not for me to lecture anyone but I would offer the following quote from Frederick Milne Edge about our game. He said ‘Chess is a bond of brotherhood amongst all lovers of the noble game, as perfect as free masonry. It is a leveller of rank - title, wealth, nationality, politics, religion - all are forgotten across the board’. That’s the way I want it to be in prisons. People coming together for all the right reasons. There’s so much good news amongst the bad press in prisons, so many of you who love the game, intelligent and articulate people who find themselves behind walls for whatever reason. Stick with it. Make chess your companion and share it with all. I left you with a quiz question last time. I asked who
16. With which genre of music was the US singer Jim Reeves most associated? 17. Which Anglo-American band had UK hits in the 1970s with ‘Breakfast In America’ and ‘The Logical Song’? 18. Which of Shakespeare’s title characters takes on the title Thane of Cawdor? 19. What nationality is opera star Jose Carreras? 20. In Greek legend, which river in Hades produced the waters that made the souls of the dead forget their life on earth?
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the first ever women’s world champion was? Well done if you answered ‘Vera Menchik’. She was British-Russian and sadly died when killed by a V-1 Flying bomb attack in Clapham during the Second World War. The problem this month is one I compiled myself. It is aimed at players that are not so strong - I do have to cater for everyone. Black threatens to take the rook on d1 and give checkmate but it is white to move. How should play continue? A chess magazine donated by Chess & Bridge of London is the prize. Write to me with your answer care of The English Chess Federation at The Watch Oak, Chain Lane, Battle, East Sussex TN33 OYD. Or you can email me at
[email protected] and they will forward it to me. Please note that you should always write to me at the ECF not via InsideTime. Congratulations to Steven from HMP Wymott who was the winner of June’s problem. The answer to July’s problem was 1.Qxg7 and wins. 1…Kxg7 2.Rxf7 check and mate follows quickly.
Jailbreak
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
“QUOTES” What happened has put me off men for life. It will be a long time before I bother with them again Ending my four-month marriage has been hell, says the former model Jodie Kidd
A new runway at Heathrow just isn’t going to happen, says Boris Johnson, Tory MP for Ruislip The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth Pope Francis, suggesting in his encyclical on the environment that a “Revolution” is needed to combat climate change
Why must Clare Balding be on TV every SINGLE minute of the day? A tweeting tennis fan is not impressed by the BBC’s new-look Wimbledon highlights show
Let the iron be the alarm clock I still hit the gym first thing in the morning says Arnold Schwarzenegger
I don’t think my services as a bulldozer blocker will be required
Clare Balding Boris Johnson Pope Francis
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Apollo Apron Atmosphere Cast Choreographer Crucible Curtain Curtain up Director Douser Extra Front of house Grand Her Majestys Ice Cream Lighting Matinee Orchard Performance Playhouse Premiere Night Props Royal Variety Seats Sound Technical Understudy West End
Theatre Pathfinder Submitted by Mathew Woodgate HMP Oakwood �
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Submitted by Mathew Woodgate HMP Oakwood. If you would like to win £5, please submit your Pathfinder - grids should either be 15 x 15 or 12 x 12 squares. Remember when you send us your Pathfinder to include your name, number and prison otherwise you will not receive your prize money.
Neil Speed is a former prisoner Orchard who came up with the concept Apollo Apron of GEF BAD CHI whilst in prison.Performance Inside Time features a GEF BAD Atmosphere CHI puzzle on this page. GEF BADPlayhouse CHI by Neil Speed is published Cast Premiere Night letters G,E,F,B,A,D,C,H & I fill Choreographer by Xlibris. RRP: £12.35 Using the Props Crucible Variety in the blank squares. Each letterRoyal A-I must appear only once in Curtain each line column and 3x3 grid. Seats Curtain up Sound Director Technical Douser Understudy Submitted by Paul Gill - HMYOI Deerbolt. Start on the left with the first number and work your Extra West End Front of house way across following the Answers instructions in each cell. See how quickly you can do each puzzle and Grand how your times improve Choreographer month by month! Answers on back page. If you would like to submit Her Majestys Director similar puzzles we will payApron £5 for any that are chosen for print. Please send in a minimum of three Ice Cream Lighting puzzles together with the Lighting answer! Matinee Performance
MIND GYM
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.
SUDOKU & GEFBADCHI
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Daily Sudoku: Wed 8-Jul-2015
PROBLEMS FROM THE PRISON? YOU NEED
(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.
1 9 8 7 5 6 2 3 4 4 6 2 1 9 3 8 5 7 JP The 3 Johnson 7 5 8Partnership 2 4 1 9 6 Prison Law 6 8 1 4 3 Service 2 9 7 5 2 5 3 6 7 9 4 8 1 Specialist Prison Law and Criminal Defence Solicitors 7 4 9 5 8 1 3 6 2 5 2 Recall 6 9 1 8 Adjudications 7 4 3 Licence 8 1 7 3 4 5 6 2 9 9 3Panels 4 2 6 7 Parole 5 1 Applications 8 Lifer Daily Sudoku: Wed 8-Jul-2015
hard
Magistrates & Crown Court Representation http://www.dailysudoku.com/ Immediate advice and assistance from one of the largest criminal law firms in the country, available 24/7.
Contact our Prison Law Department on: (0115)941 9141 at any time or write to us at FREEPOST NEA15948,NOTTINGHAM NG1 1BR Regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority Members of the Association of Prison Lawyers Criminal Defence Service
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0333 344 4885 or
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Why not let your loved one know how much you care and appreciate them? Select from our catalogue one of the many tasteful gifts available to be sent directly to them.
To place an order ask your wing officer or librarian for a the new ‘thinking of u’ catalogue and complete an order form.
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To obtain your own personal catalogue please send your details, together with two 1st class stamps to: now r ‘Thinkin of U’, Suite 236, Kemp House, And n orde ca rom 152 - 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX u o y ds f car s! u Greetings cards for any occasion now available!
State the type of card you require, send your details & £1 cheque (payable to ‘Thinkin of U’) and we will send you a tasteful blank card for to you to write out and post on to your loved one.
54
Jailbreak
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
Read all about it!
CAPTION COMPETITION If she’d grown a beard, we could have won
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2. What name have the press been giving Oskar Groening? 3. Which reality show have Cheggers and Natalie Lowe been evicted from this month? 4. Who finally won the show?
David Burtonshaw Wakefield
Electro Velvet UK entry for Eurovision. A £25 prize is on offer for the best caption to this month’s picture.
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5. Where did the England women’s football team finish in the World Cup?
Full details are available on our main advert in Inside Time and at
7. Fragments of which holy book, believed to be over a thousand years old, were found recently by the University of Birmingham? 8. In which British port is a tie of the America’s Cup being held during July?
A huge male elephant creeps up on a group of tourists taking pictures at Imire rhino and wildlife conservation area in Wedza, Zimbabwe.
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6. Who won the Open at St Andrews?
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9. A fossil has been found of Tetrapodophis Amplectus what is it? 10. Jules Bianchi tragically died this month - who was the last F1 driver to die as a result of injuries sustained during a race?
Sam Lengfeld HMP Garth £25 John Roberts HMP Stafford £5 Leon Walmsley HMP Lindholme £5
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Answers to last months News quiz: 1. Sir Lenny Henry, 2. Smiler, 3. Magna Carta, 4. USA, 5. Surrey & Sussex (Surrey fielders), 6. Tblisi, 7. Porche, 8. Fleetwood Mac, 9. Sepp Blatter, 10. The Clangers
insideknowledge The prize quiz where we give you the Questions and the Answers!
All the answers are within this issue of Inside Time - all you have to do is find them!!
?
The first three names to be drawn with all-correct answers (or nearest) will receive a £25 cash prize. There will also be two £5 consolation prizes. The winners’ names will appear in next month’s issue. 1. Who is the managing director of Key Forensic Services? 2. Which prison is due to ban smoking by February 2016? 3. Who took up Zoology and Natural Sciences in University? 4. Which course did Toby Guest take part in? 5. What percentage of jurors delivered a guilty verdict when the defendants were placed next to their lawyers? 6. The work of which Innocence Project has led to the freeing of 329 wrongfully convicted people? 7. How many glasses of Pimms were drunk at SW19 this year?
simon bethel solicitors Criminal Defence & Prison Law Specialists
Licence & Parole Hearings HDC & Recalls Adjudications Re-categorisation & Transfers Appeals & CCRC Referrals
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8. What was abolished in 2012? 9. Which programme is promoted fifty times a week? 10. Who recently won the ‘Best Partnership Project’? 11. Which book is described as an ‘urban tragedy’? 12. Who was stuck in the Central Line tube train for half an hour? 13. What are Muslims encouraged to do after prayers? 14. How many prisons responded to last year’s NPR survey? 15. Which prison was first to switch to E-burn?
Answers to Last Month’s Inside Knowledge Prize Quiz 1. Hugh Kunz, 2. Tom Stacey, 3. Baz Dreisinger, 4. Free Time, 5. 1994, 6. Raksha Bandhan, 7. W3, 8. Battle of Waterloo, 9. Future terrorists, 10. Online Support Group, 11. Joanne Froggatt, 12. Eleven, 13. Education & Employment, 14. Coaching Behind Bars, 15. Crimea Winners
Our three £25 Prize winners are: Sam Patrick HMP New Hall, Lee Carson HMP Frankland, Keeley Collett HMP New Hall Plus our £5 Consolation prizes go to: Jordan Saxton HMP Winchester, Natalie Daley HMP New Hall
Don’t take Chances with Your Freedom ! Here are 5 good reasons to call us FIRST: 1. One of the UK’s biggest specialist defence firms 2. Led by lawyer previously shortlisted for criminal defence lawyer of the year 3. Proven, specialist expertise in Appeal work 4. Our Advocates are always ready to represent you 5. We don’t give up! Appeals • Adjudications • Parole Hearings Recall • Categorisation • Lifer Tariffs Crime • Housing • Family
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Jailbreak
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
ANNIVERSARIES
ROCK & POP QUIZ
7 August 1840 // 175th Anniversary The British Parliament passed the Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys Regulation Act (1840) which banned the use of climbing children to clean the inside of chimneys. (The Act was widely ignored until 1875 when legislation was put in place to enforce it.)
1. In 2003, who spent nine weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with In Da Club? 2. In the year 2525 by Zager and Evans was at the top of the Billboard singles chart at the time of which great event of 1969? 3. What was the Billboard Hot 100 No 1 single at Christmas and New Year 2007?
6 August 1890 // 125th Anniversary The first execution by electric chair in the USA. Convicted murderer William Kemmler was executed at Auburn Prison in New York.
4. What was the first Billboard Hot 100 No 1 single of the 21st century? 5. What are Janet Jackson’s middle names? 6. Who teamed up with R Kelly on the 1998 No 1 hit I’m Your Angel?
7 August 1890 // 125th Anniversary The last woman to be executed in Sweden: Anna Månsdotter (‘the Yngsjö murderess’) for the murder of Hanna Johansdotter.
7. Which appropriately titled single by Barenaked Ladies spent a short time at the No 1 slot in 1999? 8. Which band’s name derives from a 1960 movie starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood?
20 August 1940 // 75th Anniversary British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid tribute to the Royal Air Force in a famous House of Commons speech, saying, ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’
9. What name was used by record producer Norman Smith, most famous for his 1972 big hit Oh Babe What Would you Say?
© MW Released life sentenced prisoner
10. In 2008, who overtook Elvis Presley’s previously unbroken record for the greatest number of No 1 records in the American Billboard charts?
Quote of the Month Deborah Orr, The Guardian July 4th 2015
If the Government really wants to strip £12bn off the benefits bill it could do so “at the stroke of a pen”. All it has to do is “make it a legal requirement for employers to pay a living wage.” Under our present crazy system, firms routinely pay their workers less than is needed to live on, knowing the taxpayer will pick up the tab for subsidising such “poverty wages”. An estimated £6bn is spent on people in work, compared with £8bn on benefits for the unemployed. In the past year, Tesco has cost the Treasury £364m in pay-rate supplements, while the in-work benefits received by employees at Next exceed what the firm pays in tax. Businesses milk the system by creating more subsidy-attracting, part-time jobs and fewer full-time ones. Not that firms admit their dependency on the state: they affect to despise “red tape” but see nothing wrong in employing people who must “submit themselves to miles of it.” It’s the wrong way round. If a company really can’t afford to pay a living wage, it’s the company, not its workers, who should apply for benefits. That has the virtue of both honesty and of saving the state a huge amount of money..
55
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14 August 1945 // 70th Anniversary World War II: V-J Day. Japan announced its unconditional surrender, ending WWII in the Pacific. (The war officially ended on 2nd Sept when Japan signed the surrender document.) 27 August 1955 // 60th Anniversary The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records (now Guinness World Records) was published. 31 August 1955 // 60th Anniversary The ‘Sunmobile’, the world’s first solar-powered car, was demonstrated at the General Motors Powerama show in Chicago, Illinois, USA. (It was 15 inches long.) 1 August 1965 // 50th Anniversary The British Government banned cigarette advertising on television. (Cigars and loose tobacco continued to be advertised on TV until 1991.) 12 August 1965 // 50th Anniversary Elizabeth Lane was appointed as Britain’s first female High Court judge. 27 August 1975 // 40th Anniversary Death of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-74). 14 August 1995 // 20th Anniversary The Battle of Britpop. British bands Blur and Oasis released competing singles on the same day, launching a chart battle that was spurred on by the media. Blur won the battle, with their song Country House reaching #1 by the end of the week while Oasis’s song Roll With It reached #2.
56 National Prison Radio
Insidetime August 2015 www.insidetime.org
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Bars is your award-winning daily feature show focusing on a different side of prison evening. We bring you the best chat, music and information to keep you informed son life and give a voice to your thoughts about life behind bars s Induction Show - all the basics about how prison works s Women Inside - focusing on life for female prisoners days Your Life - looking at how to keep your body and mind healthy ys The Inside Story - your in-depth guide to staying out of jail The Album Show - we play an entire album in full from start to finish ys The Love Bug - helping you keep in touch with family and friends on the outside s The Magazine - featuring the best bits of National Prison Radio
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Daily Sudoku: Wed 8-Jul-2015
Gema Records - Supplier of the UK’s Largest Back Catalogue of Music
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PUBLIC LIABILITY
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1. 50 Cent 2. The first manned moon landing 3. No One by Alicia Keys 4. Smooth by Santana 5. Damita Jo 6. Celine Dion 7. One Week 8. Fine Young Cannibals 9. ‘Hurricane’ Smith 10. Mariah Carey
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GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
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rds - Supplier of the UK’s ck Catalogue of Music
GEMA RECORDS Supplier of music, dvds and games
