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‘Shout OXO’ before you die

Paul Sullivan reviews the ‘Physical Control in Care Training Manual’

the National Newspaper for Prisoners

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£2bn Cuts

A ‘not for profit’ publication /55,000 copies distributed monthly / ISSN 1743-7342 /Issue No. 135 / September 2010

The Ministry of Justice is to cut £2 billion from its £9 billion budget. But where will this 20 percent cut come from?

T

he Public and Commercial Service Union has warned its members that around 15,000 of the Ministry of Justice’s 80,000 staff (almost the size of the British Army) may have to be axed. There are also plans to close 103 magistrates courts and 54 county courts in order to save £35 million per year from the court’s budget. Whatever the MoJ decides to do with its budget, having a 20% reduction will inevitably have severe effects on the access to, and the provision of, justice in the United Kingdom and will also result in fewer resources for the care, treatment and rehabilitation of people either serving  sentences in the community or in prison. Richard Marks QC, Leader of the Bar Council’s Northern Circuit, told Inside Time that the prison population had reached ‘unprecedented unwarranted and unsustainable levels. ’The Government had already imposed in April Richard Marks QC a 13.5 per cent cut, over a three year period, in the fees paid to lawyers. And any further reduction would, in both the long and short term, be ‘catastrophic for those accused of criminal offences and for the administration of justice as a whole.’

Michael Purdon, solicitor and Chairman of the Association of Prison Lawyers added: ‘The most effective way to reduce the prison and legal aid budgets is for the Secretary of State, Kenneth Clarke, to follow through with his proposed policy to significantly reduce the number of prisoners’.

“

Clearly a breathing space from obsessive concentration on increasing prison capacity at all costs would give the Government some necessary time and space to restructure the system ”

Clearly a breathing space from obsessive concentration on increasing prison capacity at all costs (£45,000 per prisoner per year, to be exact), would give the Government some necessary time and space to restructure the system. After all, it’s not too difficult to improve on a flawed system in which 66 per cent of people enter prison to serve less than a year and, after a few short weeks, leave homeless, jobless, out of touch with their families, further in debt, and ready to offend again - a process costing the taxpayer, say The National Audit Office, up to £13 billion a year. Continued on page 27

Jeremy Moore represented Barry George in his successful appeal proceedings and subsequent re-trial where he was acquitted.

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Oh my Lord! Lord Taylor of Warwick, the first black Conservative  Peer, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday the 13th of August to face six charges relating to his parliamentary expenses. He is alleged to have dishonestly claimed more than £24,300 in overnight subsistence and mileage between March 2006 and October 2007 after stating that his main place of residence was outside London when he actually lived in the City. Lord Taylor denied the charges. He is due to attend Southwark Crown Court on September 17. News from the House pages 40-41

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Glaring admission

the national newspaper for prisoners published by Inside Time Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Bridge, a charity founded in 1956 to create links between the offender and the community.

If the Justice Secretary had any sense he would have both read and acted upon John O’ Connor’s open letter to him, which featured in the July issue of Inside Time. I do not know if it was a coincidence or not, but on the same day that I read Mr O’ Connor’s open letter, the Justice Secretary made a glaring admission. In a statement, widely reported in the media, he admitted that the prison system is a £2.2 billion a year failure. That it fails to rehabilitate inmates and that the prison population is at an unacceptable level. These are all things that us inmates could have told him ages ago. That the Justice Secretary has admitted that the prison system fails to rehabilitate inmates must surely be a big slap in the face to Prison Service psychologists and their much vaunted, but useless, programmes? Could they now be on their way out? The Justice Secretary’s statement about wanting to change the system could, of course, be a lot of hot air!

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Trevor Grove - Former Editor Sunday Telegraph, Journalist, Writer and serving Magistrate. 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 E. Smith B.Sc F.C.A. a Alistair H. not not - Chartered profit profit Accountant, Trustee and Treasurer, New Bridge publication service Foundation.

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..................................................... Name Supplied - HMP Wakefield

We shall have to wait and see, especially as his Parliamentary colleague, the Chancellor, is seeking to make cuts in public sector departmental budgets. How much the prison system’s budget is cut by remains to be seen, though cuts of 20% across the public sector have been mooted. If this level of cuts does become a fact, then things do not look good.

Jeffrey Archer has the answers!

..................................................... A Partridge - HMP Ford Firstly, may I congratulate you on the quality and tremendously informative content of your newspaper. I have found it most helpful in my dealings with the law. But my main reason for writing is your ‘splash’, as I believe it is known in the trade, ‘Prisons Are Awash With Drugs’ (front page, July 2010 issue). This problem is discussed in stark detail and at length in Lord Jeffrey Archer’s excellent description of ‘life inside’, in his Prison Diaries 1, 2, and 3. In them he describes a multitude of ways by which illegal substances (as well as other items) are smuggled into prisons, the various methods of payment, and how the detection of some may be avoided. He is very frank about their evil influence, not only in prisons but ‘on-the-out’ as well. Has no one in authority read them? He also mentions corrupt prison officers not being routinely investigated, accused, and charged. Are prison officers above the law? If so, then how ironic? Finally, in his last paragraph about replacing the current regime with 50% of the entire prison population being tested quarterly, I would like to suggest that the summons to attend should be made on the same day as the test.

Data protection loss

...................................................................................................... Name Supplied - HMP The Verne

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Correspondence Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. Accounts & Admin: Inside Time, P.O.Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ. 0844 335 6483 / 01489 795945 0844 335 6484 [email protected] www.insidetime.org If you wish to reproduce or publish any of the content from any issue of Inside Time, you should first contact us for written permission. Full terms & conditions can be found on the website.

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

I am writing in the hope that you may be able to help me with an issue I have. You may recall that back in summer 2008 a data stick holding information on over 80,000 inmates was ‘mislaid’ by PA Consulting Services Ltd? I pursued a claim for damages relating to this monumental breach of the Data Protection Act. However my claim, which to me was black & white, collapsed due to funding problems and also due to inept legal representation. Well, the question I have for yourselves is – do you know of anybody who was successful in that case? If so could you give me the details of the solicitor who represented the case. I still have my case here ready to go.

Talking sense

Swap places?

..................................................... Marc Stewart - HMP Stafford I feel I have to reply to the letter from M. Rutter (August issue) about HMP Lewes being the ‘worst jail’ he had been in. He states he is from the north-west, which raises the issue of how prisoners are being treated if they are in a prison so far away from their home area. HMP Lewes is my local prison and I wish I could swap places with him. Lewes is an excellent prison, the Education Department is by far the best I have come across out of 7 prisons I have been in. I am in a north-west prison, about 350 miles from home.

Heating in Peterhead

..................................................... Name Supplied - HMP Peterhead I am one of many older prisoners here at Peterhead who have to endure freezing conditions as our heating is switched off in April, and it won’t be switched back on again until October. Older people tend to feel the cold much more and as a man of 60, I spend my days in bed under the blankets. Every day is the same, regardless of the weather outside the halls and cells are freezing 24 hours a day. The only way of feeling warm is to get into bed. I spend more time in my bed than out of it; and I’ve got another 6 years left. In April this year we had a visit from the Chief Inspector of Prisons during which our heating was switched on for 2 days, then it was switched off again as soon as the inspection was over. The weather can get very cold here, but we older men have to struggle. The only time you can sit in your cell is when the heating gets switched back on again in October. I only get out of bed for mealtimes, and when we get recreation from 6.30 – 9pm. As soon as my door is closed at night I’m in my bed until the next morning. Elderly prisoners shouldn’t have to suffer freezing conditions like this.

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Star Letter of the Month Congratulations to Ian Hutchinson HMP The Mount who wins the £25 cash prize for this month’s Star Letter

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.

What price justice?

....................................................................................................... Vicky James - Prisoner’s wife or partner At a time when the government are looking at a scheme regarding alerting the public about those who are regarded as sex offenders, I think that people need to consider a number of issues. While I completely support keeping our children safe, we need to consider the 20% of innocent people within our prison system, innocent men who have against them an alleged crime, often with little or no evidence, sometimes as a result of a jilted ex-partner. I have found myself subject to this situation, as my partner has suffered this form of injustice, though the ECHR have accepted our case and it should be up soon. How can the law allow women to make false allegations, with no evidence, and imprison an ex-partner? 20% of the prison population are innocent, but the Home Office are now making a crime of ‘rape’ where no actual physical contact needs to take place. Our country is more dangerous than many Third World countries because we really believe that everybody here has a fair trial. I would suggest that we don’t. Laws are misinterpreted, corrupted, and random.

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Mailbag Contents

Mailbag ......................... pages 2-9 Information

...................

page 10

Newsround .............. pages 11-17 Diary ......................... pages 18-19 Astrology .......................... page 20 Religions .......................... page 21

Thanks for your help

.....................................................

The Dennis Gill Ruling

..................................................... Name Supplied - HMP Nottingham

Och Aye the Noo ................................................... Ian Hutchinson - HMP The Mount I write to you in the hope that I may be able to enlighten some of the ignoramuses, in here, or as I call them – ‘the och-aye-thenoo brigade. As one of only 5 Scots here at The Mount there seems to be a perception that us Scots walk around in kilts, playing the bagpipes and saying ‘och aye the noo’ to everyone! This perception probably owes a lot to one of England’s ‘finest comedians’ Russ Abbot! But not once have I heard anyone mention any of the great achievements us Scots have given the world. For instance – Penicillin, television, the telephone, the steam engine, golf, Robert Burns, Scottish whiskey, tarmac, Dunlop tyres, tartan, the thermos flask, Raleigh bicycles, the Presbyterian church, the Glasgow kiss, and sperm – because for a nation of 6 million over 400 million can trace their ancestry back to Scottish sperm. What else? Oh yeah. Iron Bru, haggis, flower of Scotland, William Wallace, highland dancing, the penny chew, North Sea oil, Kenny Dalgleish, Billy Connolly, the deep-fried mars bar, the Enlightenment Movement, and, of course Scotland invented the four natural occurrences –rain, wind, snow, which we kept for ourselves, and the sun, which we gave away! This list could go on and on with not an och-aye-thenoo in sight. So you have the Scots to thank for the television you watch and the life-saving antibiotics you and your family take. So the next time you come across a Scottish person there is no need to drop to your knees in gratitude, but just think about what your nation has contributed to the world? And keep your stupid comments to yourself. And on a final note to our nearest but not so dearest – please stop boring us with talk of 1966. Thank you.

I wonder if your paper could look at the Dennis Gill ruling? The prison service has been found guilty of discriminating against the disabled after failing to provide courses for offending behaviour to an inmate with a low IQ. Dennis Gill won his case after complaining that without access to the courses he was unable to persuade the Parole Board that he could be released. The court ruling opens the prospect of prisons having to now offer one-to-one help. A large number of prisoners have problems with reading and writing, yet here at Nottingham, and probably in other prisons, mentors on the Toe-by-Toe scheme do not get paid. As a result, very few people give or offer the help that is needed. Prisoners have the right to complain if they are not getting the one-to-one help they need.

Comment ................. pages 22-38

Diane Loughran - HMP Drake Hall Although we all have our moans and groans about prison life and some prison officers, I would like to highlight officers here at Drake Hall’s Diversity Team. When I came to prison for the first time, my family being in America and Spain, I had no contact with them at this time as I was in HMP Styal. My only contact was via mail. Coming to Drake Hall my stepmother died in the US and, being her next of kin, I was worried and upset as I could not contact anyone there. But the Diversity department sorted out a call to America for me, and my own pin-number to ring abroad. This was a big relief at the time. I should have been eligible to do this from Styal, and it would have been nice to speak to my stepmother before she died. Some staff have really helped me through bad times and I wish to thank them. They are a brilliant team. I do believe we have the best Diversity team here at Drake Hall.

Your Children Your Rights by Jessica Berens ................... page 33

Wellbeing ........................... page 39 News from the House ................................ pages 40-41 Legal Comment .. pages 42-44

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Jailbreak ................... pages 52-56 looking ahead October / Special Education pages November / New Arts section December / Christmas Extra Jailbreak

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Coming out .....................................................

Secret accusations

....................................................................................................... David Ambler - HMP Wayland

Martin - HMP Garth My name is Martin and I am currently serving 7 years at HMP Garth. After reading Sophie Willet’s article ‘Homophobic Ignorance’ (July 2010 issue), I would like to follow up with my experiences as a homosexual man in prison. On arrival in prison I labelled myself as ‘straight’ for fear of my safety. However, here at Garth over the last year I have gradually dropped hints as to my sexuality until I got to the point of ‘coming out’ a little over 5 months ago. The lads here have been brilliant (obviously there’s been the odd harmless joke) and on the whole I have been accepted for who I am. I would like to thank everyone, and I hope others read this and realise we are just people, regardless of our sexuality. There are always stories of discrimination and bullying, and I just think it’s about time people got to hear of the decent people who accept others. Thank you for not adding to my stress and worry.

Sexuality?

..................................................... Lee Flaherty- HMP Haverigg I have never been one to moan, but I have to say something as I am sick of heterosexual prisoners moaning about being treated ‘differently’, and homosexual prisoners moaning for the same reason. So what if homosexual prisoners can get condoms and lubricants, and so what if heterosexual prisoners can have hardcore porn magazines? Get over it, will you? You should know that in prison everyone is treated the same, regardless of sexual orientation. Moaning all the time about discrimination gets boring, so chill out.

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

I have found out that I have been suspected of escape from HMP Wormwood Scrubs in April 2009. The prison have said they suspected me of trying to escape on two occasions, which was written in a security file that was read to me by a wing officer who had to make a report on me. Yes, I escaped from an NHS hospital over a year ago. But I’ve been to court for that, on the 5th July 2010, and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.

Bank on it ..................................................... Nathan Eyre - HMP Isle of Wight I wish to comment on a recent article about a former inmate’s efforts to open a bank account on release, and the problems he faced (June 2010 issue). Here at HMP Isle of Wight we have a very proactive resettlement department and, in conjunction with the local C.A.B, they are delivering Unlock’s ‘Unlocking Finance’ course, resulting in a Barclays bank account at the end of it. Along with another orderly, I helped the lady from the C.A.B to deliver the course to six inmates, and thanks to the very professional delivery by the C.A.B, all those present took away a lot of knowledge. But the key thing was that we all left with a basic bank account set up, and one vital piece of ID in place. The course, funded by The Big Lottery Fund, was well supported by the local Barclays branch, who were present on the last day to open the accounts and provide financial advice to those who required it. The resettlement department here has since filled every course place for most of this year, so a vital need within the prison system is at last being met on this island. I would urge any inmate held in Albany or Parkhurst to sign up for it, as you can get one-to-one support if required, and it’s never too early to start planning for your release.

As I’m doing an IPP sentence of 3 years and have to do courses, I want to go to HMP Grendon to work on my behaviour problems, relationships, drugs, and anger. But today I found out that the suspected escape attempts might affect my transfer to a prison where I might be able to better myself. This could also affect my parole hearing and other things. I’ve been told it’s just security data for them, and information received will not affect me. I am an enhanced prisoner but the prison will not let me go on an enhanced wing as they told me I’m not to be trusted. I’m in a cat C prison, doing a RAPT course, on an open condition wing so it confuses me. I’ve never been put on report, or even been pulled or talked to about these accusations, and you would think that questions would have been asked. What I want to know is, can prison officers write in security files about things they think, or suspect they know? I feel that someone in authority is blaming me for things I’ve never done or known anything about. Prison Officers are making things up so I end up never getting out at all. All this has affected me and will go against me for my whole sentence. And someone is getting away with it. But it’s not fair on me, or other prisoners who might have the same problem. I think I have to stand up for myself as no one else will.

Get on with it! ....................................................... Name Supplied - HMP Camp Hill With this being my fifth sentence, and also being an ex-squaddie, I felt compelled to write a little something about the bitching and moaning over miniscule matters being sent in by people every month. Various people questioning the length of their sentence, the rules on being allowed to vote, how well stocked the prison canteen is, and even whether a freeview box is allowed or not! Let’s face it, we get 3 square meals a day, regular contact with family through letters, phonecalls (and texts, in some cases). We get plenty of gym, exercise, association, education, work, and canteen. We’ve got televisions, radios, DVDs and game consoles, let’s face it, this isn’t exactly torture, is it?

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Let’s compare that to the average week for a British soldier out in Afghanistan, eating dehydrated tasteless food once or twice a day, getting a bluey letter once a week or a fortnight, one satcom phone call for 20 minutes a week, and sleeping in fear of whether you or your comrades will be shot or blown up the next day. You could make the point that our soldiers chose their career, and I agree, but they also don’t moan or grumble about what they don’t have. We choose to commit crime, and we also moan constantly about things that very often we shouldn’t even be entitled to. Spare a thought for those less fortunate than yourselves before writing next time. By this time next week some families will have lost a father, brother, uncle, cousin, or son, forever... Picture: British soldiers from B Flight, 27 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment take a break whilst on a combat misson near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 2. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez)

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Mailbag

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Stick to facts ....................................................................................................

Lost In The System

.....................................................

Taking Liberties! .....................................................

Kirsty Lacey - HMP Send

Ray Croft - HMP Dartmoor

Mr spurling - HMP Exeter

Again I find myself writing in response to another letter from Mr Charles Hanson (‘Ruffled Feathers’ July 2010 issue) where he suggests he ‘hit a raw nerve’ and ‘maybe my faith in AA isn’t so strong after all’. I have complete faith in the fellowship, Charles, and have total confidence in my own faith, as that is what keeps me clean today. And as for ‘disregarding any criticism’, like you, I too have a right to voice my opinion and that is what I did. I fully accept constructive criticism, but found myself angered by most of your article, because, let’s face it, most of that article was based upon your own opinion. It’s true that many do drop out, but that doesn’t mean the programme has failed, it merely means that they were not ready. If the steps are followed YOU WILL STAY CLEAN AND SOBER, one day at a time. It works, Charles, if you work at it. And as for the last paragraph – ‘ruffled feathers’ – where you, in my view, are suggesting that people only get clean for a good report, I actually agree that many do. But to tar everyone with the same brush is unfair and inaccurate . Great article on Page 23, loved it, keep up the good work, I like it when you stick to facts.

I arrived at Elmley prison on the Isle of Sheppey on the 24-4-09, after being sentenced to 3 years, reduced to 18 months by a guilty plea. After working in the prison laundry I was then transferred to HMP Maidstone on 3-8-09. As it is a ‘training’ prison I got a job in the print shop, good it was too. After a few months I put in an app for a transfer to HMP Channings Wood, a prison nearer my home. As I’m due to complete an offender management course I thought this would be ideal. Also, visits from my wife would be more manageable. I was given information about Channings Wood which included contents about courses. When I looked into this further it said they only accepted prisoners into VP Units who were enhanced. So I applied for enhanced status but I had to wait the obligatory three months. On 24-12-09 I received a Christmas present, yes, my enhanced status was given to me. I then confirmed that Channings Wood ran the SOTP course, Maidstone said they did, so I reapplied to transfer.

I am currently on remand at Exeter prison and I’ve decided to write as I can’t believe how badly this prison is being run. As a remand prisoner I am entitled to 2 free 2nd class letters per week. At Exeter we all get one. This I believe to be wrong as it is interfering with our right to communication with the outside. At my count they owe me 11 letters, and I am just one of hundreds of remands. I put in a COMP 1 form about this 3 weeks ago and still have not had a reply, even though officially I should have had an answer in 7 days. Also, legal letters - why does this prison take 3 to 4 days to provide us with them?

On the 22-2-10 I was given the okay to move, or so I thought. During the following 4 weeks I was given various excuses for the delay. On the 23-3-10 I finally left Maidstone for Channings Wood. Then the fun started. Instead of heading south-west I noticed we were going north-west to London and I ended up in the Scrubs for an overnight B&B. After a sleepless night, due to constant shouting and door banging, and a delightful breakfast of sugar-coated Frosties, plus bread and jam (you wouldn’t think I am diabetic) we were bussed out, heading south-west? No, we went west onto the M4 and our next stop was HMP Cardiff!

...................................................

DSPD worked for me ..................................................... Steven Cossey - HMP Frankland After reading the articles about how the DSPD units are not good places, cost too much, don’t work, and are full of prison officers who have lost all confidence in the treatment programmes and psychology departments, and that they should be closed down, I feel I must comment. I would like to defend the DSPD units. I came to the DSPD unit here at Frankland in August 2004. I arrived with many issues. I was angry and impulsive, aggressive and argumentative. I could not cope with problems. Since August 2004 I have completed many treatment programmes, and I have now learnt new coping strategies to help with my emotions. My experience of the DSPD unit at Frankland can only be a positive one as I know that I have a progressive move to a medium secure unit in the near future. So it has angered me to read that ‘the DSPD experiment has been a bold attempt to tackle a difficult problem’ that translates as a reckless experiment which no sane man would consider as DSPD is not an established diagnosis and there is no treatment with a satisfactory evidence base that could be recommended for people diagnosed with the condition.

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Mr Rose also goes on to say ‘if the condition exists then it is hardly surprising there is little effective treatment being given and no common treatment programme possible’. The reason the four DSPD sites run different programmes (although most programmes do have the same contents) is that the treatment modules are specifically identified for each prisoners needs. My reply to Mr Leggatt is – where is the evidence that ‘after 8 years the DSPD units are not working and, if anything, those held on the units are becoming more dangerous than when they first arrived’. I have been on this unit since 2004, and in that time there has been no serious incidents on any of the 4 units. In my opinion the treatment available within the DSPD sites DOES WORK. But with one massive stipulation – YOU HAVE TO WANT TO CHANGE TO GET RESULTS! Dr Bob Johnson page 31

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Up bright and early the next morning, and off to Channings Wood? Yes, our bus driver said. But then the fun started all over again. When we arrived at Channings Wood reception they dumped me in a waiting room for about an hour. An officer eventually appeared and asked me what I was doing here as they had not expected me until the next day and had no room. So they put me in the seg unit (talk about dignity and respect) and I was not happy to say the least. The next morning I was told that they did not run the SOTP course and that Maidstone had been misinformed. And, also, they still had no room for me, so I was moved to HMP Dartmoor, ‘temporarily’. After nearly 3 months I am still here, still waiting to see officers from OMU, still waiting for a personal officer, still waiting and twiddling my thumbs. Talk about progress, not.

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As a remand prisoner I’m entitled to wear my own clothes, but the app process to get clothing brought in is not very good. There are many other things wrong with this jail. Kit changes are haphazard and seem to be on whatever day they feel like it. Domestic visits are classed as our association time. There are only 14 Enhanced spaces on the wing, and these are given to wing workers. I could go on.

The Story So Far

Scott Baldwin - HMP Leyhill I am a 44 year-old ex truck driver who has used my time and energy in prison to my own advantage so as to maximise my chances when I get out. Do not bang your head against the system, you WILL lose. Take advantage of whatever is offered and get out quicker, as a wiser and more knowledgeable person. You may think that crime is the easy way of life and your only option, but the payback is a bitch. The prison service owes us nothing; we are here because we messed up and got caught, hard luck, live with it, make the most of it. Most of us are chancers on the out, taking advantage where we can and hopefully getting away with it. Why should prison life be any different? If you don’t want to do extra time then stick to the rules (as petty as they may be). You will never be ‘one up’ as they hold all the cards and all the keys. I have now done 27 months with 9 left to serve, and have taken advantage of the system to my benefit, with the prison’s full consent. So far I have gained many different qualifications, from CLAIT to an NVQ in dry-stone-walling. And in September I will be going to college again to study for an NVQ in bricklaying. Not bad in less than two-and--a-half years after being out of school for 30! Whatever you achieve will be of help in the future. Do yourselves a favour and take advantage of the system.

Ross SR Samuel Solicitors Criminal Defence and Prison Law Specialists • Licence & Parole Issues • Categorisation • Recall to Custody • Ajudications • Tariff & Judicial Review For Immediate Visit, Clear Advice and Effective Representation, write or call, Pedro Kika or Anthony Okoruwa at:

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6

Mailbag

No progress for IPP’s

..................................................... D Butler - HMP East Sutton Park I am writing this article as I feel I’m hitting a brick wall constantly. Along with a lot of other lifers/ IPP’s, I am well over tariff and, after jumping through all the hoops like a show pony, I am still having constant troubles. This is for all the lifers/ IPP’s working towards open conditions, as I feel you should know how hard it is to actually prove yourself. Imagine this… I am currently able to take myself to medical appointments and go to a local men’s prison for 5 days a week to do a course. Then in a couple of months I’ll be eligible for a 12 hour town visit once a week, where I’d be able to go out with who I like, within a 50 mile radius of the jail. Now here’s the joke… The next progressive step is home leave, a time which should be spent with family and friends, or seeking employment, etc. But, for some reason, officials are insisting that we must spend our initial few home leaves in a bail hostel in order to monitor the risk we pose. How are we supposed to show that we can be trusted when we have to sign in every 2 hours, and even queue for medication, etc? It will be like starting my sentence all over again…and for what? The Parole Board have already deemed me a low enough risk to be in open conditions, so where’s the sense in sending me to an environment that is more secure than the one I currently reside in? Not only that, but the only bail hostel that accepts women for home leaves is in an area where I have no family and is not a place where I would be relocating on release. So it serves absolutely no purpose. I am currently trying everything in my power to go home to my family after spending years in custody, but it is certainly no walk in the park. I only hope that something drastically changes for us in the foreseeable future.

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.

Andy Morris - HMP Erlestoke I just want to take the opportunity to refer back to the letter from Michael Robinson (IPP Update, July issue), and to offer my thanks to Mr Robinson and to Inside Time. I am the prisoner who brought Inside Time and the open letter to the Prime Minister to the attention of Claire Perry MP (Devizes) and I did this because I had attempted to get an awareness piece into the internal prison magazine. Regrettably this was not something the authorities were going to allow, so I was very pleased and grateful to Inside Time for printing this particular piece, along with a list of MPs. I sincerely hope that the other 5,999 IPPs will take this opportunity to support organisations like Inside Time, Unlock, and the Prison Reform Trust, who have advocated on our behalf for some time now. I think it is vital that together we contribute to informed debate in order that this wretched sentencing policy can be reviewed, reformed, and ultimately removed forever.

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I am writing to you regarding the letter ‘IPP Update’ (July 2010 issue). My son is doing an IPP sentence in Swinfen Hall (as are many others), he was given a 2 year IPP and has now done 2 years 11 months to date. Only last week he started one of the courses he needs to do. The second course he has to do isn’t available till between January and May 2011. He can’t apply for an open prison because these courses haven’t been done. And, by the looks of things, it could be another year before this applies to him. So this could easily turn into a 5 year sentence, and I find this totally out of order. IPP hasn’t been well put together at all and certainly needs a review. I have enclosed a distressing section of a letter which I received from NOMS ‘…Offenders who are past their tariff will continue to be held in custody until they have demonstrated to the Parole Board that their risk has been reduced’. Prisoners need to have a release date. This isn’t fair justice at all, just one big head game.

..................................................................................................... Alastair Moden - HMP Stocken I would just like to make a few comments, having read B. Burns’s contribution about getting tough on prison (August Mailbag). I am an IPP prisoner, having served almost 4 years, and Mr Burns saying that prison is like a holiday camp after he’s done just 7 months in jail is a laugh. Mr Burns is clearly living in some fantasy wonderland. Basically Mr Burns, until you receive an IPP or life sentence it would be wise to take a realistic look at the whole situation. Fellow inmates who regularly read Inside Time, especially IPP and lifers, don’t like this kind of talk. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but what you said was basically jargon and only fit to go through a paper shredder. Thanks for nothing!

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. 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.

For an immediate response call:

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Thanks for nothing!

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..................................................... Following the letter from G. Boyes of HMP Littlehey, in the August issue, about mobile phones without cameras or internet access for use in hostels, Inside Time has done some investigations and the following are available on Pay as You Go; T-Mobile LG GS101 £9.99 Samsung E11220 £9.90 Samsung E1170 £14.99 Orange Alcatel OT-222 £9.00 Samsung E1170 £9.00 Samsung E1360B £14.00 Vodaphone Nokia 1800 £20.00 (pictured) All these phones would also require the purchase of £10 phone credit. This is a sample of what is available, there are other phone companies and suppliers who may also offer similar such phones.

Wrong details on NOMIS

..................................................... Name and Address supplied I am writing to let your readers know that the NOMIS computer system does not have a comprehensive list of offences. I am in for arson reckless, but am listed as arson with intent. When I inquired about the error I received the following response: ‘NOMIS does not recognise your offence so you have been listed with the nearest offence to your own. We know you are in for arson reckless, but we cannot input that on the system’. This is worrying as the offence listed is more severe than my actual offence and may have many repercussions for me.

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Mailbag

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.

Devon & Cornwall Police

Hunger strike legality

Martin McKeown - HMP Exeter

Darren Scott - HMP Frankland

After reading the two articles by Mr Keith Rose on Devon & Cornwall Police and their corruption, I felt the need to write about how I fell victim to their illegal activities, just as many others have. They obtained records without my consent, falsified transcripts, made up charges, changed dates from 1996 to 2005 and wiped vital evidence from my phone that would have proved their charges to be false. These are only a small list of things they did to have me wrongly convicted, and the best part is they had no evidence at all.

I would like to know what the HMPS position is reference a prisoner refusing food. Is it classed as self-harm? Do prisoners have the legal right to refuse food and fluid?

....................................................................................................

Despite the mountains of letters to Stephen Otter, and many government departments with facts of police corruption, and lists of documents that prove this, and my innocence, this has only fallen on deaf ears. I have been forced to take drastic steps and go on hunger strike to protest my innocence, and not just for me but for all those who have suffered at the hands of Devon & Cornwall Police. I am now entering the 4th week of my hunger strike, and I will continue with it until I get justice or death, whichever comes first, because I’m sick of the lies and deceit of Devon & Cornwall Police, the CPS, and the Probation Service. milk the public purse after retirement. Using a technique known as ‘double-dipping’, the retired freemason will receive two-thirds of his final salary. He then rejoins Devon & Cornwall Constabulary as a ‘support staff member’, often at a higher salary than his previous police pay. How much is it worth? Well, taking figures just released under the Freedom of Information Act, one Kent officer was drawing £38,053 as a pension, and a support staff salary of £48,393. A double-dipping total of £86,446 per year.

Double Dipping ................................................ Keith Rose - HMP Long LARTIN Without wishing to bang on about the institutional corruption in Devon & Cornwall police, there is another scam of the funny handshake brigade which is worth sharing. If you have mastered the art of trouser leg management, and the funny handshakes required in the higher ranks of Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, there is another way to

However, Devon & Cornwall Constabulary have taken double-dipping to a higher level. A higher ranking mason retires on two-thirds pension, then signs on as a ‘Civilian Consultant’ and can charge consultancy fees for a bigger slice of the cake. These ‘civilian consultants’ often have nonsense titles like Quality Assurance Consultant. One former Chief Superintendant is claimed to be milking the West country taxpayers for well over £100,000 a year. Now that’s what I call ‘Quality Assurance’, and they say that crime doesn’t pay!

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Writes When a prisoner is considering embarking on a food refusal it is recommended that they discuss their decision with their legal representative, a member of staff or a healthcare professional at the earliest opportunity. The Governor of the relevant establishment was contacted upon receipt of this letter, and a copy of the letter was provided so that a member of staff could discuss with the author their intention to go on hunger strike as a matter of urgency. Prisoners and detainees have the legal right to refuse food and fluid. Although staff will make efforts to persuade individuals to eat and drink, feeding against the will of anyone who is competent to make their own decisions can be considered assault. Food refusal within prison or removal centres can be a form of protest or entered into in order to raise the profile of an individual situation. Equally, refusing food can be a warning sign of suicidal intent. Understanding why a prisoner might refuse to eat and/or drink will enable attempts to be made to work with the individual to identify and, if possible, alleviate the precipitating factor(s), and arrange for counselling, psychological assessment and assessment of mental capacity to take place. Guidance and procedures for dealing with food refusal differ from those dealing with self-harm. This is because the motivations of those who refuse food are often different from the motivations of prisoners who self-harm using methods such as cutting, and also because the legal framework for dealing with food refusal has some unique features. The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) processes must be used following any act of self-harm. As above, although food refusal is self-injurious, an individual may not be refusing food primarily to self-harm. Therefore, it is not mandatory to use ACCT in every case of food refusal. The final decision on whether or not to open an ACCT document lies with the individual’s establishment. When a prisoner is identified by a member of staff as requiring special care due to a potential risk of suicide or self-harm as a result of refusing food, the ACCT process is an appropriate mechanism to use to support such a prisoner, record information and monitor progress. This is true even when it is clear that the prisoner refusing food is doing so in order to bring about a change in their conditions.

Who Has Liability?

..................................................... Mark Ford - HMP Full Sutton When returning from the prison workshop all prisoners have to pass through an X-ray portal in the centre of the passage. We have to hand over all our property to staff at one end and have a rub-down search before collecting our property at the other end. On this occasion I handed in my watch but when I went to get it at the other end it had ‘disappeared’. Staff admitted I had handed it in, but did not get it back. I was offered £25 as compensation, but the watch was a Tag, worth £1600, so I declined. I pushed the matter and ended up in County Court, where the prison system fell back on their disclaimer about prisoners’ property being held in possession at their own risk. My defence was that when it disappeared it was not in my possession but in the staff’s possession. The ruling was that handing property to prison staff is part of the risk of having property in possession. I took my case to the Ombudsman, but he took a side step as he said a court had already ruled on the case so he could not investigate. I then had to use the portal again in early 2010, and when asked to hand over my watch I stated that I would not hand it over unless they took responsibility for it. I was told that I would hand it over at my own risk, which I refused to do. I was placed on report for refusing to obey an order and found guilty at my subsequent adjudication. The adjudicator would not look at the issue of legality or the lawfulness of the order. I appealed and got the standard KB and sent it to the Ombudsman. The answer was that due to security it is not unreasonable to ask prisoners to hand over their property as part of a search. But they would not take into account the liability of property taken from a prisoner under direct order. So, as confirmed via the application system, any property taken from a prisoner at the portal search area, even under direct order, remains the responsibility of the prisoner. It appears that staff can order a prisoner to hand over their property without having any duty of care for that property or any loss or damage that occurs whilst in their possession. If I was to order someone to hand me their property on pain of punishment it would be called robbery with menaces.

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Mailbag

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Why ban glass jars? Right to vote claim ..................................................... ......................................................

that the claim has no merits! However I would not like to discourage people from trying.

Name Supplied - HMP Albany I would like to highlight a POA-driven knee-jerk reaction. Though let me say that I have great sympathy with anyone who gets attacked by some low-life just for doing the job they are paid to do. That said, the question has to be asked – where is the logic in the glass jar ban? Consider the following Freedom of Information Request that I submitted.

© prisonimage.org

More channels please

..................................................... R Smith - HMP Bristol Regarding the debate about television programming available to prisoners, I would like to add my own comments. Why do we have restricted television? Many of my fellow inmates agree with me that they would like the opportunity to view television the way it is made and supposed to be viewed. Also, to learn something educational and informative. For example, Open University channel, history, science, and also something for ethnic minorities, rather than the set restricted programming currently offered and shown. Am I right in thinking it is because of licensing of programmes? I am also a practising Christian and I would like the opportunity to view more religious programmes – including those of other faiths. I think the option of more channels would be fair to all prisoners, would do no harm, and would not cost the prison any more money. Or am I wrong in thinking this?

 

(1) In the last 5 years, how many officers employed by the Prison Service have been subject to attack with glass jars? (2) For comparison, how many officers have been subject to attack with other objects, such as razor-based weapons? The results from NOMS came back for public and private sector prisons in England and Wales. (1) Assaults on officers and civilian grades involving glass jars are not common. Between 2005 and 2009 there were 22 such assaults recorded using glass objects. On top of this, albeit not in my request, it appears that in the same period 172 prisoner on prisoner assaults took place using ‘glass objects’. But if you think how many inmates have passed through the system in that 5 years, the percentage risk rate is next to non-existent – yet we have to suffer the loss of things like Gold Blend coffee. (2) As for the comparison request – the risk is much higher with razor-based attacks being reported at 82 assaults on staff for the same period. So the risk from glass jars is still minimal and by any measure this ban has to be considered knee-jerk. Ben’s Blog Page 35

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Jessica Martina-Winfield - HMP Frankland Can you please place an inclusion into your Mailbag over the right to vote and the claim for compensation for obvious breaches in European Court law. I know Mr Elkan Abrahamson of Jackson & Canter Solicitors means well. I received a copy of his Particulars of Claim, but can your readers note that there were some legal mistakes in his advice. Under Section 7(1)a of the Human Rights Act 1998, this claim cannot be issued in the county court as the readers are being advised. The claim must be issued in the High Court in the Queen’s Bench District Registry, and in the UK courts within 12 months from the date of the election. It also wrongly stated the Representation of The People Act 2003, when it should have been 1983. Furthermore, a claim under Section 7(1)a which is challenging legislation or matters of public importance, such as this Grand Chamber Judgement, can only be dealt with by a High Court. Also, the Treasury Solicitor has no legal or lawful defence to any of these claims as they are clearly in breach of Hirst v UK (2006 42 EHRR 41). Therefore, I would advise your readers to use the Strike-Out powers, under 3.3 and 3.4, if the Treasury Solicitor tries to lodge a defence, as any defence would have no legal or lawful basis. Any legitimate claim against a public authority should not be struck out by the Treasury Solicitor, under Z v UK (1999)28 EHRR CD 65, and also Z v UK (2001) 2 FCR 245, and Dickson v UK (2008) 46 EHRR 41, and Hirst v UK (2008) , and Regina v Chester v Secretary of State for Justice, Metropolitan District Council (2009) EWHC 2923 (admin), has relevance to the claim for damages which I would put at between £750 - £3000 for each person. Elkan Abrahamson Jackson and Canter LLP writes: I am very grateful to Jessica for her comments. Firstly, Human Rights Act claims can be brought in the County Court or High Court. Some County Courts have agreed to issue (although the Treasury Solicitor is I believe trying to transfer all cases to the High Court).Many cases have been transferred to the High Court but they can still begin in the County Court. Secondly, Jessica is quite right that the ref. should be to the 1983 Representation of the People Act - my apologies for the typo. Technically, amended Particulars of Claim should be lodged but I think in this case where there has been a typing error a letter to the Court should be sent pointing this out, with a copy to the Treasury Solicitor, and this should suffice. As to whether as Claimants you would succeed in a strike-out application, I think this is very unlikely - some Courts are refusing even to allow claimants to issue proceedings on the grounds

Some prisoners issuing in the UK are using the European Court form (headed statement of facts and violations) -please use the form headed ‘Particulars of Claim’ for English/Welsh proceedings. Can I take this opportunity to mention that I have heard from the European Court that they are processing 3 lead cases which they hope to have heard next year and are meanwhile logging in all other applications and ‘staying’ them until the lead cases are heard. Finally can I say how pleased I was with the response - we have heard from over 2000 prisoners so far. I am afraid that as I am doing the work on this for free I have exhausted the goodwill of my staff and I think there must be info on every prison wing by now so could I ask prisoners to stop writing to me please? This has been a very encouraging exercise to me as it shows how prisoners will stand up for their rights on their own if necessary. With the new legal funding system - which will only get worse - I am afraid that you will have to do a lot more on your own in future. Good luck to everyone!

Don’t Make Me Laugh!

..................................................... Howard Pats - HMP Buckley Hall As regards to June’s tabloid-style headline grabber - PRISONERS’ VOTES COULD HAVE CHANGED ELECTION RESULT - on what information did you base this spurious story? I hope you do not honestly believe that if we prisoners had the right to exercise our right to vote, that prisoner turn-out would have been at 100%? Let’s look at some basic facts. The apathy the voting public have had towards the last 3 general elections has shown in the voting figures. In 2001 the turn-out to vote was 59.4%, the worst turn-out in 50 years. In 2005 it was up slightly to 61.3%, and in this year’s general election it was 65.1%. So, who are you trying to kid that we could have affected election results? If apathy runs that deep in the community towards political parties, it certainly runs deeper towards them in the prison community. Like many other inmates in establishments around the UK, I would be far more interested in how we can claim our EXPENSES for NOT being allowed to vote? Or would that be far too SCANDALOUS to print? Money really does make the world go round!!!

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Mailbag

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9

IPP Update from Emmersons Solicitors

Website comment via

www.insidetime.org

.......................................................................................................

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Lorna Elliott - Emmersons Solicitors

Campbell Malone Stephensons SOLICITORS

A partner of an IPP prisoner who is significantly over tariff recently  contacted us about our campaign. She received a letter from Crispin  Blunt about the sentencing review and has kindly agreed to share its  contents. Mr Blunt said, ‘The principal aim (of the review) is to ensure that the sentencing framework is effective in deterring crime, protecting the public, punishing offenders and cutting re-offending,  in particular, to ensure that sentencing for drug use helps offenders  come off drugs. The Government plans to publish high level proposals  in the autumn, leading to a coherent package of legislation.’

In your April and June issues, Jenny Richards bemoaned the lack of action of the legal profession regarding the flaws in the Criminal Justice System and, indeed, their failure to respond to her criticisms. I am not writing to correct her, nor to defend my profession, save to say that generally those that get involved in appeal work do so out of genuine concern and commitment, rather than seeing it, as she suggests, as ‘a nice little earner’. The legal aid rates available to solicitors trying to remedy miscarriages of justice are, in fact, at the very lowest end of the range, perhaps a reflection of government priorities over the last decade. What I did want to point out was that the legal profession, through various bodies, do campaign and work for change. By way of example, I am currently chair of the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association, a body we helped set up about 8 years ago out of concern at the approach of the Court of Appeal and the CCRC to wrongful convictions. We are not a large body but we have successfully campaigned against proposed changes to the ‘safety’ test applied by the Court of Appeal and, also, to changes in the funding of work done bringing cases before the Court. We meet regularly with representatives of the Court and the CCRC and have lobbied individual MPs as well as the appropriate government departments. In setting up CALA we were well aware that in too many cases the quality of legal representation was inadequate and there remain many difficulties facing a prisoner trying to get competent and principled help when seeking to challenge a wrongful conviction, and we have held a series of specialist training events designed to raise standards and awareness. I am pleased to say that we are in the process of launching a website which will, hopefully, provide useful information to all would-be appellants, as well as details of our members. This will be found at www.cala.org.uk. No payout page 12

Comment From ‘Minerva’ on Jonathan Aitken’s article: published August 2010

..................................................... Is it not enough to deprive offenders of their liberty without inflicting on them oppressive, unnatural regimes, demeaning ‘incentives’ and attempted psychological brain-washing? Most prisoners NEED rehabilitation, by people who BELIEVE in their ability to change their lives. They need people who can, and want to, help them find the right road. They also need a system that does not brand them for life (with a few exceptions) and actually prevent them from redeeming themselves. Petty incentives, like permission to have a hair dryer, don’t train people to ‘be good’ - they are risible and just show how far from the mark the Criminal Justice system is. We cannot train people to be good citizens: we have to prove that good citizenship is worthwhile, show them how to do it, and give them proper role-models. The British prison system is abusive and teaches offenders that abuse is power. Far from helping offenders to change, it damages them, distorts their view of the real world and makes rehabilitation even harder. The prison system should SHOW offenders how to live in society properly, allowing them to experience the benefits of changing their lives. Prison regimes (even that word sounds militaristic!) don’t even attempt to do this. They are about humiliation and subjugation, neither of which give offenders the confidence or vision to alter their lives. The re-offending rate could be brought really low, if offenders were respected and valued as human beings, and staff were capable of EARNING prisoners’ respect and trust. Offenders already see themselves outside normal society, prison merely reinforces this. As it is, many prisoners see nothing to respect in the system or the staff, so why would they want to be part of a society that holds up these examples of a good way to live?

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For more information please contact our Prison Law Department

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By the time you read this, we will have had a meeting with an MP who was a Minister in the Home Office under Labour. We intend to ask him about the current situation with IPP prisoners and how it compares with the original intentions of the government that introduced the sentence. We will send the outcome of this meeting to everyone on our mailing list in September and send it to Inside Time for inclusion in the October issue.

Thanks Due

....................................................... Kenneth Denton - HMP Lindholme I am writing to you in regard of my article in the March issue of Inside Time about the Safer Prisons Team and the role the reps had in HMP Leeds. I would like to thank everybody for the response I got. To date, about another 20 prisons have set up a similar scheme and I am still getting mail inquiring how to set up a scheme. I didn’t think there would have been such a huge response, but I was proven wrong and the people who have written to me have been very supportive with what we are trying to achieve. I have recently moved prisons and would personally like to thank all the people at Leeds

prison who helped set the scheme up there, as without them there wouldn’t be such a thing as Safer Prison Reps, including all the prisoners who took on the role of the rep. A special mention must go to the Samaritans who go into Leeds prison, as they gave their full support to the scheme. Especially Bob and Sue, the Samaritans co-ordinators who work tirelessly to support the Listeners in Leeds, making it probably the best run Listeners scheme in the country. Often their work goes unnoticed and the support they give is fantastic. If anyone wants to contact me regarding information about setting up a scheme in their prison, then they can contact me at the following address - Kenneth Denton, Safer Prisons co-ordinator, A7085AA, E Wing, HMP Lindholme, Hatfield Woodhouse, Doncaster DN7 6EE.

Rest in Peace

................................................................................ I write to let you know of the death of Mark McFadden in May at HMP Belmarsh. His death was a shock to his fellow prisoners and he will be sorely missed on the wings.

Brett Clark - HMP Belmarsh

solicitors & advocates

Act now!

• • • • • • •

The Mirror recently published an article that said that IPPs are going  to be ‘phased out’, quoting a ‘Government source’ who said that Ken Clarke feels that IPP sentences are ‘ill-suited to the modern prison system and wants them scrapped.’ Of course we will have to wait for the proposals to be published to find out whether this has been accurately reported, but we will continue to push for reform in the meantime.

de Maids

Fed up with knock backs? We can give specialist advice and assistance on all aspects of prison law including:

We have been campaigning for the abolition of the IPP sentence for  some time now, but we have found consistently that the general public knows very little about the sentence and how unjust it is. Once the reality of the regime is explained to them, we are yet to meet anyone who thinks that it is a fair or humane way to punish offenders.

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Please Contact: Sarah de Maid or Natalie O'Connor de Maids Solicitors • 2 Park Court Mews • Park Place • Cardiff • CF10 3DQ 02920 23 55 75

10

Information

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Information Q&A Inside Time receives many questions that do not fall into Legal or Health Q&A. So if you have any other queries, it can be anything from housing to joining the Foreign Legion, please send it to Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, SO30 2GB and mark your envelope and the letter Information Q&A. Please include your full name, number and address on all correspondence.

LK - HMP Forest Bank Q Please could you get me some information

on any organisation that could help me trace my family? I lost touch with them after moving away and working abroad and haven’t been able to find them since.

A

The Salvation Army have a family tracing unit. Brief details of the service are: The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN Telephone: 0845 634 4747

The Salvation Army do not carry out enquiries where: ›› adoption has taken place; ›› a mother or father of persons born outside of marriage is sought ; ›› children under the age of 18 or other ‘vulnerable’ missing people are sought, where a physical search or police involvement would probably be more appropriate; ›› there has been no formal family relationship (friends, colleagues or others) ; ›› the enquirer is under 18 (enquiries should be made by a parent or legal guardian). A questionnaire will not be sent if your request clearly falls into one of the above categories. Why does The Salvation Army have a Family Tracing Service? The Salvation Army believe everyone needs the sense of belonging that only family relationships can provide. When people are separated from their families, for whatever reason, this can be a cause of great unhappiness. That is why they have a Family Tracing Service. It is one of the oldest tracing agencies in the world, having been founded in 1885. What is the purpose of the Service? They help people to trace adult relatives with whom contact has been lost - whether recently or many years ago - and so restore family relationships. Who does the Service try to trace? Their service can be used to search for adult members of a family who are known to exist, and where certain basic information can be provided. Who is not included in the tracing programme? The Salvation Army do not normally become

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involved in searches where adoption has taken place, nor with enquiries to trace a mother or father where there was no marriage between parents. They cannot look for children under 18 years of age, or other ‘vulnerable’ missing people where a physical search or police involvement would probably be more appropriate. They cannot carry out family history enquiries or look for ‘possible’ relatives. Is there a charge for the Service? The registration fee is £45 (£25 for those whose only income is state support). The actual cost of a search is over £150. There are no government grants or other sources of external funding. The deficit is met from Salvation Army central funds. Donations are therefore always welcome. Full details of this service can be obtained by writing to Information Q&A at Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton SO30 2GB

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Families Apart Offering support and advice to prisoner’s families in the Royal Borough of KingstonUpon- Thames, Surrey What does Families Apart do? Families Apart is a project based at WelCare in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey. The project aims to offer help and advice to local families with children who may be struggling with a variety of issues as a result of a close member of the family being imprisoned. What services can Families Apart offer? We can help your family in a variety of ways. Families Apart project workers are available to: ›› Help with finances. Your family may need help to improve your financial situation. We can offer advice on receiving benefits, paying bills, rent etc. We are able to make

funding applications on behalf of families for things like the cost of visits to prisons, essential furniture etc. ›› Provide information. Families Apart has access to many organisations both locally and nationally that may help your family. We are also able to provide information to professionals that you may be in contact with such as Probation Officers or Social Workers. ›› Support parents. We can be there to listen to a parent’s worries about their children and can offer support and advice on things like children’s behaviour, what to tell children about a family member being in prison and how to keep calm as a parent during what can be a stressful time in your family life. ›› Support your children. Families Apart project workers are very sensitive to the needs of children with an important family member in prison. If you would like us to, we are able to talk to them about their feelings and help them maintain a positive contact with you. We can also help to prepare them for your return if necessary.

Contact: Kingston WelCare, Families Apart, WelCare House, 53-55 Canbury Park Road, Kingston KT2 6LQ. Tel: 020 8546 3258 Email: [email protected]

RW - Winchester Q I have been told that I can’t see certain information about me that is being held by the Prison Service. What is the situation with applying for sight of my records? A In some cases an officer may let you read your Page 16 or will read the information out to you. Alternatively the Prison Service will ask for £10 to produce information as a result of a prisoner’s application under the Data Protection Act. Your £10 will buy you over 60 pieces of information about you that is held by the Prison Service. This will include P-Nomis files, formerly known as LIDS; Psychological reports; Personal Records (Page 16s) - even a record of the library books you have borrowed. A comprehensive list of records that should be produced is available on request from Inside Time. Our thanks to Keith Rose at HMP Long Lartin for bringing this information to our notice. Please go to page 36 to read more about what is being held on file about you.

Information Q&A compiled by Lucy Forde Details of help organisations and other useful information can be found in insideinformation, a copy of which has been sent free to all prison libraries.

Concerned about the length of your sentence? You believe that your detention is unlawful & you wish to be compensated? You have protested your innocence for years but nobody believes you? Your parole application has been repeatedly refused? Your application for re-categorisation has been ignored? Recalled to prison? Are you facing extradition for the crime you did not commit?

Maybe we can do better than your previous representatives? See if we can make a difference. Contact Kesar & Co Solicitors and you may receive a substantial amount of compensation KESAR & CO SOLICITORS Committed to justice

Burnhill Business Centre Provident House Burrell Row Beckenham Kent BR3 1AT

Tel: 020 8249 6459

Featured help organisation

Fax: 020 8249 6460

insideinformation the Comprehensive Guide to Prisons & Prison Related Services Published by insidetime - the National Newspaper for Prisoners www.insidetime.org

›› UK Establishments: Details of the Regime and Visiting arrangements and facilities in all UK establishments. A vital resource for prisoners considering transfer and those working in the field of penal affairs. ›› Help and Support: A directory and summary of the services provided by the various organisations that offer help and support to prisoners and their families. ›› The Hardman Trust Prisoner Funder Directory: A directory of organisations providing Grants and Funding for prisoners. ›› Fact Sheets: Brief expla nations written in simple terms explaining the legal issues regularly queried by prisoners. Also includes special Human Rights, Insurance, the Criminal Process and Religious Festival Dates. ›› Legal Directory: A directory of Solicitors and Barristers’ Chambers specialising in Criminal, Prison and Family Law.

On l £2 y 5

A comprehensive ‘not for profit’ 816 page guidebook, designed and compiled by former prisoners!

›› Rules and Regulations: Prison Rules, PSOs, PSIs, Offences against Discipline, Disciplinary Charges, Governors Punishments, MDTs and Prison Library Publications.

insideinformation is published by Inside Time, the National Newspaper for Prisoners, and a free copy has been donated to every UK prison library.

›› Useful Addresses: Prison Service, Courts, Police, Probation, Embassies, MP’s and countless other useful and otherwise difficult to obtain addresses.

Additional copies can be purchased from Inside Time PO Box 251 Hedge End Hampshire SO30 4XJ at the reduced price of £25 including p&p.

›› Glossary of Terms & Abbreviations: Understand the hundreds of acronyms and abbreviations used in reports, documents and forms.

Librarians, order your extra copies now!

The Inspector calls ... In extracts taken from the most recent HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwicks’ inspection reports. Inside Time highlights areas of good and bad practice, along with a summary of prisoner survey responses, at HMP Ranby, HMP Swansea and HMYOI Wetherby There were concerns that staff on A wing, where half of the foreign national prisoner population is located, did not know anything about the individuals, including their names, or make any attempt to converse with those who did not speak English.

HMP Ranby

Unannounced short follow-up inspection: 8 - 10 March 2010 Report date: May 2010 Published: August 2010 This inspection found Ranby to be a safer prison than the previous inspection found. Security arrangements had improved, and steps taken to try to prevent the entry of drugs. Violence reduction work had been strengthened, though prisoners were still not confident about reporting bullying. There had been a significant increase in the quantity and variety of accredited vocational training since the previous inspection. 60% of prisoners were involved in education, double that of 2007.

Inspectors recommended that the visits room should be redesigned to offer a relaxed family atmosphere, and should include, at least, a staffed crèche, a canteen facility, appropriate seating and a discrete closed visits facility with adequate audibility. 100% more IPP prisoners than life sentence prisoners 10 days wait for canteen for some new arrivals 14% of prisoners were on recall 27 weeks - average length of stay 49% of prisoners were enhanced 50% of prisoners were under 30 79% of prisoners were refused re-categorisation to D Cat 89% of prisoners had been released into accommodation 700 prisoners opened bank accounts in previous 18 months 2000 receptions in 2009

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Prisoners in the strip search cubicles were visible from parts of reception. The inspectors noted female members of staff going into and out of the office through this area while prisoners were being searched or changing their clothes. Cells with two prisoners were not all fully equipped. Some did not have two chairs and some also lacked adequate lockable storage. The ratio of prisoners to telephones is greater than 20 to one. There were queues and inspectors saw prisoners waiting 25 minutes to make a telephone call on the induction wing. Staff were supposed to use prisoners’ preferred name or title but most uniformed staff did not do so although in Healthcare, Education and workshops staff called prisoners by their preferred name. The inspectors repeated their recommendation to use titles or preferred names.

POCA

HMP Swansea

Announced inspection: 8 - 12 February 2010 Report Date: April 2010 Published: August 2010 Although Swansea has a high turnover of prisoners, and is cramped and overcrowded, the Inspectorate found that most prisoners felt safe. Many officers addressed prisoners by their first names and relationships between staff and prisoners were very relaxed with supportive personal officers. The use of adjudications, segregation and force is very low.

Time out of cell is reasonable and although there is a good library and gym, purposeful activity is sadly lacking and there is very little resettlement work done. Visitors said they were well treated, but many said they had difficulty booking visits. The wrong telephone number for booking visits was given on the visiting order and in the information leaflet for visitors. There is still no Visitors’ Centre and the ‘booking-in room’ did not open early enough: Visitors were asked to arrive 45 minutes before the start of their visit, but had to queue outside the prison in view of passers-by and without shelter or access to toilet facilities. The waiting room in the prison is cold and lacked basic facilities. Cells have in-cell sanitation, but many toilets are unscreened and some cells are cramped. Prisoners used torn sheets as makeshift screens and curtains. Most prisoners had to eat their meals in their cells. The main healthcare department is an old building, but the environment is reasonably well decorated and clean apart from the two prisoner waiting areas and the prisoner toilet, which were dirty and poorly maintained. The inspectors found the treatment room dirty with no handtowels near the basin. A large draughty bathroom is occasionally used for bathing prisoners with disabilities. Some prisoners said they had waited two or three weeks to see a GP. Staff made allocations to workshops primarily based on prisoners’ security risks, with minimal account taken of previous education or work experience. Pay rates lacked consistency, with pay rates varying inexplicably from activity to activity and from wing to wing. 11% tested positive on MDTs 20% of prisoners said they had a disability 20% of prisoners have been there less than a year 25% of external hospital appointments were cancelled by the prison 36% don’t know who the IMB are 43% of prisoners said staff had opened legal letters 44% haven’t met their personal officer 55 prisoners on the dentist’s waiting list 59% of prisoners have children under 18 66% had a drug problem before conviction 77 the age of the oldest prisoner 77% of prisoners said that applications were dealt with fairly 85% of prisoners said they could speak to a listener 89% of prisoners said staff treated them with respect

Defending/challenging confiscation orders Challenges and variations to Restraint and Freezing Orders Assertion of 3rd party interests (i.e. spouse asserting her interest for a share in a property Complete management and/or sale of assets

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HMYOI Wetherby

Questionnaire 28 - 29 June 2010 As well as doing regular inspections the Inspectorate also carry out regular surveys where they ask residents in YOIs about their experiences. 9% had been restrained more than 3 times 17% had been prevented from making a complaint 21% had been in local authority care 29% said they had been victimised by staff 31% of residents are 16 or younger 33% had problems getting phone numbers sorted 33% of residents in the Anson Unit said staff treated them with respect 35% had been physically restrained 39% has one or more visits a week 45% had not been to school since they were 14 or younger 50% had had an adjudication 50% had not been in custody before 50% said their personal officer had helped them 55% said staff treated them with respect 60% thought Healthcare was good or very good 62% said the food was bad or very bad 66% declared no religion 69% were treated well in reception on arrival 76% said searching was done in an under standing way 77% thought applications were sorted out fairly 81% felt safe on their first night 82% had been at Wetherby for less than 6 months 87% had been excluded from school 88% of residents in the Keppel Unit said it was easy to make a complaint

Chief Inspector of Prisons inspection schedule 2010

Bure 13 September Isle of Wight 4 October Isle of Wight 11 October Moorland 29 November Ford 29 November Send 6 December

Forest Solicitors

Bringing together the countries leading POCA experts to protect your interests

If you are facing confiscation proceedings then we can help you get the best advice and support available to protect your interests. As POCA specialists we can quickly assemble one of the strongest teams available from leading barristers to financial experts that can instantly get to work on your case. We offer a totally dedicated and responsive service committed to achieving the best results. We specialise in Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) proceedings and in particular: • • • •

11

Newsround

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

“Helping you on your way to freedom” Criminal Defence and Prison Law Specialists We offer friendly legal advice and assistance in all aspects of Prison and Criminal Law including:

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Appeals against conviction & sentence Categorisation Judicial Review & Human Rights Confiscation Proceedings

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HDC & IPP Parole General Complaints Prison Discipline & Adjudication License Recalls

Contact Franca or Alex at:

Unit 3 California Building, Deals Gateway, Deptford Bridge, London, SE13 7SB

Call: 0208 534 1025 Emergency: 07947 181 695

Free advice and representation under legal aid

Criminal defence

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Please contact Katie Scott

01522 542211 email [email protected] website www.sillsonline.co.uk

46 Silver Street Lincoln LN2 1ED EAST MIDLANDS

YORKSHIRE

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Newsround

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Being in prison knocks years off your life

No payout Sion Jenkins, the former deputy head teacher who was jailed for murdering his 13-year-old stepdaughter Billie-Jo, and later acquitted, has been refused compensation for the six years he spent in prison. Billie-Jo was battered to death with a metal tent peg in February 1997 outside her foster family’s home in Hastings, East Sussex. Having being found guilty of her murder in 1998, Jenkins was cleared after two trials had failed to reach a conclusive verdict. He sought damages of up to £500,000 believing he fitted “all the criteria” as victim of a miscarriage of justice. The Ministry of Justice rejected his case; it said applicants must demonstrate they are “clearly innocent”.    The widow of Billie-Jo’s natural father, Bill Jenkins, criticised the former teacher’s decision to submit a claim. Elizabeth Jenkins, 62, said: “Myself and the family think he had a cheek to put in for that money. I was pleased he didn’t get it.” Campbell Malone, Consultant for and on behalf of Stephensons Solicitors LLP told Inside Time: “As a result of changes introduced by the last Government and a series of judgements in the Court of Appeal and House of Lords it has become increasingly difficult to claim compensation where  a miscarriage of justice has occurred.As it stands only someone who has been cleared as a result of unequivocal fresh evidence exonerating them such as DNA  will qualify. Had the current rules applied at the time many well known and acknowledged miscarriage victims such as the Birmingham Six would not have been compensated for their horrendous experiences.   In my view the UK government is now failing to meet its obligations under international law and needs to reconsider its position as a matter of urgency. The changes brought in by the Labour government were opposed at the time by both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats so the Coalition should take the opportunity of rectifying the situation now. The Supreme Court will, in any event, consider this matter in what is likely to be a landmark judgement sometime in 2011.”

Sheppards Solicitors Prison Law & Criminal Defence Specialists

• Categorisation • Transfers ". • Adjudications • Licence Recalls • Parole & HDC Applications . • Sentence Planning For advice, assistance & representation in Prison Law Matters ." or Criminal Court Proceedings contact:

Mark Sheppard or Mark Nicholls (Higher Court Advocates)

. Sheppards Solicitors 1st Floor 28 Salter Street Stafford ST16 2JU 01785 257155

Emergency out of hours 07699 747339

service throughout the Midlands

Since 2004, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has investigated all deaths which occur in custody (including Immigration Removal Centres) and in approved premises. They have, so far, investigated over 1,000 deaths and have amassed a great amount of data about these, often tragic, events. The PPO have commented on the high number of deaths in custody in both their 2008/9 annual report and in a special report looking at the deaths they investigated in the year ending August 31 2009, a year in which 160 investigations were carried out.

Self-Inflicted Deaths 2008/9 Total 65 60 men and 5 women died, apparently by their own hand

32 were remand prisoners (49%) 7 were IPP prisoners (4%) 38 had a history of self-harm (58%) 16 were on an open ACCT document (24%) 12 were coming up to release (18%) 26 of these were first-time prisoners (40%) 25 of these were within 3 months of imprisonment (38%)

16 were foreign national prisoners (25%) The youngest was 15, the oldest 63

For those whose deaths were considered to be self-inflicted all but 4 were by hanging and, in many cases, the prisoner had had at least one ACCT document opened in the months leading to their death. The cause of death for those classed as ‘natural causes’ included heart attacks, asthma, liver failure, meningitis and various cancers: 37 of the deaths were from heart disease, of which only 2 were ‘foreseeable’. Lack of exercise and obesity were cited as common causes of the heart problems.

Deaths from ‘natural causes’ 2008/9 Total 92 90 men and 2 women 52 were in outside hospitals (57%) 29 of the prisoners in outside hospital were subject to ‘restraint’

40 had been charged or convicted of sexual offences (43%)

24 were life or IPP prisoners (26%) The youngest was 24, the oldest 81

stress and in 14% of cases the Ombudsman reported that “the [health] care provided was found to be less than satisfactory.” In one case a man died of a heart attack after being given relief for indigestion. According to a report in The Observer: Studies have found that time in prison accelerates ageing. One inquiry found that any prisoner doing a substantial amount of time will be at least 10 years older than their actual chronological age by the end of their sentence. A study in US prisons found that a sentence of 20 years will reduce a prisoner’s life expectancy by an average of 16 years. A mismatch between population and the available accommodation means that prisoners are transferred on ‘overcrowding drafts’: the result, according to the Ombudsman, is that they are often moved from prisons that they know to other prisons where they feel less safe. A number of his investigations drew attention to the tragic consequences of these moves. The Ombudsman’s report also criticises the use of restraints on prisoners dying in outside hospitals and cites the case of one man who was still handcuffed an hour after receiving the last rites. He calls for more consideration to be given for compassionate release, such as given to Ronnie Biggs.

Death rates of prisoners are thought to be higher because they can take less exercise than the general population and have poorer diets. They also suffer increased levels of

Another problem highlighted in the reports is the lack of strategies for informing and communicating with the families of people who pass away in custody.

NIKOLICH & CARTER

BREYDONS SOLICITORS

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Specialists in all aspects of Criminal Law with particular expertise in Serious Crime and Fraud Cases and Confiscation Proceedings For a prompt service please contact

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0161 831 7044 approved member of the Serious Fraud Panel

The things people say…

Criminal and Prison Law Specialists with a dedicated team dealing with all aspects of prison law, including:

• Adjudications • HDC • Licence issues • Recalls • Re categorisation • Transfers • Parole issues including oral hearings Take the first step to effecting your sentence write or call,

Rob New or Candy Brown at Breydons Solicitors Fastolff House 30 Regent Street Great Yarmouth N30 1RR

01493 33 1 0 5 7

[email protected]

‘This is a major inconvenience for me’ British fashion model Naomi Campbell, brought under subpoena, was speaking recently at the UN ‘War Crimes’ Court at The Hague. She was giving evidence at the trial of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia who it is alleged traded diamonds for weapons and is facing 11 charges of war crimes and appalling crimes against humanity. Campbell told the Court that she had been given some ‘dirty looking pebbles’ by a couple of men who knocked on her door in the middle of the night but couldn’t say for certain who had sent them.

Actress Mia Farrow told the Court how Campbell had boasted about being given some gems by the Warlord.

Campbell’s former manager, Carole White, also told the court that the model had flirted with Charles Taylor at an official dinner and had excitedly awaited the arrival of the stones; contradicting Campbell’s evidence in Court that she could not be sure who had given her the so called ‘blood diamonds’. In South Africa it is an offence knowingly to possess uncut diamonds without a licence. Campbell could face charges, South African police have revealed; the penalty is up to 10 years imprisonment.

EQUITABLE SOLICITORS Specialists in Criminal Defence & Prison Law

We provide advice and assistance in various areas including: Criminal Matters 4All Appeals 4Judicial Review 4Confiscation & Proceeds of Crime 4Licence Recall 4Categorisation 4Human Rights 4Parole Board Hearing 4Maltreatment Complaints 4Immigration and Deportation 4 For a fast friendly & professional service contact: Maxwell Eze, Ike Nwabueze or Ray Casella, at:

Equitable Solicitors

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0207 820 8236 / 07960 321081

Newsround

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

One million pounds for being banged up too long Prison errors that resulted in 280 prisoners not being released on time have cost the Ministry of Justice more than £1 million over the past three years.

‘Sarah’s Law’ flawed In a blaze of media frenzy the government announced that it was rolling out the so called ‘Sarah’s Law’ across the country. The law allows people to check to see if a person who has access to their children has a conviction for a sexual offence. The theory is that it can be used by parents, grandparents, women with new boyfriends and such to protect their children from possible danger.

The amount averages out at around £3,500 for each prisoner, for 30 days unlawful detention. If a prisoner is wrongly detained in prison they can claim £110 for each day; The TaxPayers’ Alliance, a right wing pressure group, criticised the payouts saying, “Lawabiding taxpayers will be appalled to learn that they’re paying this compensation straight into the pockets of ex-prisoners.”

A pilot was run to test the idea and the tabloids triumphantly announced that 60 children had already been ‘saved’. The Home Office thought that the figures would consolidate public support; but now the Telegraph has revealed that the true figure is that only 6 children were identified who might have been at risk; and the statistics proudly touted to the tabloids were misrepresented.

Prisoners may only be detained in prison if there is a current warrant for their detention and prisons put a lot of effort into making sure they do not unlawfully detain people. One assumes that if members of the TaxPayers’ Alliance were held unlawfully for a month they would magnanimously say, “That’s OK, no problem, I don’t want any compensation.”

Each ‘tip-off’ cost the tax payer £7,500, a national roll-out would cost millions, and the Telegraph writer suggests that if that money were fed into the under-resourced social services departments it might actually do more good.

Shorter sentences for confessions to police

Paul West, the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police said, “In addition to enabling parents, carers or guardians to take active steps to protect their children, some of the cases that have arisen during the pilots have included extended family members and neighbours who have raised concerns.”

Before any information is given to anyone the person and their motives are carefully assessed by police who then decide whether to give them information in confidence. During the year that the pilot ran only 32 disclosures were made.

The Great ASBO

ASBO applications were made by the

• • • • • • • •

Parole Reviews Licence Recalls Categorisation & Transfer Adjudications Review and Appeals Lifer Panels (Reviews) Confiscation Orders Further Charges

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9,247 (55%) once. 6,804

police or local government. were breached at least

(40%) were breached more than once.

65% of individuals aged between 10 and 17 breached their ASBO. There have been a total of 39,141 separate breaches. If an ASBO is breached, it is breached an

4.2 times. Of the 9,247 breached 53% were given an immediate average of

prison sentence. Prison sentences were given for 4,944 breaches averaging 5.2 months each.

Nick Green, chairman of the Bar Council, is encouraging Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, to reward suspects who plead guilty in a police interview, rather than waiting until moments before the trial.

245a Coldharbour Lane London SW9 8RR

86% have 60% were for years. 95% of

- in 2005.

between two and three

Senior lawyers are not so keen and warn that it may result in police failing to investigate cases thoroughly.

ROSS &SIMON Co. Solicitors

4,122

been issued to males.

The purpose is not to help justice but rather to make large cuts in the costs of trials. There are over 100,000 Crown Court trials each year with 73% of defendants pleading guilty. The Bar Council estimates that each day of a Crown Court trial costs up to £10,000.

One outcome will surely be that people who are not guilty and exercise their right to a trial, if found guilty, will be further punished for being wrongfully convicted. At the moment a person who has always asserted their innocence can, on a fixed term, serve more than double that which a guilty person does.

years. The highest number issued in any year was

The new Sentencing Council is looking at proposals which will mean people suspected of offences who confess to the police will have their sentences cut. The idea, backed by Keir Starmer, head of the CPS, and Lord Justice Leveson, the judge in charge of the Sentencing Council, will also lessen the benefits of people who plead guilty at the start of their trial.

The Ministry of Justice say a full assessment of sentencing and rehabilitation is underway and it would be premature to speculate on the outcome of this proposal.

16,999 ASBOs have been issued over ten

Data is for the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2008 in England and Wales.

>> www.insidetime.org Exciting ‘new look’ website Now ‘interactive’ allowing readers to add their comments to published articles and letters. Let your family members and friends know about this new facility - Inside Time is now also a voice for them.

Criminal Defence, Appeals and Prison Law Specialists All Prison issues including: • Licence & Parole Hearings • Categorisation & Transfer • Recall to Custody • Ajudications • Tariff & Judicial Review For an Immediate Response contact: Duncan Smith

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13

The things people say…

‘Welfare and tax credit

fraud and error costs the taxpayer 5.2bn pounds a year’

David Cameron writing in an article for the Manchester Evening News August 10 The Prime Minister has declared war on benefit fraudsters in a bid to cut billions from our soaring welfare bill. The Sun dubbed David Cameron a ‘£5bn scambuster’. The Department of Work and Pensions estimate benefit fraud costs 1bn pounds a year. The taxman reckons fraudulent claims for child and working tax credits cost the public purse 460 million pounds in 2008-9. So the total for fraud is £1.5bn, a figure which is much lower than the headline grabbing £5bn. Errors not fraud account for the remainder of the £5.2bn The DWP says half of the £2.2bn benefit error are made by claimants and half are made by officials or the system. Errors are usually a result of over complicated regulations. Benefit relevant to those out of work require between 8 and 10 thousand pages to describe. The question is: how much does tax evasion cost the country? The government are also keeping very very quiet about unclaimed benefit entitlements.

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Newsround

Can You Help? Unidentified body found floating in the harbour in Scarborough, North Yorkshire at 0615am on 02/05/1989. It is known that this man stayed at a hotel in Scarborough for two nights, leaving at 10am on 01/05/1989. He was last seen alive early evening on the same day. He possessed a prison property bag containing a few toiletries, a Barclays bank cheque stub and a cheque book cover, a newspaper, a used rail ticket from Blackburn to Todmordon and a railway timetable. It is believed he had connections in Greater Manchester, Blackburn, Todmordon and Calderdale. Physical description: White Male, Between 30 and 60 years old, Height 5’10, Brown Eyes, Full head of black wavy hair that was turning grey, weight approx 12st. Clothing: Grey slip on shoes size 8 1/2. Anorak coat described as long length, green nylon with zipped hood. Shirt beige cotton size 15 1/2” collar, dark brown cotton trousers. Described generally as dirty. A GMP prisoner plastic bag. Distinctive features: Scar and swelling just above his left ankle. This was a fracture which had not healed correctly and appeared as a deformity (limp). If readers have any information, please pass it on to Inside Time who will forward it to the Missing Persons Bureau.

Former Isle of Man prison stars in horror film Mycho Pictures is hoping for a worldwide release of Slasher House next autumn around Halloween filmed at Victoria Road Prison. “We’d been hunting for a suitable location for five months with no success and it was actually one of our actors, Adam Williams, whose mother lives here, who suggested it.” Minister for Home Affairs Adrian Earnshaw said: “The building has been empty for two years but it still costs a considerable amount to maintain. Fees paid by the production company will make a contribution to those ongoing maintenance costs.” The film’s plot sees the heroine wake up in the prison with no memory of who she is or how she got there, shortly before the murderous inmates of the prison are then set free.

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Tales of the Unexpected

News in Brief

“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out” Alfred Hitchcock

From Russi a

Do you have a story to tell or a gift for telling stories? Do you have the ‘gift of the gab’ or something to say?

Prisoners help with St Columb’s restoration

Synergy Theatre Project can help you bring your stories to life. No previous writing or theatre experience necessary, just a passion for telling stories and a commitment to developing yourself as a writer. Tales of the Unexpected is a FREE playwriting project for ex-prisoners and is run by Synergy Theatre Project. You will work with professional playwrights, meeting on Wednesday evenings (from 6th October-8th December) at the Royal Court Theatre, ending with a presentation of your work, performed by a professional company of actors. If you are out by October and would like to apply then please send us ONE of the following: A 4-page scene or dialogue which can be on any subject with any number of characters or A 4-page short story or story extract to Tales Of The Unexpected, Synergy Theatre Project, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, London W6 9RL Deadline: 5pm on 23rd September. For more information, email [email protected] or call Neil on 020 8237 1177.

In an effort to improve on response times the police and ambulance service claim they arrived first.

Prisoners nearing release from HMP Magilligan have been giving something back to the community in Londonderry by working on the restoration of St Columb’s Cathedral. The enhanced status prisoners - based in the Foyleview unit of the County Londonderry jail - are all approaching the end of their sentences and preparing for their release. A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said: “All the prisoners are of Category D classification and are in their final year of sentence. The provision of this service for St. Columb’s Cathedral is in keeping with the Magilligan ethos of serving the community and it is excellent preparatory work for the prisoners prior to their release.”

LADA’s new Sat Nav goes on trial in Moscow.

Phase 2 of the St Columb’s Cathedral restoration is now well under way having commenced in January 2010 and it is proposed the main body of the church will be re-opened on August 23, 2010 and the entire project will be completed in January 2011.

Isle of Man prison vegetables win gardening prizes A £3,000 investment has seen prisoners at Isle of Man Prison tending 70 beds of vegetables. Not only are they good to eat, being used in the prison kitchen and for cookery classes, but they have also won a handful of prizes at the Sulby Horticultural Show. Principal Officer Mike Speers, who has overall responsibility for the vegetable garden, said, “Prisoners involved in the project have shown great enthusiasm and are now able to pursue a recognised qualification in horticulture.” Picture Caption: Home Affairs Minister Adrian Earnshaw MHK (centre) with (from left) horticulture teacher Vic Smirthwaite, prison officer Anne Hughes, education manager Judy Jackson, principal officer Mike Speers and prison governor Alison Gomme in the vegetable garden.

carringtons solicitors

The National Prison Law and Criminal Defence Specialists

We are pleased to announce the continued expansion of our National Prison Law Department and welcome as Consultants:-

PETER CONCHIE and PETER DENTON Both are experienced Prison Law Advisors and deal with all matters including Independent Adjudications Based in their BRISTOL office, they are able to cover all prisons in the South West and the South East

Contact them directly on 0117 941 5352

Or write FREE at carringtons solicitors, FREEPOST MID 18045, Nottingham NG1 1BR

At a local tractor race there’s great excitement as the combination of beans and diesel prove a winner.

And at a local service station customers are invited to pay extra for a little more comfort.

Lewis Sidhu Solicitors Prison & Criminal Law Specialists

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Newsround

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

International Crime

Based on crime surveys collected by the United Nations from more than one hundred Member States over a period of 10 years, Inside Time reports on some of the international statistics on crime

The rate of drug related crime in Scotland is the highest in the world, closely followed by Sweden

The rate of robbery is greater in England and Wales than in the USA

The rate of major assault is nearly 6 times greater in Germany or 5 times greater in Canada than in England and Wales

Homicide 490,000: intentional homicides in one year in the world on average 1.3 thousand a day. Columbia: 80 per 100,000 population. highest homicide rate out of 38 countries in the America’s Region. Jamaica: 5th, USA: 28th, Canada: 34th South Africa: 70 per 100,000 population highest homicide rate out 63 countries in Africa Russia: 30 per 100,000 population highest rate out 43 countries in Europe Finland: 14th, UK: 17th, Spain 24th

Major assault

Police recorded crime rate per 100,000 South Africa Swaziland USA Zimbabwe Jamaica Germany Canada Tunisia New Zealand Scotland England and Wales

(576) (516.1) (281.6) (228.6) (220) (183) (173) (154.7) (150.4) (127.5) (32.2)

Rape

Police recorded crime rate per 100,000 South Africa Australia Canada Jamaica Sweden New Zealand USA Barbados Belgium England and Wales

Switzerland has the highest rate of vehicle theft in the world, followed by Sweden

The murder rate in Russia is almost 10 times greater than in the UK The rate of kidnapping is highest in Turkey, followed by Canada

(113.5) (91.6) (68.2) (50.8) (40.6) (32.2) (30.2) (27) (26.3) (25.6)

Robbery

Police recorded crime rate per 100,000

Australia has the second highest rate of burglary in the world, followed by New Zealand and Denmark

Chile Argentina Dominican Rep Costa Rica Mexico South Africa Nicaragua Ecuador Swaziland Belgium

(1275.6) (905.3) (556.4) (527.3) (504.7) (494.5) (440.7) (398.8) (304.2) (211.4)

USA England and Wales Spain Portugal

15 (146.4) (188.7) (201.2) (197.3)

Burglary

Police recorded crime rate per 100,000 Israel Australia Denmark New Zealand Iceland Slovenia Spain South Africa Switzerland USA

(1844.5) (1530.2) (1317.9) (1476.3) (950.4) (902.9) (878.9) (852.8) (758.1) (714.4)

Motor vehicle theft

Police recorded crime rate per 100,000 Switzerland Sweden New Zealand Italy Israel USA England and Wales Norway Scotland Finland

(768.8) (566.7) (563.2) (475) (469.4) (390.2) (360) (312.6) (293.1) (290.3)

Drug related crime

recorded crime rate per 100,000 population reported to the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends Scotland Sweden Norway Barbados Iceland Jamaica Israel Belgium Denmark England and Wales USA not listed

(868) (734) (622) (580) (574) (463) (448) (427) (374) (362)

Note: Police recorded crime is, as known, not equivalent to ‘all crime’. A well known fact is that a large proportion of ‘all’ crime remains unreported. Countries with a population of less than 100,000 were excluded from the analysis.

Source: International statistics on Crime and Justice August 2010

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24

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16

Newsround

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Tea doesn’t make you pee Have you heard people say that drinking a cup of tea makes you need to pee more than the equivalent amount of, say, water? It’s a myth. To test the widely held belief that tea is a diuretic, dietician Dr Carrie Ruxton asked 21 men to drink either tea or water over a 12-hour period. She found that the teadrinkers made no more visits to the loo proportionate to the amount imbibed than the water drinkers. Moreover, there was little discernible difference in the levels of sodium and other vital salts in their urine, suggesting each liquid had a similarly hydrating effect. “If you fancy a cup of tea on a hot summer’s day, have it,” concluded Dr Ruxton, in her study sponsored by the Tea Advisory Panel.

When ‘nanny’ knows best

The aftershave jaguars cannot resist Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men is one of the world’s bestselling colognes – but if you’re planning on venturing into a Central American jungle, don’t even put it in your washbag. Scientists have noticed that the aftershave is absolutely irresistible to jaguars. Indeed, the big cats are so drawn to its rich “animal notes” (it contains a synthetic version of civet, taken from the small mammals of that name) that naturalists have begun using it to lure the creatures onto clearings so they can film them. The discovery was first made in 2007, when zookeepers at New York’s Bronx Zoo, which is run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), tested a range of scents in an attempt to lure cheetahs to camera traps. Most had little effect, but when Obsession was tried, the creatures lurked for 11 minutes at a time. Researchers in Guatemala have since used Obsession to capture rare footage of jaguars mating. “We’re just starting to get an idea of how jaguars behave in their habitat,” said the WCS’s Roan Balas McNab. “Before we used Obsession for Men, we weren’t able to get these images at all.”

Mozart in the sewage We’ve heard about expectant mothers playing Mozart to their babies to boost their intelligence – now the composer’s music is being piped into a German sewage plant, to encourage the microbes that break down waste. “We think the secret is in the vibrations of the music, which penetrate everything – including the water, the sewage and the cells. It creates a certain resonance that stimulates the microbes and helps them to work better,” Anton Stucki, operator of the Treunbrietzen plant said. Stucki, who reckons Mozart will save his plant $1,000 a month, is not a classical-music fan. “I prefer rock music,” he admitted. “But my theory as to why it works is that Mozart managed to transpose universal laws of nature into his music. It has effect on people of every age and every cultural background. So why not on microbes? They are living organisms just like us.”

>> www.insidetime.org Exciting ‘new look’ website launched for your family and friends!

Government efforts to make us healthier are often dismissed as nannyish meddling – but when it comes to smoking, it seems that nanny really does know best. New research has revealed that in the year after the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces was introduced in 2007, the number of people admitted to English hospitals with heart attacks fell by 1,200 – a 2.4% reduction in total. Other studies have found that in the year after the ban was imposed, two billion fewer cigarettes were smoked, and more than 400,000 people quit. Researchers estimated that, over 10 years, this would prevent 40,000 deaths from lung cancer, heart disease and other smoking-related conditions.

The impact of background music New research has shown that women are more receptive to men’s advances after hearing love songs. For the study, carried out at the Universities of Southern Brittany and Southern Paris, one group of young female volunteers heard a romantic ballad called Je I’Aime a Mourir (I Love Her to Death), while another was played the ”neutral” song L’Heare du The (Tea Time). Each had a conversation about food products, with a man named Antoine who had been judged “average-looking”. At the end of each exchange, he used the same chat-up line: “My name is Antoine, as you know. I think you are very nice and I was wondering if you would give me your phone number.” More than half the women who had heard the romantic song complied compared with just 28% of those who hadn’t.

the immigration specialists Asylum Deportation Immigration Bail issues If you need advice contact Traci or Kay @ Dicksons Solicitors 32 – 36 Cheapside, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire ST1 1HQ

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Learning the language of orangutans If an orangutan blows a raspberry at you, puts an object on its head or nips your arm, don’t take it the wrong way – the ape is just telling you he wants to play. So say two researchers from St Andrew’s University, who have spent nine months studying the body language of 28 orangutans in zoos across the world. After analysing common gestures, the reaction a given ape elicited in a second ape, and the way the first ape responded to that reaction, they compiled a “lexicon” of 40 gestures and their meanings, reports sciencedaily.com. As many as 25 orangutan gestures signal the desire to play: in addition to those mentioned, they include making the lips into an O, rolling over backwards or biting the air. Simultaneously embracing and pulling means they want another ape to walk with them, and a nudge or shooing gesture means “go away”. “A fascinating thing is that there’s not a great deal of variation between groups of apes,” said lead researcher Dr Erica Cartmill. “An orangutan in Singapore gestures in pretty much the same way as an orangutan in a zoo in Philadelphia or Wales.”

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m Do you know...? • When the male state pension age of 65 was set in 1926, three out of five men died before they were able to claim; today, a 65-year-old can expect to live another 18 years on average; within 25 years a quarter of the population will be over 65. • Globally 109 million bicycles are sold compared to 42 million cars; the top five producers are China, India, the EU, Taiwan and Japan which are responsible for 87% of world production. • Beach huts in Scarborough fetch £35,000, the same price as some one-bedroom flats in the town. • The government announced a revamp of the benefits system which could see all 51 working-age benefits, from housing to disability, replaced with a single, flexible allowance for those in and out of work; the reforms are designed to ensure that no one is worse off in work than on benefits. • Dog lovers were warned to check their bank balance before investing in a canine companion; according to a new study, the cost of keeping a dog for its lifetime now exceeds £30,000, owing to soaring food and vets’ bills. • More than 1,000 girls aged between 11 and 12 have been prescribed the contraceptive pill by family doctors – a fivefold increase in the past decade.

• Nearly two million counterfeit £1 coins were returned to the Royal Mint in the last financial year – 23 times higher than the number seized six years earlier; an estimated one in 36 £1 coins in circulation are counterfeit, prompting a campaign by the Royal Mint telling people how to spot fakes. • Gooseberries have been in England since at least 1275, when King Edward 1 shipped over plants from France to grow at the Tower of London. • Lea Tea was born the son of the Brazilian football star Toninho Cerezo but now she is the feminine face of Givenchy’s new campaign. • Policing and punishing three generations of criminals from two gangster families in Birmingham has cost the taxpayer £37m over four decades; the total cost of the gangs to which they belong – the Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew – is estimated at £190m. • Sleep for more (or less) than seven hours a night and you’ll put on weight – a study has found that those sleeping for less than seven hours a night gained four pounds in six years, those sleeping for more gained three pounds over the same period. • Rail commuters face the steepest rise in fares since privatisation – the coalition government wants to allow operators to charge 10% more so that it can reduce the £5bn rail subsidy.

• The origin of the phrase three square meals a day has its routes in the Royal Navy where square wooden plates were used onboard ships as they didn’t slide around as easily as circular plates - for sailors and press-ganged men they would have looked forward to a good square meal between their watches. • Swaziland is an absolute monarchy, but the king always rules jointly with his mother, who is known as The Great She-Elephant.

Pakistan by numbers

• The UK is the best place in the world in which to die – a conclusion after rating 40 countries for the standard of care they provide to people in their last days; the UK came joint top with Australia with a score of 7.9 out of 10, India came bottom with a score of 1.9 out of 10. • The odds of being killed in a car crash in Britain are the same as being killed in an accident inside your own home: 1 in 10,000. • Fabio Capello is the highest paid national football manager in the world with an annual salary of £6m; Vicente del Bosque who won the 2010 Fifa World Cup with Spain earns £1.3m and Bert van Marwijk who managers the defeated finalists Holland, earns £1.66m.

£300 million

International aid requested for flood victims

14 million

Number of people affected by floods

One third

Part of the country flooded

180,808,000

Pakistan’s population in mid 2009 • English hospitals are raising £100m a year in total by charging patients and their visitors for parking, and issuing fines.

335,195,000

Population expected in mid 2050 (UN projection) More than a 150 million increase in the next 40 years

4

• Tiger Woods was revealed as the world’s top-earning athlete with annual earnings of $105m; David Beckham is fifth with $43.7m.

Average number of children per woman

22%

Married women using modern methods of contraception aged 15 - 49

• Men are 35% faster and 2.4% more accurate than women at parking cars overall, with the differences being even more pronounced in parallel parking; men’s superior ability at identifying rotated images of three-dimensional objects is presumably important in parking.

66

Life expectancy at birth (male and female)

796,095 sq km

Total land area. Four times greater than the UK

• William was the 2nd most popular name for boys 200 years ago, the most popular 100 years ago and has been in the top 10 since 2000. • The government is slashing the central funding that local authorities in England receive for road safety from £95m to £57m, to fulfil a Tory pledge to crack down on the number of static speed cameras and end the ‘war on motorists’.

17

Newsround

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

42%

Literacy rate for women aged 15-24

19%

Secondary school enrolment for girls

$2.70

Average daily income per person Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is the oldest continually occupied town in England. People have lived there for at least 6,000 years.

One third

People living below the poverty line

24%

Undernourished population

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18

Diary

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Month by Month by Rachel Billington Rachel goes to the Hustings to check out the Labour leadership and celebrates the founder of Fine Cell Work

Left to right: Hazel Blears, David Miliband, Diane Abbott, Ed Balls and Ed Miliband,

I

slington Town Hall, London. A hot summer evening. The opulent building is surrounded by photographers and enthusiastic young people handing out leaflets to crowds of rather less enthusiastic older people. This is one of the ‘Hustings’ meetings up and down the country organised by the Labour party to show off their five candidates for the leadership. After thirteen years of a labour government represented by two prime ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, this month we’ll see a new Labour era unfold – or so we’re told. On September 27th the party will vote for a new leader, the shadow prime minister to take Labour into the next four years and through the next election. Many previous Labour voters, as shown by the poor Labour showing in the last election, feel disillusioned and disbelieving that things will change. For them, it will be difficult to wipe out the Iraq war and the scandal of nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, Gordon Brown’s unpopularity, centralised government, knee-jerk reaction to the media, inefficient and wasteful public services, and even the recession. The Criminal Justice System may just seem another failure. Before the event started, a man sitting behind me gave an interview for Radio 4 saying ‘There needs to be a complete reversal of Labour Party policy’ and ‘Jack Straw is a disaster.’

This is an extreme view but the five hopeful candidates for leadership understand their position very well, which is why they staged ‘Hustings’ hoping to kick off new attitudes. I joined the crowds going into the hall (decorated by the message Deus per Omnia – God in Everything) as did Paul Sullivan, also from Inside Time. We were both interested because this particular event was hosted by Tribune Magazine and sponsored by The Howard League for Penal Reform and NAPO, the probation officers’ union. It was chaired by Frances Crook, Director of the Howard League. The subject was to be crime and prisons, called ‘A Just Society.’ After living through a government which has presided over a rise of nearly 30,000 in prisoner numbers to an all-time record of 85,000, were we about to sit back and hear a different approach? On the stage sat Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Diane Abbott, David Miliband and Hazel Blears, representing Andrew Burnham who couldn’t be with us – possible an odd choice for a substitution given her roasting over the M.P. expenses affair when she only just held on to her seat. That was their problem: the past was just too recent to be forgotten. All the men were ministers, starting their careers as assistant to either Tony Blair or Gordon Brown. They might want to give the impression of a fresh start but they’d need to say something pretty startling to convince the audience.

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Expectation is high, however; here in front of us are people we usually only see on the T.V or in the papers. Discounting the two women, they seem remarkably the same, roughly the same age, (four years between the Miliband brothers) the same persuasive manner, the same quick way of talking, producing a distinct feeling that they’ve all said everything hundreds of times before – which of course they have. So what do they actually say? Well, actually, almost exactly the same as each other and also exactly what they assume the audience wants to hear. Prison numbers are too high, too many women go to prison on short sentences (hooray for the Corston report), probation officers are very important and need more support, community sentences are a good idea – although here we have a little argument about the meaning of ‘tough’ community sentences which Ed Balls advocates. Restorative Justice and ‘Partnership’ come in for praise. Only Diane Abbott, with her Hackney constituency, strikes a less homogenous note, attacking ‘Daily Mail politics’, the bad effect of NOMS’ on the Probation Service and referring to visiting HMP Holloway and the baby unit there. This fires up Ed Miliband to say he was in HMP Highdown just the day before, but this spirit of competitive prison visiting dies away pretty quickly. The hot evening progresses and questions are fired from ex-prison officers and ex-probation officers – the latter always agreeably cross and well-informed – but, sadly no ex-prisoners. The energy gradually dies away from the hall. These are men who are going through their paces, pointing to their successes, for example. the Criminal Youth Service but, more often, with a stab at mea culpa, regretting what is wrong with the system and promising to improve matters as soon as they are elected.

It is left to Diane Abbott (pictured) to get by far the biggest clap of the evening as, surveying her fellow candidates for high office and then turning back to her audience, she comments wryly on the problems now being admitted, ‘They’ve all been in government. So where were they during that time? Off sick?’

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This provokes Ed Balls into saying that he sends his children to local state schools, taken by Diane Abbott as a reference to her daughter’s private education– a contentious point – and the matey atmosphere between the rivals begins to break down. The evening is over. However, Paul Sullivan, an ex-prisoner who was in the audience even if he didn’t ask a question reacted: ‘On balance, it looks like the Criminal Justice System is going to continue to be a political football … none will have the political courage to stand back and ask the people who really know what is needed; the probation officers, the staff and, most importantly of all, the prisoners.’ Paul may well be right, but we can only hope that Ken Clarke, the Coalition’s Minister of Justice, can carry through into practice the kind of changed approach that he’s already announced.

..................................................... On August 9th Lady Anne Tree, who founded the charity Fine Cell Work, died aged eightytwo. The charity produces beautiful needlework – cushion covers, quilts and rugs. The high standard is even more remarkable when you consider that it is created by prisoners, most of them men, and almost all with no previous stitching experience. The idea arose out of Lady Anne’s prison visits and her own love of embroidery but it took a very long campaign before she finally set up the charity in 1997. Remarkably, she managed to arrange that 37% of the proceeds should go to the workers; creating a small lump sum for when they left prison.

Lady Anne (pictured) started prison visiting when she was twenty-two and was always rather a surprise behind bars with her very upper class accent – she was daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire, brought up in the grandeur of Chatsworth and, oddly, never sent to school because the Duke disapproved of the idea. She was, however, both very practical and inspiring. Prisoners could make money out of their work but also gain something deeper, ‘Sewing is meditative, a way of thinking, of taking stock.’ She has left behind an important legacy to prisoners.

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Jonathan King writes ...

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three-ups at Belmarsh to the broadsheets over the phone and Blunkett was made to look foolish – not difficult as he was busy doing that himself most of the time. The case of Sion Jenkins has received coverage since his claim for compensation over wrongful imprisonment has been rejected by the Justice Ministry. And Barry George was likewise turned down. This is appalling and highlights the situation where the presumption of innocence has been replaced in the British system by a presumption of guilt. Why? Because it’s “a better story”. Neither man is “innocent enough” in the eyes of Justice (blindfolded, incidentally).

Nature Notes A monthly feature for Inside Time by James Crosby

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t high speed against a patterned sky of white, fleece-like, clouds, a long-winged and relatively shorttailed swift-like silhouette winged its way – both cloud and bird at their highest summits, with passing woodpigeon and glossy swallow too. For the silhouette was a Hobby, a summer visitor to the downs and copses of England – a migrant from sub-equatorial Africa. It travelled with rapid acceleration over yon sky with no stiff wing beats only fluid, polished glides and curls. The Hobby is a handsome bird, furnished with a black crown, slate-grey back, black ‘moustaches’, a white, heavily streaked breast beset with rust-red ‘trousers’. As he wheeled across the field, I observed him with a feeling of absorption, realising that I alone was privy to this ephemeral performance. In a prison. Somehow I had escaped into my fleeting acquaintance’s mastery of the air – in nature – with Wordworthian sentiments of ‘motion and spirit’ impelling my head heavenwards. The Hobby was in pursuit, for his prey – a swallow – angled back its wings and swooped – pitching its cleft stick tail under

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the sunlight still. With super quick sweeps of energy the Hobby tilted his bladed wings and attacked, however, like themselves swallows are superb fliers and in a great display of speed, manoeuvrability and frenzy it mounted evasion tactics. Would this drama, I thought, rotate into tragedy? No. For the curtain fell – the main act in a gallant feat of flight slipped over the tree line – exeunt. In the 1950s the UK population of Hobbies was estimated to be at 100 breeding pairs. Now, due to possible changes in climate and the increase and range of their preferred prey – dragonflies and beetles – the Hobby has increased by 23%, a massive population of circa 2200 pairs now visit the UK. However, until the British Trust for Ornithology publishes its 2007-11 Bird Atlas – which will reveal the true extent of the Hobbys range – let us all hope that our farms and fields, lakes and copses set the scene for this raptorial actor.

James Crosby is currently resident at HMP Stocken

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decided when I was very young that the media would be running the world but I had no idea how accurate this would prove to be and just how powerful, not always in a good way, the influence on society by the media would become. In negative impact, the only thing that matters to the media is “Is it a good story?” Truth, fairness, responsibility and decency are repressed by this overwhelming desire. So someone like Myra Hindley, whose crimes were no worse than those of many others, was depicted as a monster in the media and, as a direct result, had her freedom curtailed whilst others were given parole. The founder of the New Bridge Foundation, one of the few people worthy of the title Saint, Lord Longford, had the courage to fight her corner and was caricatured and mocked by the media in return. If there’s a good picture opportunity, forget the facts. If there’s a black and white slogan, a simplistic three word way of monstering someone, we media people will go for it. But there can be advantages too. My personal contacts in the media enabled me to correct him, when the worst Home Secretary in years, David Blunkett, claimed there were no three man cells in the prison system. I was in the perfect position, having just left Belmarsh for Maidstone, to give facts and figures of singles converted to

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This is absurd. Accountability is what society needs and the police – usually lazy, often incompetent, frequently corrupt – involved in the investigations should have fines docked from their wages as punishment for getting it wrong; that’s where the compensation for miscarriages of justice should come from, as well as from the huge wages of prosecution lawyers and fat judges. And Jurors, while we’re about it. Make a wrong decision – you get fined. That would wake them up. And the media ought not to escape scot free. If a conviction is overturned they should be forced to give equal coverage on equal pages that they did when they covered the wrongful conviction. For me, the worst crimes against humanity in recent years were the genocides in Rwanda – a modern era holocaust – but they got hardly any coverage compared to the massive media circus that the Charles Taylor trial is getting. Why? Because celebrities Naomi Campbell and Mia Farrow are involved (peripherally) and not only are they mini-stars but they are – gasp – women and pretty. Oh my God, media wet dream time. One thing we can be sure of, Miss Campbell won’t be accepting any more diamonds from dodgy men named Charles again… unless … don’t go there!

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Astrology

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org us to see into the past – we see it as it was more than an hour previously, owing to the time it takes for its light to reach us.

to, our understanding of the society in which we live. Jupiter, like a confident salesman, shows the bright side and overlooks the problems. In contrast, cautious Saturn tends to presents us with difficulties – although eventually these can lead to the most worthwhile and enduring achievements.

Saturn’s rings were discovered when Galileo first viewed Saturn through his telescope in 1610. Recent technology reveals that the broad bands are composed of numerous finer rings, made up of a range of material from dust to icy boulders.

Before the telescope was invented, Saturn was furthest away of the visible planets. His orbit was considered to mark out the boundary of the universe. This was how far existence reached – and no further. In astrology this gave rise to Saturn’s role as a boundary maker – and to the perception that Saturn reflects what is realistic, reasonable and practical. Saturn has an aura of seriousness. In life issues, this translates into our ability to take a realistic view – to work within our boundaries and limitations.

Cycles of the Planets A monthly column devised by astrologer Polly Wallace exclusively for readers of Inside Time as a follow on to ‘Wheel of the Year’. In this new series the focus is the planets themselves - providing a set of profiles that showcase each planet in turn

Saturn is one of the solar system’s gas giants. Like Jupiter, it has no crust. If astronauts tried to land on Saturn, they would simply drift through layers of cloud. Although ancient astronomers associated Saturn with lead, it is composed largely of hydrogen and helium. Planet Saturn’s atmosphere is highly dynamic – with huge thunderstorms and violent winds gusting up to 870 mph. Saturn also has the unlikely distinction of being the least dense of the planets. It is only 70% as dense as water – if it were placed in a giant bath it would float!

Saturn in Mythology

Polly Wallace

Saturn in the Sky Saturn is the second largest planet after Jupiter. Its diameter is 9 times and its mass 95 times that of the Earth. In contrast to turbulent Jupiter, Saturn presents as cool and dignified. Saturn’s most striking feature is a set of rings, composed of myriad tiny fragments that orbit like little moons along its equatorial plane. Titan, largest of Saturn’s moons, was discovered in 1665 and is larger than Mercury. Saturn is far enough away for

In ancient Greece, Saturn was known as ruler of the Golden Age – a perfect time when everyone lived in a wonderland of peace, harmony and justice. The Roman world identified Saturn with Janus, whose month is January. This legendary king had two faces, enabling him to view both past and future. This gives Saturn an affinity with change – a concern with how the future becomes the past, how one condition or phase of life changes into the next. The myth of Saturn is totally gruesome. As

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ruler of the Golden Age, Saturn realised that nothing would ever be so good again. And so he tried to make his reign last forever – by eating his children! Rhea, Saturn’s wife, outwitted him so that one son escaped – the ever-fortunate Jupiter. Jupiter then released his brothers and sisters – who, in the magical way of myths and cartoons, had miraculously survived! Medieval astrologers represented Saturn as Old Father Time – the imaginary figure who sweeps away the old year and welcomes the new. He was also seen as the Grim Reaper, herald of death. More recently Saturn has become associated with the Senex, one of Jung’s principle archetypes. In various cultures the idea of the senex is embodied as the elders, those older people whose experience has made them wise. A similar figure is Merlin, holder of age-old learning and power.

Saturn in Astrology In the personal birth chart Saturn’s influence dovetails that of Jupiter. Both planets describe our attitude towards the collective – whether we’re able to capitalise on, or become victim

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Astrological Saturn is also about structure and discipline. His demands may be rigorous – but they also hold a unique brand of creativity. Saturn shows where we may be skilful at making best use of whatever we have. He suggests how we can bring order to chaos – and give form to imaginary ideas. In a range of different ways, Saturn’s position in the natal chart describes how raw talent can be crafted or trained into skills and abilities that enrich our lives. Mythical Saturn had experience of perfection – the Golden Age over which he ruled. What chance was there he could ever be satisfied with anything less? Throughout our lives we may be faced with reflections of Saturn’s tragic dilemma. Saturn often indicates where we hold high standards – sometimes impossibly high. Possibly this stems from an innate awareness of perfection – a dim image of some distant Golden Age. Saturn’s strange story highlights how acceptance of change is often essential. In the natal chart, Saturn’s position indicates sensitivity to the pulse of life. By reminding us of the need to keep in tune with the rhythms of major change, Saturn can guide us towards taking responsibility for ourselves - and enable us to mature in alignment with the cycles of Time itself.

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Religions

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Christian Science In an extension to the popular World Religions series featured recently in Inside Time, Charles Hanson highlights lesser known religious denominations - continuing this month with Christian Science. At the end of the 20th century, the church had about 2,500 congregations in 70 countries; its headquarters are at the Mother Church in Boston.

Charles Hanson

Like mainstream Christianity, Christian Science teaches the existence of an all-powerful God and the authority and inspiration of the Bible. Christian Scientists also believe the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus to be essential to human redemption. Mrs. Eddy taught belief in one God and described God with the synonyms: Principle, Soul, Mind, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love. Christian Science also departs from traditional Christianity in several doctrines. The fundamental distinctive teaching of Christian Science is that creation is entirely spiritual and perfect and matter does not exist. Sin, sickness and death also do not exist; we only think they do. “The only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise.”

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hristian Science, or to give it its full title The Church of Christ (Scientist), was founded by Mary Baker Eddy, 1821-1910 (pictured), a semi-invalid who, in 1862, suffered a severe injury after a fall on ice and claimed a complete cure without the intervention of medicine. She was reading an account of one of Jesus’ healings in the Bible when she suddenly realised that healing comes by spiritual means, and she was instantly cured. Eddy thereafter devoted herself to the recovery of the healing emphasis in early Christianity, and in 1875 she completed the first edition of her major book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. In 1879, the Church of Christ (Scientist) was incorporated with the purpose of ‘commemorating the word and works of Jesus’, after which she became the chief pastor of the Mother Church and wrote The Manual of the Mother Church to govern its affairs. She is referred to as Mrs. Eddy by church members.

According to Christian Science, humans are subject to the laws of matter only so long as we believe they are real. These core teachings are encapsulated in the “Scientific Statement of Being,” which is read at every church service: Christian Scientists refer to God as “FatherMother” rather than the biblical “Father.” Though unconventional, this is not a major departure from mainstream Christianity, since God is believed to encompass both male and female (both were created “in the image of God”). Christian Science teaches that Jesus is divine but not God, and that Jesus’ human nature is a separate entity from the divine Christ. “Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of God. Jesus is the name of the man who, more than all other men, has presented Christ, the true idea of God, healing the sick and sinning and destroying the power of death.” The main texts of Christian Science is the Christian Bible and Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Both texts are read in Sunday services and studied in private devotions.

Mrs. Eddy rejected the traditional doctrine of the Trinity, saying that it suggests polytheism. She did, however, accept the threefold nature of God, defining it as a trinity of “Life, Truth, and Love,” or “God the Father-Mother, Christ the spiritual idea of sonship, and divine Science or the Holy Comforter.”

Readers lead Sunday services based on readings from the Bible and Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. These are based on Lesson-Sermons developed by the Mother Church, which are also used in daily private study.

Eddy defined salvation as, “Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness and death destroyed.” Heaven and hell are states of mind. Heaven is “not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal.” It is “Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by the divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul.” Hell is “Mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death; suffering and self-destruction; self-imposed agony; effects of sin and that which ‘worketh abomination or maketh a lie.’ Christian Science has no creed, but Eddy listed six “important points, or religious tenets” in Science and Health and are as follows: 1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life. 2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God’s image and likeness. 3. We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts. 4. We acknowledge Jesus’ atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man’s unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death. 5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter. There is no ordained clergy in Christian Science. Members engaged in the full-time healing ministry are called Christian Science practitioners and services are conducted by elected Readers. Practitioners treat church members through prayer, and members are encouraged to pray as well. The Mother Church is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of six members who choose their own successors. Each branch is self-governed and democratic. The Manual of The Mother Church that governs the movement has remained virtually unchanged since Eddy’s death.

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The Mother Church Boston, Massachusetts Christian Scientists do not practice the sacraments of baptism or the Eucharist; these are affirmed but understood in spiritual terms. “Our baptism is purification from all error. Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the one God. Our bread, ‘which cometh down from heaven,’ is Truth. Our cup is the cross. Our wine the inspiration of Love, the draught the Master drank and commended to his followers.”

Core beliefs Christian Scientists believe in one infinite God who is all and all-good. They believe that God is not distant and unknowable, but that God is all-encompassing and always present, and that each individual is loved by God, cared for by Him, and made in God’s image, spiritual, not material. Christian Scientists believe in the Bible and in Christ Jesus as the Son of God, or promised Messiah. And they believe that Jesus’ teachings and healing work expressed scientific Christianity, or the application of the laws of God—laws which are still practical and provable today, by anyone, anywhere. Christian Scientists consider the Commandments, as well as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, to be central to their lives and practice of Christianity. Above all, Christian Scientists believe in the saving, healing power of God’s love that no one is beyond redemption, that no problem is too entrenched or overwhelming to be addressed and healed. In other words, Christian Scientists don’t believe that salvation occurs at some point in the future, but that the presence of God’s goodness can be experienced here and now and by everyone. Charles Hanson is a lifer formerly at HMP Blantyre House

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Inside Drink and Drugs News Drink and Drugs News (DDN) is the fortnightly magazine for all those working with drug and alcohol clients, including in prisons. In her regular bi-monthly column, Editor Claire Brown considers the value of positive peer support

sense of belonging, rather than the isolation you feel when getting clean,’ added Graeme, who attended the same group. ‘It’s a chance to improve things that are wrong, and is empowerment for service users in helping them to face the challenges ahead. If it wasn’t for the group I might have given up the struggle.’ ‘I needed to see that there was more to life than drugs,’ said Zoe, who had come off heroin and stabilised herself on methadone, with the help of her local group in Glasgow. ‘If I had never found this group I would never have been able to break that daily routine of getting up, getting money, and scoring. If you are lucky and you can find people who have the same personal goal as you it can make it so much easier. Some days I didn’t want to go, but you end up feeling you’re letting your fellow group members down, so it drags you out of your bed.’ ‘There’s a huge therapeutic value in people organising themselves,’ said Francis, who has had ten years’ experience of running service user groups.

A little help from your friends

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n our last issue of DDN we published a ‘service user group directory’. Directory? Sounds pretty dull I hear you say – but actually it wasn’t, because this was more than just a listing of groups of drug and alcohol service users around the country. This was evidence of people power; of ‘get up off your sofa and make a difference’ power. There’s no standard definition of a service user group (or SUG as they are known, because we’re partial to a few acronyms in the drug and alcohol treatment field). They come in all shapes and sizes and have different reasons for forming. Some are there to help people continue their treatment for substance misuse, some give practical help with finding the right support and integration after treatment or prison; others have a particular remit such as supporting problem drinkers or helping people with harm reduction, like encouraging safer injecting. Often local groups develop a campaigning edge, championing better treatment

in their area and providing an advocacy service for members who might need a bit of support during appointments with drug services. One of the more obvious questions we asked group members was whether their group had made a significant difference to them – and in what way. We wanted to know whether it was worth bothering to get to know others who had been in the same situation. ‘Becoming a member has totally changed my life,’ responded Hayley from a group in Peterborough. ‘I have a purpose in getting up in the morning, have structure to my day, and have made friends who are in recovery, which encourages me not to use. If I wasn’t taking part in service user involvement I probably would still be on drugs. It has boosted my selfesteem and given me back the personality that heroin, crack and the usual suspects robbed from me. I don’t get paid, but I turn up because I truly believe in what we do.’ ‘Being part of a service user group gave me a

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‘It’s confirmed to me the value of social activity, especially mentoring, to a vast majority of people wanting to improve their situations – people who want to get out of a long-standing depressive rut, or off the street, stop using, get well, get stable, get their hep C status sorted.’ The value of positive peer groups stared me in the face in a different context recently while writing an article about gun and knife crime among young people. A deputy police commander said that 70 young people had been murdered in London alone over the past three years, many through gangland shootings. He commented that ‘we can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem. It has to be more holistic.’ As he talked about particular trouble spots, he gave the typical demographic of young people involved in drug crime. They tended to have chaotic lifestyles, absent fathers, lack

of educational attainment and no job prospects. Because of cutbacks to voluntary services and groups, they had lost previously positive role models such as youth clubs and scout groups, allowing a wide open door to ‘dysfunctional role models’ on their estate – charismatic and influential ‘Robin Hood type characters’ who could offer a far more exciting alternative to school. Recruited to their teams of crack cocaine peddlers they could earn £200 at first as a runner, then soon be collecting thousands of pounds a day. Was it any wonder young people were gravitating towards gangs for social status in the absence of any better role model?, asked the superintendent. There seems to be some acknowledgement at parliamentary level that inequality is fuelling drug crime, but an unwillingness to translate this knowledge into prevention instead of prison places. According to Labour MP John McDonnell, the cuts in resources for communities will mean ‘significant escalation in problems, from unemployment to housing, and the knock-on effects of overcrowding and family breakdown,’ bringing more people into the criminal justice system. He commented, ‘There’s a refusal to debate the real causes of problems and solutions’ and added: ‘There’s an opportunity for a bigger debate here on how we change society.’ It makes you think that a bit of investment now could go a long way.

To order copies of Drink and Drugs News contact t: 020 7463 2085 e: [email protected] www.drinkanddrugsnews.com

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watched it tear my life apart. I watched as if it wasn’t really relevant to me, as if I was just a bystander watching it from the sidelines. I watched how it not just broke up my family unit, but smashed it to pieces. The people I loved most in the world struggled to find reason out of chaos. Addiction is something I have struggled with since my late “teens”, now in my mid-40s I find myself asking the question: can anybody who has never experienced a crack cocaine or heroin addiction really understand the powerful allure and forces at work within the addict? I have heard it called many things, but to me, since my late teens it has been my demon, my lover, my best friend, a thing my whole existence would revolve around. Anybody who has never experienced the powerful allure addiction has on a person will most probably struggle to understand the forces at work and the battles each addict has to face. Let me try to explain! For those of you who have seen the film, “The Lord of the Rings”, picture “Gollum” and “My Precious”, think about how it consumes him, how it takes over his whole life, how every waking moment is filled with thoughts of having it, or of how to get it, how nothing else matters and nothing will get in the way of him having it. Then maybe you might be able to scratch the surface of how addiction really affects the addict and the internal battle an addict must endure. It will never be the addict who has the problem, everyone else is wrong the addict never is. Even the times when the days and nights are long and dark, the sweating, the cramps, the throwing up, the shitting through the eye of a needle, the beg, borrowing or stealing, just to feel that warm cloud of smoke enter the lungs, hit the pit of the stomach and embrace every pore in the body, pales everything else into insignificance and makes it all seem worthwhile. No matter what life throws at them it doesn’t matter as long as the feeling and warm embrace envelopes the soul. They can cope, all senses will be dulled. That feeling takes over judgement and reason and to some extent even sanity, so powerful is that smoke inhaled off a piece of foil. Having left untold devastation, harm and fear throughout my life, inflicted pain and misery, not only on people who I felt had wronged me in some nonsensical way, but on entire families and

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path through life and not be reliant on what you inhale. The biggest obstacle in my way was my thoughts and myself. It was the fear of not knowing what was holding me back. Not knowing how to cope with reality. Not knowing if I was strong enough to confront my demons. Not knowing if the real me would be better than the old me.

My precious Carl Martin explains exactly how it feels to be an addict innocents, who just stood in the way of the things I wanted. At times I struggled to understand how I had become this cold hearted, vicious, self centred bastard. Was it impossible to break free from the chains that bound me and call my own tune? One day I just found myself thinking will I never be free of this, is this just the way it is meant to be for me? I heard people say time after time “once a smack head always a smack head”, is that now my lot in life? Even prison cannot break the spell of “my precious”; it still calls to you on those dark lonely nights when you’re all alone. My own battle with addiction lasted an unbelievable 26 years. It is a battle I am now

winning. I have been clean now for two and a half years, I have the self confidence now to face my demons, it hasn’t been an easy journey and I have a long way to go to reach my full potential, but I have the belief in myself to achieve my goals. Being honest with myself meant looking deep within myself into my darkest corners and asking myself do I like the person I had become? Was I comfortable with my own feeling of selfworth? The answer was no. The hardest person in the world to be honest with is yourself, nobody but you knows the real you. You have the power not to inhale. All you need is self-belief, look hard enough and deep enough and you can control your own

Not knowing anything else but addiction for 26 years. I had to try, l had to give myself a chance, and I owe it to myself to find out who I really am. At first it was really a struggle, I battled hour to hour with myself, telling myself all kinds of things to justify just a couple of lines. I had just under 6 years left to serve; surely it would be easier with my precious? It would take away the pain and the time would go faster. I faltered a few times at first and couldn’t get thoughts of it out of my mind, but when I did falter the feeling I had let myself down grew stronger. It didn’t matter what anybody else knew or thought they knew, I knew, and I am the only one who knows the truth. I soon realised not to plan too far ahead, I would wake up and think let’s just get to dinner time, then tea time, then bed, even with no sleep it was an accomplishment that I had achieved by myself for myself. Small steps, is how we learn to cope and understand this world we live in. As babies we stumble and fall, take hesitant steps followed by more confident ones and before we know it we are running, flying and doing remarkable things as human beings. So maybe there’s a lesson in there somewhere? We come into this world taking small steps, so if we stumble along the way, or go back to what we know, approach it slowly and with time your confidence will soar to new heights. You will rediscover the real you and maybe still reach the heights you were destined to reach. My confidence is back on track, l am no longer ashamed of who I am, my steps are that much bigger now and I have the self belief to control my own thoughts and actions. The only thing precious to me now is my family and life itself. I wish you well in your future, it really is yours to control. Carl Martin is currently resident at HMP Garth

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org problems and opportunities which come with ‘rehabilitation’. A cash incentive, for every successful good citizen they churn out, may have them dashing for pen and ink to sign the contract, but they must always remain acutely aware that they are dealing with people, not figures. If they plan to build on the current model of putting prisoners through courses, then they will need to devise short, intense and successful programmes which identify and address issues which have eluded Britain’s politicians since the punishment of imprisonment was first implemented. Consideration of the initiative also raises the question of how ‘payment by results’ will work. Like many former prisoners, I feel that it is only by my own efforts that I have stayed away from crime. The probation service was helpful, but without a personal willingness to go straight, I could easily be serving another sentence. If I had been herded through an organisation before release, it would have made no difference to my plans and actions since. Yet, under proposals, that organisation would be commended, and receive a cash reward.

Halden Prison, the stuff of dreams David Guy, formerly of HMP Ranby, explains how the British prison system should be taking its lead from Norway

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hirty two year-old Emil Brustad reclines as the steel prison door bangs shut behind him. Outside, beyond the barless window, lies an immaculate gravel pathway, winding between the grass and pine trees of the forest prison. He peers outside, contemplating his upcoming release, then stretching over, opens the door to his mini fridge and takes out a can of Coke. His day was long, and as he leans back, taking a swig from the can, his thoughts return to the hours spent in the jail’s recording studio. It is 11pm and he has just been banged up for the night in Norway’s Halden Prison. Halden is the stuff of dreams for Britain’s long suffering prison reformers: A reasonable, purposeful and humane jail. One where a small number of inmates, prior to release, are housed in modern accommodation, with modern facilities which appropriately prepare them for the outside world. Officers, who have formed their own choir, are polite and courteous and treat each inmate like an ordinary citizen in the belief that humane treatment aids inmates’ integration back into society. “They will be your neighbour one day”, says

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governor Oyvind Alnaes, who sees the regime not as “Liberal” but as “reasonable” and hopes that the jail teaches values of citizenship to its all male population. The 252 man prison, which houses a recording studio and climbing wall, provides each inmate with a flat screen TV and mini fridge to compliment each en-suite cell. 12 to 15 inmates share a kitchen, where everyone helps prepare and cook their own food after a purposeful day’s work, where equality between staff and prisoners is stressed. It is a long way from Britain’s jails, where an ever bulging population is processed through fruitless courses and often overstretched resettlement departments. And it is an unlikely future scenario, when a ‘throw away the key’ attitude remains a common view, given by the public, in conversations on crime and punishment. The new coalition government, however, intent on reducing the prison population, is looking to find alternatives to the existing system. New justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, who recently derided former prison policy as having been made with “a chequebook in

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one hand and a copy of the Daily Mail in the other”, wants to see a “rehabilitation revolution”. Alongside handing out more non custodial sentences, organisations, which claim to offer expertise in rehabilitation, will be invited to work with prisoners and then be paid for their results. Cutting the number of prison sentences given out will be welcomed, especially by those who have long criticised the lock ‘em up approach to justice, but passing over prisoner rehabilitation to private organisations should be met with a raised eyebrow. So far, details have been vague. The general public, unfamiliar with prisons, may be satisfied, but to those who have an understanding of the justice and prison system, it all seems a little naïve. David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’, which takes power from government and puts it in the hands of individuals and organisation, should be applied to justice with absolute caution. Inviting an established charity or volunteer body, such as Turning Point or Catch 22, may sound like a sensible idea, but these organisations will be dealing with those unique

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Attitudes, though appearing to have revolved 180 degrees, remain the same. It was the Prime Minister who recently called for an end to compassion for Raul Moat. By labelling him a “callous murderer”, David Cameron betrayed a startling insensitivity to those who commit crime. It is right that his victims deserved sympathy, but the human response was to see the entire series of events in Tyneside and Rothbury as a tragedy. Few condoned the actions of Moat, but many did see a human face amidst the carnage, which deserved understanding. But it was the wider attitude in regards to offending and justice which Cameron was reflecting. In the compelling publication, When Children Kill, Professor David Green compares reactions of criminal justice systems to child murderers. Analysing the media and justice system responses to the Jamie Bulger killing and a similar murder in Norway, of Silje Redergard, Green shows how the Norwegians dealt rationally and humanely with the situation, making quick steps to reintegrate the child murderers back into society. Relaxing with a cool can of Coke from the in cell fridge is not necessarily the perfect picture of prison reform, but the Norwegian model of justice is closer to where the Coalition should be aiming. The goal should not be a reduction in cost, in the hope it has a knock on effect on crime, but a change in attitudes and policy, informed by those who know the justice and prison system at first hand. Prisoners, prison officers and reformers, and those who understand the wider picture much better than the Home Office ever did, need to be consulted more closely than ever to tackle not only Britain’s bloated jails, but the beliefs which saw them fill up in the first place.

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Guilty until proven innocent - historic cases Stuart Morris reflects on how legislation has changed over the years for those accused of rape

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n the 9th of June 2010, during PMs Questions, Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that between 8-10% of all rape allegations are false. These are ones proved to be false, but how many more slip through the net placing innocent men in prison for crimes they did not commit? Men who, by maintaining their innocence, suffer a harsher regime for doing so as they cannot address an offending behaviour that does not exist. Justice in this area of criminal activity has, over the past 25 years, been manipulated to convict more easily than in any other area of crime. The rights of the defendant have diminished, and the ‘justice at any price’ mentality has ensured that more innocents have been locked up than ever before. The problems with our legal system start with the first steps you take into the courtroom. You are escorted into a glass cage, then locked in with a security guard for company. And this is how the jury first sees you, looking guilty. You are positioned behind the prosecution to make it difficult for you to contact your legal team, and the judge gives you dirty looks every time you try to attract their attention. The jury study you in order to gauge your reactions to witness testimony but are not allowed to gauge witness reaction to your testimony. But these things are nothing compared to the way legislation has been distorted in cases of a sexual nature. In the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, it was decreed that the evidence of an adult victim was sufficient to convict. Corroboration of this evidence was no longer necessary, so judges could no longer warn the jury of the dangers of convicting a defendant on a single victim’s testimony alone. The Criminal Justice Act 1988 had previously decreed similar in respect of minors. This means that one of the main building blocks of justice ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’, goes out the window as juries have to accept these ‘victim’ testimonies as fact. The

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no matter how long ago it was supposed to have happened. 10, 20, or even 30 years ago is not uncommon, and to bring these cases to court is surely an abuse of process as the time elapsed creates an impossible scenario to defend. All of this means that it is all down to which side has the best barrister, and nothing at all to do with the evidence before the court, because there isn’t any. Besides the accuser’s testimony and the defendant’s rebuttal. So the jury follow the rules and find the defendant guilty, and the only recourse is to lodge an appeal.

burden of proof therefore shifts to the defence to prove their client innocent, instead of the prosecution having to prove guilt as happens in any other type of crime. Even the defendant’s state of mind (the ‘mens rea’) when the alleged crime was committed is assumed, as there is no real evidence to prove its existence. But the alleged victim’s state of mind is never challenged, even though she may well have False Memory Syndrome (a mixing of implanted traumatic memories with easily remembered real memories to create one plausible memory that is, in fact, false), a recognised psychological condition. Then, in 1999, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act took away a defendant’s right to directly question an alleged victim in court, it now has to be conducted by a barrister even though the European Convention on Human Rights states, in Article 6, Subsection 3c, that one of your basic rights is the right to defend yourself in person if you so wish. It also restricted use of past sexual behaviour as evidence. This comes after a previous law had

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already allowed prosecutors to manipulate what evidence they released, forcing defence teams to ‘prove’ that other evidence existed.

The rights of the defendant have diminished, and the ‘justice at any price’ mentality has ensured that more innocents have been locked up than ever before Now to the question of time. There is no statute of limitations in the UK for serious crime, so an alleged incident can be reported

In order to lodge a successful appeal, fresh evidence is required, but where do you find fresh evidence in a case where there was little evidence to begin with? Therefore some innocent men rot in prison whilst the criminals who put them there are rewarded by way of compensation. And we are not talking peanuts here, anything up to £50,000. Now that is a motive for making a false allegation, if ever I heard one. And all historic cases seem to have ‘victims’ that have suffered multiple abuse over a long period of time, thus guaranteeing them payment at the top end of the scale. Could it be that some of these ‘victims’ have been reading up on a certain pair of unqualified feminists who give the advice that can end up creating false memories? The laws that govern sexual cases need to be changed, and many in the system hope that this government will be the one to change them. We should follow the example of some other countries who, after stopping compensation in sex cases, saw a drop of some 50% of such cases.

Stuart Morris is currently resident at HMP Long Lartin

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The lamp must still burn Barrister Stanley Best looks at what prisoners can do to combat the slashing of Legal Aid funding

Stanley Best

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he lady with the lamp was, of course, Florence Nightingale who, as the nurse preacher in the Chapel of St Thomas’s Hospital said, was concerned that the same quality of medical and nursing care should be available to the poor as to the rich. The same sentiments moved those who argued for the establishment of legal aid so that it might no longer be said, as it had been caustically said by a leading barrister of the day (James Mathews 1820-1908) that ‘In England justice is open to all – like the Ritz Hotel’. The coalition government should not rely upon a former partner from a large and wealthy London solicitors’ firm to administer legal aid. It needs a lawyer to advise with experience of both branches of the legal profession, but also one who has much experience of the working of legal aid before Gordon Brown’s government laid plans to wreck it, which plans the coalition appears shamefully to have adopted. The problem is not only with legal aid cuts in criminal courts, the reduction in Parole Board hearings – paper decisions will not achieve justice, but leave many prisoners to serve further years in prison when this is not necessary in the public interest – but there is a family court system which with inadequate funding leads to an

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average of over 12 months for decisions affecting children at risk, some of whose parents will be in prison. If justice for the poor and those of middle income is not to become once again a disgrace, then the government needs to will the funding for legal aid. Vincent Cable, the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Business in Mr Cameron’s government, argues (Sunday Telegraph 8 August) for the rich to pay higher taxes and he should also press for banks to make a greater contribution which will enable Church, Medicine and Law to function as they should for the benefit of all in the Big Society. Lamps need oil unless their flames are to be allowed to gutter and to die, as they will if nothing is done. JUSTICE MUST BE SEEN TO BE DONE. It has taken me many months in a tussle with the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to gain acceptance that I should be paid my fee for appearing as Counsel at a Parole Board Review in August 2009, but having acknowledged the obligation the LSC say that it will take 3-4 weeks to issue a cheque and that I should pay most of my travelling expenses and all of my hotel bill myself! Treasury Counsel appearing for the Home Secretary is not subject to the same restrictions so the battle is not yet over. What happened to the principle of ‘equality of arms’? The coalition government must not be seen to be funding prosecuting lawyers and unfairly treating defending Counsel and their clients. I heard only yesterday from a young solicitor, who is scrupulous in seeking justice for her

clients, that her firm has not been awarded a criminal law contract by the LSC so can no longer take on parole reviews. Who will take it on? The firm which has a higher volume of cases and keeps cutting corners to the detriment of its clients? This is the likely outcome. It must not be allowed to happen.

What happened to the principle of ‘equality of arms’? The coalition government must not be seen to be funding prosecuting lawyers and unfairly treating defending Counsel and their clients Digressing for a moment, I mention Cardinal Kevin O’Brien, the Scottish Roman Catholic leader, who has said that people in the USA seek not justice but vengeance. The appalling bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie demanded severe punishment, but the release on compassionate grounds of its convicted perpetrator was proper, given the evidence of his health. We are too in danger, in the UK, of failing to recognise the particular harm which false cries of rape may do. We must persevere in the claim for anonymity until trial. An MP got preciously close the other day to parroting the cry of the Queen in Alice,

‘sentence first, verdict afterwards’. I have abandoned charging VAT on my fees and others will, no doubt, have done likewise. That will help a little, but what can prisoners do to help to change the hearts and minds of the coalition government over legal aid cuts? The Bar Council and the Law Society have already made representations, as I have done, but you, at the sharp end, can in your thousands help where you will by friends and family, write to: The Right Hon Kenneth Clarke Qc Mp, The Minister for Justice at the Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, Sw1h 9Aj, spelling out in relevant detail what it means to you to be deprived of oral hearings at Parole Board Review; that denial of representation by Counsel who can make your case for you instead of having to face yet more years inside, will lead to injustice. When you can, send a copy of your letter to your MP at the House of Commons, London, SW1. Put your case as bluntly as you like, but always avoid being offensive. Rudeness will not help your case. The more carefully argued your letter, the more likely it is to do good. Clifford Mortimer, a barrister and father of the late lamented John Mortimer QC, creater of Rumpole of the Bailey, once said:- “The art of cross-examination is not the art of examining crossly. It is the art of leading the witness through a line of propositions he agrees to until he is forced to agree to the one fatal question”. It is that quality of advocacy you look for from Counsel whether he/ she represents you before a Parole Board panel, in the Crown Court or elsewhere. Never accept anything less if you hope to succeed. Stanley Best is a practising barrister and a mediator at Barnstable Chambers, EX19 8 ED and Chairman of the British Legal Association Tel/Fax: 01837 83763.

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£2bn Cuts Continued from front page The explosion in indeterminate sentencing from 3,000 to almost 13,000 over the years, the 2,000 or so people (equivalent to three average sized prisons) recalled for technical breach of license and the often unnecessary use of custodial remand are all areas of policy needing close scrutiny by the Sentencing Review.

the coalition “ Government could

Sentencing review: what’s it all about? Francesca Cooney, Advice and Information Manager at the Prison Reform Trust, highlights the government’s review on sentencing policy for courts. This should include fines, unpaid work orders, drug treatment and testing orders, curfew orders and attendance centre orders. One of the problems with community orders at the moment is that people can have unrealistic demands made on them with a single order having a long list of activities and requirements. This system could be simpler and each community order could be seen as a punishment by itself. Courts could also look at another community option if a defendant could not complete their original community sentence.

do a lot worse than to ensure our penal establishments are used only for violent, dangerous and repeat offenders

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As a modest plan for reforming our largely overcrowded and underperforming prison system, the coalition Government could do a lot worse than to ensure our penal establishments are used only for violent, dangerous and repeat offenders. Lord Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons told Inside Time that the aim of the Criminal Justice System, as a whole, is to protect the public by preventing re-offending. Lord Anything that is not supporting Ramsbotham this aim should be axed. The number one target therefore must be, he said, ‘the grossly inflated bureaucracy that has grown up over the years which must be ruthlessly pruned to ensure that only those parts concerned with protecting the public survive.’ Now that is a far less modest plan!

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© prisonimage.org

PRISON REFORM TRUST

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he coalition government has announced that it will review sentencing policy. At the moment they have been asking people for their views on our sentencing system. The government expect to publish their proposals for change in the autumn. There will be another opportunity to comment then and after that the government will draft new laws. The Prison Reform Trust has written to the government to outline some of the changes we would like to see. We agree with the

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government that the existing laws about sentencing are too complicated. It is also true that the public does not always understand how a sentence works and there needs to be better information and a more transparent system. We have recently called for reform of the IPP sentence and our submission to the government also looks at ways in which sentences for serious offences could be fairer. We also look at ways people with a learning disability or mental health problem can be assessed, diverted from court and receive treatment. The prison population has grown because people are getting longer sentences for serious crimes and people who would have got a community sentence 15 years ago are now getting prison sentences. We would like the sentencing framework to change so that prison is used less and sentence lengths are reduced. We would like judges and magistrates to use community sentences more. We would also like to see different sorts of community sentences made available and more options

We have also asked the government to look at breach and recall. Over 10% of the local prison population are serving sentences for a breach. Most of these are for technical breaches of conditions, rather than for another offence. Probation officers used to be able to use their judgement more about when they recalled someone to prison and we believe that worked better. They would do a risk assessment on the individual and their situation, rather than recalling everybody who did not keep to the conditions. We have done a number of opinion polls and we found that there is public support for supervised community penalties. The public also support other measures such as more help and early intervention for families and young people, better treatment for people with addiction and increased mental health services. As well as being better at reducing crime, this would be cheaper than sending people to prison. We hope that the government will consider this when reviewing sentencing. We expect to have more information about the governments’ plans in late October. Our information line: 0808 802 0060 is open Mondays 3.30-7.30pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays 3.30-5.30pm. We can give you advice and information about prison life and your rights in prison. We are not solicitors and we cannot give you legal advice.

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Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

‘Shout OXO’ before you die Paul Sullivan reviews the ‘Physical Control in Care Training Manual’ Rib Distraction: The person is approached, usually from behind, in a kind of hug around the rib cage, and the knuckles are forced up under the young person’s rib cage, alternatively the person can be punched or elbowed from both sides simultaneously into their rib cage.

Paul Sullivan

F

ollowing media exposure of the ‘restraint’ of the 250 children in privatised juvenile centres, Inside Time has obtained a copy of the ‘Physical Control in Care Training Manual’. The Manual, marked ‘RESTRICTED’ and approved by the, then, Home Secretary (Charles Clarke) was produced in 2005 by the Home Office. It contains techniques developed by the Prison Service College especially for use on young people. Over a quarter of boys and 11% of girls say that they have been physically restrained. A Howard League report found that in 2008, two children were injured by ‘restraint’ every day. Yet it took a three year battle by the families of dead children, Parliamentarians and the Children’s Rights Alliance to get the Manual finally released, in full, in July 2010. Had the families of the children not been legally represented at the inquests the full extent of the violent restraint they suffered would never have come out.

“The Howard League found that in the 18 months ending June 2008, ‘restraint’ was used around 1,860 times in Secure Training Centres resulting in over 800 injuries to children. That is two children injured by ‘restraint’ every single day!” The Secure Training Centres (STCs) are not part of the prison system, they don’t have officers; staff are referred to as ‘CARERS’. Reliance Custodial Services, who have the contract to transport children to the four Centres, are also allowed to use the restraint

Thumb Distraction: Carers are warned that this is an ‘extreme measure’, and involves forcing the thumb backwards in what is described as ‘short, sharp bursts’.

A training session in progress

methods outlined in the Training Manual. They are also allowed to handcuff the children. The Manual makes grim and shocking reading and starts off by warning that there is no such thing as ‘safe restraint’; so only staff who have attended a special course are authorised to use it. As you read it, you question who came up with such violent interventions and what they thought they were hoping to achieve. The Manual contains many inconsistencies; refusal to comply with a lawful order is not sufficient to justify the use of force, but if there is a risk to good order then force is justified. Appalling is the only word to describe the instruction that ‘pregnant girls should not be forced to the floor face downwards.’ In the year April 2008 to March 2009 there were 1,792 recorded restraints; 660 of which were on just 55 girls. Even when carers are learning the restraint techniques there is a risk of injury; but all they have to do, when practicing, is to ‘shout oxo’ and everybody stops. The instructors make sure that carers practice in groups of similar bodyweight to reduce the chance of injury. Maybe children in STCs should also be taught to ‘shout oxo’! Justice Minister Lord McNally, answering a question in the House of Lords, said, “The

techniques are for when an unarmed officer is under attack. I have looked at the Manual and at some of the techniques highlighted by the media…. These are not techniques to inflict pain on young people.” The Justice Minister seems unaware that STC staff are ‘carers’ and not ‘officers’ and being punched in the groin does actually hurt.

So what do they do? ..................................................... The Manual specifies areas that carers can target for ‘blows’ or ‘pressure’: these include the nose, ears, neck and throat area, knees, shin and instep, solar plexus, fingers, head, eyes and the groin area. It is worth remembering that this training Manual is designed for children as young as 12!

Distraction ..................................................... ‘Distraction’ is a euphemism for causing pain to get compliance; three methods are described. Nose Distraction: One hand holds the back of the young person’s head, the other hand forces taut fingers up under the nose from the top lip. This can also be done with the person forced face down to the floor and their head forcefully turned for access. There can be up to four staff carrying out the procedure. This was banned in 2008.

In some circumstances several carers can force the young person to the ground and hold them in ‘approved positions’ which can restrict their breathing either by constricting their neck or chest; or by the sheer weight of carers on top of them. Carers are warned to watch for the person becoming limp, losing consciousness or going into cardiac arrest and if that happens they are told to ‘modify their restraint’ or release the person. No hold can be held for more than three minutes. Remember, this is not Guantanamo this is a British, privatised, facility for damaged children run for profit. In a response to a joint House of Commons/ Lords Human Rights Enquiry into restraint in STCs in 2008 the Government said, “The system of physical restraint approved for use in secure training centres is designed to enable staff to intervene to prevent abuse or violence, as far as possible without causing pain to the young person being restrained.” The Manual also warns that carers will suffer a number of effects during the confrontation - these include; additional strength, tunnel vision, time distortion, loss of hearing, clumsiness and an inability to recall the events. This is part of the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism and illustrates graphically how such events can get out of control as the restraining carers get higher and higher on adrenaline. Even the most careful carer could administer more force than they realise, be too focussed on ‘restraint’ to know when three minutes is up, and might not appreciate the child’s distress - even if they did ‘shout oxo’. Lord Carlile, who conducted an Inquiry into the use of ‘restraint’ in Young Offender Institutions and STCs for the Howard League in 2006, said then: “My inquiry has considered various ways that children are treated in penal custody, which I believe would, in any other circumstance, trigger a child protection

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org investigation and could even result in criminal charges…. While many of the children held in custody exhibit challenging behaviour and have complex health and social needs, there are over-riding concerns about the forcible stripping of young people, long periods of isolation as punishment and the physical ‘restraint’ of children.”

When Things Go Wrong ..................................................... Gareth Myatt

Gareth Myatt was 15, 4ft 10 and weighed just 6½ stone and had been in custody 3 days. The ‘restraint’ which led to his death followed his refusal to clean a toaster. Carers decided to punish him by taking all his possessions, including a piece of paper with his mum’s new phone number on; a practice described as a way to establish authority, or, as a carer admitted, “a good way to escalate the situation so that physical ‘restraint’ could be used.” The inquest was told that, being PCC’d was part of the culture at Rainsbrook. Carers described ‘restraint’ as ‘being on active duty’ and gave each other names such as ‘Clubber’, ‘Crusher’ and ‘Mauler’. One of the carers involved in Gareth’s death was known for inflicting excessive pain, another was 6ft and 16 stone. The jury at the Myatt inquest returned a highly critical narrative verdict which was damning of the Youth Justice Board and the Ministry of Justice, but, ultimately his death was recorded as ‘accidental’. A recent Ofsted inspection report said, “Any physical intervention is used only as a last resort. Staff members are excellent at using negotiation and mediation to diffuse situations and avoid the need for physical restraint. Following all incidences of restraint, a debrief is held with the young person. All staff receive mandatory regular training in the approved techniques. There are good and well-structured physical control plans in place.” What a shame Ofsted weren’t there when Gareth Myatt was ‘restrained’!

Adam Rickwood

Adam Rickwood took his own life in Hassockfield, at 14, the youngest child ever to die in custody. He had a history of selfharm. The ‘restraint’ followed his refusal to

go to his room. He was subjected to extreme violence by four adult men, who used a nose distraction technique which made his nose bleed for an hour. Carers claimed he had been aggressive but video evidence showed this to be untrue. No additional monitoring, observation or interaction with Adam was set up despite the known psychological impact such ‘restraint’ can have on a child. He was not monitored and was found hanging at midnight. The inquest heard how the training of carers at Hassockfield was poor, with little training in suicide or self harm awareness, and how the psychologists and social workers at the centre were all trainees. As well as a goodbye letter to his family the boy wrote a statement about his treatment; he said, “When I calmed down I asked them why they hit me in the nose and jumped on me. They said it was because I wouldn’t go in my room so I said what gives them the right to hit a 14 year old child in the nose and they said it was restraint.”

Some of the injuries, listed in the manual, which young people might sustain as a result of the approved ‘restraint’ methods • Asphyxiation • Blindness • Broken Legs • Bruising • Concussion • Dislodged Teeth • Fractured Knee-Cap • Fractured Skull • Haemorrhage • Paralysis • Ruptured Bladder • Ruptured Eardrums • Ruptured Eyeball • Unconsciousness

The Prisons’ Ombudsman carried out a ‘Fatal Accident’ enquiry into Adam Rickwood’s death. Inside Time has a copy of their Report which is disappointing and not forthright enough about all the errors and bad practice it found. The Ombudsman’s office tells us that from 2009 they investigate every death in all establishments; lessons have been learned from the early investigations, and we can be sure that all enquiries are thorough and vigilant. The difference with a recent investigation into the death of a young person at Lancaster Farms is marked; alas five years later the investigation found very similar problems. The Administrative Court has now found that at the original Inquest the Coroner acted unlawfully because he refused to rule on the legality of the force used on the boy. A second inquest is due to be held in January 2011. Two very simple questions need to be asked. What on earth did the system do to a vulnerable young person to cause them such desperation that, all alone, they took their own life? Why does nobody in authority accept at least some of the responsibility for the duty of care that was clearly abandoned? In the year that Adam died, Hassockfield recorded 972 uses of ‘restraint’ on their 50 residents (that’s nearly 3 a day). Hassockfield is not alone; Oakhill recorded 757 uses of ‘restraint’ in 9 months on 80 residents (also 3 ‘restraints’ a day, or each resident ‘restrained’ nearly 10 times!); Anne Owers recommended Oakhill’s closure in 2008 - it’s still open.

What has happened recently? ..................................................... There have been 30 deaths of children in custody in England and Wales since 1990, 28 self-inflicted. There has never been a public inquiry following any of these deaths. The charity INQUEST which supports families in these circumstances continues to press for public enquiries as the only way the truth and realities of the children’s treatment will be known.

In response to the Inquest Report the Government said, “The jury at the Inquest into Adam’s death found that a ‘restraint’ incident some hours before Adam’s death had not contributed to it and that staff at Hassockfield had behaved appropriately throughout the time he was at the Centre.”

An independent review of ‘restraint’ in 2008, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, recommended the ending of the deliberate infliction of pain but suggested painful wrist locks should be retained as a ‘back-up’. They suggested the authority to use wrist locks ‘must be given following risk assessment by the Duty Manager’, but then added ‘or in emergency

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situations by the team leader present’. The Training Manual, in 2005, had already identified why staff involved in ‘restraint’ are not suitable to make such judgements. A House of Commons/Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights published a report on restraint in STCs and called for “ … the widest possible review of the use of restraint against children and young people in a variety of settings and urge the Government and the YJB to consider the results of the review carefully and promptly and to publish the review’s findings and the Government’s response in a timely manner.” They added, “It is vitally important that operating instructions are clear, accessible, and provide worked examples of different situations, to demonstrate to staff how to determine if the force is or is not an action of last resort, and how to decide whether an action is necessary and proportionate.” We are still waiting. There is a new review taking place at which people like the charity INQUEST hope to have the opportunity to provide logical and well thought out evidence as to why such force, as has been admitted, is inappropriate and should be banned immediately. Deborah Coles, INQUEST’s Co-Director told Inside Time; “Now that the restraint manual has finally been made public we need to ensure rigorous independent scrutiny of restraint techniques and the circumstances in which they are authorised for use, in order to protect children and young people in custody from injury and death. Otherwise the use of restraint is no more than state-sanctioned child abuse. There is still a pressing need for a public inquiry into the treatment of children in conflict with the law.” Carole Pounder, mother of Adam Rickwood, said: “Nothing can bring Adam back but the families of children in custody should be told about the kind of treatment their son or daughter is going to receive, in the same way as they would be told about the kind of disciplinary policies teachers use in their child’s school.” If you have Internet access you can download the full manual. News from the House page 41

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Comment

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Prison psychologists - biased practitioners Which brings me to question the role of psychologists and in particular those working within the prison and probation services.

by Charles Hanson

S

olicitor Niall Brooks in ‘Taking the Risk’ (Inside Time August 2010) clearly and so succinctly describes how the ‘risk society’ in which we live has impacted on the criminal justice system.

The risk model which many practitioners, both in probation and prison psychology, resort to in carrying out risk assessments is far removed from anything scientific although they would argue otherwise; but it is so deeply flawed that it is easy for them to see risk coming out of the woodwork. The old model consisted of preventing, detecting and punishing crimes and rehabilitating criminals; it was one which the public would acknowledge as the hallmark of the criminal justice system. However, the new model has become dominant. It is a risk based penology which is dependent on ‘actuarial justice’, the product of the information and data sharing government centralisation. Unlike the old model, which targets individuals, it uses comprehensive information to target so-called ‘dangerous groups’ and puts them under surveillance; and, like the actuarial techniques of the insurance industry, it is preemptive in nature, where one can be imprisoned not for what one has done but for what they might do. Much of this approach relies on the intervention of psychological assessments and the opinions of psychologists.

In assuming to be ‘expert witnesses’ in their preparation of risk assessment reports there are often so many references to, ‘it seems’, ‘what seems’, ‘I think’, ‘it appears’, ‘he appears to be’, ‘if’, ‘but’, ‘should he feel this or that’, ‘in the long term’, ‘research has shown’ (without reference to what that research is), ‘in the opinion of’, ‘in my opinion’ and so forth that one could be forgiven for thinking that many reports could well have been written by a clairvoyant or astrologer and at worst a betting man.

And this is scientific? At one time those who were released from prison were described as ex-offenders but no more. Today, released prisoners who would have paid the price for their crimes continue to be described as offenders, in spite of the fact that those who would have served long sentences for offences committed many years ago continue to be defined by their past; with many being subject to parole licence under the supervision of offender managers not, it should be noted, ex-offender managers. All this has its roots in past behaviours and the assessments based on perceived risk in the future so that there is never any escape from it.

We remain offenders Rehabilitation would imply that one has become reformed and is therefore an exoffender and none more so than those released from indeterminate sentences whose release can only be authorised by the Parole Board, who have to be satisfied that the risk is

low enough and that further detention is no longer necessary. One’s risk levels are of course determined, in the main, by prison based forensic psychologists whose so called expertise is heavily relied on by the Parole Board and the Prison Service. I note the letter by ‘Name Supplied’, Channings Wood (Psychology Report) Inside Time June 2010 who sought to clarify the status of an independent psychology report. The response from the Ministry of Justice was that an independent report is not independent if it has been commissioned by an offender. This is arrogance at best, given that many consultant psychologists are registered expert witnesses and are highly trained with many of PhD level unlike prison psychologists, trainee psychologists and psychology assistants. From my own personal knowledge and experience there are many psychologists in private practice who have at various times been employed by the Prison Service; with many rejecting the Prison Service approach to risk assessments and are now relied on to give expert evidence in the courtroom. Reports prepared by these psychologists almost always conclude with, ‘this is an independent report and my duty is to the Court’. Is the Prison Service implying that an independent psychologist’s report has less value than one prepared by a prison employed psychologist, and therefore cannot be relied on? In researching the entry qualifications for a Prison Service psychologist, I was staggered to discover that the minimum entry qualifications for a psychology assistant is a mere 5 GCE/GCSE passes (grade A-C) and must

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include English Language and Mathematics or equivalent, and that it’s desirable to have knowledge of computers and statistics with a typical starting salary of £14,444. Trainee forensic psychologists must be in possession of Graduate Basis for Registration with the British Psychological Society and they can expect a typical starting salary in the region of £17,285 - £19,581. Chartered forensic psychologists (higher grade) however, can expect to earn between £26,280 and £38,082 (salary data collected July 08). The lack of independence of prison psychologists is no better demonstrated than by their paymasters (H.M. Prison Service) funding of those who aspire to undertake PhD qualifications, with funding also being available for other qualifications. Trainee psychologists who are expected to enrol on the Diploma in Forensic Psychology also receive financial support from the Prison Service. With limitations and restrictions being put on grants for university entrants/students, it’s not too difficult to understand how an aspiring psychologist without funding or grants can tie themselves to the Prison Service to advance their career prospects in a discipline which is often regarded as the pits of academia, unlike medicine, law or one of the natural sciences. There is additional funding available for registration with the Health Professions Council, now a statutory body for all practicing psychologists. It is to the Health Professions Council an independent and Government created body (unlike the British Psychological Society) that one now makes a complaint in respect of malpractice, incompetence and issues involving fitness to practice. I end on something the distinguished linguist/ activist Noam Chomsky once said, “One waits in vain for psychologists to state the limits of their knowledge.” I’m sure we’ll continue to ‘wait in vain’. Too many careers are at stake! Charles Hanson is a lifer formerly at HMP Blantyre House

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31

What’s a ‘psychopath’, a ‘DSPD’ and Quote of the Month should Peter Sutcliffe ever be released? The biggest crisis facing Britain? Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Bob Johnson asks some pertinent questions …

Dr Bob Johnson

“I

t’s quite wrong for Dr Johnson to claim he did any good” – this reportedly appeared in a Prison Service press release in 1996, describing my five years’ work as a consultant psychiatrist in C-Wing Special Unit, Parkhurst, recently abruptly closed. How many institutions happily claim their expensive staff were useless? Perhaps the prison mantra “Nothing Works” should read “Nothing Is Allowed To Work”. The irony is that both Michael Howard, then Home Secretary, and Professor Jeremy Coid, the consultant psychiatrist tasked with researching C-Wing, both knew at the time that C-Wing Special Unit had been hugely successful. Even the people currently living there then welcomed a radical change – “no alarm bells have been rung here for two years” they cheerfully told the Chief Inspector of Prisons, who included their comments in his Report on Parkhurst (HMSO, 1995, ISBN 1-85893-382-X). In fact, as the elaborate monthly records unequivocally confirm, no alarm bells were rung on C-Wing for 3 years, a unique record worldwide for any maximum security wing, especially one for people judged too dangerous for Broadmoor. So why close it, only to blow £½ billion on a farcical alternative? But more basically, what is a ‘psychopath’? What’s a ‘DSPD’, when it’s at home? And should Peter Sutcliffe ever be released? Take these in turn. As medical students, we used to joke that doctors would label as ‘psychopaths’ only those they couldn’t treat – such prescience. And if ‘psychopath’, unlike any other diagnosis, tells you more about the doctor than about the patient, DSPD goes one worse – it betrays a hopeless collusion between feckless politicians and cowardly doctors, which in a better world would simply be labelled professional corruption.

“We know who you are” said the Prisons Minister, referring to the 800 or so “Dangerously Disordered Persons” which he confidently and entirely fictitiously asserted existed. DSPD is a blatant attempt to circumvent the law of the land, to vent political spleen on a handful of scapegoats, to curry favour, and promulgate a failed ideology. If you want a detailed account of how it’s done, read “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest”. Unhappily what’s depicted there in fiction, happens every day in the UK, in legal fact. Psychiatry should not be above the law, especially Human Rights, but then neither should politicians. Michael Howard flouted parliamentary privilege to character-assassinate my only patron, John Marriott, then Governor of Parkhurst who later died prematurely aged 51. Howard doubled lifers’ tariffs as if his legal training had never mentioned ‘due process’. And having belatedly spent £50 million on making Parkhurst the most secure prison in Europe, he downgraded it to Category B status – solely to save his political skin. Where’s an effective Parliamentary Select Committee when you need one? GMTV recently asked me about Peter Sutcliffe. I see his horrendous crimes coming from a bucketful of hate within him. He wasn’t born with it – he acquired it by misadventure. If this bucket is now empty – free him (so long as he compensates his victims for life) – if not, don’t. You empty this bucket by persuading him to grow up emotionally, and convincing him that contrary to all his childhood programming, human beings are intrinsically benign and sociable. That’s what we did in C-Wing – and it worked. I reckon it’s saved over a dozen prison lives since – the prison’s computer could confirm this in minutes – if the Home Office would finally agree. It’s elementary, humane common sense – if you want to stop people murdering and being violent, stop treating them hatefully. Let’s get legal.

Too many parents don’t have a clue how to raise children

Understandably, there is widespread concern about the growing number of single mothers in modern Britain. But we should, perhaps, be even more worried about the number of feckless absent fathers, who refuse to acknowledge their child-rearing responsibilities and instead adopt a selfish, hedonistic approach in which they look no further than their own instant gratification.

Frank Field, MP for Birkenhead

A deepening sense of malaise hangs over our society. Violent crime is widespread, family breakdown endemic. Too many urban areas are scarred by anti-social behaviour, binge-drinking and drug abuse. Standards of educational attainment remain stubbornly low, while the vast welfare system provides perverse incentives towards mass idleness and irresponsibility. The results can be seen all around us, whether it be in the growing number of fatherless, jobless households, or the failure of more and more parents to rear children properly. Anyone who doubts the extent of the social crisis need only examine the figures. In the past year alone for example, there were more violent crimes ‘against the person’ recorded by the police in Birkenhead, my own Parliamentary constituency, than in the whole of Britain 50 years ago. The collapse of family life is just as striking. Incredibly, a majority of children are now born outside marriage, while almost a quarter of youngsters are reared in single-parent families.

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This social catastrophe can be seen at its darkest in the huge number of families who, regardless of their material wealth, live in a state of permanent squalor, chaos and hostility. All too often they are ‘neighbours from hell’ spreading misery in their communities. There are around 800,000 such families in today’s Britain, all of them presided over by what I call ‘toe-rag parents’ who haven’t got a clue how to raise children, and delegate the role of breadwinner to the social security system. Many people appear to have lost the simple parenting skills that were once taken for granted. And this means that Britain is now trapped in a vicious downward spiral, in which parents raise feckless children, who are then incapable of raising responsible, productive offspring of their own. Parenting classes would not, of course, be enough on their own. But, combined with other measures, such as genuine welfare reform and the expansion of apprenticeships, we might at last start to build a better society, from childhood up. Daily Mail, Tuesday 10th August 2010

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The innocence of prisoners’ children

A selection of comments from Prisoners’ Families Voices website prisonersfamiliesvoices.blogspot.com

to everyone but families such as mine are struggling to get their older children on visits so thank you once again for writing to Inside Time.

Karen Mellor is concerned by the lack of official understanding of children on prison visits

P

rison visits? Well you see, they remind me of a sorrowful human zoo. A place you take children to visit, to see someone you aren’t allowed to touch, love or show any affection to. A place where you are heavily bogged down with a handful of pound coins to feed the person sat in the chair opposite you, because he or she cannot move for the duration of the two hours visit… but why can’t they move? No, you see, it’s the prisoners’ families job to queue tirelessly at the canteen tuck shop along with keeping their youngsters under manners who are sprinting around the visits room like a 100 metres relay race. It’s not uncommon to see young children running around a visits room. For many of them, they have travelled hours on public transport to see their mum or dad in prison. Why wouldn’t they want to stretch their little legs after being restfully cooped up on a train or coach journey for what seems like hours on end for them. It isn’t a child’s fault that their loved ones have been shipped out, 100’s of miles away from their homes courtesy of the powers that be.

“

Why wasn’t she able to maintain a simple natural ‘family’ bond with her dad and let him take her to the tuck shop for some sweets? Isn’t that a ‘normal’ thing families do?

”

Children and families of prisoners are the innocent parties, but you wouldn’t think so, would you? During my years of prison visiting, I have witnessed families in the snow, rain, and freezing cold conditions arriving early in the morning for an afternoon prison visit due to their public transport times. I have seen children shivering outside visitors’ centres because some of them only open at certain times of the day. I have seen with my own eyes young mothers bottle feeding their babies in prams on a wall outside because there hasn’t been any shelter. There isn’t a great deal I haven’t seen and with utmost gratitude, some of the visitors’ centres and

their dedicated volunteers are catering for families who are having to travel long distances. Regretfully, in some regions, a number of prisoner’s family members aren’t so lucky and are still sat outside with their children for some time waiting on the prison reception area to open for shelter. I remember vividly on one particular visit seeing a small child tug on her daddy’s arm. She wanted him to go to the canteen tuck shop with her. His embarrassed reply was, “I can’t darling, you’ll have to ask mum to go with you.” The little girl frowned and asked, “Why Daddy?” Her dad tried to explain that he couldn’t move off his chair and all the little girl repeated was, “Why Daddy, why?” Why indeed! Why isn’t there a Government figure with healthy hearing that will listen to the plight of these innocent children affected by parental imprisonment? Why are there endless forums containing Government VIP’s who attend awareness raising conferences if they haven’t got the backbone to do anything about the fact of just how demoralizing it is for families with children visiting a loved one in prison? Why indeed bother using the term, ‘maintaining family ties’ when it is virtually impossible for many prisoners’ families and their children to do just that? Crispin Blunt used the term, ‘maintaining family ties’ in a recent speech and apparently recognized how important it is for prisoners families. For Crispin Blunt and many other politicians who find it easy to use that term, as a prison visitor in it for the long haul, I find the quote inane and completely laughable. The little girl on the visit used the word, why? Why wasn’t she able to maintain a simple natural ‘family’ bond with her dad and let him take her to the tuck shop for some sweets? Isn’t that a ‘normal’ thing families do? So now I’ll ask the powers that be the same question the little girl asked her Daddy… Why? Why are innocent children of prisoners constantly persecuted in this manner? Why? Because on behalf of the thousands of prisoners’ children denied such a simple little request, I would really like to know?

Karen Mellor - Prisoners Families Voices

3 Bradbury Street, London, N16 8JN Specialist Criminal Defence, Prison & Immigration Lawyers

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Ex con Shaun

“

From LB I read Fiona’s letter in Inside Time “ with interest. My sons are now 22 and 24 years old. Their father has been inside for 6 years and it is only now that they have agreed to visit him. The reason being was because when their father was first sentenced, they did visit a few times and echoed what Fiona had said, “ Visits are too boring.” Now that they are over their teenage years, they do go and visit their father, although only once a month due to finances.

”

Yvonne

“

Well said Fiona Dunster. And well done Joe too! I can’t see teenagers colouring in pictures on visits and I agree that any visit can have those moments where each of you don’t know what to say. If I am really honest, most chats on visits consist of bloody cell mates and what goes on, on the wings etc. Prison visits have never been constructive I’m sorry to say!

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Carol

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I would like to say thank you for accepting me on your Facebook page. I found you through Inside Time online and what a great place you have given families of prisoners to air their views. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

”

A mum

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Thank you so much Fiona for raising our plight with teenage children regarding visits in Inside Time. Everything in my opinion is catered around young toddlers and younger children at prison visits. It is so hard to maintain ties with teenagers. I know this may not apply

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Hi everyone, found your blog through Inside Time Newspaper and it’s a top blog for prisoners families to air their concerns and opinions. Well done guys and girls for an informative platform.

”

Stuart Darlington

“

Oh well done PFV Joe Henderson for winning his comp and PFV Fiona for raising some of our readers issues in this months edition of the prison newspaper, Inside Time.

”

Anonymous

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I’m not sure whether some of you know or not, but Fiona Dunsters letter has been printed in the mailbag section of Inside Time in Augusts edition. I’ve just had a look and it’s a really good letter. Hopefully it may reach those that are supposed to listen to our plight! Good on you Fiona!

”

Bernie

“

I have read this months edition of Inside Time online and came across Fiona Dunsters letter about teenagers and visits. Well done Fiona for raising this issue because there must be a fair few families who struggle with this issue! Well done girl!

”

Philipa

“

Hi everyone! I haven’t been around for some time so I am just catching up on all the blog latest. I am glad family members are coming forward by bringing the subject of teenagers and visits up. It is so important that this issue is focused on more than it is! I’m sorry to hear though that a few of you are having problems regarding this! Best wishes to you all and hope you are all keeping well.

”

simon bethel solicitors Criminal Defence & Prison Law Specialists

Licence & Parole Hearings HDC & Recalls Adjudications Re-categorisation & Transfers Appeals & CCRC Referrals

plus all Family Law and Immigration Matters Please contact Dapo, Ruth or Kay

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Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org has a greater say in the decisions except where there is a special guardian (person designated by law to provide a secure home) or where the child is subject to a care order (and the local authority shares Parental Responsibility). Everyone who has Parental Responsibility has an equal right to make or be involved in the decisions that affect their child’s life. No one person should override a decision made by the other without a court order to do so. If you are concerned that you are not being involved in these decisions seek advice from one of the organisations listed below or from the Offender Management Unit in your prison.

Who has Parental Responsibility? • A biological mother automatically has Parental Responsibility for her child. • A biological father who is or was married to the mother of the child at or after its birth automatically has Parental Responsibility. • A biological father who is not and never has been married to the mother of his child has automatic parental responsibility if the child was born on or after December 1st 2003.

Your Children Your Rights Many people lose contact with their children when they are in prison. But what are your legal rights? Action for Prisoners’ Families in collaboration with Rights of Women have published a four part series entitled ‘ Your Children,Your Rights.’ In the first of four articles based on these guides, APF Communications Manager Jessica Berens discusses the issues that face parents when they are in prison. make or be involved in decisions about your child’s education, health, holidays and religion.

Jessica Berens

P

arental Responsibility is the legal term used to describe the rights, responsibility and authority that a parent has for a child. It governs the ability to

Imprisonment does not mean that you lose your Parental Responsibility - you still have rights with regard to decision making - but you might share parental responsibility with other members of the family or designated carers. More than one person can have Parental Responsibility for a child but no one person

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• A biological father who is not and never has been married to the mother of the child does not have Parental Responsibility if the child was born before December 1st 2003. He can acquire parental responsibility in three ways 1. Enter a ‘PR Agreement’ with the mother of the child. Form C(PRA1) is available from the Magistrates Court, County Court or to download from the court service website - see below. 2. Apply to the court for a ‘PR Order’ 3. Marry the mother • A married step-parent or a civil partner can apply for parental responsibility on form C(PRA2) from the Magistrates Court, County Court or from the court service website address below. • A local authority social services department can acquire Parental Responsibility for a child if the court makes a care order. • A relation (or non-parent) will have Parental Responsibility if a court has made a residence order in their favour. • A special guardian shares Parental Responsibility with the biological parents. This is a person to whom the court has awarded the legal duty to provide a legal secure home for your child. The special guardian can overrule a parent’s decisions.

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(PSO). This means that the court can forbid a person with parental responsibility from taking an action to which another person with parental responsibility disagrees – eg in an instance where a child is being taken abroad to live. The court can make these orders in an emergency situation and without the other person being made aware of the court hearing. The court can issue an interim or temporary Prohibited Steps Order to take effect immediately and until the other person is available to present their side of the story. An application for these orders can be made on a C100 form which is available from the Magistrates Court, the County Court , or to download from the court service website address below. Note: A parent in prison with child care issues will need the services of a qualified solicitor. If the local authority is taking steps to remove a child from the care of a mother she will be eligible for free legal advice and representation by a solicitor regardless of her financial circumstances. Next month: Children and the Law: When Social Services are involved.

Helping women through the law

Your Children, Your Rights

A Guide to Parental Responsibility

This article was summarised from Action for Prisoners’ Families series Your Children Your Rights ‘A Guide to Parental Responsibility’.

For copies of the series ‘Your Children Your Rights’ which includes the Guide to Parental Responsibility; Adoption; Children and the Law: when families can’t Agree; Children and the Law: when social services are involved. Contact us: Unit 21 Carlson Court, 116 Putney Bridge Road, London SW15 2NQ. Tel: 0208 812 3600 www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk

Useful Organisations Rights of Women (for legal advice on children and contact issues) www.rightsofwomen.org.uk 52-54 Featherstone St.,London EC1Y 8RT. Tel: 0207 251 6577 The telephone line is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2-4 and 7-9 Friday 12-2.

What happens when parents and others with parental responsibility disagree with each other?

Community Legal Advice (to find a family solicitor) www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk Tel: 0845 345 4345 (you can ask them to call you back)

1. You can apply for a Specific Issue Order (SI)). This places the decision about which the individuals disagree in the hands of a court. 2. You can apply for a Prohibited Steps Order

HM Court Service (for the order forms described above) www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk

ABUSE CLAIMS • Short Sharp Shock • Leeds Care Homes • Birmingham Care Homes

If you have suffered abuse in these systems we may be able to help. Contact David Greenwood

The Grainstore, Woolpacks Yard, Wakefield WF1 2SG

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Categorisation • Wales Care Homes Parole/Recall • St Williams, East Yorksh HDC If you have suffered abuse in the Progression systems we may be able to hel Adjudications Contact David Greenwood Appeals/CCRC Lifer/IPP issues Judicial Review The Grainstore, Woolpacks Yar Contact our Prison Law Team Wakefield WF1 2SG Katy Cowans - Rebecca 0 1 9 2 4Seal 330001 Rachel Jamieson [email protected] ›› Registered with EMAP ‹‹

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Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

PSI 2010-39

Home Detention Curfew: Single Point of Contact for Prisoners released to addresses with London Probation Trust

Published: 2 August 2010, Effective from: 29 September 2010, Expires: 28 September 2014 This PSI introduces a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) within the London Probation Trust for prisoners being considered for release on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) to the London Probation Trust area. It has been introduced to improve communications between prisons and the Probation Service when assessing prisoners for HDC.

PSI

update In August 2009 the old system of Prison Service Orders (PSOs) was abandoned and all new rules and regulations are issued as PSIs (Prison Service Instructions). The old PSOs remain in force until replaced with a PSI; which has a fixed starting and finishing date. Each month Paul Sullivan reviews some of the latest PSIs and explains their relevance to prisoners and what each contains. Copies of all PSIs are available in prison libraries.

Paul Sullivan

C

The PSI states, “Prisoners will normally be released on HDC unless there are substantive reasons for retaining the prisoner in custody until his or her automatic release date. Only where there are clear and substantive grounds to indicate the prisoner is unlikely successfully to complete the period on HDC will release normally be refused”. Another reason for refusal is if the person’s address is deemed ‘not suitable’.

.....................................................

PSI 2010-029

PSO 4700 The Indeterminate Sentence Manual

Published: 12th April 2010, Effective from 19th April 2010, Expires 18th April 2014 This PSI advises of replacements to Prison Service Order 4700 Chapters 3, 10, 12 and 15 and the immediate withdrawal of Chapters 7, 8 and 11. It leads on from PSI2010-036. PSO 4700 set out policy and guidance for the management of prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence, both during custody and after release on licence. Chapter 3 Tariff, Chapter 10 Young Male Offenders, Chapter 12 Compassionate Release, and Chapter 15 Mentally Disordered Indeterminate Sentenced Prisoners have amendments that apply to both lifer and IPP prisoners. Chapter 7 Risk Assessment has been withdrawn and this is now covered by Chapter

carringtons solicitors

C

The National Prison Law and Criminal Defence Specialists Our specialist Prison Law and Criminal Advice Team offer national assistance with a vast wealth of experience in all matters including:

IPP Sentence Issues - Lifer Parole Board Hearings – Mandatory Lifers

9 of the ‘Public Protection Manual’. This is a separate document, not a PSI or PSO. Chapter 8 Life Sentence Plan has been withdrawn and is now covered by the OMIII Implementation Manual. Chapter 11 Temporary Release has been withdrawn and is replaced by PSO 6300 ‘Release on Temporary Licence’. This PSI should be read by all ISPs since it clearly defines each sentence and sets out how those sentences are to be managed. It includes information about categorisation and parole reviews. It would be useful to read this in tandem with PSI2010-036 which deals in depth with PSO 4700 New Chapter 4 ‘Serving the Indeterminate Sentence’

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PSI 2010-032

Prison Discipline Manual Authority to Conduct Adjudications Published: 3rd June 2010, Effective from 3rd June 2010, Expires 2nd June 2013

This PSI introduces amendments to paragraphs 1.4, 8.6, and 9.1 of PSO 2000 Governors can now delegate the authority to hold adjudications to trained and competent Developing Prison Service Managers (DPSMs) - the old PO grade. The PSI states; “The Governor may delegate adjudication powers and duties to any operational member of staff at managerial level who has suitable operational experience, has received authorised training in adjudication procedures, and been certified by the Governor as competent to conduct adjudications and related duties (including consideration of applications for restoration of additional days). This includes former Principal Officers reassigned as Developing Prison Service Managers (DPSMs), provided they have completed the relevant unit of the Management Development Portfolio (including passing the authorised adjudications training course), and been certified by

the Governor as competent to conduct adjudications. Appropriately trained staff of the rank of Senior Officer or above may conduct minor report hearings in establishments that operate a minor reports system”.

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PSI 2010-016

Confiscation Orders

Published: 26 February 2010, Effective from 09 March 2010, Expires 25 February 2014 This PSI replaces PSO 4620 and PSI2007-32 This PSI requires governors to have systems in place to ensure that prisons are compliant with orders and sentences from courts where the prisoner is subject to a confiscation order. It applies to confiscation orders made in the Crown Courts of England and Wales only. The Governor must inform the Relevant Prosecuting Authority (RPA) if the prisoner • obtains a parole hearing date and additionally the outcome of the hearing • is to be re-categorised to Category D/open conditions • is to be transferred to another prison NB: highlight if this is an open prison; • receives an amended release date as a result of ADA’s, UAL, Appeal etc or receives a further sentence or a default warrant is issued and additionally when the default term is served • is to be released on Home Detention Curfew • is to be released on temporary licence (ROTL) • is to be administratively removed, deported, repatriated or is an illegal immigrant • dies whilst in custody Governors must also keep the RPA informed of any funds the prisoner has greater than £250. The PSI gives a table of imprisonment periods for persons in default of confiscation orders (see below). The rest of the PSI explains what a Confiscation Order is and describes the procedure for such orders. This PSI provides some useful information for prisoners who are subject to such Orders.

Confiscation Order

Default Term

Orders not exceeding £200 Orders exceeding £200 but not exceeding £500 Orders exceeding £500 but not exceeding £1,000 Orders exceeding £1,000 but not exceeding £2,500 Orders exceeding £2,500 but not exceeding £5,000 Orders exceeding £5,000 but not exceeding £10,000 Orders exceeding £10,000 but not exceeding £20,000 Orders exceeding £20,000 but not exceeding £50,000 Orders exceeding £50,000 but not exceeding £100,000 Orders exceeding £100,000 but not exceeding £250,000 Orders exceeding £250,000 but not exceeding £1,000,000 Orders exceeding £1,000,000

7 days 14 days 28 days 45 days 3 months 6 months 12 months 18 months 2 years 3 years 5 years 10 years



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Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Ben’s Blog Lifer Ben Gunn’s Prison Blog … the only blog by a serving British prisoner which ‘looks stupidity and ignorance in the eye whilst attempting to inject some neurons into the criminological debate’. A cup of tea for my Birthday

investigate the prisoners’ allegations of being assaulted by staff. Seems they feel it’s none of their business.

So, the people in charge of our lives have decided to withdraw goods in glass jars from our list of purchasable goods. The stupidity of inflicting this on a Cat-C prison due to a stabbing in a maximum security prison is obvious.

And the “watchdog”, the Independent Monitoring Board, continue to ignore the screams whilst having tea and biccies with the Governor.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

What it means for me is that I may have to give up drinking coffee. At present, the cheapest coffee is 89p and I try to buy a jar a week. Alas, this coffee comes in a glass jar.

When you next hear of a con stabbing a screw, or a hostage situation, or even a riot, please, please look beneath the headlines and ask yourself why some prisoners feel that they have no other options left.

..................................................... Beware, humanitarians about! Thursday, August 12, 2010

Certain people ought to be looked upon by prisoners with some lightness of heart. Are not Chaplains and Doctors there to offer us various types of succour and relief? And yet they are not the most popular people in prisons. There are many, many reasons for this but one has always stood out for me. That is, their deliberate turning away from the certain knowledge of brutality inflicted by staff. Under the Rules, a civilian medic and the Chaplain must, every day, visit those prisoners who are held in the punishment block (or, in an Orwellian homage, what some nicks now call their “Care and Separation Unit”). The replacement cheap coffee, in a plastic jar, costs £1.66. On a wage of £2.50, minus a quid for the TV, it looks as if I’m reduced to crappy prison tea from here on in. It’s a bit much when I can’t even celebrate my birthday with a decent cuppa!

..................................................... Brutality and Frankland

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 The reports of brutality and racism from the steroid-fuelled screws in the punishment block at Frankland keep leaking out, to be ignored by the mainstream media. The local police are refusing to even

If a prison has any hint of staff brutality, the block is where you will find it first. Isolated from the rest of the prison and staffed by hyper-masculine body-builder types, the potential for a toxic staff culture to develop is always present.

..................................................... Eviction Notices Monday, August 16, 2010

The Area Manager for the South West wants to make some space here so he can ship in 35 people to do the silly, expensive and ineffective Offending Behaviour Courses. This means kicking 35 of us out. There are two ways of doing this. The first is to stick up a notice asking for volunteers to move. You’d be surprised just how many people don’t want to be here! This way, you have a bunch of reasonably content cons going from A to B without problems.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Let’s say you’re arrested for murder. Not that any of you would be of course...but it does happen! Quite rightly, you intend to plead “not guilty” and prove your innocence. On the day of the trial the prosecution, unsure of their case, offers to accept a plea of guilty to manslaughter instead, and a sentence of 7 years. What do you do? Do you spit in their eye and go to trial in the knowledge that you are innocent? Or do you accept their offer of 7 years rather than risk being found guilty of murder and a life sentence? A surprising number of innocent people refuse to accept a plea. They are innocent, why should they go to prison at all? Quite a few of them then find they judged badly and are now serving life. An even more surprising number take the deal. Despite being completely innocent, they don’t want to risk being saddled with a life sentence and so serve 7 years for a crime they did not commit. If you were in that situation, what would you do? Risk standing on your innocence? Or go to prison in a calculated move to limit the damage?

.....................................................

Or you could send out 60 snotty letters to cons telling them to pack their kit and get out. This way, you are guaranteed to piss people off. Everybody’s solicitor starts firing in to the Governor and the receiving prison is landed with scores of highly disgruntled prisoners. Guess which option the management here chose? And I am one of the lucky ones who received this cunningly worded invitation to fuck off.

If you want to get ahead ... Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Every day, doctors and chaplains visit the cons held in these blocks. Every day, they see the bumps, scrapes, bruises and despair. And every single day, these doctors and chaplains eclipse the tenets of their vocation and walk away, saying nothing.

I have been sent a Panama hat for my birthday. I have always wanted one. The question now is, do I have the stones big enough to wear it?? This is Shepton Mallet prison, not the piazza in Rome!

Dartmoor had a brutal block for decades. As did Scrubs, Wandsworth, Winson Green, Armley ... and now Frankland. The list is a long one. In all those years of daily visits, not a single peep of protest was raised by these

One interesting sideline on this transfer though. A Senior Officer has been heard saying, “Ben Gunn...that will teach him... transfer...who does he think he is with his writing and his website. . ?”

The high point was being told by a bloke that “You’re having a laugh...!” As he stood there, pointing at me, with his spiky thin Mohican hair and head covered in Nazi tattoos...

We have a dedicated Prison Law team dealing with clients in prisons in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. We deal with all areas of Prison Law including: Adjudications Parole Recalls IPPs HDC Recategorisation Sentence Planning Sentence Calculation Judicial Review Healthcare Issues Transfer

ROTL

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This is why Doctors and Chaplains are regarded with suspicion or outright contempt. In my thirty years I cannot recall one medic or chaplain walking out the gates to kick up a stink about the brutality in their prison. Not bloody once.

Judgement Call

Alas! Whenever my next parole hearing is, the judge has demanded that a witness from the Security Dept here is in attendance. If I’m in another nick, that won’t happen and so disrupt the hearing. Moving me, then, would be a disaster. But I wonder...did they consider my research? At any moment did management wonder if this putative move would undermine my PhD and future career? No, of course not. Ladies and gentlemen, you pay through the nose to have prisons run by idiots.

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men and women who had adopted a humanitarian vocation.

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Turns out, I do. All morning, so far. And I am embarrassed by the low quality of the mockery dished out - Man From Del-Monte, Columbian drug lord..that’s it! No inventive invective at all. Shame.

YES WE CAN............. Advise you and protect your rights on the inside • Criminal Law Defence and Appeals • Prison Law - All Aspects • Immigration and Deportation Matters • Mental Health Tribunals Contact - Ade, Oliver or Rose at: Daniel & Partners Solicitors, 625 High Road, Leytonstone, London E11 4PA 0208 507 8020

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Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

What’s in your file? Keith Rose lays out a comprehensive list of what you can claim under the Data Protection Act

A

couple of weeks ago, I was chatting to a High Risk Category A. He happened to mention his application for file disclosure under the Data Protection Act, and what he got for his £10. He said, ‘I received my property cards and not much else’. I asked if he had queried it, but he said he had been told he had received everything he was entitled to. This didn’t sound right, and the conversation aroused my curiosity, so I put in an application to our Data Protection section asking exactly what I was entitled to for my £10. This is Long Lartin, so I am still awaiting a reply, weeks later. Undeterred, I decided to seek my information elsewhere, and was quite surprised by just how much you are entitled to when making an application under the Data Protection Act and paying your £10. I had also heard a few stories about prisoners

being asked to specify exactly what they wanted, very difficult if you don’t know what you are entitled to under the Act.

1. P-Nomis files, formerly known as LIDS files. This is all the information held on the Prison Service Intra-net. This information is freely available to anyone with access to the system, in other words, everybody. 2. OASys file. This encompasses everything from risk assessment to sentence planning files. 3. OASys NTBITO files. These are hidden files compiled for the OASys report, not usually disclosed. 4. OASys RFIs. These are requests for information made from other sources, like police, probation etc. 5. Offending Behaviour Course files. This is all material relevant to any course or activity the prisoner has participated in. This should include all video and audio tapes that have been made in the course of those activities. 6. RIMS. This is known as a ‘Dynamic Risk Assessment’ file. 7. ASSET. If you have been held at a YOI or similar, these files will cover that stage of your life. 8. MATRIX, This is a psychological risk assessment, usually produced for anyone convicted of a sexually motivated crime, it can also be used for prisoners convicted of a violent offence.

It appears that the Prison Service have been castigated for wasting, sorry using constructively, some 51 tons of paper per year. Following Prison Service standard operating procedure, ‘sock it to the prisoners first’, some bright spark decided to restrict what files prisoners are entitled to, so if I reveal what you should receive, don’t waste paper, we wouldn’t want to get the Prison Service in trouble, would we?

9. Induction files. These are created on entry to prison, and will document how you have settled into your establishment.

When handing over your £10, you should request a Full Subject Disclosure request. What follows is exactly what you should receive, but be aware that the Prison Service usually attempt to hold items back. I will come to the procedure for dealing with that later. Also note that, like psychology departments, when the Prison Service have a system that doesn’t work, they simply change the name, so some file names are subject to change.

12. Incident and Observation Book entries. This will include any incident of concern to security and the safety of both prisoners and staff.

10. MDT files. This is a record of your Mandatory Drug Tests and the results thereof during your entire period of imprisonment. 11. IEP files. This is all reports and documentation relating to behaviour and compliance with the prison regime.

13. Press Cuttings. These will include all cuttings from the Sun and News of the World, no matter how fictional. You may also find entries from True Detective and similar lurid publications. Needless to say

David Phillips and Partners can help out.

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14. Cognitive Skills Referral Reports. These are usually held in the psychology files. 15. Psychology files. These will include all interviews, reports, records, IQ tests, memos and observations. 16. Psychology Shadow Files. These are the files psychology don’t want you to see. They contain any ‘sensitive’ material which psychology judge too ‘hot’ for general access. 17. Personal Records (FS 2050). Commonly known as ‘Page 16’, these are a prisoners daily log. 18. Sentence Planning Files. Anything produced for OASys including personal officer, probation, wing manager reports etc. 19. History Sheets. These include all copies of Page 16s and all similar data. 20. Information of Special Importance. Commonly known as Page 24s. The title is self-explanatory. 21. Disciplinary Records. Again self-explanatory, including F138, F254, F1127 & F256 files. 22. Security Files. This should include ALL security files, and any missing data must be explained in full. 23. SSI & SIRs. Security Intelligence Reports of any incident, conversation, event or happening that staff feel is of interest to security. 24. IMR files. All medical data including test results, eg blood tests and all communication with outside healthcare units and pathology labs. 25. Request/complaint files. Copies of every request/complaint submitted, including those of ‘confidential access’ together with all responses to same. 26. Suicide Prevention Files. All ACCT, FS2052 and FS2169 files, staff notes and observations. 27. Video recordings. This includes all course, visits, closed visits and CCTV footage of items of interest.

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28. Audio recordings. All taped telephone conversations and transcripts thereof. 29. Use of Force Records (FS1980) These include any complaints raised by a prisoner that force was used on them, needlessly or excessively. 30. Register of Use of Non-Medical Restraints. These forms must be filled in wherever handcuffs are used, for example during transportation. 31. Report of Injury to Inmate (F213). Any injury to a prisoner must be reported and logged, eg handcuffs too tight, resulting in bruising.

of offences and behaviour in block. 43. Miscellaneous Wing Records. Any extra item placed in wing files not included above. 44. Prisoners Monies. All records of all accounts. 45. Telephone Account Records. All data including numbers used. 46. Incident Reports. These should include any positive, as well as negative reports. 47. Censors Files. This will include all recorded deliveries, Rule 39 letters and all received monies.

32. Visit Records. All information.

48. Application Files. Complete record of all applications and responses.

33. Search Records. All information including Record of Search reports, even for routine cell searches.

49. Warnings Book. Chronological record of all verbal and written warnings.

34. Letters Sheets. Records of all incoming and outgoing letters including addresses. 35. ‘Stopped’ Letters Sheet. Details of all ‘stopped’ letters whether incoming or outgoing.

50. General Occurrence and Observations. All data therein. 51. Parole Applications. All data including reports. 52. Life Sentence Plan Files. All data and reports.

36. Rule 45 Segregation Cards (F1299A). Old Rule 43 records.

53. Re-categorisation files. All data, reports and recommendations.

37. Property Cards. All property cards from your commencement of imprisonment.

54. BOV/IMB files. All applications, reports and responses.

38. Gym Records & Reports. Includes any data relating to gym course participation, attendance and injury reports.

55. Court Warrants. Copies of same.

39. Education Records & Reports. All reports forwarded to sentence planning, psychology, security etc. all records of any exams taken, copies of results and certificates etc awarded. 40. Workshop Records. Essentially the same as education records. 41. Library Records. Printout of all books, DVDs, games etc borrowed throughout your period of imprisonment. 42. Segregation Records and Logs. Nature Whilst this list is extensive, the Prison Service will endeavour to hold information back. You should formally ask (appeal) if they have any more information they have not supplied, and obtain written confirmation stating this.

CHARLES HILL & CO SOLICITORS Immediate Visit, Proactive & dedicated clear advice & effective representation in all aspects of prison law • Adjudications: Advice & Representation • Licence Revocation & Recall (Urgent intervention & Review) • Parole Board Hearings • HDC Conditions and Breaches • Re-categorisation & Cat A Reviews • Allocation and Transfer Issues • Criminal Cases • Confiscation Proceedings • Appeals & CCRC Applications • Complaints about Maltreatment • Tariff Setting & Written Representations • Appeals • Human Rights • Immigration and Deportation For immediate help & assistance please call Miss Abigail Effah or Mr Nathaniel Nwoke

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56. Police Reports. All data, including reports made to the prison, parole boards etc. 57. Sentencing Reports. All information. 58. Reception Logs. All data including items stored at Branston. 59. Dietary Files. Including special needs, diabetics, vegetarians, vegans etc. 60. Chaplaincy Records. contacts, notes and records.

Attendance,

61. Compact Records. All compacts, including VDT, IEP compacts etc. So there’s your share of 51 tons of paper, now just hand over your £10 and wait for the Pickfords lorry to turn up. Keith Rose BA is currently resident at HMP Long Lartin

37

The rules are simple, choose your own loophole Billy Little asks why bother with PSOs and PSIs when governors have the final say?

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hat is the point of setting out a series of rules and guidelines if prison managers are then allowed carte blanche to reinterpret them as they please? I am, of course, referring to the interpretation of the Prison Service Order (PSO) and its lesser cousin the Prison Service Instruction (PSI). The function of both of these instruments is to serve to provide some degree of equilibrium and consistency within the penal estate. Given the disparity in types of prison, you would think that the conservation of a singular way of operating would be of the utmost importance. Sadly, logic has never been a strong point within any prison. Part of the problem is the lack of communication between various departments within any one institution, as how one functions can, and often does, vary significantly from how another will operate. This is perfectly understandable, particularly when you take into account the variety of tasks being asked of each department. Hence the need for the aforementioned PSO’s and PSI’s to act as a guidance platforms from which operational, consistency and performance monitoring practices support the rationality and legality of any decision-making process. Now if PSO ‘X’ or PSI ‘Y’ clearly state on their respective front covers that the order or instruction should be applied ‘consistently’ or as a ‘mandatory action’, how is it therefore possible for such simple instruction to be surpassed? The Ministry of Justice’s answer to this mere triviality is to allow managers the final decision in any individual case, but does this not then defeat the whole purpose of having the PSO/PSI in the first place? This essentially empowers some managers with more power than they really should have. For example, if Governor/manager ‘A’ approves a prisoner request within one prison, should that not be accepted as being the correct decision if that prisoner be transferred to another jail? There will inevitably be instances when this is simply not permissible for security reasons - a rational and accepted point. However, what if it were to happen and the rationale for a different decision was

founded upon a lack of knowledge, or aversion to be seen as favouring the prisoner over staff and/or whole department within that establishment? Regular readers of Inside Time will recognise this issue as something of a recurring problem. Each month a number of problems feature in the hope of finding some form of resolve, only for the Ministry of Justice to openly contradict the very PSO/PSI that it published in the first place. One recent example of this featured in the June issue. The prisoner sought access to a laptop computer for his educational studies. The Ministry of Justice response comprised the tabloid friendly- “say it enough times and somebody will believe you”- spiel about security concerns and maintenance of public confidence. The get out clause within each and every PSO/PSI once more appeared as: ‘Governors have local discretion to permit prisoners to have laptop computers in possession for education purposes, but only where this can be done without the type of security breaches outlined…’. Now consider that any prisoner who is working on an appeal against sentence or conviction can have access to the very same type of computer requested (“Belmarsh specification”) under the Access to Justice policy. Then there is the more recent issue of a prisoner who is disputing the findings of a Mandatory Drug Test that was conducted in a non-sterile area. He has been duly informed that it does not matter where the test was taken, even though the PSO clearly states that Mandatory Drug Tests must be take in a sterile area, specifically, an area designated for that sole purpose, so as not to create problems over cross contamination or adulteration of the sample. How can prisoners be expected to follow the rules when those that make and enforce them have no compunction over flouting them as they see fit?

Billy Little is currently resident at HMP Bullingdon

4th Floor, South Central 11 Peter Street Manchester M2 5QR

Realistic advice, practical assistance Prison Law and Criminal Law Specialists N o w welcomes

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38

Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Lie detector tests and you Geoff Massey gives you the low-down on what’s involved when undergoing a polygraph test, and describes the safeguards and consequences of a test

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here’s been much speculation about ex prisoners having to take polygraph tests. As usual it’s fear of the unknown which feeds the rumour mill, that these machines are more likely to give false positives and that they will result in people being immediately returned to prison. Most people released from prison will be subject to stringent license conditions. One could be an agreement to take a polygraph (lie detector) test. If so, it will normally be carried out within three months of an offender’s release and not in prison, which is one of the myths surrounding this subject. A polygraph will be used to monitor whether offenders are engaging in risky behaviour or behaviour that puts them in breach of their license conditions. A polygraph is an instrument that measures changes in breathing, heart activity and sweating, all of which are claimed to be a person’s responses to deception, hence the nickname ‘lie detector’. Between 2003 and 2006 the Home Office funded a voluntary pilot of polygraph testing with sex offenders. As described in the consultation paper, the pilot was an exploratory trial to discover whether polygraph testing could assist probation officers in the treatment and supervision of offenders. During this three year period, 347 participants volunteered for polygraph testing. The results were compared with 180 offenders who did not sit the test. Examiners reported that in the group tested, new disclosures relevant to treatment and supervision were made in 79% of first time examinations and 78% of retests. Amazingly nearly 30% of the disclosures took place in the post-test interview that followed the offender having been questioned while attached to the polygraph – in other words, after being challenged with the results and showing that, according to the results, deception had occurred.

Once the questions have been completed, there will be a post-test interview where the results will be revealed. It is at this point that any discrepancies will be brought to the attention of the offender, who will then have their chance to challenge or offer explanations regarding the results. Following this, a report will be sent to the Probation Service with details of the test. These details will involve all questions asked, the examinee’s response and any disclosure made before, during or after the testing. Section 30 of the Offender Management Act 2007 prevents the use of evidence obtained from the polygraph results being used in criminal proceedings against the subject. Probation staff, or therapists who are polygraph trained, are forbidden from carrying out tests on their own clients.

Statistics showed that Probation Officers of polygraph-tested offenders reported increasing some of their risk levels more frequently than those who didn’t sit the test. In fact, the risk levels of those not tested tended to be decreased. Over 90% of Probation Officers rated the polygraph as being ‘somewhat or very useful’. The voluntary study enabled the government to start a further three-year study into mandatory polygraph testing which began in April 2009. The approved procedure for anyone being polygraph tested requires the person being tested to confirm, by signing a relevant form, that they have had the requirements and arrangements of the test read to them and that they understand the explanation. The consent form should also confirm that any information disclosed during the test may be

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passed on to the Probation Service or police. The examination consists of a pre-test phase, a test phase, and a post-test phase; these should last about 90 minutes in total. There may be exceptions to this, for example, where the person being tested is uncooperative, or where there is a pre-test admission of such magnitude that further testing is rendered inappropriate. All examinations should be electronically recorded with no more than four questions per test phase. The questions should be aimed at their license conditions and NOT their past offending. For example, one of your conditions could be abstinence from alcohol and the question could be asking if you had knowingly consumed any. Or there may be an area from where you are prohibited and the question could be asking whether you had knowingly crossed that boundary.

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For each offender subject to polygraph testing, risky behaviours would be identified that might indicate that they were about to return to offending. Further tests would then be applied at regular intervals to test the offender’s responses to questions about their behaviour. Evidence from the test would be used as an overall assessment as to the risk they pose to the public or certain individuals. If an offender failed a test, this on its own would not be used as a basis of proceedings such as breach of license or a recall to prison. However, such evidence might prompt further investigations which in turn might provide evidence of breach of the offender’s license conditions. In which case the Probation Officer would carry out whatever action they deemed suitable. The best way to pass this test and avoid a possible recall is to stick rigidly to your license conditions. This article appeared originally in ‘Whatt’on Earth’, the in-house magazine of HMP Whatton.

SEB Solicitors Prison Law Specialist

Has your right been ignored, Act now! We are a specialist Criminal and Prison Law practice based in East London. We are willing to fight the Prison Service system for you and can provide effective advice and assistance in the following areas:

Licences recalls -Sentence Calculation Recategorisation & allocation HDC conditions & breaches Lifer reviews - Tariff reduction Parole - Criminal appeals and CCRC Adjudications - Human rights issues MDT and Independent urine tests Judicial reviews Criminal Defence - Appeal and CCRC Transfer to other prisons

Please contact Ms Shewli Begum or Mr Tuoyo Eruwa at SEB Solicitors, 328b Bethnal Green Road, London E2 OAG 0207 729 9042 or 0207 033 9697 We shall be pleased to visit you as soon as we hear from you

39

Wellbeing

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

‘Experiencing Oneness’

Try it - just for a month

.....................................................

The first part of the serialisation of The Prison Phoenix Trust’s book, Freeing the Spirit … Through Meditation and Yoga

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he practice of yoga helps you become steady, calm, quiet and comfortable. It improves your health and helps your body fight disease.

u when the lungs are empty relax and pause u when it happens naturally, breathe again

Meditation helps us discover who we really are. We learn to feel better about ourselves and the world we live in.

“When the body is in silent steadiness, breathe rhythmically through the nostrils with a peaceful ebbing and flowing of breath. The chariot of the mind is drawn by wild horses, and those wild horses have to be tamed.”

The words of some Hindu spiritual teachings - The Upanishads – say this:

Yoga silences the body. Meditation silences the mind.

Let’s start with yoga

.....................................................

breath. Everything starts to work properly, from the glands to the nervous system to yourself.

Breathing practice - Pranayama

..................................................... The breath is so important. Breathing practice in yoga is called pranayama. For hundreds of years yoga teachers have taught that working on the breath can: Yoga was in what is now India as long as 5000 years ago. The word ‘yoga’ means ‘experiencing oneness’. With practice, body and mind become one. Then you can experience being connected with everything in creation. This feels very refreshing.

Healing stress in prisons

..................................................... When we go to prisons we often hear “I’m stressed out and I can’t get my head together”. How can any of us get our heads together when our bodies are full of physical tension - or when we sleep badly because our heads keep racing and the body gets more and more wound up?

u u u u u u u

help spiritual growth help clear our thinking help bring happiness help us act well towards others help calm the nervous system help purify cells in the body help ease depression

Try taking a few breaths the yoga way

.....................................................

Poses - Asanas

..................................................... Yoga exercises are called asanas. Each pose is held for a number of seconds. The practice of yoga begins when we learn to relax and be still in each pose. Then we can concentrate on the

How to start

1. “I can’t concentrate for two seconds, let alone twenty.”

Prisons are not the most lovely places in the world but there are some things you can do to help.

.....................................................

When you focus on the breath – its sound, its length, the space it fills - it is surprising how quickly time passes. Asanas are the key to learning how to make the most of vital energy. Instead of wasting time and energy you learn to redirect it. You will find that you can sit still for long periods of calm. 2. “Yoga is for weirdoes, women and wimps…” Some men and women spend a lot of time down the block in tough prisons. They often say that all the energy they put into violence is a sort of self-protection. When you learn to transform that energy you become more powerful. You can lead a happier, healthier, calmer and more sociable life. Far from being a wimp, you gain more self respect and other people start to respect you more.

..................................................... 3. “I’m a dope user, heavy smoker and I’m unfit. I never stick at anything…”

u u u

breathe in and out through the nose if you can be aware of the air filling the bottom of your lungs, then the middle and then the highest part hold the breath for a second or two and then release easily

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Most yoga mats are two feet two inches by six feet (66cms x 1.83m). That’s all the space you need to work on. You don’t need a mat by the way, just a floor you don’t slip on. Try the poses in bare feet. This is the yoga tradition.

Some common problems

Find this out for yourself …

Many of you in prison work out with weights or do gym. Sometimes this doesn’t help enough. Weights and gym are great for getting fitter but they don’t always relax or heal in the way that prisoners say they need. Yoga can heal and relax you at a deeper level.

4. “I’m in a small cell and there’s no room.”

You can change the negative picture you have of yourself. One reason some people get sick is because they can never see themselves as well people. Picture yourself well and happy. People do yoga because it makes them feel good. You’ll find that bad habits give you up, and however stiff you are, you’ll get more supple.

CRIMINAL DEFENCE AND PRISON LAW SPECIALISTS FOR THE MIDLANDS AND WORCESTERSHIRE AREA We represent prisoners in all aspects of prison law including: ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾

Recall Hearings and challenging recall proceedings Parole, Lifer and License reviews IPP hearings Adjudications and MDTs Recategorisation Transfers HDC and ROTL

Thomas Horton LLP is a recognised firm of leading criminal defence solicitors, committed to quality with a friendly, personalised service and high standard of client care.

For immediate assistance please contact Sharon Simkiss or Kate Oliver on 01527 839424 Or write to us at Thomas Horton LLP, Strand House, 70 The Strand, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B61 8DQ

.....................................................

u check your small floor area is clean u if possible get some fresh air in - open a window - change the air in your lungs u if you smoke, clean the ashtray u bring nature to your cell - a leaf, twig or stone from outside – make your own sacred space by placing a precious and personal object on a clean handkerchief or paper tissue u look out of the window if you have one - tune in to the clouds and sky before you begin u doing yoga in the morning when the mind is most clear is best – but work gently until your body loosens up u start your yoga in warm, loose clothes – not jeans Compiled by Lucy Ayrton - Public Relations Officer, The Prison Phoenix Trust. Next month in Inside Time we will explain how to begin meditation. In the weeks after that we will show some yoga poses for you to try. If you would like a free copy of Freeing the Spirit… Through Meditation and Yoga please write to The Prison Phoenix Trust, PO Box 328, Oxford OX2 7HF. The Prison Phoenix Trust helps prisoners to turn their lives around through silence and the breath, using their cells as places of spiritual practice. The Trust works with prisoners of any religion or none.

THE PRISON PHOENIX TRUST Head doing you in? Stressed out? Can’t sleep? Simple yoga and meditation practice, working with silence and the breath, might just transform your life in more ways than you think...

Interested?

Write to The Prison Phoenix Trust P.O.Box 328, Oxford, OX2 7HF We’d love to hear from you anytime and have several free books, which could help you build and maintain a daily practice.

40

News from the House

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Parliamentary Questions Highlights from the House of Commons Reoffending Rates Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con): What the reoffending rate was for prisoners who had served custodial sentences of over 10 years in the latest period for which figures are available. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Crispin Blunt): Of the 125 adult offenders released from a custodial sentence of over 10 years in the first quarter of 2008, 6.4% committed at least one further offence in the one-year follow-up period. In contrast, among those serving custodial sentences of 12 months or less in 2008, the reconviction rate was 61.1%. Mrs Grant: What are the Minister’s views on short sentences for women? Does he agree that community sentences may be more effective in reducing the rate of reoffending by women? Mr Blunt: Short sentences for men have proved pretty ineffective, and I think that short sentences for women are even more ineffective and deleterious. We support the conclusions of the Corston report, we are conducting an analysis of the effectiveness of different sentences as part of the current sentencing review, we are committed to reducing the number of women in prison, and a network of women-only community provision is being developed to support robust community sentences.

Foreign National Prisoners Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering): We currently have the pleasure and privilege of paying for the board and lodging of 752 Nigerians in British jails at a time when we are giving that country £132 million a year in development aid. Her Majesty’s Government have been negotiating with the Nigerian Government on the compulsory transfer of those prisoners since 2007. Could we urge them to get a move on? The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Nick Herbert): I understand my hon. Friend’s concern about this and note the

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ten-minute Bill he recently introduced. The Government believe that wherever possible foreign national prisoners should serve their sentences in their own country. Negotiations on a compulsory prisoner transfer agreement with Nigeria will be concluded as soon as changes to Nigerian domestic legislation have been made.

Prisoner Numbers Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab): What steps he plans to take to reduce the number of people in prison? The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of

State for Justice (Mr Kenneth Clarke): Over the coming months we will look in detail at the sentencing frameworks for adult and young offenders, as well as at the range of penalties available in the criminal justice system. That means introducing more effective policies, as well as overhauling the system of rehabilitation to reduce reoffending. We will take the time necessary to get it right and will consult widely before bringing forward full plans for reform. Kevin Brennan: Will the Secretary of State give the House three examples of the kind of criminals currently in jail who will not be in prison under his plans?

Prison Sentences Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people are serving a sentence for imprisonment for public protection by (a) age band and (b) gender; and how many (i) have exceeded their tariff and (ii) have not completed offender treatment programmes in each such case. Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of offenders serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) or detention for public protection (DPP) on 5 July 2010 and the number of these who were past tariff on that date, broken down by gender and age-band. These figures do not include offenders who have been released on licence and remain in the community. The figures in the table are rounded to the nearest 10. Age band Less than 18 18-20 21-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 and over (1) Less than

Women Total Past tariff (1)5 0 (1)5 (1)5 20 20 40 30 60 40 30 20 10 10 (1)5 (1)5 170 110

Men Total Past tariff 40 (1)5 250 70 1,120 550 1,320 640 1,550 740 1,140 480 380 180 170 90 5,960 2,750

All Total 40 250 1,140 1,350 1,610 1,170 390 170 6,130

Past tariff (1)5 70 570 670 780 500 180 90 2,850

The requested breakdown of the number of offenders who have not completed offending behaviour programmes can currently be obtained only by incurring disproportionate cost. IPP prisoners may be identified as suitable for inclusion in specific offending behaviour programmes, depending on the nature of their offending and their identified risk factors. The total number of offenders serving an IPP sentence in prison who had not completed at least one course by 5 July 2010 was 2,120. This figure has been rounded to the nearest 10. This information was taken from a database held by the Public Protection and Mental Health Group at the National Offender Management Service.

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Mr Clarke: I will not anticipate the sentencing review. [Interruption.] No, I will not. The last person I met in jail who clearly should not have been there had been sent to prison because he was in dispute with his ex-wife over the maintenance he was supposed to pay for their children. Of course he was under an obligation to pay for his children, but providing a place for him in jail was not the best use of prison. Anybody who visits a prison will find people who are there for rather surprising combinations of reasons, some of which are far away from those relating to serious crimes. Prison is the most effective punishment we have for serious criminal offenders. There is a continuing case, and there always will be one, for protecting the public against the activity of serious offenders by imprisoning them. However, in recent years, we have not paid enough attention to how, at the same time, we minimise the risk of reoffending, seek to reform those in prisons and divert them away from future crime, and eventually ensure that there are better and more effective ways of dealing with those who are capable of being dealt with. Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab): Evidence suggests that 75 to 90% of rapes go unreported, and I hope that the whole House will try to deal with that situation to improve it. Is the Justice Secretary at all worried that his plans to provide anonymity for defendants in rape trials will contribute to fewer rapists going to prison? Mr Clarke: I do not think that there is anybody in this House-and there has not been for as long as I can remember-who is not in favour of anonymity for people who make complaints of rape and who does not think it extremely important to encourage women to come forward on all proper occasions to press complaints about the serious criminal offence of rape. The issues surrounding anonymity for the person accused are quite different from that, and the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Reigate (Mr Blunt), has just addressed those questions.

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Prisoners: Legal Aid Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much of the legal aid budget was spent on cases involving prisoners in each of the last three years. Mr Djanogly: Legal aid expenditure in the prison law category, including free standing

Prisoners: Sentencing Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners had their sentence lengthened while in prison in the last five years. Mr Blunt: This information is not held in the precise form requested. The National Offender Management Service records the number of findings of guilt against prisoners at internal disciplinary hearings (adjudications) where additional days were imposed. This

advice and assistance and advocacy assistance at prison discipline and parole board hearings, during each of the three most recent years for which figures are available is shown in the following table. The expenditure for 2009-10 will be available once the Legal Services Commission have published their accounts. Prison law expenditure (£ million) 2006-07 12.49 2007-08 15.99 2008-09 21.61 These figures do not include criminal legal aid for trials or any appeals against conviction or sentence information is given in the following table. Some prisoners may have received more than one award of added days. Number of punishments of additional days imposed Punishments 2005 12,040 2006 12,566 2007 13,460 2008 12,792 2009 11,550

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of people who had previously served community sentences or other non-custodial sentences were sent to prison for (a) one year or less and (b) more than one year in each of the last three years? Mr Blunt: Figures for the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for indictable offences, by sentence length and previous sentence history are presented in the following table, for years 2006 to 2008, the most recent data available. Occasions when a custodial sentence was given for an indictable offence (1), England and Wales, 2006-08 2006 2007 2008 Custodial sentence of one year or less Number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody 55,978 57,717 61,641 Of which: Number with at least one previous non-custodial sentence 49,824 50,645 54,375 Percentage with at least one previous non-custodial sentence 89.0 87.7 88.2 Custodial sentence of more than one year Number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody 27,003 26,820 29,095 Of which: Number with at least one previous non-custodial sentence 22,429 21,886 23,562 Percentage with at least one previous non-custodial sentence 83.1 81.6 81.0 Custodial sentence of any length Number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody 82,981 84,537 90,736 Of which: Number with at least one previous non-custodial sentence 72,253 72,531 77,937 Percentage with at least one previous non-custodial sentence 87.1 85.8 85.9

Control and restraint Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review each control and restraint incident which took place in secure training centres during the 12 months to March 2009; and if he will publish details of each incident including the (a) number of staff involved, (b) age, ethnic origin, sex and any disabilities of the child in custody and (c) age, ethnic origin and sex of each member of staff involved. Mr Blunt: Secure training centres are regularly inspected by Ofsted including in the use of restraint. In addition, the Youth Justice Board monitors who work in the establishments are informed whenever restraint is used within 24 hours of the occurrence. Data regarding the use of restraint in secure training centres are collected by the Youth Justice Board from monthly returns by each establishment. The tables below show the number of restrictive physical interventions (RPI) recorded in each secure training centre by age, ethnic origin and sex of the young person during the 12 months to March 2009. Data on restrictive physical interventions by disability or by number, age, ethnic origin or sex of members of staff involved in restraint incidents are not collected centrally. Editorial note: The inspection procedures for Secure Training Centres have been seriously criticised by the Charity Inquest. Ofsted is obviously more suited to the evaluation of teaching techniques than techniques involving physical control. Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has specified that any groups of children other than pregnant children must not be held face down on the floor in secure training centres.

(1) The figures are counts of primary offences as recorded on the Police National Computer. An offender who received a custodial sentence on more than one occasion during this period will appear in these figures on each occasion .

You’re inside. Get us onside.

Clarion Advocates Britannia Chambers, 4 Oxford Place, Leeds LS1 3AX Tel: 0113 246 0622

JB WHEATLEY CRIMINAL DEFENCE

We can take on proceedings after conviction or after a confiscation order has been made, for a free initial consultation either call or write to: Steve Milner - Confiscation and asset recovery. “….knows the law inside out…” Chambers 2009. Rob Rode and Tony Murphy Appeals and other criminal matters. “…always do a fantastic job”. Chambers 2009.

Clarion Advocates 27/7/10 17:48:13

Editorial note: If ‘CARERS’ are permitted to target the area of the groin with ‘blows’ it is difficult to imagine why a child would not as a result end up on the floor. Perhaps Government ministers could demonstrate a few distraction techniques on each other and report back.. Restrictive physical interventions by sex, April 2008 to March 2009 Male Female Total STC total 1,132 660 1,792 Hassockfield 384 159 543 Medway 286 130 416 Oakhill 329 130 459 Rainsbrook 133 241 374 Editorial note: There are an average of just 250 children in STCs of which around 55 are females.

Restrictive physical interventions by age, April 2008 to March 2009 11 12 13 14 15 16 STC total 0 0 60 625 602 453 Hassockfield 0 0 3 165 209 157 Medway 0 0 23 154 106 106 Oakhill 0 0 29 198 120 107 Rainsbrook 0 0 5 108 167 83

17 52

Total 1,792

9 27 5 11

543 416 459 374

Restrictive physical interventions by ethnic origin, April 2008 to March 2009 Asian Black Mixed Other White Total STC total 18 256 209 1 1,308 1,792 Hassockfield 3 6 68 0 466 543 Medway 1 96 31 1 287 416 Oakhill 9 107 86 0 257 459 Rainsbrook 5 47 24 0 298 374

jbw

AND Co. PRISON LAW

SOLICITORS

All areas of criminal defence work Appeals against sentences and conviction Adjudications ALP/DLP Categorisation and Transfers Recall to Custody Licence Conditions ROTL And other areas of Prison Law Video Link facilities available Contact Richard Scotter or Richard Grace 190 - 196 Deptford High Street London SE8 3PR

0208 479 8000

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Mr Blunt: There are no techniques authorised for use in secure training centres that involve deliberately taking young people to the floor. If, in the course of a restraint, a young person deliberately takes himself or herself to the ground, then, in general, either the young person will continue to be restrained and will be brought to a standing position at the earliest opportunity, or he or she will be released. A young person must not be held on the floor for more than three minutes, after which he or she must be released. The Physical Control in Care manual makes it clear that girls who are pregnant must not be held face down on the floor. The manual also draws attention to the heightened risks of restraining other groups of young people, including those suffering from asthma, obesity, or recent head injury or who are in a psychotic state or a state of excited delirium.

RECENT ACCIDENT?

Shaw & Co

This is a matter of how far we can protect those people, and others accused of criminal offences, up to the time of charge. That approach has been agreed by those on both sides of this House in the not-too-distant past-in the previous Parliament-and it probably will eventually be agreed in this Parliament too.

Clarion are experts at helping with: • Cash seizure and forfeiture proceedings • Restraint orders • Confiscation proceedings • POCA civil recovery proceedings • Third party interests • Enforcement proceedings • Certificates of inadequacy • Appeals against confiscation orders

41

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

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42

Legal Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Recent developments in The Law of Confiscation Specialist fraud barrister Christopher Foulkes and criminal defence lawyer Darryl Lockwood examine the Switalski Briefing: Recent Developments in The Law of Confiscation

O

nce a defendant is convicted of an offence, the court must conduct confiscation proceedings if either the prosecutor asks it to, or the court believes that it is appropriate to do so. The basic structure of the confiscation regime asks three questions: i) Has the defendant benefited from his criminal conduct? ii) What is the value of the benefit he has obtained? iii) What available sum is recoverable from him? There continues to be a steady rise in the number and size of confiscation orders made by the Courts. Indeed, the Government makes no secret of the importance it attaches to this method of gathering revenue. There have been some important recent developments to the law of confiscation, which we have tried to outline here. However, this is an increasingly complex piece of law, so good legal advice is always necessary.

Assessment of benefit The benefit figure is calculated by reference to the total value of property, or financial advantage, obtained by a defendant. In confiscation proceedings, the court has a duty to make a confiscation order for the full amount of assessed

benefit, unless a defendant can prove the value of his realisable assets is lower. The recent “May Trilogy” of cases (R v May, R v Jennings and R v Green, heard by the House of Lords) have had an important impact on confiscation law. In these cases, the court decided that where a person has joint control of property, he has obtained that property as much as if he had acted alone. If defendants are jointly responsible for a crime, each defendant jointly benefits to the full amount, and there is no requirement to apportion the benefit between them. This means the full amount is recoverable from each defendant, and it was held to be irrelevant that this may give rise to multiple recovery. But the cases also stress the importance of focusing on whether a defendant has in fact “obtained” property at all. The particular facts are key, and the particular role of a defendant in a joint offence must be considered very carefully.

Abuse of Process and the Prosecutor’s Discretion Once the prosecutor asks the court to embark upon the confiscation process, the court must do so - it has no discretion not to proceed, or to limit the effect of the legislation. So the prosecutor’s decision whether or not to proceed is a critical control against unfairness. The Court of Appeal’s decision in the case of R v Morgan and Bygrave

Is your case both serious and complex? We can help. Switalskis is an award-winning firm. We have expert lawyers specialising in all types of complex and serious crime and appeals. We are top ranked by Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession and have twice been named Yorkshire Law Firm of the Year (2006/7 and 2008/9). We travel nationwide and offer: Straightforward, practical advice: no jargon Experienced, specialist lawyers Representation in the Crown Court and Court of Appeal Legal aid Excellent links with the UK’s top criminal barristers For a ‘no-strings’ discussion, call Darryl Lockwood or Bill Rawstron:

01422 284350 or write to: Switalskis Solicitors, Venture House, Silver Street, Halifax HX1 1HS www.switalskis.com/crime

emphasised that it is not always appropriate to seek confiscation in every single case where some benefit has been obtained by crime. The Crown must decide in each case if it is appropriate to ask the court to apply the confiscation process. Equally, the Crown is able to discontinue the confiscation proceedings at any stage.

property is the market value at the time that the value is being determined: i.e. when the confiscation order is made. In R v Chen it was confirmed that, as unmatured pension policies cannot be transferred or surrendered, they have no market value, and so cannot be taken into account when calculating the available amount.

This impacts particularly in cases where, before sentencing, defendants voluntarily repay property they have obtained. Even if a defendant repays voluntarily, he may still have to satisfy a confiscation order, i.e. he may have to pay twice. If voluntary repayments have been made, recent case law seems to suggest it may be worth inviting the prosecution not to ask the court to apply the confiscation process.

Goods for which there is no lawful market (e.g. drugs)

It was also recognised that the Court retains a jurisdiction to stay confiscation proceedings for an abuse of process, for example where it would be “oppressive” to seek confiscation. The Director of Public Prosecutions issued guidance in May 2009, outlining examples where it may be inappropriate to instigate confiscation proceedings: i) Where the Crown has reneged on an earlier agreement not to proceed ii) Where a defendant has voluntarily paid full compensation, and has not otherwise profited from his crime iii) Where, if confiscation is pursued, the court will be compelled to treat as benefit any property obtained in the most part legitimately by the defendant iv) Where a defendant has obtained paid employment by a false representation to his employer. Prosecuting agencies now receive a share of the monies recovered under confiscation orders made as a result of their efforts. It can only be hoped that this does not affect the exercise of that all important discretion.

Unmatured pension policies A frequent question when calculating the “available amount” is how to value pension policies that are not transferable and cannot be surrendered early. The legislation provides that the value of any

Previously, for the purposes of calculating a defendant’s benefit, goods in his possession that have no lawful market had no value. For example, the black market value of drugs in a defendant’s possession had no value for the purposes of confiscation. That position has now been reversed by the House of Lords in R v Islam. When calculating benefit, the court should consider the drugs have a market value to the defendant at the time he obtains them, as he could sell them on the black market. So they can be included in a benefit figure, but they have no value when calculating the available amount (i.e. the time the confiscation order is made), as he cannot possibly sell them at that stage.

About the Authors: Christopher Foulkes is a specialist fraud barrister at 2 Hare Court in London. His caseload includes large scale investment fraud, excise duty & VAT fraud and money laundering. He has extensive experience of all POCA and asset forfeiture proceedings, including confiscation. Darryl Lockwood is a Criminal Defence Lawyer within Switalskis Solicitors Serious Crime team. In his more than 20 years of practice he has represented clients in 12 Murder Trials at the Old Bailey, including those of a serial killer, a contract killer and clients charged with gang related murders. He has also represented clients in many major drugs importation cases, including an Airport importation where the CPS relied on evidence of a ‘Supergrass’. Has wide experience of cases involving Police Informants and Covert Police Intelligence including probes and phone taps. He regularly deals with complex Frauds and POCA Proceedings resulting from major drug conspiracies.

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Parole woes!

(Amendment) Rules 2009. All lifer cases are reviewed on the papers and then, only if specific criteria is met, will they proceed to an oral hearing. The revised rules state the case will proceed to an oral hearing:

Solicitor Lisa Gianquitto is worried the Parole Board are reading reports that are already 8 months old

A

nother letter came in from a prospective client this week asking whether I could represent him. He explained how his solicitors had not been in contact for over 2 months and he was unsure whether his parole review was going to an oral hearing. I contacted him and asked for some details of the existing firm to make an application to transfer the file. When I called the firm they did not have a prison law department and the contact name I had been given had left 3 weeks earlier! The person ‘in charge’ hadn’t got a clue what I was talking about and said she would forward the client’s file of papers by the end of the week. A couple of telephone calls established that my client’s case was progressing to an oral hearing and that ICM directions had been issued requesting additional reports, although these had not yet been received. ICM directions mean the case has proceeded through the paper review stage at the Parole Board and a member has undertaken Intensive Case Management of the case to establish whether the matter is ready for putting forward for a hearing, whether further information is required by way of additional reports or, simply that an issue needs clarification. The caseworker at the Parole Board had emailed the parole clerk at the prison with

the directions and she in turn had emailed the offender manager … or thought she had. It turns out the offender manager had left her probation office a month earlier and the email had been sent into the great probation abyss! No further progress had been made on the case for 6 weeks. This was simply unacceptable and could have been avoided if the solicitor instructed had done her job properly. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have come across this sort of thing. Fortunately, from July, with the introduction of the prison law supervisor standard, this scenario should be less and less frequent. Clients obviously rely on their solicitors to keep them updated with any progress on their case and the procedure involved along the way. When the Parole Board issue directions this usually means addendum reports or information is required. The Parole Board does not have the manpower or time required to constantly liaise with offender managers or offender supervisors to arrange for timely delivery of the reports. This is something a prison law solicitor has to be on top of. I still regularly see lifer clients who are under the assumption their case will proceed to an oral hearing, whether release is supported or not. This procedure all changed on 1st April 2009 with the introduction of the Parole Board

1. Where the ICM member considers there is a realistic prospect of release or a move to open conditions; or 2. In any case where the assessment of risk requires live evidence from the prisoner and/or witnesses. This would include a case where a progressive move is not a realistic outcome, but where live evidence is needed to determine the risk factors. It is envisaged that this will be a rare step to take and would normally only be necessary where experts disagreed about a risk factor; for example, whether or not there was a sexual element to an offence that needed exploring. It is only intended to apply this principle where there is a dispute about whether an issue is a risk factor at all, not necessarily whether it has been addressed or not. The Parole Board has been honest enough to declare that an oral hearing under the second heading is rare. In other words the majority of cases that proceed to oral hearing are those where an offender manager or offender supervisor (or both) report that the risk is safe enough to be managed in open conditions or in the community. A question for you though…. How do you know if your case has been reviewed by the Parole Board based on up to date reports? How do you know whether all the reports from completed Offending Behaviour Programmes have been included in the dossier? Answer: You don’t. Prisoners are given a copy of their dossier prior to it being submitted to the Parole Board but are not told exactly when the board intends to undertake review of their case.

KRISTINA HARRISON

SOLICITORS SPECIALISTS IN PRISON LAW

                                         





    

43

Legal Comment

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

              

  

  

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So many times a prisoner will receive a ‘knock-back’ and not take the matter any further. This is particularly the case with pre-tariff IPP reviews where the Parole Board has a huge backlog and is, at times, reviewing a dossier 4-5 months after it has been submitted. When probation reports are often written 2-3 months prior to the dossier being submitted this means the Parole Board are reviewing a case based on information which is 8 months out of date! The purpose of the review is to assess the current level of risk – not the risk that was evident 8 months ago! My latest gripe is that I have now had two occasions this week where the dossier contains information that the Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) has been added as a target to a client’s sentence plan. Nothing wrong in that you may think? Well, yes there is when both of those clients have successfully completed ETS and have demonstrated exemplary behaviour in prison. TSP is, save for a few minor amendments, ETS by another name. It is though, a great example of Probation officers failing to use their own thinking skills by realising this! Remember – it’s your chance of parole. You need to be informed every step of the way. It’s vital to instruct a solicitor that is experienced in such matters and knows what they are doing. The prison law team at Hine & Associates assists a large number of clients with parole, for determinate and indeterminate sentences. We believe in building up a good relationship with our client so that the trust and confidence is in place before Parole Board review.

Lisa Gianquitto is a solicitor with Hine and Associates, Bucks

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44

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Rule 39 Correspondence - guidance Solicitor David Wells highlights the ignorance that still exists around legal mail

M

ost inmates at some point during their time in custody will experience problems with what has been commonly referred to as ‘rule 39 correspondence.’ Rule 39 of the Prison Rules 1999 states that any correspondence between a prisoner and his or her legal adviser or a court may not be opened, read or stopped unless the Governor has reasonable cause to believe that the correspondence contains an illicit enclosure, or that the Governor has reasonable cause to believe that its contents endanger prison security or the safety of others or are otherwise of a criminal nature. Even then it may only be opened for examination in the presence of the prisoner concerned (unless the prisoner waives the opportunity) and the prisoner must be informed if it (or any enclosure) is to be read or stopped. Recent reports have highlighted the fact that prisons face a constant battle in dealing with an apparent abuse of the rule 39 provisions. In February 2009, it was reported that HMP Wakefield had uncovered that hardcore pornography disguised as letters from legal advisers was being smuggled in to the establishment. Some correspondence was said to contain drugs and bore the franking marks of law firms, although the prison was clear to state that law firms were not suspected to be involved. It is difficult to see how anyone could not accept that these events are a flagrant breach of the rules. However, rule 39 letters are letters which are regarded as legally privileged communications and as such the starting point should always be that such correspondence should not be interfered with or read by the authorities.

In saying that, this important right does need to be balanced with the need to ensure that security is not compromised.

staff cause for concern to the extent that such correspondence had to be opened in the presence of the inmate concerned.

It is a likely coincidence but following the media reports covering the apparent abuses of the rule 39 provisions, guidance on this subject was handed down earlier this year in the case of Chester, R (on the application of) v The Governor of HMP Wakefield [2010] EWHC 63 (Admin) (22 January 2010).

Whilst the Court acknowledged the challenges to the new arrangements set in place by HMP Wakefield, it also identified the very real need to address the security issues that had been encountered. The Court concluded that the intelligence received by HMP Wakefield justified the implementation of the new procedures. The Court used this as an opportunity to provide further guidance on the handling arrangements for prisoners’ legal and confidential access correspondence both for incoming and outgoing mail.

The case focused on the ‘..extent to which the legally recognised fundamental rights of a prisoner can be accommodated within the setting of a prison which has to protect itself from malevolent external influences and manipulation that can lead to significant internal problems.’ (taken from transcript). HMP Wakefield was challenged following its introduction of a new policy in relation to the handling of ‘rule 39 correspondence’ in an attempt to stem the supply of illicit items to inmates. The new system included, amongst other things, the fact that all marked rule 39 correspondence would be x-ray searched; correspondence addressed to inmates not marked ‘rule 39’ or with a Solicitors return address would be opened in the presence of the inmate, as would any tatty, handwritten or not franked envelope (as in the case of Chester). The policy stated that a refusal to allow a member of staff to open the letter in the presence of the inmate would mean that the letter would not be handed over. All these were said to be in breach of the rule 39 provisions. In fact, the Court was most concerned with the role that handwritten envelopes, even those with other official markings, may play in giving the correspondence

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Outgoing correspondence Correspondence addressed to legal advisers needs to have the words ‘rule 39 correspondence’ and the prisoner’s name written on the back of the envelope. The letter should be sealed which will then be checked by dispatch who will confirm the authenticity of the intended recipient. Where a letter is not clearly marked but the letter is identified as being addressed to a recognisable legal adviser, the letter should be treated in the same way as if it were properly marked. Where reasonable grounds exist to suspect the letter contains an illicit item, the letter should be opened in the presence of the sender, unless the inmate refuses in which case a waiver must be signed. Other guidance exists where an illicit item is found. Incoming correspondence This is where there is now a considerable change for legal advisers. It is suggested that incoming correspondence should be in a double envelope enclosing a letter sealed in an unstamped envelope, the

Governors must ensure strict compliance to this guidance amongst prison staff. Any breach, even if accidental, is likely to lead to challenge in both the domestic and international courts. David Wells is a senior partner at Wells Burcombe LLP

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outside of which should be annotated with the inmate’s name and prison number; the name, address and telephone number of the law firm and a reference number; the words ‘Prison Rule 39’ or ‘YOI Rule 39; and the signature of the legal adviser or his or her clerk. Alternatively, this information may be given in a covering letter to the Governor rather than on the envelope addressed to the Prisoner. As with outgoing mail, where this is not adhered but where such mail appears to have been sent from a legal adviser (for example where a law firm official stamp appears or where the letter is clearly stamped ‘rule 39 correspondence’), the letter is to be treated as if it had been sent in accordance with the guidance. Where concerns arise, the prison should check with the firm concerned. The rules relating to inspection where the letter is not found to be from a genuine source are the same as those listed above. Even where an illicit enclosure is found, no-one should read the content of any letter, something which is only permitted where the Governor has cause to believe that the contents of the letter would endanger prison security or the safety of others or are otherwise criminal in nature. Only the Governor has the authority to read such correspondence.

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Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

45

Abuse of Process When will a Judge throw a case out of Court because of the behaviour of the Prosecution? By Aziz Rahman, Solicitor and Jonathan Lennon, Barrister

T

his short phrase ‘abuse of process’ will be well known to many of our readers. In this article we set out to explain the basics of the abuse of process jurisdiction and the main issues that arise.

The Judge’s Role There are many reasons why a Judge might conclude that it would not be proper for the courts to be used to prosecute a defendant, and they all come back to the issue of fairness. For example, delay in bringing proceedings, manipulation of the court’s procedures, entrapment by police officers, loss of evidence and so on. The prosecution facing an abuse of process application will always argue that the Judge can ensure fairness by, for example, excluding any evidence which is causing dispute, or by warning the jury that the defendant has been unable to call certain evidence because it has been destroyed – in other words anything except throw the case out before it even starts. Leading Case One of the leading cases in this area is R (Ebrahim) v Feltham Magistrates’ Court; Mouat v DPP [2001] 2 Cr. App. R, 23, DC. The High Court considered the situation where the two defendants, in two separate cases had asserted that video evidence would have assisted their defences but where that the video material was no longer available. In Mr. Mouat’s case he was videoed by an unmarked police car exceeding the speed limit. His defence was that he was trying to get away from a driver who was driving dangerously close behind him and he had no idea it was a police car; i.e. duress of circumstances. Once he stopped he was shown the video by the officers and had the choice to accept a penalty or go to trial – he elected trial. By the time of the trial the tapes in the police car had been re-used. The High Court quashed Mr. Mouat’s conviction. Mr. Ebrahim was not so fortunate. Ebrahim’s case concerned un-seized CCTV material. On the facts of that case the Court found that the defendant had had a fair trial even though the CCTV material was missing. The Court of Appeal said that when considering an abuse application on this basis a Judge must consider what the duty was to preserve any video material. If the court finds that there is no such duty for the material in question to be seized or preserved then there can be no stay of the prosecution. If, alternatively, there is such a duty, and it has been breached, then the court can only consider staying the indictment as an exceptional measure as the trial process itself can remedy the problem; e.g. by the Judge to warning the jury about missing evidence, or by him excluding certain other evidence etc. If, however, the police or the prosecution appear to have acted with “bad faith or at the very least some serious fault” then a stay may be more readily granted. Two Categories of Abuse In considering the development of the case law it is clear that the Higher Courts were reluctant to use the abuse of process jurisdiction to effectively ‘punish’ the police or prosecution for errors or faults. There seems to be a change more recently with the courts being more willing to stay proceedings to teach a ‘lesson’ to the Crown where they are at fault. This ‘serious fault’ limb of the abuse of process jurisdiction highlights the way abuse

applications fall into two broad categories; Category 1 cases where the defendant cannot receive a fair trial, and Category 2 cases where it would be unfair for the defendant to be tried: see R v Beckford (1996) 1 Cr App R 94, 101. Thus, if evidence that should have been seized by the police but now cannot be obtained, but would have been helpful to the defence, then that is a ‘Category 1’ situation and the Judge could, exceptionally, stay the trial on the basis that the defendant could not get a fair trial. If, however, the police had the material but maliciously destroyed it, then that would be a ‘Category 2’ case and even though the defendant could get a fair trial it would be unfair to try him – in as much as it would offend our sense of justice and bring the administration of the criminal justice system into disrepute to do so, see e.g. R v Mullen [1999] 1 AC 42, HL. R v Grant [2005] 2 Cr. App. R 28 is a Category 2 case; there the Court of Appeal considered a case where the police eavesdropped on the communications of a suspect and his solicitor. The acts of the police were unlawful and, according to the Court, were capable of infecting the proceedings as abusive of the court’s process. The Court held that unlawful acts of such a kind, amounting to a deliberate violation of a suspect’s right to legal privilege were such an affront to the integrity of the justice system, and therefore the rule of law, that the prosecution was rendered abusive and ought not to be countenanced by the court. Of course the use of undercover officers in covert operations quite often leads to accusations of abuse of process on the basis that the undercover officers have entrapped or encouraged an offence to take place. This aspect of abuse deserves a whole article to itself but in very short order the Judge has to look to see if the undercover officer has ‘overstepped the mark’; R v Loosely; Att. General’s Ref (No 3 of 2000) [2001] 1 WLR 2060, HL. It is the case that where a court is faced with illegal conduct by police or State prosecutors (whether labelled as Category 2 or entrapment or whatever), which is so grave as to threaten to undermine the rule of law itself the court is likely to regard itself as bound to stop the case. Recent Developments The area of disclosure has always been the most contentious area of criminal litigation and most of the great miscarriage of justice cases have turned on failures to disclose by the prosecution. The House of Lords laid down final and conclusive guidance on disclosure and Public Interest Immunity applications in the case R v H & C [2004] 2 AC 134 (the authors represented ‘H’). However, it is sad fact that today prosecutors are still not getting disclosure right. With the pressure on the prosecution not to give the defence the ‘warehouse keys’ there has been an over analysis of Defence Statements and a willingness to conclude that no further disclosure is necessary. In a case called R v O [2007] EWCA Crim 3483 a Crown Court Judge was so exasperated by H.M. Custom’s failure to properly respond to the defence’s proper applications for disclosure he stayed the case as an abuse of process. The prosecution appealed and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision. The case was a VAT carousel fraud allegation where O was simply asking for business documents held by customs after they had searched his premises; this comprised of around 8,000 pages most of which was not disclosed to the defence, despite the material belonging to the defendant in the first place. Customs had

been taking the line that most of the material neither assisted the defence or undermined the prosecution case and was therefore not disclosable and refused to even let the defence have sight of the outer covers of the documents. The defence were adamant that the business documents could show a line of legitimate trading and therefore support the defence’s case. The Judge had the option of ruling in favour of the prosecution, ordering disclosure or staying the case as an abuse of process. The Judge was swayed by the obstructive nature of Customs, he did not even make a decision on the merits of the material in question but was pushed in the end to saying that Customs had relied too heavily on the precise rule of law on disclosure, to the extent that they were inflexible and obstructive. His Honour said “if the prosecution approach the case without concession then they can expect none” and with that he threw the case out. More recently, in a case involving indecent images of children, the defence solicitors wished to view the material and certain directions were given by the court regarding disclosure. The prosecution were not content with the security arrangements for the viewing and storage of this sensitive material and refused to obey the order, the indictment was stayed; R v R (L) (unrep) 28th April 2010, CA. The abuse of process doctrine also applies to confiscation proceedings, though to a more limited degree. The Court of Appeal has confirmed the Crown Court’s jurisdiction to stay confiscation proceedings where, in limited cases, the Crown’s application for confiscation amounted to oppression: R v Morgan &

Bygrave [2008] EWCA Crim 1323 (20/6/08), para 27. In that case the defendant had substantially repaid the victim and the confiscation proceedings in effect punished him twice over. However, the Court of Appeal has since reiterated that confiscation proceedings are by design draconian and cases where such proceedings amount to an abuse will be rare indeed; see R v Lowe [2009]. Conclusion What is required in any abuse application is material upon which such an application can be supported. This usually means early and focussed pressure on disclosure where a possible abuse of process application might be made. The courts have shown a willingness in recent years to stay proceedings in a wider variety of cases than might previously have been the case. That said prosecutors will always meet such applications with the standard line that staying a case is an exceptional measure. In order to persuade a court to stay an indictment a defendant has to have the ammunition to support the application. That means the lawyers have to be alive to the possibilities that might arise in any case and always have the possibility of an abuse argument in the back of their minds. Jonathan Lennon is a Barrister specialising in fraud and serious complex criminal cases. He is in Chambers at 23 Essex Street in London. Aziz Rahman is a Solicitor- Advocate and Partner at the leading Criminal Defence firm Rahman Ravelli Solicitors, specialising in Financial Crime and Large Scale Conspiracies/Serious crime. Rahman Ravelli are members of the Specialist Fraud Panel.

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46

Legal Q&A

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

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. Replies for the Legal Forum kindly provided by: ABM Solicitors; Chivers Solicitors; de Maids; Frank Brazell & Partners; Henry Hyams; Hine & Associates; Levys Solicitors; Morgans; Oliver & Co; Parlby Calder; Petherbridge Bassara Solicitors; Stephensons Solicitors LLP; Stevens Solicitors; Switalskis Solicitors and WBW Solicitors - see individual advertisements for full details. Send your legal queries (concise and clearly marked ‘legal’) to our editorial assistant Lucy Forde at Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. For a prompt response, readers are reminded to send their queries on white paper using black ink or typed if possible. Use a first or second class stamp. large number of parole applications are currently subject to delay, recent case law has made it more difficult for indeterminate sentence prisoners to challenge the delays to their parole review – however there remains quite a clear duty on the Secretary of State to prepare the basic dossier of reports required by the parole board to hold the review. As such he should contact his solicitors who will be able to advise him what next steps can be taken to challenge this delay. As with the majority of issues in any complaint, he must start with the Form Comp1 process – he may wish to get this process started whilst he waits for a response from the solicitors he has instructed.

............................................... PK HMP Swinfen Hall

RS HMP Acklington Q

I am an IPP prisoner and I’m two months over tariff. I am still waiting to receive my parole dossier. What action can I take to get my dossier? Also, with so many IPPs going so far over tariff would it be possible to appeal the sentence on the grounds that it has become manifestly excessive due to inability to progress because it is impossible to get places on offender management courses in order to lower risk.

A The issue regarding appealing this gentleman’s IPP sentence is a trial issue. He is entitled to receive advice on appeal from a barrister under the trial legal aid if this has not been received already. Therefore he would need to contact the trial solicitors so they can provide the same. Regarding the parole, the position is that he must have his detention considered by the parole board at or shortly before the tariff expiry date. However, as he will be aware, a

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been refused contact. It would be advisable at this stage for the wife to instruct a solicitor and obtain further legal advice, as the decision to refuse contact may be a decision that can be potentially challenged via judicial review.

............................................... AM HMP Lowdham Grange

Q I’m currently serving a three-year three month IPP sentence for aggravated burglary. I’ve been told by my OMU officer that I’m eligible for D Cat halfway through my tariff at my paper review. I was wondering how likely I am to get this and how many, if any, have actually got their D Cat at this stage. I’ve had no nickings, no positive MDT/VDTs, I’m enhanced status and I’ve done all the courses asked of me and some. A This would be a Pre-Tariff Review; here the Parole Board will take into account a large number of factors. Based on the limited information you have provided it would appear that you have a reasonable prospect of reducing the category status to Cat D. Given your good behaviour and progress, I recommend that you pursue a recommendation for open conditions immediately and seek legal representation to assist with this further. Please note that at this review, the Parole Board can only recommend a transfer to open conditions and cannot recommend re-release. If the Parole Board recommend a transfer to open conditions, please be aware that the Secretary of State may or may not decide to follow the Parole Board’s recommendation. The ultimate decision regarding a transfer to open conditions rests with the Secretary of State solely.

Q My wife is also in jail and for the past five months I have been trying to arrange a visit but no matter how many times I ask, I can’t get one because she is only 17 and I am 18. As we are married I am her legal guardian, so why is there a problem with visits?

...............................................

A

MF HMP The Mount

The importance of prisoners to maintain contact with the outside world is reflected in provisions contained in the YOI Rules, where it highlights the need for prisoners to be encouraged and assisted in establishing and maintaining relations with people outside prison to promote their best interests, the interests of their family and their rehabilitation (YOIR rule 42). Convicted prisoners are entitled to receive two statutory visits every four weeks from a relative or friend. Currently, the refusal to allow visiting contact with his wife is a breach of both his and the wife’s right to respect for private and family life under article 8 of the ECHR. Where the prisoner is a juvenile, the restriction of disallowing contact could cause disproportionate harm to her right of access to a parent / legal guardian. With the limited information supplied, we would need to know further information, such as the reasons why the individual has been refused contact with his wife. The wife would have to exhaust the Form Comp1 procedure fully first and question the prison why she has

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Q I am writing to seek clarification relating to the criteria for progressing to open conditions prior to the two-year mark. I was

recommended for a ‘Paper D Cat’ but was transferred before sitting an Exceptional Circumstances Board after PSI 03/2009 was published.

A This gentleman raises a query as to whether PSI 03/2009 prevents progression to open conditions prior to the two-year mark – ie less than two years left to serve until earliest release date. The short answer is no – PSI 03/2009 provides that: 14.5 Every case must be considered on individual merit but, in general, long sentence prisoners should not be re-categorised and allocated to open prison until they have served a sufficient proportion of their sentence in a closed prison to enable them to settle into their sentence and to access any offending behaviour programmes identified as essential to the risk reduction process. 14.6 In addition, prisoners should generally not be allocated to open prison: • With more than 2 years to serve before their earliest release date; and • In the case of prisoners subject to the release provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 to whom the new duty to release at the half-way point in section 33(1A) does not apply (ie ‘unconverted’ 1991 Act prisoners with a PED), they must also be within 5 years of non-parole date (NPD). Where prisoners are more than two years away from earliest release date they must still have their categorisation reviewed in line with the normal process and consideration given to whether there are exceptional circumstances to justify allocation to open prison at this stage. There is no right to have two years in open conditions before possible release. Exceptional circumstances must therefore exist before consideration would be given to a transfer to open conditions prior to the two year mark and the PSI states that this decision should be taken by the governing Governor.

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Legal Q&A

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org Home Office ASBO guide or the CPS ASBO guide ask a friend or relative to visit www. banksr.com Other documents tab ASBO.

Banks on Sentence

Q I went into a pub with others to rob

Answers by Robert Banks, a barrister who writes Banks on Sentence, the book the Judges use for sentencing more than any other.

www.banksr.com Q About

five years ago I was given an ASBO. They said it was because I was always nicking cars and going over the top when drunk. The terms were never checked and the hearing was over in about 5 minutes. The pros relied on coppers’ statements. They were wrong but they never gave evidence. The ASBO has five years to run. Since then I was sent back here and my release date is September. I don’t really understand all the terms and the order bans me from doing so much. I know most don’t take any notice of them but the local police do and often nick me for so called breaching it. I read the Home Secretary is going to scrap them. Where does all this leave me?

A The Home Secretary’s speech which generated the press publicity was entitled ‘Moving beyond the ASBO’. In her speech she said, “The ASBO and the other powers for tackling anti-social behaviour were a ludicrous list of powers which were too complex and too bureaucratic. If the professionals don’t understand them, then how on earth are the perpetrators supposed to understand them? Where possible, they should be rehabilitating and restorative rather than criminalising and coercive. But where necessary, they should be tough and provide a real deterrent. I have launched a review of the ASBO. It is time to move beyond the ASBO.” Since your order was made the law on ASBOs has changed remarkably. The hearings now have to be much fairer, statements have to be properly served and the defence can serve a notice inviting the prosecution to call the person who made the statement. The court then decides whether the person is called. These and other rules about Behavioural orders are in the recently amended Criminal Procedural Rules 2010 Rule 50.

Not only has the procedure changed remarkably, so has the law about what prohibitions in the order are lawful. Much of your order would, under the new law, have to be redrafted. Your terms are too wide and too unclear. Standard lists of prohibitions are not permitted. Each term has to be clear, easily understood by the defendant and directed to specific antisocial behaviour. The ban on being in all car parks in your county seems too wide as it would appear to stop you using any car park for work or shopping or visiting your probation officer. The Court of Appeal has condemned the phase ‘any tool or implement’ as a term which they consider impossible to ascertain what it applies to. The term that you are not to associate with named individuals seems also too wide and impossible to enforce. The first step you should take is to decide what your objective is. It would appear you want to revoke the order and if that fails to reduce and clarify the terms. You should also try to reduce the length of order. Clearly the fact you have been convicted of matters since then can’t help. I would suggest after your release you try to avoid being arrested and after Christmas apply to revoke and vary the ASBO. Notices have to be served. Then, when your case is listed in the New Year, you should say your anti-social behaviour problems are over and if you are on licence say the licence is working well and that that should be sufficient. If that fails you should then apply to vary the terms to make them clearer, fairer and more proportionate. Finally you should apply to reduce the length of the order. If you would like a copy of the Home Secretary’s full speech, the JSB (Judicial Studies Board) ASBO Guidance for Judges etc., the JSB ASBO Training document, the

EXPERTS ON ANY PRISON LAW MATTER

the safe. I had a sawn-off shotgun and one of the others had a revolver. A barmaid was in the way as we entered the room with the safe so I shot her. It was only in the foot and there is no lasting injury as she was only hit by spray. We didn’t know but a panic button was pressed and as we were leaving a policeman was blocking the door. I warned him I would shoot him if he didn’t get out of the way but he didn’t move. To get out I again fired the shotgun and some shot hit the copper. He didn’t need much hospital treatment. I pleaded not guilty to the robbery and two section 18 woundings. I ran wrong ID. The judge gave my brief a hard time and went for me when I was in the box. My defence rather fell apart as the prosecution kept serving more evidence. The prosecution made a big thing about two robberies on my record. In one I was convicted of having a firearm at the time. The only gain from the trial was I was acquitted of attempted murder of the barmaid and the copper. From the judge’s attacks it looks as if he is going to give me more for making all the witnesses attend. Can he do this? The prosecution say I am the organiser. Will the judge just accept that? We chose a time when the pub wasn’t open. Will that be reflected in the sentence? Some people have mentioned I might get life. What am I looking at?

A All judges are different so it impossible to give you a definite figure. Your case has a number of aggravating factors. 1) The carrying of firearms, one of which was fired twice causing injury to two people. 2) The discharge of a firearm at a police officer. 3) Your previous convictions which include two robberies, one of which a firearm was carried. My estimate without reading all the papers is that the judge would

The law says that the judge is not able to add to a sentence because of the way a defence was conducted. However I expect he will give you nothing off. You ask about whether the judge will accept the prosecution decision that you were the organiser. In the armed robbery trials I have been in it is usually fairly obvious who is the ringleader even before the trial starts. In most court rooms the judge looks directly at the defendants and the inter-reaction between the defendants in the dock can be a real give away. I suspect he has already formulated his reasons why you are the ringleader. The reasons normally are the ages of the defendants, the roles played during the crime, the telephone traffic and what was said during the crime and to the police. You also ask whether doing the crime out of pub hours will entitled you to a discount. I doubt it. The MO of these robberies is to go when there is likely to be the least resistance and when the safe has the most money. Back to your sentence. The judge is likely to make the main sentences the woundings. Suppose the judge starts at 24 years he would halve the sentence to take into account the different release regimes for IPP making 12 years. He would then deduct the time you have been in custody and that would be your minimum term. As you know it is unlikely you would be released immediately after you have served those years.

Please make sure questions relate to sentences and not conviction or release. Unless you say you don’t want your question and answer published it will be assumed you don’t have an objection to publication. No-one will have their identity revealed. Facts which indicate who you are will not be printed. Letters without an address cannot be answered. It is usually not possible to determine whether a particular defendant has grounds of appeal without seeing all the paperwork. Going through all the paperwork is normally not an option. This column is designed for simple questions and answers. Please address your questions to Inside Time, Botley Mill, Botley, SO30 2GB (and mark the letter for Robert Banks). Letters sent directly to Robert Banks cannot be answered.

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start at 23-25 years. He would then consider whether it should be life or IPP. I would not expect the judge to give you a straight 23-25 because I suspect all the features would indicate the criteria for IPP are made out. Although life is still given for what could be described as a serious Division 1 robbery with aggravating features, the fashion as led by the current Lord Chief Justice is to ask what does a life sentence achieve which an IPP sentence doesn’t. The answer is usually very little or nothing.

If prisoners leave out key matters like relevant and serious previous convictions, or that the Court of Appeal has already rejected an appeal, the answers given will be often incomplete or wrong.

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A & A SOLICITORS

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• Appeals against Conviction & Sentence • Re-categorisation & Parole • Licence Recall / Reviews • ROTL/ Early Removal Scheme • Judicial Reviews • Human Rights Issues • Consfications • Appeals against Deportation Please contact:

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Health

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Inside Health ... with Dr Jonathon and Dr Shabana

[For further information on GID (gender dysphoria), including help and support organisations, please write to Inside Time and clearly mark your envelope GID]

Providing this valuable service are Dr Jonathon Tomlinson and Dr Shabana Rauf, both GPs practising in East London. Dr Rauf is particularly interested in women’s health. If you have a question relating to your own health, write a brief letter (maximum one side A4 paper) to Inside Time (Health) Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. Everyone will receive a reply, however only a selection will be published each month and no names will be disclosed.

Q I suffer from Ulcerative Colitis. I was diagnosed in 2007 and have since been admitted to hospital on more than 30 occasions suffering from alcohol contributed flare ups. The doctors have warned me that unless I stop misusing alcohol I risk having a colostomy bag fitted. Please could I have your opinion on this? A

You are probably aware that Ulcerative Colitis is due to inflammation of your colon. It is a chronic condition which means that there may be times when your bowels are working fine and other times when you have flare ups. During a flare up a person will experience bloody diarrhoea and abdominal pain. There is not always a trigger for the flare up but alcohol is a known cause of relapse, therefore it is important to reduce and maybe even stop drinking alcohol. It may be worth talking to your prison doctor regarding support for this. The most commonly prescribed drug in Ulcerative Colitis is called mesalazine - you did not mention whether you were taking this - it is prescribed to reduce flare ups of your condition and is effective. If you do get flare ups when taking this medication then it may be increased by your doctor whilst you have the flare up and then gradually reduced to the lower dose once things are stable. Other drugs used are steroid tablets, which help reduce inflammation. In more serious cases of Colitis, individuals can be prescribed immunosuppressant drugs such as aziothioprine or

endocrinologist who will discuss hormonal treatment and monitoring as well as referral to a surgeon. In the Gender Indentify clinic these specialists work together which makes it easier.

inflixamab. These are always started by a specialist and need careful monitoring. This may not be an option to you until you stop drinking. 75% of people with Ulcerative Colitis can manage with a combination of healthy diet, with high fibre, and medication. However, 25% of sufferers will end up having surgery. It is a serious step but can really improve quality of life for people with frequent flare ups. Surgery involves removal of the large colon and this may cure the disease. Some people will need a colostomy and depending on the type of operation this may be reversed.

Q

I would like information and an insight into transgender male to female. I feel that the way forward for me is a sex change and would appreciate some help and advice on how to go about this.

A The medical term for this is Gender Identity

Disorder. This means that you wish to live as the opposite sex to which you were born. The change can occur through hormonal medication or with surgery. Often people have both. The first step in accessing treatment is to see your doctor. They will refer you to either the local mental health team or, if there is one in your area, a Gender Identity clinic. You will need to be assessed by a psychiatrist who will assess your mental health and help ensure you are making the right decision for the right reasons. You may well see an

Q

I am a 24 year-old white male and currently on Methadone. I keep having wet dreams, is there anything I can do to help stop it happening?

A

A ‘wet dream’ is when a male or female ejaculates during sleep. They are common in adolescents and in young adults and can occur during or after puberty. We aren’t quite sure why people have wet dreams. Some people think it may be the bed sheets stimulating the genitals or may be related to sexually orientated dreams that you may be having. There is usually no serious underlying medical condition and it is not related to the methadone that you are taking.

Q I would like to know if it is possible to tell the parentage of a child by their eye colour?

A Simply using eye colour to determine whether a child may be yours is inaccurate. The only method that is 99% accurate is a paternity test. A paternity test is a big step and can have an impact on any children involved, so it is important to consider this before carrying out the test. Most paternity tests now involve taking a swab of cells from the mum, dad and the child. These are looked at under a microscope to determine the DNA of everyone. A child will share its DNA with both parents. Paternity tests are not available on the NHS and you will need to pay a private company to do this for you. You could speak to your doctor to see if he knows any. [Addresses for DNA testing clinics can be obtained by writing to Inside Time, please clearly mark your envelope ‘information’.] CCRC Advert Portrait

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Adjudications Lifer Panels Categorisation & Transfers Appeals HDC Licence Conditions Lifer Issues MDTs & VDTs Parole Applications Recall ROTL Tariff Reviews For help, advice and representation throughout the midlands & the south Contact: Harriett Mather at CDMK Solicitors 62 The Queensway Bletchley , Milton Keynes MK2 2SA

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Q

I suffer with a number of complaints including COPD, heart problems, asthma, arthritis and mental health issues, I am 56. I feel that I might have pneumonia, at home I use an oxygen cylinder but I am not allowed one in prison. My symptoms are: severe coughing fits, especially at night, sometimes there are specks of blood in the yellow phlegm that I cough up. I am extremely wheezy most of the time and I struggle to get my breath. I am extremely cold, particularly my extremities and at night I sleep with five blankets. I don’t seem to be getting any better, worse in fact – what do you advise?

A

As you probably know COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is a general term and includes conditions such as emphysema and bronchitis. The most common reason why people develop this condition is through smoking. Usual symptoms include cough, wheeze and breathlessness. It sounds like your COPD may not be as well controlled as it could be. You don’t mention what inhalers you are on but there are many different types and many combinations. Inhalers are used to help relieve symptoms. They are not a cure and only help if you take them as prescribed. The inhalers are divided into 2 main types: 1. Short acting - these will help with the breathlessness and wheezing within 5-15 minutes of taking. 2. Long acting-these are usually steroid inhalers and work over time to reduce the inflammation in the passages of the lungs. They can be combined with the short acting inhalers. People with COPD are more likely to get chest infections. During this time antibiotics and steroid tablets are generally prescribed. In those with severe COPD oxygen can also be prescribed. I am sorry that you have not had access to this in prison but it may be worth discussing this with your prison doctors again. People who have bouts of severe coughing may notice bright streaks of blood in their phlegm. However if it happens on several occasions and you are feeling unwell with it then it is important to see you prison doctor. It is possible that you may have a chest infection but it is likely you will need a CXR to rule out other more serious infections such as Tuberculosis. 10:00

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beesleyandcompanysolicitors Personal Injury and Civil Action against the Police and other authorities • Personal Injury (accidents both in & out of custody) • Assault • False imprisonment • Malicious prosecution • Negligence • Interference with property/goods • Allegations of mistreatment/injury caused by inmates or staff Contact: Mark Lees

Beesley & Company 736-740 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2DW 0800 975 5454 (FREEPHONE) [email protected] www.beesleysolicitors.co.uk Nationwide service available in certain cases Legal Aid available

We can look again

The Criminal Cases Review Commission is the independent public body which investigates possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For an information pack and application form, please phone us on 0121 633 1800 or write to Criminal Cases Review Commission, Alpha Tower, Suffolk Street Queensway, Birmingham B1 1TT. www.ccrc.gov.uk

Health

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

What is Alzheimer’s disease? ....................................................................... Alzheimer’s disease causes about 6 in 10 cases of dementia. It is named after the doctor who first described it. In Alzheimer’s disease the brain shrinks (atrophies) and the number of nerve fibres in the brain gradually reduce. The amount of some brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) is also reduced, in particular one called acetylcholine. These chemicals help to send messages between brain cells. Tiny deposits or ‘plaques’ also form throughout the brain. It is not known why these changes in the brain occur, or exactly how they cause dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease

There is no way of predicting who will develop Alzheimer’s disease. It is not hereditary and anyone may develop it.

Although Alzheimer’s can strike people in their forties and fifties, it is most common among the elderly. It accounts for more than half of all admissions to nursing homes.

Recent research has shown that there is a genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease. These cases are statistically rare and affect relatively younger people. Alzheimer’s disease usually progresses slowly, with intellectual and emotional capacity gradually diminishing over a period that generally lasts many years. It is characterized by the person’s increasing withdrawal from responsibility and social contact.

How is Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed and treated? ....................................................................... There is no test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease; instead, identification is made on the basis of symptoms and by eliminating other causes of the mental decline. These might include a stroke, hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis), anaemia, nutritional deficiencies, a thyroid disorder, alcoholism, infection, tumours, and the effects of certain drugs. Once all of these other options have been ruled out, a presumptive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is then made. While there is no specific treatment for Alzheimer’s, there are many ways of helping those with the disease. Treating an underlying condition that is contributing to the mental

CRIMINAL DEFENCE & PRISON LAW SPECIALISTS Advice & Representation on all aspects of Criminal Defence & Prison Law including:

Parole Board Hearings Recats Recalls Adjudications Complaints Appeals Advice given on all aspects of Prison Law Contact Michaela Hoggarth or Vanessa Welch at

FRANK BRAZELL & PARTNERS FOR ADVICE 0800 0832724 020 7689 8989 We also specialise in all aspects of Family Work, Divorce, Contact with Children, Child Care arrangements for mothers in prison.

FRANK BRAZELL & PARTNERS 97 White Lion Street London N1 9PL Representing our clients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

›› Community psychiatric nurses can advise on caring for people with mental illness. ›› Specialist psychiatric assessment. A GP can advise if this is needed. ›› Social Services can advise on local facilities such as daycare centres, benefits, help with care in the home, sitting services, respite care, etc. ›› Voluntary organisations. If you care for a person with dementia it is well worth getting information about the help that is available in your local area. In most areas of the UK there are organisations that provide support and advice for carers of people with dementia. The local library or citizens advice bureau will often have local contact details. The level of care and support needed often changes in time. For example, some people with mild dementia can cope well in their own familiar home. Some may live with a family member who does most of the caring. If things become worse, a place in a residential or nursing home may be best. The situation can be reviewed from time to time to make sure the appropriate level of care and support is provided.

What causes Alzheimer’s disease? .......................................................................

At one time, dementia was thought to be an inevitable feature of ageing. We now know that this is not true - most elderly people retain their mental faculties. However, neither the cause nor the nature of Alzheimer’s disease is fully understood, although it is believed to be related to the degeneration of certain brain cells. Research suggests that it might be connected with a virus, but the disease itself is not infectious.

49

problems often bring about an improvement. For example, many Alzheimer’s patients also suffer from depression or delusions that compound their memory impairment. Treating the depression may improve their general condition, even though the Alzheimer’s disease remains unchanged.

When should I see my doctor? ....................................................................... Anyone suspected of having Alzheimer’s disease should see a doctor as soon as possible. Many other diseases can produce the same symptoms, most of which can be treated successfully. Therefore, all other possible causes of the symptoms should be ruled out.

What will the doctor do? ....................................................................... Once a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is established, your doctor can advise you on how to care for the patient, as well as providing information about support groups, financial aid, and other aspects of long-term care.

What can I do myself? ....................................................................... Most people with dementia are cared for in the community. Often the main carer is a family member. It is important that carers get the full support and advice which is locally available. Support and advice may be needed from one or more of the following, depending on the severity of the dementia and individual circumstances: ›› District nurses can advise on day-to-day nursing care.

Chartwell and Sadlers SOLICITORS

PRISON LAW SPECIALIST Wrongly Convicted? Long Sentence? Tired of knock back?

Has the Justice system let you down? Act now! We can provide clear advice and effective representation in all areas of prison law such as:

• Licences Recalls, Parole, IPP, Extended Sentences and Lifer Reviews • Adjudications, Complaints, Mistreatment and access to medical treatment • Action against the Prison Service, Human Rights and Judicial Reviews • Civil claims and duty of care (excl. medical negligence) • Foreign National Prisoner Rights • ROTL and HDC • D Cat and Transfer • Criminal Appeals, CCRC and Tariff Reduction • Challenging Security intelligence reports and Sentence Calculation We can also provide assistance in

Immigration,Criminal Court Proceedings & Appeals and Confiscation proceedings . Please write to Joshua or Rita at:

Chartwell and Sadlers Solicitors 111 Asylum Road London SE15 2LB or call us on 0207 635 5255 (Mob 07507 431045)

Many carers struggle on beyond the point that is appropriate. If you are a carer, you can ask a GP or district nurse to assess a person with dementia if you feel that you need a greater level of support.

Is Alzheimer’s disease dangerous? ....................................................................... Alzheimer’s disease can be dangerous in that individuals may need constant supervision to prevent them coming to harm. However, by taking practical steps to overcome the problems associated with the condition, a good quality of life can be maintained for all concerned.

Further advice, information and help ....................................................................... ›› Alzheimer’s Society Gordon House, 10 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1PH Tel (Helpline): 0845 300 0336 www.alzheimers.org.uk Provides information on other types of dementia and not just on Alzheimer’s disease. ›› Princess Royal Trust for Carers 14 Bourne Court, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex, I68 8HD Tel: 0844 800 4361 www.carers.org The Princess Royal Trust for Carers supports a national network of carers centres where unpaid carers can obtain advice, information and support. Telephone the national office for details of your nearest centre. ›› Carers UK 20-25 Glasshouse Yard, London, EC1A 4JS Tel: 0808 808 7777 www.carersuk.org Aims to help anyone who is caring for a sick, disabled, or elderly friend or relative at home.

DCK

S O L I C I T O R S

DYLAN . CONRAD. KREOLLE Commissioners for Oaths

Specialist in Criminal Defence and Prison Law including: Adjudications, HDC & ROTL Applications, Licence Recalls, Categorisations, Judicial Reviews and Police Station Representation. Advice given on all aspects of Prison Law

We also offer specialist advice on Immigration Law Housing Law Employment Law Divorce

For advice, representation or legal visit please contact Victor at:

DCK Solicitors

Stirling House, Breasy Place 9 Burroughs Gardens, Hendon London NW4 4AU

0208 359 1123

07951 138343 (24 Hour Emergency) [email protected]

50

Book Reviews

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

Hard Time: A Brit in America’s Toughest Jail Review by Billy Little - HMP Bullingdon

Having secured a BA in business studies, a qualification earned through studying hard during the week and partying harder at the weekend under the influence of ecstacy and a burgeoning rave culture in Manchester, his aunt showed him how to work the American visa system. However, once there, his work hard, play harder, lifestyle would ultimately cause his downfall. The more he ventured into the American rave culture, as a partygoer, then rave organiser, the more attractive the reputation, lifestyle and drugs became. Finding himself embroiled in an elaborate conspiracy that involved some of his closest friends, Shaun recounts his initial fears, thoughts and concerns as they are made clearer to him. His sense of self, focus, and thirst for knowledge about the welfare of his friends and family, legal case and jail environment do not seem to be as decorated as is common in books of this type. He does like to drop a name or five as he mentions a guy who works for a guy who worked for a guy, but that is pretty much the norm for this chronicling of prison life everywhere. It even gets a little bit repetitive at times when describing the conditions under which Sheriff Joe Arpiao managed his prisons. Arpiao was made famous for his ‘tent city’, ‘pink underwear’, and feeding prisoners on food that costs less than that which is fed to the prison dogs. The ‘green baloney’ comes in bags marked ‘Not Fit For Human Consumption’, yet they eat it. Amerfresh acts as a toothpaste substitute, even though it contains a toxin more commonly found in anti-freeze and various solvents. In detailing such minutiae, Shaun begins to draw attention to the multiple

ZMS SOLICITORS SERVING TIME IN THE EAST MIDLANDS? NEED LEGAL HELP? Want to challenge an unfair decision? Independent adjudication? Recalled to Prison and don’t know what to do? Missed out on recategorisation again? Parole hearing coming up? Don’t wait...! Contact Simon Mears 6 yrs PQE experience Prison Law Specialist 11 Bowling Green St, Leicester LE1 6AS

0116 247 0790

Free advice & representation under legal aid

By Chester Himes Reviewed by ex-prisoner Noel Smith

By Shaun Attwood

After leaving England to pursue a career in America on the stock market, Shaun Attwood achieved his dream and made his first million, but the nightmare was about to begin. One minute Shaun was at home reading stock quotes on his computer screen, the next his front door was off its hinges and he was in handcuffs and confusion.

The Heat’s On

practises that are permitted to operate within prisons around the world, practises that the public likes to ignore, until it happens to them. In traversing the court holding cells – The Horseshoe – then entering into the ‘Towers’ jail, his thirst for knowledge is put to the test as he has to learn a new language; ‘swindowing’, ‘heart-check’, ‘ladmo’, and ‘red death’ – whilst at the same time having to come to terms with toilet etiquette in a room full of other prisoners in various stages of social and moral decline. Throughout the tale, the family oriented man is evident, none more so than when his mother had a mental breakdown after reading about his case. With the media portraying him as a cross between Tony Soprano and Nosferatu, and the court hearing that ‘a lack of evidence against him meant that he must be a criminal mastermind. Too clever to be detected’, his problems mounted. More charges are added, his bail bond is increased to over 1 million dollars, then he is moved to the maximum security pods of Madison Street Jail. Here he graphically describes prison politics, racial division of gangs, companionship and compromise. For a man who is expecting anything between 9-200 years, with a diagnosed bipolar disorder, he took the time to notice the strengths, weaknesses, behavioural traits and idiosyncrasies of those around him. One former cell mate is described endearingly even though he kept a mosquito as a slave and a cricket as a pet, the latter he would recite his necrophilic rap lyrics to before amusing others with them. Shaun Attwood is no Ed Bunker (author of Mr Blue), but he does manage to capture and convey every emotion, smell and sound necessary for the reader to comprehend his plight and environment. It’s a place where you don’t want to be, surrounded by people that you don’t want to be with. A fast-paced look at life inside a prison that dismisses some stereotypes but reinforces others.

Hard Time: A Brit in America’s Toughest Jail Published by Mainstream Publishing Price £9.99 from all good bookshops

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Prison Law Criminal Defence Appeals Please contact Catriona Sheehan - Solicitor 126 North End Road West Kensington London W14 9PP

020 7610 3740

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I first came across the work of Chester Himes when I was at Rochester borstal in the 1970s, when his books were ‘floaters’. And for anyone who is too young to remember the borstal system (you lucky people!) a ‘floater’ was an illegal book, one smuggled into the establishment and passed around by discerning readers. The censorship system of borstal meant that any book that dealt with crime, sex, or violence was banned. So people would smuggle in books, first ripping the (usually lurid) front cover off so that it would not attract the attention of the screws or matron. And the books of Chester Himes, one of the first black writers of detective fiction, were always a favourite. The Heat’s On is one of Chester Himes best novels and features his gruesome twosome, the Harlem police detectives Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed, a casually violent pair of coppers whom you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. From the first page, the conversation between Pinky, the giant albino dope fiend, and Jake, the heroin dealing dwarf, you know that this is the kind of book that would have had matron reaching for her bible, smelling salts, and scissors! First published in 1966, The Heat’s On, is a violent excursion into the world of Harlem’s drug dealers and petty criminals. Sister Heavenly, the drug dealing, marijuana smoking, ruthless killer, is after a ‘treasure’, which she believes might be heroin and she’s fully prepared to gun down

anyone who gets in her way. Her ex-lover, and chauffeur-bodyguard, Uncle Saint, is a shotgun-wielding ventriloquist who thinks Sister owes him and decides to go after the treasure for himself. The story follows the shenanigans of the pair as they trawl the slums and flophouses of Harlem in their quest for the elusive treasure. Chester Himes’ characters are many faceted, and his ear for dialogue is spot on. But in order to avoid shocking any middle-class sensibilities he has replaced the phrase ‘motherf****r’, a staple of Harlem dialogue even to this day, with ‘mother-raper’ - which is slightly more jarring to my ears. Though I don’t think it takes anything away from the dialogue because the story is so fast paced that all you can do is hold on tightly and enjoy the ride. Himes himself was no stranger to the dark side of life. Though he was born into a respectable family, his father being one of the first black college professors and his mother was a teacher in a seminary, at the age of 19 he was arrested, beaten, and forced to confess to a robbery he had not committed. Subsequently convicted and jailed for 25 years, Himes spent his time in jail fighting for an appeal and writing short stories. The publication of some of his short-stories in black interest magazines (in those days in America even magazines were segregated!) led to him writing his first prison memoir, which was not published in its entirety until much later. After 7 years Chester Himes won his appeal and was finally released. The novels of Chester Himes have more than stood the test of time and can be as easily read and understood now as in the era they were written in. As Himes said in his autobiography – The Quality of Hurt (1973) – “Up to the age of 31 I had been hurt emotionally, spiritually, and physically as much as 31 years could bear”. That he could channel his pain and misery into some of the greatest crime novels ever written is a testament to his skill as a writer and his spirit as a man. If this is your first Chester Himes novel then, believe me, you are in for a treat.

Have you ever served in the Armed Forces? Do you or your partner need help? If the answer is yes, you may be entitled to assistance from The Royal British Legion and SSAFA Forces Help - two charities assisting the Service and ex-Service community, working together to reach all those eligible for assistance. Whether you are still serving your sentence or are due for release, we may be able to provide financial support to you and your family. · · · · · · · · ·

Household goods Clothing Rent deposit guarantee Education and training courses, including distance learning Equipment and/or Work Tools Relocation Costs Advice and Guidance on getting a job or learning a trade Advice and Guidance on applying for a war pension Assistance for your partner and family

Regretfully we cannot make cash grants. Nor can we offer legal or appeals advice.

If you would like further information, or a visit from one of our caseworkers to discuss assistance please write to: TRBL / SSAFA Forces Help (Ref Inside Time) Freepost SW1345, 199 Borough High Street London SE1 1AA

Or tell your partner to telephone Legionline on 08457 725 725 or SSAFA Forces Help on 020 7403 8773 or they can log on to w w w. b r i t i s h l e g i o n . o r g . u k o r w w w. s s a f a . o r g . u k

Book and DVD Review

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

51

Clash of the Titans The mortal son of the god Zeus embarks on a perilous journey to stop the underworld and its minions from spreading their evil to Earth as well as the heavens.

Esther Rantzen at Lowdham Grange

Storytime Dads The Making it up Anthology is a result of a year-long project at HMP Lowdham Grange to encourage prisoners to write stories for their children Prisoners who have written their own stories instead of reading from a book have had their stories published and edited into a book called ‘Making it up.’ The prisoner’s children were instrumental in illustrating pictures for the book. The Anthology was launched inside HMP Lowdham Grange and was attended by Esther Rantzen, the High Sherriff of Nottingham Amanda Farr, Central Television and BBC Radio Nottingham. The foreword was written by author and illustrator Quentin Blake who describes it as’ brilliant’.

I

t all began in March 2008 when Ron Patterson (Tutor) won a major Butler Trust Award for outstanding achievement within the Prison Service where he worked tirelessly to teach prisoners who could not read or write (two prisoners are now undertaking Open University courses). Ron attended Buckingham Palace to receive the award from the patron of the Butler Trust, HRH Princess Anne. Storytime Dads was designed to maintain family relationships whereby a prisoner can read a story to their child/children which is then videoed, edited, and sent to the family.

Julliz Solicitors LLP Criminal Defence & Prison Law Specialists For fast, efficient and friendly advice in all aspects of Criminal Defence & Prison Law • Appeals - Convictions & Sentences • Applications to CCRC • Confiscation Proceedings • Unlawful Detention & Death in Custody • Adjudications & Parole Board Hearings • Tariff Review & Licence Recall • Re-Catergorisation & Transfers • ALP/DLP/HDC/MDT/VDT/ROTL • Challenging IPP & Extended Sentences • Judicial Reviews • Immigration/Deportation/Human Rights

Contact: Val or Julius 46a Church Street, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 6AZ

020 8370 4980

24hrs Emergency 07796 064 373

All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Rainbows Children’s Hospice of which Esther Rantzen is the patron. HMP Lowdham Grange does not intend to recoup any of the production costs. Esther Rantzen endorsed the book as ‘a product of love,’ and added ‘ this is a fantastic book and it will help local charities, the idea of prisoners helping local charities is a commendable one’. Making it up can be purchased from:The Bookcase, 50 Main St, Lowdham NG14 7BE. www.thebookcase.co.uk Buy the Book, 8 Central Avenue, West Bridgford NG2 5GR. Waterstones, Nottingham

NEVER MIND THE RECALLS

The ancient Greeks not only told great tales that explored the human psyche through epic adventures, they did something unprecedented in human civilization up to that point. They created their gods in man’s image. Thus the gods on Mount Olympus are a fallible and emotional lot, given to passionate outbursts, horrid tantrums, unpredictable fits of compassion and lusty urges that will not be denied.

in the wrong order, with the prettiest warriors mercilessly dispatched, and most of them so abruptly you are never sure who that was that just toppled into a fiery abyss or shattered into pieces. En route they battle icky giant scorpion things and hook up with nomadic guys who look like tree trunks with glowing blue eyes and ride the desert monsters. That bit is like Dune, and not in a good way.

Perseus is the result of one of Zeus’ impulsive assaults on an innocent mortal woman, which gets her executed by her enraged husband King Acrisius (Jason Flemyng, who reappears slathered in prosthetics as a relentless mutant killer henchman of Hades) and almost does for baby Perseus except Pete Postlethwaite and Elizabeth McGovern fish him out of the Aegean and adopt him. A swift passage of years and he’s bulked up into Sam Worthington, sporting a buzz cut and looking more like a US Marine than a Greek seaman.

Two things stand-out. The first is Fiennes’s hugely fun turn as a hunchbacked, raspyvoiced, bitter, twisted Hades who turns up in a fireball and a smoking cloak to wreak a spot of havoc, instill terror, make dire pronouncements and such. The on-screen reunion of Neeson and Fiennes echoes their Schindler’s List dynamic, Zeus being all handsome and kind of noble, and Hades all full-tilt nutso. Also good is fragrant Gemma Arterton’s demi-goddess Io being attached to the travelling band of warriors since she serves as a quite useful Voice of Exposition, explaining all sorts of otherwise baffling stuff.

Circumstances force him to Argos, where the decadent populace have turned their backs on the gods, provoking the wrath of the Olympians and inspiring resentful king of the Underworld Hades to plot the overthrow of his brother Zeus while they are distracted by wiping out mortals. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Perseus then girds his loins and sets off with a platoon of Argosians who range from salty veterans (Mads Mikkelsen, Liam Cunningham) to Hans Matheson and a delicate youth (Nicholas Hoult). But they are almost indistinguishable since they all have cornrow extensions and a lot of facial hair. Costume designer Lindy Hemming was instructed not to show too much leg between their leather mini-skirts and their sandal boots but at least they’ve been kitted out with those ab-sculpted breastplates that make them all look ripped. They have to find three obnoxious hags called the Stygian Witches so Perseus can get the answer to a Big Question, cross into the Underworld to kill the gorgon Medusa (Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova with snake dreadlocks and looks that kill), tote her head back to Argos and surprise Hades’ ravenous monster of the deep, the Kraken, with it. That’s the idea anyway, but numbers dwindle alarmingly and

It will have become apparent to devotees of the 1981 Clash Of The Titans, which was not very good either but is fondly remembered, that the plot in this is quite different. Even those who prefer the manlier Worthington to Harry Hamlin will regret the sidelining here of the Olympians, who ought to manipulate mankind like pieces on a game board but are relegated to fleeting extras. What was the point of casting Danny Huston as Poseidon, for instance, then disposing of him after one line? Despite a rather good, gnarly skeletal River Styx ferryman, the effects don’t come close to the charm of Ray Harryhausen’s creations. Bubo, Harryhausen’s mechanical owl, makes a brief cameo by way of homage, but the most magical element in a generally lunkheaded outing is winged Pegasus, the flying horse and his herd achieved beautifully. Verdict: Poorly written nonsense, but lovers of beefcake action will be happy enough with the heroes gymnastically vaulting monsters and slicing and dicing their way around the ancient world. An extra star for Ralph Fiennes, who is a god. H H H H H Rating 12A / 105 mins / Gema Price £15.94

Review by Andrew Cousins, Managing Director of Gema Records, the leading supplier of Music, Games and DVDs to UK prisons. See Jailbreak page 54 for how to order

HERE’S THE

aW L oN S i r P Prison Law Criminal Defence Family Child Care Contact Ffion Jones now at: ABM Solicitors 114 Chapel Walks Chapel Street Manchester M3 5DW

0161 839 2626

[email protected]

›› Registered with EMAP ‹‹

52

Jailbreak

Rock &

Pop Quiz 1. Which early rock ‘n’ roll artiste (born 1908) was nicknamed ‘King of the Jukebox’?   2. Originally recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1954, which song was made more famous by Bill Haley’s version of the same year?   3. Which famous recording studio stands at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee?   4. “I know a girl from a lonely street, cold as ice-cream but still as sweet” are lyrics from which song from a band which hit the music scene in the late 1970s?

  5. Dave Grohl left Nirvana to form which band in 1994?   6. How is Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner better known to the world at large?   7. At which New York stadium did the Beatles perform during their record-

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

breaking tour of America in August 1965?   8. What was the name of Martha Reeves’ backing group?   9. Performed by the Righteous Brothers, Unchained Melody was used in which movie of 1986?   10. What was the highly unusual cause of the death, on Christmas Day 1954, of R&B singer Johnny Ace?  

Friends...

11. What nationality is singer/songwriter and actress Natalie Imbruglia?   12. Climb Every Mountain and Edelweiss are two of the many songs from which 1965 movie?   13. Who was popularly, known as ‘The First Lady of Song’?   14. Which British female singer had a string of hits in America in the 1960s including Son Of A Preacher Man and You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me?   15. Starring Jamie Foxx in the title role, which movie of 2004 portrays the career of a famous American soul singer?   16. Which pop/country music singer released his album The Lost Sessions in 2005? Answers on page 55

KAJ & Co Solicitors Criminal & Prison Law Specialists

SPECIALIST SOLICITORS SERVING THE NORTH WEST CRIMINAL DEFENCE - Police Station Assistance -

Magistrates Court Advocacy - General and Serious/Complex Crown Court Cases - Money Laundering - Proceeds of Crime Act - Fraud - Customs & Excise: VHCC Panel Members

PRISON LAW - Categorisation - Adjudications - Licence

Recall - Parole Representations - IPP Extended Sentences Transfers/ROTL/HDC - Lifer Issues - Judicial Reviews

FAMILY LAW - Care Proceedings - Social Services involved with your children contact us now!

Facing serious criminal charges? Had a ‘knock back’ or been nicked? We can assist you in all aspects of Criminal & Prison Law matters incl: • Representation in all aspects of Criminal Proceedings • Appeals (conviction or sentence) • Adjudications • Home Detention Curfew • Re-categorisation and Transfers • Parole Board and Licence Issues • Recall • MDT & VDT • Closed Visits • Lifer Reviews

Community Legal Service

KERRY MORGAN • LYNDSEY BROWN • MIKE CAHILL

For sound advice from a friendly face, contact Morgan Brown & Cahill at either: 10 Bexley Square Salford M3 6BZ

0161 834 6662

or

12 Victoria Avenue Blackley Manchester M9 6QL

0161 740 7468

Criminal Defence Service

Contact Ken Jokosenumi at 406 Holloway Road London N7 6PZ Freephone 0800 023 2375 or 0207 700 7826

VLS

Solicitors

Criminal Defence and Prison Law Specialists PRISONERS’ LEGAL RIGHTS - NEED HELP? • • • • • • •

Licence Recalls Parole Reviews Adjudications Categorisation Transfers HDC Appeals

Please contact,

Aloysius or Sam at:

VLS Solicitors

Gibson House 800 High Road London N17 0DH

0208 808 7999 Mobile 07940 728 166

Jailbreak

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

TWENTY QUESTIONS TO TEST YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 1. What is the common name given to the fruit of the oak tree?

11. In 1928, which Disney cartoon was the first to appear with both animation and sound?

2. Which 1984 film featured miniature green monsters who tore through the small town of Kingston Falls?

12. The British Royal Arms depicts a lion together with which mythical beast?

3. The stage musical Tommy is set to music by which British rock band?

13. In 2006, which member of the Royal Family purchased a 192-acre estate in Carmarthenshire?

4. Which Broadway musical composer won an Academy Award for his song ‘Sooner Or Later’, from the film Dick Tracy?

14. ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Forever in Blue Jeans’ were 1970s hits for which US singer-songwriter?

IQ 1.

?

6. In television, what does the abbreviation BBC stand for?

16. In which Shakespeare play does Petruchio win a bet that his wife is the most docile? 17. Which 1970s and 80s glam-rock band’s members include Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley?

8. Which English king succeeded to the throne in 1483 at the age of 12?

18. Which two-word Latin phrase means ‘a great work of literature’ or ‘an author’s greatest work’?

9. Used as a greeting, in which language does shalom mean ‘peace’?

19. Which US female singer had a UK hit in 1991 with ‘When You tell Me That You Love Me’?

10. Which Polish-born scientist discovered the element radium with her French husband Pierre?

20. Which British band released the 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon?

3.

ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND ON page 55

What number completes the puzzle?

Which letter replaces the question mark?

Mind gym

It’s a Con

12 5 106

MW - HMP Stocken

PARLBYS Solicitors SPECIALISTS IN CRIMINAL DEFENCE & PRISONERS’ RIGHTS PRISON LAW Adjudications & Appeals against Adjudications Parole Applications - Recalls/Paper & Oral Hearings Categorisation - Lifer Reviews Licence/OASys/Probation Problems Transfers - HDC Applications & Appeals ROTL Applications & Appeals IEP Queries - Security Queries Healthcare Problems - Obtaining Prison Records Judicial Reviews - Prisoner’s Rights

Agency Work Undertaken For free advice contact one of our dedicated prison law team today (Rachael, Leanne & Carol)

01752-600933 (F)

2.

What number is missing?

15. Which US actor played the voice of Charlie in both the TV and film versions of Charlie’s Angels?

7. In butchery, ‘porterhouse’ is a cut of which meat?

Parlbys Solicitors First Floor, 7 Whimple Street Plymouth PL1 2DH 01752 200402 (T)

Challenge

Answers 3 - 18 Starting at the top and moving clockwise, add the first two numbers together, and subtract 2, to give the next number in the sequence. 4 - 1 In each row, the sum of the odd numbers equals the even number. 5 - H Taking pairs of letters from corresponding positions on the left and right hand stars, add their numerical values together, and put the result in the central star.

5. Which legendary children’s TV series was originally a French show called Le Manege Enchante?

53

APPLEBY HOPE & M AT T H E W S SOLICITORS

We specialise in:-

12 / +4 / x3 / +2 -7 / +1 / 2/11 / x4 / x2 / 2/8

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5 / x5 / 3/5 / x6 / x3 / 10% / 2/9 / x12 / x3 / 5/8

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106 / -17 / x6 / -2 ¾ / +1 / 80% / x3 / -119 / ÷29

= ??

4781032652986473 3268781032652986 in Prison Law Shepherd Experts all over the UK Reynolds Solicitors

YOU’RE NOT JUST A NUMBER!

Here to help you throughout your sentence

• Recall • Parole Applications • Licence Conditions • Criminal Defence • Adjudications • Judicial Reviews • Lifer Panels ALP/DLP • Cat ‘A’ Reviews • Categorisation & Transfers • HDC • Tariff Reviews • Lifer Issues Contact Kate Clark or Carroll Slaney

Appleby Hope & Matthews

35 High Street Normanby Middlesbrough Teesside TS6 0LE

01642

Submitted by Thomas Greenwood - HMP Swinfen Hall. Start on the left with the first number and work your way across following the instructions in each cell. See how quickly you can do each puzzle and how your times improve month by month! Answers on back page. If you would like to submit similar puzzles we will pay £5 for any that are chosen for print. Please send in a minimum of three puzzles together with the answer!

440444

[email protected]

Service throughout the North of England

• Tariff Settings • Adjudications • Categorisation • Lifer Reviews

• • • •

Parole Refusal • IPP’s Cat A Reviews • Recalls k Judicial Reviews Lin eo s Vi d e i t ili Oral Hearings Fac

• LIFE SENTENCE APPEALS

• CROWN COURT CASES

From July 2010 Legal Aid Contracts in Prison Law will change. It is anticipated that a large number of legal firms will be unable to carry on this work. Contact your solicitor to ask if you need a new solicitor to deal with your prison law issues! If you need a new solicitor contact us NOW!

Solicitors firms unable to carry on this work can also contact us. Contact: David Reynolds

Shepherd Reynolds Solicitors 2nd Floor, 6 Broad Road Sale Cheshire M33 2AL

0161 969 6415

54

Jailbreak

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

CAPTION COMPETITION

Gema Quiz The new Gema Records catalogue is out now! (Summer 2010 No 114)

Tell me rude boy, is ya big enough!

For the first time, we have a DVD section with over 20,000 Films, Documentaries, TV Series etc. In addition, we have 12,000 New Releases and over 5,000 Special Offers included in the catalogue. 1. What was the name of Adam and the Ants first album called? 2. What song does the main character wake up to every morning in Groundhog day? 3. Who sang the song Maniac from the movie Flashdance? 4. In the Star Wars films, which two actors played Obi Wan Kenobi? 5. What band consists of Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero and Bob Briar? 6. Which actress, born in 1916, had her legs insured by 20th Century Fox for $1m? 7. By what other name is Jonas Altberg better known? 8. What were the character names of the two hit men in Pulp Fiction? 9. The football anthem ‘You’ll never walk alone’ comes from which musical? 10. Which was the first colour film to win a Best Picture Oscar?

PS2 Bundles now come with 2 free pre-owned games. We are now also offering new Xbox 360 consoles.

Last month’s winner

Thousands of price reductions across the board.

W Heath HMP Doncaster

£25

prize is in the post

For your own personal copy, please send a cheque or PO (payable to Gema Records) for £2 to Gema Records, PO Box 54, Reading RG1 3SD and we will immediately despatch a copy to you along with a £2 voucher to use against your first order.

The Queen took a peep through some 3D glasses at Pinewood Studios in Canada. She didn’t seem too impressed, but she did bring a touch of bling to proceedings with customised glasses, sporting a regal diamante Q on the side.

GEMA RECORDS - SUPPLIER OF THE UK’S LARGEST BACK CATALOGUE OF MUSIC

Last month’s winners

See below for details of how to enter. The first three names to be drawn receive a £15 Gema Record Voucher & free catalogue

Gema sponsors of Jailbreak A MacInnes - HMP Peterhead M Hugman - HMP Bure P Johnson - HMP Preston

Another £25 prize is on offer for the best caption to this month’s picture. What do you think is being thought or said here?

with all correct answers (or nearest) will each

Answers to last months quiz: 1. Odeon, 2. Cockney Rebel, 3. Trinity, 4. Heart of glass, 5. Halle Berry 6. Bohemian Rhapsody, 7. Otter, 8. Cream, 9. Commander, 10. Shakin Stevens

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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

What did Esther Rantzen endorse as ‘a product of love’? In what year did the Youth Justice & Crime Evidence Act take away a defendant’s right to question an alleged victim? Who was revealed as the world’s top-earning athlete with an annual income of $105million? Who wants to see a “rehabilitation revolution”? In year ending August 31 2009, how many investigations were carried out by the PPO? How much is needed to buy a prisoner over 60 pieces of information that is held by the Prison Service? Who feels that ‘the CCRC review system needs to be reviewed and if necessary challenged’?

>> To enter any of the above prize competitions

Please do not cut out any of these panels. Just send your entry to one or all of these competitions on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure your name, number and prison is

Jordans Solicitors LLP Specialists in all aspects of Prison Law, Appeal Work and Judicial Review

We offer help UK Wide: • Serious and complex criminal cases • Lifers – sentence to release • IPPs – sentence to release • Appeals For a guaranteed prompt response please contact Rachel Baldwin at:

Jordans LLP

4 Priory Place Doncaster DN1 1BP 01302 365374 www.jordansllp.co.uk

• Adjudications • Parole Applications • Licence Recalls • CCRC applications ess , awl ppeal L n a y a I n d o nted b e s e a rele repres wby e s a kN w Mar

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

What was discovered in 1665 and is larger than Mercury? Who aims to protect the public by preventing re-offending? Which organisation has a Family Tracing Service? Which Party, on the 27th September will be voting for a new leader? Who battled addiction for ‘an unbelievable’ twenty six years? At which prison did prisoners say they felt safe on their first night? What percentage of Probation Officers rated the polygraph as being ‘somewhat or very useful’? Over the past three years, how many young people have been murdered in London through gangland shootings?

Answers to Last Month’s Inside Knowledge Prize Quiz 1. 25%, 2. Philip Martin Wheatley, 3. HMP Aberdeen, 4. Jupiter, 5. The Prison System, 6. Tyne and Wear, 7. 13%, 8. Raoul Moat, 9. Risk, 10. HMP Dartmoor, 11. Leviticus 18:22, 12. HMP Exeter, 13. Jehovah’s Witnesses, 14. HMP Dorchester, 15. NACRO

Last month’s winners

Our three £25 Prize winners are: Richard Gladwin - HMP Bure, Jonny Ashton - HMYOI Aylesbury, Laura Webb - HMP Holloway Plus our £5 Consolation prizes go to: Robert Burridge - HMP Stocken, Claire Charlton - HMP Newhall

on all sheets. Post your entry to: Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. You can use one envelope to enter more than one competition just mark it ‘jailbreak’. A 1st or 2nd class stamp is required on your envelope.

Closing date for all is 21/09/2010

DUNBAR SOLICITORS SPECIALISTS IN PRISON LAW & CRIMINAL DEFENCE • Lifer Reviews/IPPs • Parole Representation • Licence Recalls • Adjudications • Categorisation •Transfers/ROTL/HDC • Judicial Reviews • Appeals - Sentence & Conviction Contact Gordon Crowe Dunbar Solicitors Regency House 6/7Elwick Road Ashford Kent TN23 1PD

01233 879493

Braidwood Law Practice Solicitors We are Experts in the following : u Criminal Proceedings (incl: Defence & Appeals) u Licence Recall u Lifers/IPP Review & Extended Sentences u Parole Board Hearings & Adjudications u Recategorisation & Transfer u Complaints & Mistreatment u Foreign National Prisoners’ Rights u Family Law (incl:Child Care & Matrimonial Disputes) u Debt/Housing Problems u Immigration

Contact: Kwame, Olo or Christina Stafford House 19 Stafford Road Croydon CR0 4NG 0208 726 7926

Comedy Corner

“Quotes” In China, when you’re one in a million, there are 1,300 other “ people just like you ” (B) Marriage is a long, dull meal with pudding as the first course “ ” (C) I know as much about politics as most people and it means “ nothing to me ” (D) “Men love women, women love children, children love hamsters ” (E) The internet is a great way to get on the net “ ”

(A)

1. Samantha

2. Alice Thomas

Cameron

Ellis

4. Bill Gates

3. Bob Dole

7 3 5 8 9 1 2 4 6 2 8 9 6 5 4 7 3 1 6 9 3 1 4 2 8 7 5

3 2 7 4 1 6 5 8 9 4 1 6 2 7 3 9 5 8

9 6 8 5 3 7 4 1 2 1 5 4 9 2 8 3 6 7

Daily Sudoku: Wed 11-Aug-2010

3 4 8 9

5 1 3 6

4 2 7 5

6 7 2 1

2 9 6 3

easy

9 8 5 4

7 5 1 8

1 6 9 7

8 3 4 2

5 7 3 9 8 2 6 4 1 7 9 8 3 4 1 2 5 6 1 2 6 8 5 7 4 3 9

2 4 9 5 1 6 3 8 7 6 8 1 4 7 3 9 2 5

I T SUDOKU

medium

8 4 2 7 6 5 1 9 3 5 7 1 3 8 9 6 2 4

1. Acorn 2. Gremlins 3. The Who 4. Stephen Sondheim 5. The Magic Roundabout 6. British Broadcasting Corporation

7. Beef 8. Edward V 9. Hebrew 10. Marie Curie 11. Steamboat Willie 12. Unicom 13. Prince Charles 14. Neil Diamond

15. John Forsythe 16. The Taming of the Shrew 17. Kiss 18. Magnum opus 19. Diana Ross 20. Pink Floyd

At Keith Park Solicitors we have many years experience representing our clients, not only before sentencing but also once they are in custody. There are many ways we can help you with advice and representation once you are on the ‘inside’. Our team of Legal experts will be your friends on the outside.

appeals lifer hearings

Mind Gym 1. 16, 2. 135, 3. 29

Daily Sudoku: Tue 10-Aug-2010

15. Ray  16. Garth Brooks.

YOU NEED A FRIEND ON THE OUTSIDE...

judicial review categorisation sentence planning

Quotes (A)4 (B)5 (C)1 (D)2 (E)3

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

INSIDE?

Across: 1 Tell Her About It, 8 Strip, 9 Chowchow, 11 Anodyne, 12 Cuticle, 13 Anglo, 15 Swiss roll, 17 Mel Brooks, 20 Lisle, 22 Pass out, 24 Flemish, 26 Hitherto, 27 Gills, 28 Sherlock Holmes.

playing Russian roulette. 11. Australian 12. The Sound of Music 13. Ella Fitzgerald 14. Dusty Springfield 

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.

General Knowledge Crossword Down: 1 Tostada, 2 Largo, 3 Happy hour, 4 Rickets, 5 Bronchi, 6 Uncut, 7 Iron Cross, 10 Keel, 14 Goldsmith, 16 Solfeggio, 17 Maps, 18 Ontario, 19 Suffolk, 21 Ephesus, 23 Ophir, 25 Islam.

Rock ‘n’ Pop Quiz

General Knowledge

Do you have any jokes (printable) that you would like to share with our readers? If so, send them in to: Inside Time (Jokes), Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. If you do not want your name or prison to appear please make it clear. You will receive £5 for every one we print so don’t forget to include your details even if you don’t want them printed.

5. J.B. Priestley

Jailbreak Answers 6. Sting  7. Shea Stadium  8. The Vandellas  9. Top Gun  10. Accidental suicide while

Ê A policeman stopped a vicar driving a car. “Good evening vicar, have you been drinking?” “No” said the vicar “only water” “Isn’t that a bottle of wine sir?” “I don’t believe it” said the vicar “he’s done it again!” Philip Smith ......................................................... Ê What do you call a nun that walks in her sleep? A roaming Catholic. Chris Stacey - HMP Lewes ......................................................... Ê What lives on a ship and makes an annoying noise? A vuvu-Sailor Jay Compton - HMYOI Rochester

Match the following quotes to the celebrity pictures, answers below

1. Louis Jordan  2. Shake, Rattle and Roll 3. Sun Studio 4.  Sunday Girl by Blondie 5. Foo Fighters

Send in your jokes, you will receive £5 for every one we print! Ê A blonde is driving down a country road, when she sees another blonde sitting in a rowing boat in the middle of a wheat field. The blonde gets out of her car and shouts “hey you, you in the rowing boat! What do you think you’re doing? Its dumb things like that which gives us blondes a bad name.” the blonde in the boat says “I can do what I like! And if you don’t like it, why don’t you come over here and stop me?” “I would”, shouts the other blonde, “but I can’t swim!” Ian Meacham - HMP Dorchester ......................................................... Ê Divorce Judge says “I have considered all the relevant facts and decided to award your wife £200 a week” Man replies “That’s very good of you your Honour and I’ll try and throw in a few quid myself.” Anon ......................................................... Ê I bumped my head last night. My mate told me to rub some margarine on it. So I did… I can’t believe it’s not better! Ez Kovacs - HMP Morton Hall

55

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Scottish Prisoners Parole Tribunals Appeals Recalls

IPP Hearings/Progression

miscarriages of justice parole

transfers human rights issues

adjudication hearings medical issues

We specialise in: OUTSIDE ADJUDICATIONS. Have you committed an offence whilst in custody? We can provide representation for you in front of the adjudicator. PAROLE BOARD HEARINGS. We can supply written representations and attending oral hearings. CATEGORISATION. If you want us to assist by way of written representations – we can help.

PRISON RECALL. Have you been recalled and do you think the decision is justified? We can prepare written submissions and appear on your behalf before the parole board. PRISON COMPLAINTS AND REFERRALS TO THE PRISON OMBUDSMAN. If you feel you are treated badly in prison, you can make a complaint. We can help you through the procedure.

Call us on freephone: 0800 374388 (24 hours). Keith Park Solicitors Claughton House, 39 Barrow Street, St Helens WA 10 1RX E: [email protected] CRIMINAL DEFENCE LAWYERS

Problems inside? Don’t know where to turn? Need a specialist prison lawyer? Whether you are coming up for parole or require advice about a Judicial Review against the Prison Service, we can help. So, if you need professional, confidential legal advice, call Howells’ prison law specialists on Sheffield 0114 249 6717. 15 -17 Bridge Street Sheffield S3 8NL

www.howells-solicitors.com

›› Registered with EMAP ‹‹

Contact Jim Litterick Higgins Morledge & Litterick 2 Candleriggs Alloa FK10 1EA

01259 725922

you call, we’ll be there

Jailbreak

Insidetime September 2010 www.insidetime.org

General Knowledge Crossword

Musical Words B P Q L T S B M E T R A N O M E M P E P

D A F V I N Y L I E A C Z E N R N C R D

K G S O T D J S U D T T A B L A S O R B

P O P S H I E L D O I F I N I K T N J E

I N S Z L Y L Q E O U I O V C O E D O A

A T H O O I L Z A D G L N Y O P M E T T

N H A I F N N M F A E O X L M I Y N E B

I E N W L S Y E J A B R S W P A S S B O

S E M I Q U A V E R D H V I R N C E O X

T F T H G C C J D E D U I L E S I R B T

K L V Y B Y H J I S F X V L S T S M X S

R Y I D N A E T Y G I J I C S I U I Y T

O I B O Q O F S Z A L V B O O P M C L S

F N R Z W N T N I E P D R M R E P R O I

G G A F T E P A P S T T A P N R O O B L

N E P K M G Q V T T X R C R G C P P O A

I L H B S O D P A I M H T Y H R W H G C

N E O D I G I T A L O Q G T F H E O I O

U P N L N U R Z D Y Z N H U O I E N L V

T R E V E R B A E N O I S S U C R E P T

Thanks to Nick Jones at HMP Elmley for compiling this wordsearch for us. 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 Bassline Beatbox will send you £5 as a thank you!

Down 1 A tortilla fried until crisp and served with a savoury topping (7) 2 A musical composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner (5)

>> Answers to the crossword and sudoku on page 55 <<

2

6 5

8 Nick Jones HMP ELMLEY1 Daily Sudoku: Tue 10-Aug-2010 A2603AM

2 4

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.

1 Song that was a hit for Billy Joel in 1983 (4,3,5,2) 8 A sequence of drawings telling a story (5) 9 A breed of dog originally from China (4-4) 11 A medicine used to relieve pain (7) 12 The dead skin at the base of a fingernail or toenail (7) 13 Prefix meaning “English” (5) 15 A cylindrical sponge cake with a spiral cross-section (5,4) 17 Director of the 1968 film “The Producers” (3,6) 20 A fine smooth cotton thread used for stockings (5) 22 Successfully complete a military training course (4,3) 24 Language of Belgium closely related to Dutch (7) 26 Until now (8) 27 Respiratory organs of fish (5) 28 Detective resident at 221b Baker Street (8,6)

3 Period in which a bar sells drinks at reduced prices (5,4) 4 Childhood disease caused by deficiency of vitamin D (7) 5 The two main branches of the trachea (7) 6 Of a book, with adjacent leaves still joined at the edges (5) 7 he highest German military decoration for bravery (4,5) 10 The base of a ship extending from stem to stern (4) 14 Author of “The Vicar of Wakefield” (9) 16 An exercise in singing using sol-fa syllables (9) 17 Productions of a cartographer (4) 18 Canadian province formerly known as Upper Canada (7) 19 English country in which the port of Felixstowe is situated (7) 21 Greek city on the coast of Asia Minor that played an important role in early Christianity (7) 23 “Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant —” (Masefield: Cargoes) (5) 25 Monotheistic religion founded in Arabia in the 7th century (5)

I T SUDOKU

Across

Compressor Condenser Microphone Digital Guitar Metranome 9 6 Notation 3 4 Percussion Pianist 9 2 3 Pop Music Pop Shield 3 6 Pro Tools HD System Reverb 1 5 8 Rhythm Semi Quaver 5 8 1 Tempo 2 Tablas Tuning Fork 2 8 Vibraphone 3 Vinyl Vocalist 1 5

Bassline Beatbox Compressor Condenser Microphone Digital Guitar Metranome Notation Percussion Pianist Pop Music Pop Shield Pro Tools HD System Reverb Rhythm Semi Quaver Tablas Tempo Tuning Fork Vibraphone Vinyl Vocalist Check forward, backward and diagonally, they are all there!

9

6

7 9

3 3 9 2

9 8 2 4

5 6

2 6 8 7 4 3 3 5 2 1 7 9 8 3 7 2 5

6

8

Daily Sudoku: Wed 11-Aug-2010

medium

Don’t Rot On Recall!

4

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.

56

easy

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

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