Nick Page: Prisons

Tue, 15 Jul 2003 08:13:51 GMT

Dartmoor changes praised
Dartmoor prison is now a safer and less oppressive jail than it was two years ago but still has some way to go, according a report published yesterday by the chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers.
Guardian

Mon, 14 Jul 2003 07:45:25 GMT

Prison population hits new high
The prison population has hit an all-time high for the fifth week in a row, according to figures released on Friday.
The number of inmates now exceeds 74,000, said the Prison Service.
In the last four weeks, the population has risen by 633 inmates - the equivalent of a medium-sized jail - to 74,012.
BBC

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 07:00:00 GMT

Prison killing a 'catalogue of failure'
The Prison Service has been accused of a "shocking catalogue of failure" over the killing of an Asian teenager who was beaten to death by his racist cellmate.
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has been examining the circumstances surrounding the death of Zahid Mubarek, 19, at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London in March 2000.
BBC

Wed, 09 Jul 2003 07:00:34 GMT

A look inside
The prisons ombudsman, Stephen Shaw, is to take over the official inquiry into last year's riot and fire at the Yarl's Wood immigration removals centre. It is likely that he will take on, too, a new role investigating the growing number of deaths in custody.
These new challenges will amount to a major extension of the remit of the prisons and probation ombudsman - a job created nine years ago to help ensure that justice did not end at the prison gate.
Guardian

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 07:40:52 GMT

Prison launches 'part-time' sentence
A Lincolnshire women's prison is experimenting with a system where sentences are served only a few days at a time.
BBC

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 07:19:10 GMT

Judges blamed for prison boom
Tough sentencing by judges, rather than a rise in crime, has led to the record prison population, research has shown.
The 71% rise in the prison population between 1991 and 2001 was due to a "misplaced emphasis on toughness rather than effectiveness" as courts sentence more people to prison and for longer terms, according to a report by the Prison Reform Trust.
BBC

Prison Reform Trust: Judges and magistrates toughen up in response to punitive political climate

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 07:16:14 GMT

A second chance?
Next month, the Home Office is expected to publish plans to increase the opportunity for mediation between offenders and victims, and reparation to the community. The seeds of this new approach to restorative justice can be traced back to Jack Straw's time as Home Secretary, when evidence from the juvenile crime programme first began to show that these meetings were having a real impact.
Now there are plans to extend schemes across the country and give restorative justice a permanent place in the criminal justice system.
Independent

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 07:12:16 GMT

Robber begs to stay in prison to finish studies
An armed robber serving a six-year sentence has confessed to three other crimes so he can stay in prison longer and complete a catering course.
Telegraph

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 07:10:47 GMT

'I thought I would die'
When Patrick Petrie was beaten up by prison officers in Parkhurst he felt utterly helpless. But now he's won a high court case against them - and sent a clear message to the home office.
Guardian

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 07:09:29 GMT

Prison praised despite problems
A prison in East Sussex has been praised in a new report despite problems with overcrowding and suicides.
The report by the chief prison inspector said Lewes Prison rated highly among other local prisons and it had become significantly better.
BBC

Mon, 30 Jun 2003 07:40:31 GMT

What happened next?
Vicki Andersen now works as a teacher in Brixton Prison. Her initial plan was to be a primary school teacher but a week-long work experience at the south London-based prison changed all that.
Guardian

Mon, 30 Jun 2003 07:33:10 GMT

Prison Service defends open jails
The Prison Service defends its record on open jails after new figures reveal more than 4,000 inmates went on the run in the last five years.
BBC

Mon, 30 Jun 2003 07:32:03 GMT

Psychology classes to help prisoners
A Devon jail hopes psychology classes could help to cut re-offending rates among inmates by a significant amount.
BBC

Tue, 24 Jun 2003 07:24:51 GMT

Prisoners sue for drug withdrawal 'pain'
Heroin addicts who were refused methadone in prison are to sue the government for thousands of pounds in compensation.
Around 40 current and former prisoners have been granted Legal Aid to take their case to court. The men and women will be seeking around £1,500 each for their "pain and suffering" as they came off heroin in jail.
BBC

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 07:42:33 GMT

Scandal of self-harm in women's jails
Prison bosses have sent an emergency hit squad into a Manchester prison where five women have taken their lives in recent months, amid fears of an epidemic of self-harm and attempted suicides in Britain's female jails.
Women's prisons chief Niall Clifford took the unprecedented step of sending a specialist team into Styal prison, Cheshire, where four women had died since August. The fifth woman died as it began its work this month. Clifford told The Observer that a lethal cocktail of mental illness, drug addiction and overcrowding was making women's prisons increasingly difficult to govern.
Observer

Thu, 19 Jun 2003 13:16:10 GMT

'Serious failures' at Huntley jail
An inquiry into the apparent suicide attempt by the Soham murders suspect Ian Huntley has found a "number of serious systems failures" at Woodhill Prison.
The jail concentrated more on protecting Mr Huntley from other prisoners than on the risk of self-harm, according to a written statement to Parliament from the Home Office.
BBC

Full text of Huntley case statement

Thu, 19 Jun 2003 06:49:52 GMT

PFI prisons produce mixed results
Use of the private finance initiative in the Prison Service has led to mixed results, according to a report from parliament's spending watchdog.
In some areas involving the private sector in running Britain's prisons has led to improved performance, the National Audit Office said.
But only one PFI prison has not been fined for poor performance.
ePolitix

National Audit Office: The Operational Performance of PFI Prisons

Wed, 18 Jun 2003 06:52:55 GMT

Private jails praised
Private prisons have helped drive up standards and improve efficiency across the system, according to a new report.
BBC

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 07:43:40 GMT

Prisons chief says future is orange (bibs)
The latest Home Office thinking on what to do about the growing overcrowding crisis in Britain's prisons emerged yesterday - orange bibs.
Guardian

Guardian Letter: The crisis in our prisons

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 07:33:42 GMT

Prisons in crisis
As the prison population in England and Wales reaches a new record of 73,379 the Prison Reform Trust is warning of a serious crisis unfolding in jails across the country due to unprecedented levels of overcrowding.
PRT Press Release

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 07:45:20 GMT

Britain's jails hit crisis point
The grim weekly toll of brutal assaults, violent protests, suicides and escapes inside Britain's beleaguered prisons is rising sharply, according to internal Home Office security reports leaked to the Guardian as inmate numbers hit a new record this weekend.
The leak comes as the service is already reeling from the attempted suicide of Ian Huntley, the man accused of the Soham murders, and yesterday's revelation that an undercover reporter for the News of the World had managed to infiltrate the unit where Huntley is being guarded.
Guardian

Thu, 12 Jun 2003 06:21:12 GMT

Escapes from private prison guards
The breakout from a Securicor van in south London on Tuesday is the latest in a string of escapes from private guards' hands.
BBC

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 07:24:27 GMT

Suicides at record high as jails swell
High security Woodhill Prison has had eight suicides in the last five years - three of them in 2002 alone. But the whole prison system is suffering a growing problem with self-inflicted deaths.
The total for the 138 prisons in England and Wales leapt from 73 in 2001 to 94 in 2002 - the worst year ever. The problem is being blamed on overcrowding, making staff less able to supervise inmates.
Daily Mirror

Mirror: Why can prisoners get drugs so easily?

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 07:13:05 GMT

New inspection of jail ordered
A fresh inspection has been ordered into Brixton prison after it emerged that the man leading the investigation had already been informally approached by the prison service to become the governor of the south London inner-city jail.
Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, yesterday said leaders of official jail inspection teams would in future be banned from taking up the governorship of a prison within six months of an inspection in which they had been involved.
Guardian

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 07:02:59 GMT

Fourth inmate dies
An investigation is under way after a fourth inmate in three months was found hanged at Blakenhurst Prison.
Another inmate at the prison attempted to take his own life on Sunday and was later resuscitated. An official report found Blakenhurst to be "rife with bullying"
BBC