At long last...
the National Newspaper for Prisoners A ‘not for profit’ publication / ISSN 1743-7342 / Issue No. 163 / January 2013 / www.insidetime.org Over 63,000 paper copies distributed monthly - Independently verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations plus over 165,000 monthly online readership - Independently verified using AWStats
Juliet Lyon & Mark Day from the Prison Reform Trust report on a welcome change to sentence planning for IPP prisoners and people with learning disabilities. ...................................................... Page 20 64 page issue including an 8 page Poetry Supplement
New Year
to all our readers!
Parole Board wants to hear from prisoners! ormer High Court Judge, Sir David Calvert-Smith, the new Chairman of the Parole Board, writing in this issue of Inside Time, says that there is ‘a big gap’ in the Board’s understanding of prisoners’ experience of parole as well as in the extent to which prisoners are able ‘to engage with it to make sure they get a timely and fair decision’. For the first time the Parole Board has now posted a Survey to prisoners in every jail in England and Wales in the hope that those who have already experienced the process of parole will complete it. Sir David acknowledges that Parole Board decisions have life changing consequences for prisoners and he recognises the importance of reducing the backlog for parole hearings – a backlog that stood at 1600 cases in August last year. The Parole Board, he says, is developing parole hearings by video link in order to increase the number of such hearings the Board is able to hold. In the first six months of last year 150 hearings were held with 300 video links between the satellite prisons and probation offices. Parole Board video link hearings will take some getting used to for everyone involved, he said. But they are now, in fact, not unusual to find in Court and they are also helping to save time and money. Most importantly, they are beginning to reduce delays for everyone. Sir David Calvert-Smith writes page 29
Former Beirut hostage Terry Waite meets Ammar Moussawi, Hezbollah’s Head of International Affairs in Lebanon. His visit page 35
Terry Waite went back to Beirut to meet his captors after 25 years
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We need to hear from prisoners
Rehabilitation?
Rosemary Gordon - Resettlement Officer, HMP Standford Hill
Ian Kennedy - HMP Wakefield
the national newspaper for prisoners published by Inside Time Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The New Bridge Foundation, founded in 1956 to create links between the offender and the community.
I am a Resettlement Officer at HMP Standford Hill an open prison in Kent - I work with a team of Peer Support Workers who take their work very seriously and because of their varying backgrounds make a team that is stronger than any I have worked for in offices “on the out” - and I have previously worked for some big firms and institutions. Anyway that is by the way - I always try and read your newspaper and have found out things in it that have been very useful to me and my husband who has taught criminology.
Back in July of this year I had cause to write to then Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke MP about two matters of concern to me. One of these was the definition of rehabilitation in respect of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This Act states that ‘prisoners serving sentences of 30 months or more cannot be rehabilitated’. The reply I received from NOMS states that ‘under the Act, the concept of ‘rehabilitation’ refers solely to the disclosure of information about an individual’s convictions to, for example, employers or insurers. For the purpose of the Act, a rehabilitated person is defined as someone who does not have a conviction that is excluded from the scope (a specified exclusion to convictions becoming spent applies where the sentence is more than 30 months in length) and who has served the rehabilitation period for any other conviction or convictions. In other contexts rehabilitation has a much wider meaning and includes efforts to equip prisoners to lead decent and law abiding lives on release from custody through the provision of training, therapy or support by offending behaviour programmes and other interventions’. The respondent then goes on to state the following – ‘I therefore consider that although there may be offenders for whom the very narrow definition of ‘rehabilitation’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (i.e. a spent conviction) may be unachievable by virtue of the sentence that they are serving, it is entirely reasonable that NOMS direct effort and resources during their sentence in trying to help them to go straight after their release from custody’.
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Trevor Grove - Former Editor Sunday Telegraph, Journalist, Writer and serving Magistrate. John Carter - Former international healthcare company Vice-President. Geoff Hughes - Former Governor, Belmarsh prison. Eric McGraw - Former Director, New Bridge (1986-2002) and founder of Inside Time in 1990. John D Roberts - Former Company Chairman and Managing Director employing ex-offenders. Louise Shorter - Former producer, BBC Rough Justice programme. © © alistair aH. e. Smith B.Sc F.C.A. - Chartered a Accountant, New Bridge not Trustee and Treasurer, not profit profit Foundation. publication service Chris Thomas - Chief Executive, New Bridge Foundation.
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However, there does seem to be remarkably little about the positive things that staff do to help prisoners and I do hope that that is not because it is so rare. I would greatly appreciate hearing from prisoners about what they would (realistically) like to see staff do, or in what manner they would like them to behave so as best to help us all. It would also be nice to hear examples of good practice on a regular basis. Thank you and a Happy New Year to everybody.
10 minute rule
‘Justice a cash cow’
Edmund Bruton - HMP Parkhurst
M J Banks - HMP Winchester
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My mother is 82 years old, frail and with serious health issues. I am her sole carer but unfortunately not able to be with her as I am in prison. On Saturday 27th of October she was admitted to hospital by ambulance due to a kidney problem. However, because a recently implemented rule that limits all prisoners to 10 minutes on the phone at any one time it has been very difficult, if not nigh on impossible, to get through to my mother (especially when I am put on hold by the hospital for 6 or 7 minutes).
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It is self-evident the institutions of law & order and the judiciary that presently prevail in the UK are endemically corrupt and unfit for purpose. There exists the bizarre circumstances in which the institutions charged with maintaining law & order and dispensing justice are running amok! Seemingly anyone can come in off the streets and make the most outrageous claims. All manner of arbitrary judgements are being handed down, with little or scant regard for the facts and objective proof!
The justice system camouflages its adherence and descent into the capricious philosophy On Monday 29th October I asked an SO if I inhabited by myth and expedience, and its could use the office phone as the 10 minute outright rejection of reason and objective rule was not helping. After explaining my truth. By establishing a buffer zone around the mother’s circumstances this SO replied –‘Is it ‘core structure’, designed to protect and Blavo Nov want 2012_Blavo Dec 2008 because you don’t to use your own red border SHADOW.qxd 13/11/2012 09:42 Page 1 deflect attention away from the judiciary’s phone credit?’ I found her response offensive fundamental iniquities - that buffer is the and uncaring (just for the record I have over ‘lottery’ that is trial by jury. £70 of phone credit which I have saved for just such an emergency). The organs of law & order and justice have become ‘cash cows’ of the state and objective Despite PSI 49/2011 ‘Prisoner Communication justice has become arbitrary and of secondary Services’ making a provision for inmates to be consideration. The acceptance of this ‘lower granted the use of the official office phone for level of proof’ criterion - as clearly demonlegal or domestic reasons at public expense, I strated by the acceptance of ‘hearsay’ and was refused. ‘circumstantial constructs’ - as proof positive of guilt, has opened the floodgates to dubious My MP has written to the governor but has, to litigation and its corollary - the burgeoning and date, received no reply, and though my mother atavistic self-perpetuating legal industry. We has been in hospital not one prison officer on cannot prove that you are guilty of this or that my wing has enquired about how I’m feeling or … but we believe/feel that you are. about my mother.
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Is it me, or is this reply a prime example of civil service double-speak, circa 1984? How can it be reasonable to try and help prisoners to go straight after release when, if one is a life sentenced prisoner, any release may well be many years in the future, if at all? As David Cameron now intends to ‘privatise rehabilitation’ in prisons, we are on course to see the prison system become a bigger abject failure than it already is. This move could well be a step too far as we all know what can happen when ‘payment by results’ is involved.
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Vigilante’s charter
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Mailbag
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Star Letter of the Month
Name withheld - HMP Whatton
Congratulations and a £25 cash prize for this month’s Star Letter.
Mailbag ...................... pages 2-9
An article in the Sunday Sun on October 14th 2012 gleefully reports the intent of police to publish, in a ‘ground breaking move’, mugshots of criminals in a rogues gallery; which will ‘allow the public to see, at the click of a mouse, the rapists, burglars and thugs in their area’. This is an extension of a pilot project ‘In The Dock’ launched by West Yorkshire Police last year with the intention of rolling it out nationwide in conjunction with the already existing crime maps (launched 18 months ago) that allow the public to find out what crimes have been committed in their area. The existing crime maps website is reported to have had 3.3 million hits in its first 3 months. It is not clear from the article as to how long the details will remain on the rogues gallery: ‘By entering a postcode, residents can see a picture of recently-convicted criminals along with a summary of their crimes and the punishment they received’. There is nothing to suggest how long this information might remain online, though we all know that once something is online then it is always going to be there somewhere. As a convicted sex offender I must admit to being troubled by this on many levels.
Mentoring scheme should not be undermined
Newsround ................... pages 10-16
Peter Giannasi - HMP Rochester
Website Comments ............. page 17
I pleaded guilty to my crime and received a lengthy sentence as punishment. In open court the details of my case were freely available for anyone in the court to hear and report on. I was named and shamed. I will have to endure living with shame and disgrace for the rest of my life. To publish my photo and the details of my crime on some salacious website would be a secondary punishment meted out by the police and not by the courts. This is little more than a vigilante’s charter over and above Sarah’s Law which already allows members of the public to find out where the sex offenders are living in their area, albeit in a far more restricted form. Will it take the deaths of ex sex offenders whose details are displayed in this way before someone concludes that this is a very bad idea?
Result!
..................................................... Harold Rogers - HMP Usk You printed a letter from me in the November issue of Inside Time regarding email a prisoner, and I am very pleased to announce that thanks to the intervention of the IMB, emails are now being delivered in sealed envelopes the day after being received. It just goes to show that sometimes when you use the right channels things can get changed for the better. So I would like to thank Inside Time, the IMB at HMP Usk, and the governors and staff for acting so quickly. I would also like to thank email a prisoner.
Email a Prisoner Sponsors of the Mailbag section To find out more about the EMAP service see page 56 for details and look for the orange flash under the adverts of firms and organisations using the service.
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................................................................................................. I am surprised and disappointed to note in a mailbag from Mick Horn (December issue) that Wiltshire Probation intends to apply restrictions to mentors being ‘free of conviction and license for two years’. Unless they think ‘convicts’ will nick all the coffee and pens then this is little more than blind counter-productive prejudice and a serious waste of prime resources. The core point of mentoring is communication. What separates a mentor from the myriad of officials an offender may meet in life and who might try to encourage them to desist from criminal activities - from the good local policeman and concerned parents, to social workers, probation staff and all the institutional course providers and so on - is communication. All those well-intentioned types lack the one element that a person cannot avoid - shared experience and the common language that comes with it. It is all too easy for excluded persons to deny and dismiss the advice of those who come from ‘some other place’, and to feel that they don’t really know or understand your life, thus their advice is more based on what they, and society, and authority require.
Not what the offender needs. When you put a mentor into the equation you introduce an empathic obligation to listen better to someone who is not a representative of authority as such, but much more likely to be talking to you in that same language of shared experience. That promotes not only good communication but also promotes honesty. It’s easy to deceive those that live ‘other lives’, but not someone who has lived your life. I can understand the suspicions and reticence of those fully socially-included middle-class citizens who make such ‘Daily Mail’ decisions, but it is seriously flawed logic. Many people may be on the point of leaving crime as a waste of their lives and want to help others make that perfectly natural change. To exclude those most honest and credible, decent people like Mick Horn is a grave mistake that undermines, or perhaps disables, mentoring even before the MoJ has gotten a good proven initiative off the ground. Probation and others concerned please reconsider before mentoring begins, or it may be doomed to failure.
Contents
Diary ............................ pages 18-19 New sentence planning instruction ........................................ page 20 Comment ................... pages 21-26 National Prison Radio ............. page 27 Ombudsman ...................... page 28 The Parole Board ................ page 29 CCRC ............................ pages 30-31 New Bridge: Befriending Evaluation ......................................... page 32 Psychology ........................ page 33 Thought for the Day ............ page 34 Family Welfare ............ pages 35-37 News from the House .... pages 38-39 Legal Comment .......... pages 40-44 Legal Advice ....................... page 45
GANS & CO
Legal Q&A .................. pages 46-47
SOLICITORS LLP
Wellbeing ................... pages 48-49
SPECIALISTS IN: - PRISON LAW / CRIMINAL DEFENCE MENTAL HEALTH LAW - FAMILY LAW - HOUSING LAW
Book Reviews ................ pages 50-51
Has the justice system let you down? Why not contact our friendly team for free and friendly advice? PRISON LAW / CRIMINAL DEFENCE
• Parole Board Representation (Oral & Paper Hearings) • Adjudication Representation • Re-Categorisation • Human Right/Judicial Review Issues • Appeals Against Conviction • Appeals Against Sentence • Appeals Against IPP Sentence • Appeals Against Life Sentence • Magistrate/Crown Court Representation
Pearls of wisdom: The world’s wisest quotes ............. page 51
MENTAL HEALTH LAW
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Jailbreak ..................... pages 52-55
Sec. 2, 3, 37, 37/41,47/49,48/49 & C.T.O. Appeals etc
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> looking ahead
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Mailbag
Expect the IPP goal posts to be moved!
‘Brutalising and alienating’ children
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Roberta - A prisoner’s mother
Ryan Guilford - HMP Ranby
My son was sent to prison for three months (a six month Drug Treatment Order) at the age of 15 for the offence of criminal damage. His offending escalated to committing an armed robbery at the age of 17 and he is now serving a further sentence for an offence committed on licence at the age of 19. On his release at the age of 18, when he asked for help from the Probation Service, he was told they didn’t have time to help him. He was lucky in that he received help from his family. He was able to stay with family during the day rather than spending his time in the hostel he was required to live in and that was mostly home to sex offenders. What happens to children without family? Why should a teenager live with older adult offenders when he has family living round the corner? Its nuts. There’s no sense at all in the criminal justice system when it relates to the punishment of children.
I am currently serving an IPP sentence with a tariff of 2½ years which I received in January 2006.
‘Hold firm in faith and love’
..................................................... Lee - HMP Manchester I would like to thank Mr Matthew Evans of the Prisoners Advice Service for his assistance and sincere efforts rendered to the Rastafarian community within the prison system. His article was both highly informative and written with an air of optimism, a good recipe for creating awareness in the masses, and at the same time vehemently encouraging the powers-that-be in the right direction. A breath of fresh air, well done sir. However, I would like to point out that the Rastafarian movement (though new to some) is in fact an ancient, diverse theological concept of monotheism! Therefore the ‘Editorial note’* ‘Rastafarians worship Haile Selassie, former Emperor of Ethiopia, considering him the messiah’, a narrow shallow prevarication to say the least. Though I’m sure it was written with good intentions. It would be like describing mainstream Christians wearing a cross around their necks or bowing down to pray to a (historically inaccurate) statue of Jesus nailed to a cross in agony, masochistic idol worship! Or describing Jews as a very well financed, extremely influential religious cult group whose initiates wear all black suits and hats. If one wants to know more about Haile Selassie and Rasta, The Kebra Nagast and the Original African Heritage Study Bible can begin to give one an insight into the spiritual journey of a Rastafarian. To all my brethren and sistren, hold firm, in faith and love, Jah Live! Kadamawi. * Editorial note: The editorial note we used to explain the Rastafarian Movement was taken from the Encyclopaedia Britannica!
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If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
I volunteered for HMP Grendon and, after 2 years continued therapy, consolidating the work I had already done, I engaged with the care programme at HMP Grendon. I had an end of therapy meeting after 18 months of therapy, tied in with my Sentence Planning Review (SPR), where they decided I had completed everything I needed treatment and sentence plan wise, meaning no more Offender Behaviour Programmes. The only recommendation was to complete re-settlement and employability skills. I then transferred to HMP Ranby within my parole window at the request of my offender manager to demonstrate I can function and put into practice what I had learned in a normal prison environment that is a replicate to the outside. I was transferred to HMP Ranby in December 2011, supposedly for a few months before my oral hearing scheduled for March 2012. However, the last prison forgot to notify the parole board I had transferred to Ranby, so come March I never got to sit my oral hearing. It was then re-scheduled for May 2012. My board was re-scheduled AGAIN for August 29th 2012. At the parole board meeting all witnesses gave their evidence and it was my turn to speak; then BANG, another bombshell, they were deferring it again for 6 weeks! Why? To be assessed for Self Change Programme (SCP). Even though I had just done 4 years of therapy, 2 years spent in an accredited Training Centre namely Grendon! Bearing in mind I had never had SCP on my sentence plan in the 5 and a half years and my offender manager and supervisor have both said they don’t want me to do it? I have just found out my parole hearing has now been scheduled for January 2013, 5 months after my August hearing and 3½ months over the scheduled 6 weeks! It frustrates me with a sentence for IPP the goal posts are being moved, my advice would be to expect them to be moved if you are serving an IPP sentence and if they do you won’t be disappointed. How do they expect this kind of treatment to be rehabilitating? It’s more like disempowering and breeds nothing but bitterness. The Parole Board page 29
We are local to: HMYOI AYLESBURY & HMPs BULLINGDON, GRENDON, WOODHILL, READING and SPRINGHILL but Pickup & Scott Solicitors also cover many other prisons.
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My view is that locking a child up for a relatively trivial offence (criminal damage) at the age of 15 contributed to a brutalisation and alienation that led to an escalation of offending. No child should be imprisoned and no child should be treated as though they are a small adult. They are not adults and should not be expected to live in the squalid and dehumanising conditions of prison. No wonder young people develop mental health problems and start to self-harm while in prison.
Scrooge lives!
‘Addicts should man up’
Paul Simmons - HMP Gloucester
Peter Thompson HMP Chelmesford
..................................................... I understand that in today’s economy there has to be cut-backs and the government are putting a lot of pressure on the prison system. Many of us have put up with the serious drop in the quality and quantity of the food and the lack of time out of cells due to staff shortages. We are even keeping a stiff upper lip when it comes to the constant lack of clean kit. However, when the governor changes one of the most basic allowances then I will no longer just take it on the chin. As of the 21-11-12 the governor here has decreed that we are no longer allowed to have stamps and writing materials sent in. You may think me cynical, but the only people who are going to profit from this state of affairs are DHL, the canteen suppliers. The governor says we can buy stamps, paper and envelopes from the canteen, but as there is not enough work in this prison for all of us a large number are on £2.50 per week unemployment pay. We pay £1 per week for the TV, so can someone (preferably the governor) tell me how we can afford 60p per time for stamps, £1.20 for paper and £1.50 for a pack of envelopes from our overpriced canteen? I thought prisons had a policy of helping us to keep in contact with family and friends (thus reducing the risk of reoffending). I think this has been done so that the governor can get more money out of the nice deal HMPS have got going with DHL.
Well Mr McArthur, it is time that you and other addicts manned up and realised that you all have a choice. There is Subutex, which is just as addictive as both heroin and methadone, but you also have the choice of Britlofex which, with supportive meds over 10 days will have all opiates withdrawn from your body and you will be substance free! With help and support you can also stay substance free. The problem is, although you all have a choice of this med; most are not man enough to cope with the 3 or 4 days of mild discomfort. So, before criticising the government and the NHS, there are alternatives to methadone, you only have to ask, but more importantly, want to stop taking drugs. The government and NHS provide a first class service in providing health & support, but people abuse the system because they don’t want help. They are in denial and therefore are not only wasting their own time, along with others, but they are costing taxpayers money that the government should be spending on the people who do genuinely want to give up.
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John McArthur – HMP Barlinnie – brought to your readers attention the debate regarding methadone prescription (Star Letter – October issue). And the fact that the government and NHS are only too happy to park up addicts on a daily methadone script to keep them quiet.
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Just G4S?
..................................................... Ryan Lewis - HMP Parc Why have the prisons stopped allowing items to be handed in or sent through the post or is it just G4S prisons? I’ve been trying to order some new clothes and shoes as the ones I came in with are in pieces and had to be disposed of in order for me to have room on my property card to order from the catalogue. I had funds sent in then placed an order but disaster - everything out of stock. Resubmitted and got some socks. It’s now over two months and still no order, I nearly got some trainers/ boots but they became unauthorised as apparently they had steel toecaps. The catalogue ordering system is just not working; a simple thing like a catalogue order constantly fails. Furthermore the choice of catalogue is wrong – why would we need to purchase trainers for £120? I can’t see why it’s easier to order from the catalogue rather than have it handed in. At least if it’s handed in it will fit and will actually arrive! If a prisoner doesn’t have friends or family to send in funds to help pay for these catalogue orders they are going to struggle as the wages here are very low. Do these ordering problems apply to all prisons or just G4S?
Writes M Tiramani - Prisoner Casework, NOMS The rules on this subject are not centrally prescribed and therefore Governors and Directors have discretion to determine the local rules. Each prison operates an Incentive and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme which allows prisoners to earn privileges through constructive participation in purposeful activity, and the handing in and sending out of property is closely tied to the IEP scheme. The Governor or Director may restrict such activity if it is felt that it may undermine the IEP scheme, the management of resources or is detrimental to the secure running of the establishment. In January 2012 the Management at Parc prison introduced a change in policy following a consultation process with staff and prisoners. Notices advising of the changes were published for prisoners and visitors. The
new policy states that no property or cash is allowed to be handed in through visits for convicted prisoners - this does not apply to remand prisoners or young offenders. All prisoners will have one opportunity every twelve weeks to hand out property which will enable them to purchase replacement items from catalogues already approved and in use within the prison. Property cannot be handed in to replace anything handed out. In exceptional cases, property can be handed in on compassionate grounds but this will require authorisation from staff. I attach a copy of the Notices for ease of reference. Prisoners can purchase replacement items from the range of approved catalogues provided by Parc, which offer a full selection of products at varying price levels. The catalogues were selected in accordance with feedback from prisoner focus groups. The choice of catalogues includes; Tesco Direct, Argos, Cotton Traders, Amazon and others. Catalogue orders are subject to a clearance process which also stipulates that the prisoner must be entitled to the goods and has the available funds. Every effort is made to ensure there is no unnecessary delay and items can be returned in accordance with the returns policy. Mr Lewis advises of difficulties he has experienced with ordering items from catalogues. This is a personal issue which unfortunately cannot be answered via Inside Time - some responses are printed and it would not therefore be appropriate to discuss personal matters in this way. Mr Lewis should raise any personal complaints via the established local complaint system as detailed in Prison Service Instruction 02/2012.
Penpals?
..................................................... Dean Hardcastle - HMP Leeds I’ve just spent five weeks on basic and I really tried very hard to find a pen pal. I didn’t get one but I hope your good paper would start something like that. After all, how many people will want a pen pal, them that don’t have anybody at all. Please think about putting a page in every month. Inside Time writes: Inside Time used to run a pen pal column but, owing to abuse that resulted in embarrassment and distress to others, we withdrew the service. We do hold details of various organisations that endeavour to find a pen pal for prisoners. You can request this fact sheet by writing to Inside Time.
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Mailbag
5
‘Cloud cuckoo land’
Mental health problems
Jennifer Lindores - a prisoner’s friend
B Elston - HMP Exeter
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I wonder if you have read the blurb about HMP Albany on the internet? No wonder the world thinks that prisons are holiday camps! Of course it bears no comparison with the real prison. I have a friend at HMP Albany and I would like to quote extracts from a couple of his letters. This from one I got at the end of October: ‘We are having exactly the same problems we had last year and the year before. The radiators on this side of the corridor go on and off on a regular basis’. My friend describes how he is so cold that his heart is pounding, presumably trying to get some heat around his body and he feels terrible. He has tried putting cardboard around the windows to cut out the draught. Towards the end of the letter he says: ‘Our heating has been off for 3 weeks. This morning it went off in the wing office and the screws are complaining, within half an hour two plumbers have been around and now the screws have a large fan heater in their office’. I have a collection of letters going back quite a few years but it is only since my friend was sent to HMP Albany that I have been aware of the appalling conditions there. I get really annoyed by declarations in the media that prisoners have good food and all creature comforts. I wish that someone, somewhere, would step out of cloud cuckoo land and put the media right. My friend had to pull out one of his own teeth as he was in so much pain and wasn’t given a dental appointment. I think the excuse was that the dentist wasn’t due for another month.
..................................................... I have just read a letter by Benjamin Burns (‘Mental illness in prison’ – November issue) and believe I have myself been placed in cells with those suffering mental problems. After spending some time in a cell with someone who is not very well you start to become concerned for your own sanity. This is not a good experience and should not be happening to anyone. A mentally ill person should not be treated (or not) in prison. I have been through the most traumatic experience of being banged up with an alcoholic self-harmer with mental health problems. This prisoner tried to kill himself when we were banged up for the night, his attempt failed but I have been left depressed by witnessing it. The prison system should not be a place for the mentally ill.
Female paedophiles
..................................................... Name supplied - HMP Albany Regarding the letter ‘Female SOTP’ (December issue - Mailbags) and the ‘Women Sex Offenders Programme for female abusers’, I just wish to add that we do not have equality of law yet, not by a long way. I was raped, molested, battered and imprisoned by a woman, from the age of 8 until I was 14 years-old. This destroyed my life in so many ways. It is another 1970s sexual abuse scandal and I am still waiting for justice, truth and closure. The police have not even charged this woman yet. The damage done to children is the same whether the paedophile is male or female.
6
Mailbag
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Veterans Radio
‘Wish I’d stayed in prison’
Discrimination
Kenneth Campbell - Former prisoner
Name withheld - Ex HMP Drake Hall
Andrew Lunn - HMP Wolds
I wanted to write to you about the way TAGs are monitored and some of the problems experienced with them. I was released from Drake Hall womens’ prison on 31st October 2012 on a four month home detention curfew. My tag was fitted the next day and all seemed fine.
I write with great concern. Here at HMP Wolds they have brought a new rule out that states any prisoner who is prescribed medication such as Tramadol, Pregablin or Gabapentin will no longer be allowed to attend the gym. The only information they have to support their claims is that it is based on health and safety and personal protocols of G4S. Surely this can’t be right, could someone please clarify? Also, prisoners on other meds are not banned from the gym – even those on methadone, so where is the common sense in this absurd rule making. I have been made to feel less of a person because of the medication I’m on even though I have legitimate reasons for being prescribed them. This is discrimination at its core, where has the so called equality of the 21st century gone to? I’m far from feeling equal; the gym is what keeps 90% of the prison population going and now that has been taken away.
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I am a 56 year-old Falklands War Veteran and after suffering for years, in 2007 I was finally diagnosed as suffering from Combat Related PTSD. Unfortunately later that same year, owing to the fact that I had for years self medicated with alcohol to try and escape from the relentless nightmares and flashbacks, the ‘system’ unable to handle any other way the nasty violent drunk I had become sent me to jail, I was sentenced to 3 years serving 18 months at HMP Stocken. It came as a hell of a shock when I realised just how many ex forces personnel were in just that one prison. In 2008 the Governor allowed me, along with another veteran, to set up a veterans group meeting every 2nd Thursday in the chapel. I am glad to say that since my release in early 2009 my life has taken on a new and much better direction, the system was still unable to offer me any significant help but with the support and love of family and a few very good friends I was introduced to some of the small veterans charities and something called Neuro-linguistic programming or NLP. Working with a Veteran who knew the sort of hell I had lived through, in just 3 short days we were able to do what the NHS had failed to do over many years, 3 days is all that was needed to end the nightmares and flashbacks. So, why am I telling you this?
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On Sunday 11th November at 3pm I started to get ready to go for a walk with my brother and sister-in-law. I pulled my sock under then over my TAG bracelet and as I was pulling it down over my walking boot the TAG sprung open! I immediately went into a panic and phoned G4S to tell them what had happened. They said someone would come to fit another TAG after 6.45pm when my curfew started. They said they’d make a note of the fact that I phoned. At 6.45pm I started video recording myself so that I could prove I was at home and hadn’t broken my curfew. G4s turned up at 7.15pm, took a statement from me and fitted another TAG. They told me the TAG would be checked to see if it had been tampered with and the final decision whether to recall me would be made by the prison Governor. The next day I phoned the prison because I wanted to explain the situation to the Governor. The prison told me that the Governor has nothing to do with recall decisions and that this would be made by a “board” in London. I then phoned my Probation Officer who wasn’t there but her colleague told me that any decision to recall me would be made by my Probation Officer. On the 14th November, I received a “First and Final Warning” letter from G4S. I phoned them to query this and was told that if I “broke my curfew again” I would be taken to court and then back to prison! I phoned my Probation Officer and asked why it was being presumed that I’d lied and that I’d broken my curfew. I asked who was actually responsible for making any decisions about recall. She didn’t know. No-one seems to know who is responsible for taking action or what action is taken when a problem occurs. So now I’m sitting at home, terrified to move my left leg or put my socks on. I am beginning to wonder whether I was right to ever apply for HDC and whether I should have just opted to stay in prison. I had heard awful stories about people being recalled from HDC but had paid them little regard. I want to apologise to the people who told those stories. This is a hugely flawed process.
A 22 hour tag?
make it 22hrs. Thus Home Detention and not Well, I have over the last 3 years trained to a Home Detention curfew. Just enabling the tagee point that I am now a nlp master practitioner ................................................... 2hrs to get supplies and rush back home. and work with other veterans and a few small charities to give back some of the help I was so Neil Speed - Ex prisoner I don’t know what the rates are for crimes lucky to be given. In addition to this I have set up a website and internet radio station for veterans J Benson MARCH 2012_Layout 30/03/2012 15:35 Page 1committed between 7.15am-7.15pm compared £1bn has been spent on1tagging and ONLY and their families, www.veteransradionet.com to 7.15pm-7.15am but it would appear to be NOW does the government realise that the tag I hope that it may give others some small something like a 30/70 split as most tags are doesn’t do what it says on the tin and doesn’t amount of hope or encouragement to face up through the night when actually most people really reduce re-offending. DOH! Once arrested to release and let them know that if nothing are asleep! Most criminals are out and about and you have been through the emptiness of else, they can have a friendly ear on the outside, during 7.15am-7.15pm. While unaffected by incarceration then the tag is a doddle. someone who knows firsthand how hard it can the tag. It’s not rocket science really!! HD is the be getting back to some sort of normal life. future of tagging. The only way to make the tag effective is to
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Writes Roger Davies - NOMS Where a prisoner has been prescribed painkillers for moderate to severe pain, the contractor’s Integrated Services Standard Operating Procedure restricts access to the gymnasium until a physiotherapist has assessed the patient. In certain circumstances, this restriction may also apply in the case of someone taking painkillers for mild to moderate pain. The physiotherapist will recommend a course of treatment which could include unrestricted access to the gym, if clinically appropriate. This procedure is designed to serve the best interests of the patient, to help ensure a full recovery.
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Post Tariff compensation Ban on books .....................................................
.....................................................
Mike Sahodree - HMP Wakefield
Name withheld - HMP Glenochil
On 18-9-12, three IPP prisoners (James, Wells and Lee) successfully won compensation of between £12,000 and £16,000 for being held in prison way past their tariffs, under Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects individuals from arbitrary detention. Could this act as a precedent, open the floodgates for the 3,000 or so prisoners who are post tariff IPPs to sue? The prison regime maintains that IPP prisoners are held on the basis of risk, and yet are unable or unwilling to provide adequate rehabilitative measures by providing appropriate course or recategorising or sending them to open prisons. There are conflicting noises from the House of Lords – Lord Phillips (Head of the Supreme Court) maintains that an IPP sentence is ‘to protect the public, not to rehabilitate’. Whereas Lord Judge’s (Lord Chief Justice) version is that ‘they ought not to be confined to penal oblivion’ and that rehabilitation is allowable. But Article 5(1) of the ECHR clearly clashes with the viewpoints of unlawful detention. Even though Parliament has advocated abolition of the IPP, the Courts keep on giving them out. Criminal lawyers will be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of forthcoming business, and the government actually has to do something to solve the problem of post tariff IPP prisoners.
An SPS directive now means that prisoners in Scotland are no longer allowed to receive books from their families. Within HMP Glenochil both staff and prisoners alike have described this action as ludicrous and short-sighted, a backward step in the fight to encourage reading across the establishment. Clearly SPS management have chosen in this instance to see families as the enemy, not to be trusted to send in books. The hypocrisy is staggering when contrasted with the local policy that prisoners who receive visits from family are not eligible for socks or underwear to be provided – your family is expected to meet the need and save the SPS the expense.
Send a message to your loved one on Valentine’s Day Send your message (20 words max.) to Inside Time and we will publish as many as possible in a special Valentine’s section in the February issue. All messages received will appear on our website. Include the name and address of your loved one and they will receive a copy of the newspaper. Entries must be sent to Inside Time ‘Valentine’ Botley Mills, Botley, Hampshire SO30 2GB. Closing date 22nd January and don’t forget to include your full details too! Inside Time’s Valentine’s message service is sponsored by Jailmate Cards. Why not send your loved one in prison a card ‘with a difference’. Go to www.jailmatecards.co.uk you’ll love what you see! See back page for advert. Thinkin of U are providing a single red rose for 12 lucky individuals drawn if you include details with your message. See page 18 for advert.
‘Witchcraft’ laws that fill our prisons
..................................................... William Finlay HMP Northumberland England is the only country in the Northern Hemisphere to have resurrected the 1590 witchcraft law that makes it legal for an individual’s word to be the only evidence required to have a ‘witch’ arrested and condemned. The 1994 law allows juries to prejudicially convict, on opinion only, without any corroborating evidence. Change the word ‘witch’ with ‘man, ‘witchcraft’ with ‘sexual assault’, and the word ‘spell attack’ with ‘sex attack’ and you will see exactly what is happening in England today. The changes to our ancient Common Law means judges no longer need to inform juries that the source of all evidence revealed to them is based upon hearsay, which is no more than gossip. Sadly it is also widely-known that after conviction the accuser can be rewarded with quite a chunk of ‘compensation’, sometimes over £50,000. How can this happen in England?
.................................................... Ben Barnes - HMP Long Lartin
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The Select Committee for Home Affairs, in the fourth report, 2002 said: “It has been suggested, and we believe it to be so, that a new genre of miscarriages of justice has arisen from the over-enthusiastic pursuit of these allegations. Those who argue the case, contend that police methods of ‘trawling’ for information, from a wide net of former residents, produces unreliable evidence for the prosecution and, hence, unsafe convictions. There is deep concern over the conduct of police interviews with witnesses and the integrity of witness testimony. In addition, trawling is said to provide fertile conditions for the generation of false allegations. Set in the context of a growing compensation culture and a shift in the law of ‘similar fact’ evidence, the risks of effecting a miscarriage of justice in these cases are said to be unusually high.”
Inside Time is proud to publish the
2013 updated version
W
SOLICITORS
Why didn’t these so-called victims of abuse disclose the fact that they were victims when it happened? Why wait 10, 20 or 30 years until their alleged assailant dies before disclosing these alleged assaults? Historical cases make me sick to the back teeth. There is no reason to wait decades after the event to report it, not unless one has a clandestine reason such as compensation. This country needs to get a grip, whether you are a DJ, pop star, comedian or even a Lord; you are not safe from so-called historical accusations. This country needs a statute of limitations otherwise anyone can be slandered by the media, stigmatised for all eternity by ignorant members of society who feed the press frenzy by buying rubbish printed by rubbish.
E N
RODMAN PEARCE 24HR LEGAL ADVICE & ASSISTANCE
7
plague. Victim after victim has been sucked into the vortex of justice, the innocent, along with the police, have fed the gutter press and given them a front seat at this debacle. The allegations of abuse grow daily as everyone jumps onto the bandwagon of compensation, and yet they had to wait for their so-called assailant to die before they crawled out of the woodwork and shout ‘I’m a victim too!’
n Since a certain television personality passed on, his alleged behaviour of abuse has swept across the country with a vengeance. This witch hunt has spread quicker than the
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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.
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Mailbag
Where’s my data?
..................................................... Michael Doyle - HMP Lindholme The Data Access and Compliance Unit (DACU) is a complete joke. I’ve tried on a number of occasions to get my data. I’ve paid the £10 myself but they sent phone records etc. I then got my solicitor to pay the £10 and again they sent the phone records, money, visits, old complaints and an old OASys. In every application I’ve listed the specific data required but they never send it or say that the files don’t exist and that they have sent everything I’m entitled to. Why do we have so much trouble getting our own data, we pay the £10 fee but still get fobbed off - it’s totally bang out of order.
Writes John White - Prisoner Casework, NOMS DACU are part of the Ministry of Justice
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. Communications and Information Directorate. The team manage Self Assessment Reports (SARs) made by offenders or ex-offenders and their authorised representatives to Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS). SARs are requests that are made under the Data Protection Act 1998 by living individuals for details about the information a data controller holds on them. If the data controller (in these instances this is the Ministry of Justice which includes HMPS) does have this personal information, they are obliged to communicate this to the requestor in a form that they can understand. The published list, referred to in an Inside Time article in September 2010 , was presented as being a correct and complete list of files or documents that would be in each and every offender’s Prison Service file. DACU however have no knowledge as to the origin of the list and were not contacted or made aware of the list before it was published, or whom, if anyone in the department was contacted to verify its accuracy. For example, the list incorrectly states that: • All offender files will have security files and Security Intelligence Reports (SIRs). Such information, if it exists will be considered for disclosure but it is possible that some will be withheld under an exemption of the Act; • Psychology shadow files exist and should be disclosed. DACU have had confirmation that these files do not exist; • IMR files and all medical data including test results and all communication with outside healthcare units and pathology labs should be disclosed. MOJ are not responsible for medical records (i.e. not the data controller) and as such DACU
cannot release them. Any requests should be made directly to the prison Healthcare department; • Offender files could have video and audio recordings. These materials can exist, however they are retained by prisons for a short period and as such they are considered for release if they are still available. To make an SAR request, offenders should write to DACU giving enough detail so that they can be identified - this usually means providing full name (including any aliases), address, prison number and date of birth. A £10 fee is also required plus any letter of authority if they are making the request through a representative, and as much detail as possible should be given about the information that is being sought. When DACU receive a valid SAR, the relevant prison(s) and headquarters units are contacted to gain copies of all the information requested. Once the information is received, DACU apply the DPA to each and every page of information. Each case received is treated individually and on a case by case basis. Detailed consideration and application of the DPA is made of all information provided against the rights of the requestor and other considerations; such as the exemptions under the Act. Once this assessment has been made, DACU provide as much information as possible to the offender. This usually takes the form of hard copies of documents but can also include CCTV footage and recordings of telephone calls. However not all of the information has to be
released to the requestor under the DPA. For example, the Ministry of Justice does not have to release information relating to third parties unless it is reasonable to do so - in all the circumstances. Other more sensitive information such as that which has been gained for the purpose of prevention or detection of crime can be legitimately withheld from release if to release it would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. In relation to offender files some security and intelligence information could fall within this exemption and would therefore not be released to the offender. In more rare occasions, information can be withheld under another exemption which relates to safeguarding national security. The DPA has a number of further exemptions which can apply in individual cases and result in information being withheld. The Ministry of Justice takes its obligations under the DPA very seriously and in 2010 and 2011-12, the Information Commissioner’s Office conducted an audit and a further review of the processes in place to handle SARs. These audits concluded that the Ministry provided reasonable assurance that appropriate processes and procedures are in place and are being adhered to. DACU will be happy to address any concerns or complaints that are brought to their attention, however, should requestors remain unsatisfied they can contact the Information Commissioner’s office who may decide to investigate the matter further. I understand that Mr Doyle and his representatives have received responses about the complaints and SARs that they submitted and have been advised to contact the Information Commissioner’s office if they remain unsatisfied with the replies to the SARs.
INJURED IN PRISON? You could win ££££s • Injuries in the gym • Scalding in the kitchen • Falling from bunk • Slip on wet floor • Stabbed by inmate • Trip on broken tile • Injury in workshop • Injury on exercise • Assaulted by staff or other inmates
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Call now on 0161 925 4155 or email info@jefferies-solicitors.com
You can also write to Prison Injury Lawyers, Ashley House, Ashley Road, Altrincham WA14 2DW Prison Injury Lawyers is a trading name of Jefferies Solicitors Limited – authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Registered number 07451340.
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Mailbag
If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Is a ‘tongue lashing’ the new boots and baton treatment?
.................................................................................................... Gary Nash - HMP Guys Marsh
G4S at Birmingham a ‘sham’
..................................................... Rocky Chana - HMP Birmingham I am unlucky enough to be in G4S run Birmingham prison and I have to say, and most prisoners here will agree with me, it is just a sham. G4S is just one big profit-making company who don’t give a toss about prisoners and should not be allowed to run any prison, let alone one the size of Birmingham. The safety of the staff here is at risk every day. Before the changeover to privatised there was a minimum of 10-12 officers on duty on each wing, now it is 4 or 5 on a good day. Remember, this is a Cat B prison which holds a lot of prisoners who have a history of violence and mental health issues. Last week it was announced that they are cutting down on Senior Officers! One officer per landing means that a lot of apps and prisoners problems go unresolved. In the last 7 days there have been 2 major incidents – on the healthcare wing 4 officers were slashed by an inmate, one of whom has lost the use of his arm and will not be able to return to work. And, on Sunday a prisoner got onto the roof of P Wing and the whole jail was on lockdown. The alarm goes off an average of 3 times a day, visits are very hard to book because there ain’t enough staff to man the phones, catalogue and magazine orders take up to a month to process, mail can be in the jail 3 or 4 days before we get it, it’s just a nightmare. The whole place is overrun with rats and cockroaches and the food is inedible. This used to be a decent jail but not anymore. If something is not done soon I can see a lot of staff walking and the cons taking over the jail. When will the government realise that they cannot use prisons to make money? They should concentrate on finding ways to rehabilitate and stop the reoffending rate.
JOSEPH MYNAH & CO SOLICITORS
Specialist in all aspects of Prison Law
• Parole • Criminal Cases • Adjudications & Prison Discipline • Categorisation • Licence and Recall • Appeals • Human Rights & Miscarriage of Justice • Lifer issues Please contact Krishen or Rachel at:
I have spent time in prison throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s and back in the early days the abuse came by way of fists, boots and batons and thousands of us were on the receiving end of countless assaults by staff. Although (mostly) times have moved on and many inmates have bled and, in some cases, even died to stop those vile antics by bullyboy screws, it would seem the size 9s and batons have been replaced by verbal bullying and intimidation by some so-called professionals. Here at HMP Guys Marsh there is a systematic abuse of our rights when it comes to making official complaints. Whether it be a DIRF or a Comp 1, the replies are always the same, one-sided, consistently fobbed off and, in recent experience, punished for standing up for oneself. I’ve actually had a discrimination allegation investigated by one of the 2 staff involved in the actual incident! Worse still, and the reason I write, is the consistent verbal bullying I have been subjected to. I put in a complaint about it and truth be told I was probably better off being psychologically tortured and having my right to be spoken to by staff in a respectful and dignified manner trampled all over. Because I chose to stand up for myself I now find myself out of work, locked behind my door all day, apps going unanswered, missed gym sessions and not a single explanation as to why. Because I dared to complain I am now classed as a ‘trouble maker’/ non conformist, yet I’ve not got one IEP warning or a nicking on my record. My only wish is that all the inmates who are constantly moaning about the way we are spoken to here would grow a pair and officially complain themselves. Prison today is only easier than 20 years ago because those inmates back then stood up to the bullies in white shirts.
HMP Durham ‘squalid’
Positive feedback
D Naismith - HMP Durham
Hil Gibb - founder, Taking Charge of Your Success
.....................................................
I am writing to let you know about the squalid conditions of Durham jail. I hope this letter will prompt a much-needed inspection by HMCIP, and hopefully result in the necessary changes being made. This is by far the dirtiest prison I’ve ever been held in. We can only shower for 5 days of the week, the state of the cells is appalling, with no assistance or encouragement from staff to provide cleaning equipment. I haven’t seen a single sterilising tablet since I arrived here. The first 8 or so complaint forms I have submitted have either been ignored or returned un-actioned without any investigation or resolution. The basic human rights of inmates and the conformity to PSOs/PSIs are frequently ignored on a daily basis and the governors here do nothing to provide satisfactory incarceration. The list of serious problems here are too numerous for a letter and would be tedious to read. But please, please print this letter so that it can highlight the fact that there are problems here that need addressing, urgently.
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I have designed and delivered two training sessions at North Sea Camp; one around Social Media and one around Communication Empowerment to prisoners who were either members of a 2 week OCR level 2 Setting up a business course, or individuals who had attended, through interest, following cross prison publicity. I found the participants to be, • Attentive, • Impeccable in their manners and behaviour, • Generous and warm in their hospitality, • Willing to ask considered and challenging questions (I love those), • Thirsty to know more, and • Willing to share ideas and experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the groups at North Sea Camp and feel that their attitudes and conduct are to be highly applauded and encouraged; hence my letter. I would have no hesitation in working there again and am taking this opportunity to ‘award’ the participants with a virtual, positive IEP.
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................................................... Christopher Stacey - Head of Projects & Services at Unlock I was saddened to read Ben Gunn’s article (‘Who am I?’) in December’s edition, just as I am every time we’re contacted by someone who’s left prison without a bank account. Research suggests that between a third and half of people in prison don’t have a bank account. As Ben’s article suggests, getting it sorted after release can be a humiliating experience. People need to be able to open a bank account before they leave prison. It’s a fundamental necessity of modern life and therefore resettlement. You need one just to claim JSA, and to receive wages from work you do. Getting the banks to agree has been a slow process. In 2005, only one responded to Unlock’s call. Now Barclays, Co-operative, Halifax (part of Lloyds), Santander and HSBC are involved in opening accounts for people in prison. Each bank has ‘adopted’ a number of prisons, allowing 100 prisons to support account applications using Prison Service Instruction 44/2011 as ID. It’s not perfect. Prisons don’t always make it available to everyone and some still have no programme. It’s focused on basic bank accounts for people preparing for release. Most of the banks try to avoid ‘dormant’ accounts by excluding people who don’t have a release date. We’re encouraging HSBC and Santander to match the other banks and expand beyond their handful of pilot projects. But more needs to be done to help people meet their financial needs and responsibilities – especially if the Government want to see more work in prisons. In January we’ll be publishing a report on how credit unions could provide a solution, especially during longer term sentences. In the meantime, what can you do? If you are near to release and need an account, there’s a good chance your prison will have been adopted by one of the banks. If you can’t find out inside the prison, write to Unlock and we’ll tell you what arrangements they have in place. If you need to look at other options, check to see if there are any independent advice services in the prison, such as Citizens Advice. The Money Advice Service also run sessions in some prisons and can be contacted on 0300 500 5000. Unlock, 35a High St, Snodland, Kent, ME6 5AG
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org assaults was high as was bullying. There was little attempt to investigate incidents and prisoners who were too frightened to leave their wings to go to work but who refused to name the perpetrator were punished by being sent to the segregation unit.
The Inspector calls ... Nick Hardwick - HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Inside Time highlights areas of good and bad practice, along with a summary of prisoner survey responses at HMP Bullingdon and HMP Lincoln. Extracts are taken from the most recent report published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. The prison was generally safe with good prisoner/staff relationship and good measures to support prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm.
HMP Bullingdon
A community prison with both a local and Cat C training function for convicted and unconvicted adult male prisoners. Unannounced Full Inspection: 10-20 July 2012, Report: September 2012 Published: November 2012
The prison generally performed well but there were some issues that caused concern for Inspectors.
10% Number of foreign nationals 21% Number with disabilities 16% Lost property on arrival 60% Treated well in Reception 47% Had legal letters opened 53% Food is bad or very bad 73% Treated with respect by staff 40% Don’t know who IMB are 34% Victimised by staff 38% Number who have felt unsafe 28% Easy to get drugs 60% Difficult to see dentist 31% Not engaged in any purposeful activities 47% Less than 4 hours out of cell 40% Have a Sentence Plan*
However, Inspectors heard repeated concerns from a variety of sources about the behaviour of a small minority of officers but prisoners had little confidence in the system for making complaints about staff, ‘which was sometimes well founded’. Inspectors saw responses to complaints that were dismissive or written by the officer who was the subject of the complaint. Several serious allegations did not appear to have been investigated. Inspectors were particularly concerned about the use of a body belt and improvised hood (a pillow case) on one prisoner and the Use of Force Committee did not disclose the use of either the body belt or the hood. Given the prison’s training function, there was still too little purposeful activity and Inspectors found more than a third of prisoners locked in their cells, sleeping or watching TV, during the working day. Bullingdon is an improving prison. Most prisoners had a reasonable experience and there was some good practical support to help prisoners with resettlement. ‘The exceptions to are very serious and undermined the work of the prison as a whole. These need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.’ *16% of prisoners are not sentenced
HMP Lincoln
Category B adult male local prison Unannounced Full Inspection: 20-24 August 2012, Report: October 2012 Published: December 2012
A ‘very concerning’ report
13% Number of foreign nationals 17% Number with disabilities 10% Lost property on arrival 70% Treated well in Reception 40% Had legal letters opened 33% Food is bad or very bad 84% Treated with respect by staff 40% Don’t know who IMB are 26% Victimised by staff 39% Number who have felt unsafe 34% Easy to get drugs 62% Difficult to see dentist 28% Not engaged in any purposeful activities 32% Less than 4 hours out of cell 24% Have a Sentence Plan* Inspectors said that at the time of the inspection it was overcrowded – with about 50% more prisoners than it was certified to hold. The environment was poor and work on reception and the segregation unit had not yet been completed. Like other prisons, financial constraints and staffing changes caused difficulty. Managers in the prison complained of a lack of support from the centre. The prison was not safe. A third of prisoners said they had been victimised by other prisoners. The number of reported fights and
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Too many prisoners at risk of suicide were held in the segregation unit with very little for these men to do. The constant observation cell in the segregation unit was ‘particularly grim – dark, poorly ventilated and situated opposite the dirty protest cell’. There was ‘clear evidence of prisoners developing a drug addiction’ in the prison. Too few were on a reducing dosage and Inspectors were concerned that a number had been given considerable increases. External and communal areas were dirty and some areas did not appear to have been cleaned for some time. Individual cells were overcrowded with unscreened toilets. Prisoners said it was difficult to get enough clean clothes. The number of complaints was almost double that of comparable prisons. The prison could not identify the number of prisoners with disabilities and the lack of support for foreign national prisoners ‘was a matter of great concern. At the time of the inspection the prison was frequently disrupted by failure of the roll check which Inspectors were told by prisoners, staff and managers was deliberate and occurred because of a dispute between management and staff about new regime and roll check procedures. Up to half the prisoners locked in their cells during the working part of the day. There were places available in a new education academy – but it was almost empty and staff were unable to explain to Inspectors why this was. • 16.7% of prisoners are on remand and 10.6% are on Recall
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Guantanamo comes to Bullingdon
© prisonimage.org
Prison population drops
Prison Inspectors were shocked, during a recent visit to HMP Bullingdon, to find that a prisoner had been put in a body belt and officers had made an improvised hood from a pillowcase to put over his head. Staff said the hood was used to stop the prisoner spitting. A report of the incident for the Use of Force Committee failed to mention the use of the body belt or improvised hood. Inspectors said they were ‘particularly concerned’ about the incident and had brought it to the attention of the Governor who had instigated an investigation. Inspectors said they were concerned, also, about credible complaints about the behaviour of a minority of officers, some of whom had responded to written complaints about themselves.
The prison population of England and Wales has dropped, according to the Government’s Monthly Bulletin, by 2,119 during the 12 month period: November 2011 and November 2012. This decrease in prison numbers leaves a Useable Operational Capacity for the entire prison estate of close to 4000 places. At the end of November 2011, 82 of the 132 prisons in England Wales were overcrowded.
11
The things people say…
‘Lord Justice Leveson’s proposals . . . should be accepted in their entirety’ Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband, speaking in the House of Commons on 29th November just hours after receiving the 2000 page Leveson Report before he had actually read it in its entirety or fully digested it’s content.
G4S repeatedly late with prisoners The security firm which transfers prisoners to courts in Scotland has been late on nearly 22,000 occasions since taking over the contract at the start of the year.
Prisoner held 9 years past release date at Lincoln Prison Inspectors had a shock when they did an inspection of HMP Lincoln in August; they found many foreign national prisoners being held beyond their release date and two who had been held for a very long time, one for nine years after his release date and still waiting for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to make a decision. The Inspectors say it is almost impossible for them to return to their own countries and they are being held in ‘administrative detention’ and questioned whether it was right that they are detained for so long without the authority of a court.
Between January 10 and September, G4S was late in bringing prisoners to court 21,735 times, resulting in financial penalties of £334,500, figures from the Scottish Prison Service show. G4S is the firm which was at the centre of the London 2012 Olympics staffing fiasco, when Armed Forces had to be drafted in because the company failed to supply enough staff. The figures were revealed by the Scottish Government in response to a written question from Labour. The party’s justice spokesman Lewis Macdonald said: “Scottish Labour again calls on the Scottish Government to stop awarding contracts to the company until their performance can be shown to be much better than it is at present.”
Inside Time believes the incident at Bullingdon Prison raises a number of questions: • Who authorised the use of an improvised hood? • Why did the staff present not provide full and truthful accounts of what happened on the ‘Use of Force’ form, as required in PSO1600? • Was this a one off event or a regular procedure at the Prison? • Why did the Governor not know what was going on in his prison? • Was the use of a hood ‘torture’ as defined by Article 3 of the Human Rights Act?? • Will the Inquiry into the incident be made public?
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‘When I got elected as the youngest Liberal MP he became an uncle figure . . . He was someone who gave people tough love . . . he remembered he came from Rochdale and was in politics to help people from the bottom up . . .’ Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes MP speaking after former MP Sir Cyril Smith’s funeral in September 2010. Since when Cyril Smith has been accused of sexually abusing young boys in a hostel he established in Rochdale by fondling them and spanking their bare bottoms.
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The things people say…
Former legal chief: Stop jailing women for minor crimes David Cameron has been told by Scotland’s former top lawyer to follow Scotland’s lead and change the way female offenders are treated. (PRT’s Mark Day writes). President of the Prisoners Education Trust His Honour John Samuels QC (left) talks to Lord Ramsbotham Patron of the Trust
Brain Cells Report launched in the House of Lords In a packed event at the House of Lords, the Prisoners Education Trust launched its new Report on prisoner learning, entitled ‘Brain Cells’. The Report is based on a survey in Inside Time (November 2011) of over 500 prisoners, gathering information about learning experiences in prison. The event was hosted and introduced by PET Patron Lord Ramsbotham, who spoke of the importance of listening to prisoners when formulating education provision to get a ‘prisoner’s-eye view’ of this area. Jen Walters of Ofsted spoke about the importance of learner voice and how it fitted into the inspection criteria. She said the report “highlights the very clear benefits of listening to learners…and that learner voice has the potential to help eradicate the barriers to learning”.
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Former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini (pictured) said the Prime Minister should “go for what works rather than what pleases” in an address to the Prison Reform Trust in November on the plight of women offenders. The number of women in Scottish jails has more than doubled in the past decade. Ms Angiolini chaired a Commission on Women Offenders in Scotland, which found that Scotland’s women’s prison, Cornton Vale, was not “fit for purpose” and recommended a radical overhaul of the system. In response, the Scottish government said it will find “suitable alternatives to Cornton Vale, leading to its replacement”. Addressing a 600-strong audience in London which included the Justice Minister responsible for women offenders in England and Wales, Helen Grant MP, Ms Angiolini said prison should not be the “default” punishment, especially for women with troubled pasts who are convicted of minor crimes. “Far from having a deterrent effect, the short sentence has the impact of innoculating women offenders from any deterrent value of imprisonment. For those who may be willing and ready to pounce with the accusation that prison is too soft, I can assure you that it is a demoralising and sobering experience to actually go there and to spend some time in a cell with women whose broken teeth and scarred inner arms are often symbolic of a more profound broken spirit and self loathing. It is difficult to punish someone who punishes herself so readily,” she said.
‘The judiciary would be more trusted and of higher quality if many more women and black people were appointed’ Jack Straw MP, former Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor in the previous Labour Government making the case for more diversity at a Lecture at Inner Temple London. Mr Straw was told he was wrong for two reasons. First the common law system in England and Wales is a subtle and complex construct. As it relies on precedent, the judges who preside over it are guardians of its integrity as a system. As such, Mr Straw is wrong to say that merit should be balanced with diversity. Rather, merit must take precedence over all other considerations as it is excellence and knowledge of the legal system which ensures its continued success. Second, he implied that diversity would automatically result in more balanced and better decisions. Balanced and fair decision-making in the law is not causally linked with diversity in the judiciary. Any barrister made a judge would hope to have been appointed by merit. It would detract from the achievement if they knew the selection panel were merely quota-filling. T. Osmani & Co
Criminal appeals practice undertaking advice on appeals against conviction (sorry, no sentence appeals and no within time appeals immediately following conviction). Our speciality lies in unravelling the web of deception that underlies most (usually drugs) cases involving corruption and set up issues, whether set up was raised at trial or not. We are particularly interested to hear from you if you were convicted of an offence involving what you believe to be corruption issues, especially 1990-2003 convictions.
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News in Brief
Foster children fend for themselves after 18th birthday
Pictured left to right: Gary Monaghan, Governor HMP Pentonville; Chief Rabbi Representative; Melvyn Hartog, Islington Mayor; Jilani Chowdhury, Deputy Governor of HMP Pentonville; Carlene Dixon, and Steve Gadd, Project Coordinator from The Anne Frank Trust UK.
Anne Frank Exhibition- Pentonville Prison Pentonville Prison has recently held the ‘Anne Frank Exhibition’ which is run by the Anne Frank Trust and draws upon the power of Anne Frank’s life and diary to challenge prejudice and reduce hatred in an effort to encourage people to embrace positive attitudes, responsibility and respect for others. Pentonville Prison is an enthusiastic supporter of the Anne Frank Project and the prison exhibitions that they run to educate prisoners about the life of Anne Frank, the history of the Holocaust and the dangers of racism, prejudice and discrimination in current day Britain. A prisoner involved in the exhibition noted ‘ I don’t think we can begin to think about changing the world until we start changing ourselves, and this exhibition has given me a deeper understanding of what Anne Frank went through and ultimately the Jews’.
Only 18 out of 152 local authorities (12%) in England have care leavers who remained with their foster carers after their 18th birthday, Government figures show. There were 6,610 young people who left the care system between March 2011 and March 2012 with only 320 continuing to live with their foster carers.
Actors Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench undergo a complete makeover for Skyfall 2.
In stark contrast only 5 per cent of UK parents expected their children to leave home by 18, with more than a quarter (27 per cent) expecting them to be at least 26 and 64% expecting them to be at least 22 before they left home, a YouGov survey conducted on behalf of Barnardo’s found. Now Barnardo’s is calling for all foster children to be given the option to stay with their foster carers until they are 21. Barnardo’s Chief Executive Anne Marie Carrie said: “Young people in care are being forced to go it alone when they turn 18. “At Christmas time the impact of this abandonment is particularly poignant. “Why does the Government expect such vulnerable teenagers as these, many of whom have been neglected or abused as children, to start their journey into adulthood on their own and before they are ready?”
Changing face of Britain New data from the 2011 Census has revealed the effects of immigration in England and Wales in the last decade, and shown a sharp fall in the number of Christians. The immigrant population rose by 63% between 2001 and 2011, from 4.6 million to 7.5 million, meaning that one in eight current residents was born abroad. White Britons now make up 81% of the population, down from 88%: in London they have become a minority, accounting for only 45% of residents. The Census also showed the number of Christians living in England and Wales fell 12% between 2001 and 2011, to 33.2 million. More than 14 million people – a quarter of the population – said they weren’t religious. 2011 Census results page 14
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• An honest assessment of your case. • A named solicitor who will review your case, visit you and advise on grounds of appeal. • A named paralegal who will assist your solicitor & provide a second point of contact for you. • A set timetable of work with regular updates to ensure you know what stage your matter has reached and what work is still to be undertaken. Our experienced Prison Law team can assist you, both in writing and orally, with: Adjudications, Parole Applications,Recategorisation Representations and Lifer Hearings. For help please contact Richard Brown or Dawn Burrows at:
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It’s appalling how the Church of England treats its women says the Taliban.
SAM solicitors
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We are here to fight for your rights throughtout your time in custody CRIMINAL DEFENCE/PRISON LAW Parole Board Representation (Paper & Oral Hearings) Adjudication Re-Categorisation Human Rights/Judicial Review Appeals against Conviction, Sentence CCRC Appeals against IPP Sentence and Life Sentence Magistrates and Crown Court Representation (Serious crimes including murder, rape, robbery, conspiracy, drugs cases, financial crimes) Confiscation FAMILY LAW Divorce cases, Contact, Children, Proceedings involving the Local Authority HOUSING LAW Possession Proceedings Illegal Eviction Homelessness, etc IMMIGRATION LAW Deportation, Appeals, Judicial Reviews and any other aspects of Immigration Law
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2011 Census results
Health
The results of the 2011 Census are out and they provide a unique perspective on life in England and Wales. What does it show us about life today?
Country of birth
In 2011, four out of every five (81 per cent, 45.5 million) residents of England and Wales described themselves as being in good or very good health.
Education Level 4+
No qualifications
12.4 million
981,471
10.3 million
Population by Faith
2,722,404
From elsewhere in the British Isles
From Europe
no Religion religion No
14,097,229 (25.1% of people in England and Wales)
673,401 From the Americas
In 2011 there were more people with Level 4 or above qualifications, eg Bachelor’s degree (27 per cent, 12.4 million), than people with no qualifications (23 per cent, 10.3 million).
8,460,430
Up 6,387,962 (83%)
not stated
4,038,032 (7.2%)
People born outside England and Wales who live there
Number of Cars
Muslim
2,706,066
183,322
295,075
(4.8%)
Oceania
From the Middle East
hindu
2011 27.3 million
1,312,617 From Africa
2,291,991
2001 23.9 million
816,633
christian
33,243,175
(1.5%)
(59.3% of people in England and Wales)
From Asia
Jewish 263,346 (0.5%)
Down 4,095,311 (11%)
The resident population of England and Wales on the 27 March 2011 was 56.1 million, a seven per cent (3.7 million) increase since 2001 with 55 per cent (2.1 million) of this increase owing to migration. One in six people were aged 65 or over (16 per cent, 9.2 million). Of the 13 per cent (7.5 million) of residents of England and Wales on 27 March 2011 who were born outside of the UK, just over half (3.8 million) arrived in the last 10 years.
423,158
sikh (0.8%)
Buddhist 247,743 (0.4%)
other 240,530 (0.4%)
The number of cars and vans available for use by households in England and Wales increased from 23.9 million to 27.3 million between 2001 and 2011. The proportion of households with access to no cars or one car declined over the decade whereas the proportion with two or more cars rose. London was the only region where the number of cars and vans was lower than the number of households.
The number of residents who stated that their religion was Christian in 2011 was fewer than in 2001. The size of this group decreased 13 percentage points to 59 per cent (33.2 million) in 2011 from 72 per cent (37.3 million) in 2001. The size of the group who stated that they had no religious affiliation increased by 10 percentage points from 15 per cent (7.7 million) in 2001 to 25 per cent (14.1 million) in 2011. Source: Office for National Statistics
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15
In the last year alone...
Government & Economics
Environment
5,005,000: (hectares) Forest loss
World Population
7,086,230,000: Current World Population • It had taken all of human history up to the year 1800 for world population to reach 1 billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years (1930), the third billion in less than 30 years (1959), the fourth billion in 15 years (1974), the fifth billion in 13 years (1987), the sixth billion in 12 years (1999) and the seventh billion in 12 years (2011). During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion.
74,050,000: Population growth this year alone
• Deforestation of the Amazon has fallen to its lowest levels since records began. Using satellite imagery, 6,418 sq km of Amazon forest was stripped in the 12 months before 31 July 2011 the smallest area since annual measurements started in 1988. The data continues an encouraging trend. Since the peak deforestation year of 2004, the rates of clearance have fallen by almost 75%.
Health
13,000,000: Deaths caused by contagious
diseases
7,500,000: Deaths of children under 5 45,000,000: Abortions
6,800,000: (hectares) Arable land lost owing
• This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day.
to soil erosion
34,900,000: HIV/AIDS infected people
11,700,000: (hectares) turning to desert 33,000,000,000: (tons) Carbon dioxide
8,000,000: Deaths caused by cancer
• Based on projections, cancer deaths will continue to rise with an estimated 9 million people dying from cancer in 2015, and 11.4 million dying in 2030.
(CO2) emissions
$ 1,700,000,000,000: Military expenditure by governments worldwide this year The latest arms trade numbers show the US is still number one, but with China and Russia catching up fast. Britain is 4th spending $62.7bn $3,600,000,000,000: Public Healthcare
expenditure this year
59,060,000: Cars produced this year The Toyota Corolla is the worlds most popular car selling over 32 million and built in 16 countries. 132,000,000: Bicycles produced this year China produced two of every three bikes made worldwide. India, Europe, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Brazil were the next five largest producers.
945,300: Road traffic deaths this year • Egypt, Libya and Afghanistan have the most road fatalities per 100,000. • Sweden, Malta and the United Kingdom have the most road fatalities per 100,000. Food & Water
905,250,000: Undernourished people 1,570,300,000: Overweight people
• 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
11,000,000: People who die of hunger this year • 870 million people do not have enough to eat and 98 percent of them live in developing countries. • Women make up a little over half of the world’s population, but they account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry. • More than 70 percent of the world’s underweight children (aged five or less) live in just 10 countries, with more than 50 per cent located in South Asia alone.
333,000: Deaths of mothers during birth • Somewhere in the world every two minutes, a woman dies from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes. One third of all these maternal deaths take place in just two countries: India with 20% of the global total (56,000 deaths) and Nigeria with 14% (40,000 deaths). • In the past 20 years, the number of maternal deaths has been reduced by almost 50%. 1,040,000: Suicides
• A “global” mortality rate of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds. • Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the 10-24 years age group; these figures do not include suicide attempts which are up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide.
Energy
41: Years to the end of oil • Every day the world currently burns more than 80m barrels of oil. By 2016 it is estimated that will rise to around 100m barrels per day. • All the world’s biggest known oil reserves are in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iran. • Fewer and fewer major new oil fields are discovered each year: 16 in 2000, 9 in 2001 and just 1 in 2005. 165: Years to the end of gas 419: Years to the end of coal
Society & Media
2,300,000,000: Internet users in the world 149,000,000,000,000: Emails this year
• About 90% of these messages are spam
1,450,000,000,000: Google searches this year 8,300,000,000: Web pages 105,000,000,000: Tweets sent this year
• If Twitter was a country it would be the 12th largest in the world
1,000,000,200: Facebook users • Half of them log on every day • In 2004 there were just 1 million users
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Newsround
m Do you know...? •
• Atheists can now join the Boy Scouts. The movement is planning to introduce a new Scout promise for non-believers that doesn’t require them to vow to “do their duty by God”. The Guides are considering a similar move. • Four countries announced or strongly intimated in quick succession that they would not be participating in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Three of them Portugal, Cyprus and Greece - cited the economic crisis. • In a poll 53% of voters said they thought that cuts to welfare spending had gone far enough. 29% felt that further cuts were needed.
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
can analyse the age, gender and ethnicity of customers, as well as how long they spend lingering in front of the mannequin. This data can then be used to influence the store’s stock and layout. • A judge at Chelmsford Crown Court has advised jurors on how to cross the road from the main court building to the courtroom. “I have to warn you for health and safety reasons to cross at traffic lights,” said Christopher Ball QC. “But you can make the decision to cross where you want.” In the end, the jurors were escorted by a court official. • Public officials have been told to avoid using the word “obese”, as it could be considered “derogatory”. Draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence encourages councils and the NHS to focus on positive goals – such as achieving a “healthier weight” rather than obesity. The advice is from the quango’s latest report: Obesity: Working with Local Communities.
News in Brief
• Almost 1.7 million children aged four to 16 in England (21%) are classified as having special educational needs. In 57 primary schools, and 42 secondary schools, at least half the pupils are classed as having special needs. • Nearly two-thirds of prisoners in England and Wales are overcrowded, with 7,294 more people in the system than there should be. HMP Kennet in Liverpool is the most overcrowded: built to house 175 men it holds 337.
• A mountain resort had to scrap its naked sledging contest because it was becoming too popular. Last year, around 25,000 people descended on the German town of Braunlage – five times its population – raising health and safety concerns. “We’ve simply reached our logistical limits,” said an organiser.
The Labour Party is confident that in 2013 there will be much more to smile about.
Despite controversial plans to introduce gay marriage David Cameron says he has a mandate.
• Net migration to Britain has fallen almost a quarter, from 242,000 in the 12 months to March 2011, to 183,000 in the year to March 2012. The main factors behind the fall were stricter rules on student visas, and more people leaving the country to work abroad. • Junior civil servants in the Foreign Office took 24.4 sick days on average last year. By contrast, those in the Department for Work and Pensions took 7.6. The average for the private sector is 5.8 days. • Shoppers be warned: the mannequins may be watching you. An Italian company has developed shop dummies with cameras hidden in their eyes, so that shop owners
The thing Norbert loved most about his Swedish car was the air bag. Meanwhile the 2011 Census records thet the number of cars and vans available for use by households in England and Wales increased from 23.9 million to 27.3 million.
24
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Website Comments
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Website comments via www.insidetime.org
The former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham, said the Prime Minister’s recent key speech on criminal justice has caused confusion
the comments made by a couple of us and respond, because I’m still confused as to why someone’s offence should matter in writing stories; unless of course they plan on revealing every single person’s real name and their offence in the book. Prisoners are already discriminated against, sex offenders even more so. What they don’t need is self-appointed moral guardians discriminating them further. If they continue to enforce this rule I would actually question the impartiality that is required for them to do their jobs effectively.
Leading investigative journalist Bob Woffinden looked at media hysteria and the misleading of the public
Anon - I cried reading this as I am having problems with Oakwood trying to realise that my son needs help for his mental health problems. He hears voices at night in his head. He bangs his head against the wall as he is unable to sleep. He was taken off his medication 6 weeks ago ... medication he has been on for years. I did not think they could do that ... This problem with mental health seems to be an ongoing problem with prisons and something needs to be done. My son said he felt like killing himself and it upsets me; I dread that phone call.
J - This is an unbiased article, written with truthfulness and professional integrity. Several things now need to be implemented:1. The Home Affairs Select Committee report and findings into False Historical Allegations of abuse in Children’s Homes should be compulsive reading before anyone passes an opinion on the topic in question. 2. Richard Webster’s book “The Secret of Bryn Estyn” should be read by every M.P., Journalist, Producer, at al. 3. The reading of the Waterhouse Report is also recommended, before anyone starts to pillory Lord Waterhouse for completing what is a thorough piece of work. S - Innocent people have been sent to prison and their family suffers along with them, not least the children. Those who abhor child abuse should think about this. D - A wise and penetrating article, whose comments about the failures by so many journalists to conduct real investigative reporting should be taken to heart. R - Whilst these cases are saddening for the accuser or the accused we need to look at why these are being put forward now. Until the Sexual Offences against Children Act of 2003 the Police and CPS were required to gather evidence that would or is likely to lead to a con-
.......................................................
S - The prison system will remain a complete shambles whilst presided over by self-serving politicians. Until prison policy is independent of political parties, and policies are designed by professionals, who don’t design policy to gain votes, prisons will remain crime factories. D - Politicians are voted in by the electorate and the electorate want to be protected from criminals and those who prey on others. No one wants to be a victim of crime. Politicians therefore reflect the general consensus of those who put them in positions of power and it’s right that politicians should represent the public in seeing that their wishes are carried out, so blame the public not the politicians.
.......................................................
W - I wonder if Sharon Berry and Jessica Berens read this site, if so I wonder if they could read
Miscarriages of Justice Appeals/CCRC Parole All Aspects of Prison Law
Best New Year wishes to the Fonesavvy family!!!! It’s now 2013 the world didn’t end and neither did Fonesavvy! Make p Make prison rrison pin pin phone phone cr credit creedit dit last last longe llonger ongggeeer when wheen connecting connectingg to t mobile m ile p phones!* honhave es!* been working hard for the February launch Inobfact we
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By using By usingg our oof ur our fonesavvy fonees esavvy avvysimple service ervice pay we we can cas an allow a llow I service. mates to t connect con nn nect n nect NEW you goInmates t a friend to fri fr riend or or rrelative eela la ative tive on on their their mobile obile ph p phone hone h one with with the e Inmate IIn nmate atte We are also now available tomfriends and familythof inmates in only being only beingg char charged ch harged rggeeed d fo forr a local loccal rate ratte call! ll!
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(24 HOUR)
2012 Inside Time website by numbers Unique visitors in December
174,396
So far in 2012... Number of visits to site
2,900,484
Number of Factsheet downloads
198,641
Number of ‘hits’
73,270,254 Website comments posted
2,631
Facebook ‘Likes’
773
Twitter Followers
2,056
Inside Time was prepared early for January issue and therefore the figures are projections. The final figures will be published in the February Issue.
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viction. However after this law was enacted the CPS guidance is now to charge and prosecute every case unless there is no chance of gaining a conviction. Now I don’t want to slam our courts or the jury system but whenever there is a case of an adult that has allegedly sexually abused a child it is without doubt nearly always going to end in a guilty verdict. Margaret Gardener (Director FASO) - Well done Bob for a factual account of the North Wales debacle. Unfortunately false allegations do not just happen in the institutions, but everyday life - ruining families. We at FASO have many phoning for support because of false allegations enhanced by press coverage and non investigation of facts.
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on the outside to @f onesavvy.co.uk @fonesavvy.co.uk call us on 0800 0787 503 for full details, or to register. www.fonesavvy.co.uk w w w .f onesa v v y .c o .uk TToo ssign iggn n up po orr fo forr mor m more ore iinf info ffo go o to: tto: @fonesavvy.co.uk @fonesavvy.co.uk
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Month by Month
build bridges with our families who are victims of our actions.’
ageing population in prisons is becoming critical as the numbers increase. It seems quite clear to most of us: Let them out, unless they’re an obvious danger.
by Rachel Billington
Rachel takes a kindly look at 2012 and decides that if she tries hard she can find more highs than lows.
Low
High I have to start with the Olympic Games where Team GB and the organisers and the volunteers did so well. I know some of you may have cursed the very idea and, of course, had no chance to get along to any of the amazing stadiums in person (I did, luckily) but it was pretty exciting on television too. Mo Farah, an immigrant to England when he was eight, made a cover of Inside Time with his extraordinary triumph at the 5,000 metres, having already won the 10,000. The end of the Games coincided with a report from the Prisoners Education Trust with Teeside University in which they begged for more sport in prisons, both as an activity and as learning for a future career. I just hope that’s underway.
High/Low Ex prison governor John Podmore’s book, Out of Sight out of Mind, newly published in 2012, is a brilliant exposition of everything that is wrong with the prison system. He points out that ‘A huge proportion of the prison population are simple members of the country passing through.’ Let’s hope the book’s being
read by those in power. n.b. I notice that hope is already playing a big part in this survey. But then I suppose that’s what a New Year’s all about.
Being reminded by a series called ‘Death Row’ directed by a German, Werner Herzog, that the policy of death by lethal injection still continues in 34 of the 50 states of the United States - in Utah there is the choice of death by firing squad. The length of time that prisoners spend on solitary is nearly as frightening. How can the US begin to represent the ‘free world’ when it operates such a barbaric system?
High Our great blogger, Ben Gunn, is let out of prison after nearly thirty-two years behind bars. He went in when he was fourteen. I raise a glass to anyone else who has got out this year and hope (here we go again) that they weren’t inside for such a long time. Good luck, too, to those of you still waiting for release dates. I ran into Ben at The Longford Lecture where the writer Will Self made an impassioned plea for whole prisons, rather than wings, to be made drug free.
High High Once some obstinate security devices allowed me through, I had a very jolly afternoon with the Safe Ground charity in HMP Belmarsh. After watching some very witty therapeutic drama sessions, we played Musical Chairs. Lee, who was on the nine week course, told me, ‘The Family Man course is by far the best course I’ve done in 14 years in prison as it helps you break down so many barriers and
The Koestler Trust celebrates its fiftieth birthday with another amazing exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall. We’re able to reproduce a selection of the best paintings and artworks in an Inside Time supplement.
Low Gerard McGrath, one of our best Inside Time poets, an elderly, sick man, dies without being released. The question of what to do with the
Low/High I make my first visit to HMP Dartmoor and, although prepared for gloom, find myself seriously astonished that this ramshackle place is still operating as a prison. In fact one wing is actually too dilapidated to use. I suggest it would make a nice spooky museum. On the other hand, I am very impressed by the atmos-
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Why not let your loved one know how much you care and appreciate them? Select from our catalogue one of the many tasteful gifts available to be sent directly to them. To place an order ask your wing officer or librarian for a the new ‘thinking of u’ catalogue and complete an order form. To obtain your own personal catalogue please send your details, together with two 1st class stamps to:
now r ‘Thinkin of U’, Suite 236, Kemp House, And n orde ca rom 152 - 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX u o y ds f car s! u Greetings cards for any occasion now available!
State the type of card you require, send your details & £1 cheque (payable to ‘Thinkin of U’) and we will send you a tasteful blank card for to you to write out and post on to your loved one.
Diary
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org phere in the educational department and the writers in residence programme run by Jessica Berens who manage to keep up their good work under such difficult conditions.
19
of Justice. He says he only expected to do the job for a couple of years which is not much consolation to those of us who thought he really wanted to make some positive changes.
In the
Spotlight by John Roberts
High
High
The Forgiveness Project annual lecture. This year it was given by Dr. Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychotherapist from Broadmoor Hospital. The subject was The Line Dividing Good and Evil, not, I’d assumed, an audience grabbing theme. I’m glad to say I was wrong, the large hall of the Royal Geographical Society was filled to overflowing and we heard a provocative lecture, followed by discussion, including the line from Dr. Adshead, ‘Is evil necessary?’
Low David Cameron sacks Ken Clarke as Minister
Writing matters. I enjoy a Literary Festival at YOI Ashfield where rapper Mark Grist goes head to head with student, Josh. I feel there’s nothing like spouting witty words at incredible speed to sharpen the mind. I also hear rap and poetry and do my best to understand the difference, at a lively Poetry Slam in HMP Pentonville.
At Inside Time we’re celebrating the publication of Vol 4 of Inside Voices – Poetry from Prison with the usual high standard of contributors. Don’t forget a free copy goes into all prison libraries and it’s available from Inside Time at a reduced price. So that’s it for 2012. Happy New Year and may 2013 bring you to a better place.
HAVE you APPEALED? AL ARE you WITHOUT LEG REPRESENTATION? if the answer to these questions is yes, then the university of leeds innocence project could help you! Since we started in 2005 we’ve had over 400 applications.
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As he approached his release date, town visits were used for research and with the information gathered a business plan started to take shape in his mind. By the time he was released he was fairly certain that with a lot of hard work he could make sure other prisoners would have the choices he wished had been available to him and at the same time earn an honest living for himself providing the service.
High (again)
ARE you INNOCENT?
How do i apply? If you would like an application form please do not hesitate to contact us at the following address:
As well as being a voice for prisoners and their families, Inside Time offers support to former prisoners setting up in business and other charities and individuals who are not ‘profit motivated’ and looking to provide worthwhile services that will benefit our readers. Each month we will put one of them under the spotlight and report on their progress.
Thinkin of U
O
ne thing Wayne (pictured above) wanted to do when he was in prison was to be able to buy his partner a present on her birthdays, Christmas and those special days whenever he could afford it. But this was never simple and he became more and more frustrated that such a basic thing should be made so complicated and restricted. Fortunately with friends outside to help organise it for him each time he managed to do it but it wasn’t the same. He arranged for them to be sent the money and they chose things for him but he had no real input or involvement in the choice. Which flowers would go in the bouquet, what type of chocolates or what any other small gift would look like, he would never know. In fairness his friends had good taste and always chose well but he still didn’t feel as if he was giving anything, he was just covering the cost. For Wayne the issue was simply that he couldn’t give his partner a gift that had any sort of personal touch to it and he hadn’t been able to choose it. Even the card he sent would have to be a ‘prison birthday card’ and HMPS are not renowned for having the most exciting range of cards to choose from!
On day one of his release his time was busy with probation and family commitments but day two was when the ‘Thinkin of U’ service became a reality. The initial idea was to start small and simply put catalogues into the local prisons. This was far more difficult than he had anticipated and the idea met with unnecessary resistance, a high degree of scepticism and often a total lack of understanding. Some prison officers were constantly saying “we already have this service, they get a canteen sheet every week”. But as everyone who has been in prison knows, you can’t usually order gifts off the canteen sheet for your loved ones, unless they want an over priced tin of tuna! “I managed to get into a few prisons but my prayers were answered when Inside Time agreed to let me advertise in the paper, then orders immediately started to come from all over the country. “The service is still quite new and we’re taking on new suppliers all the time. This means we can keep the costs down as we get more orders and work on expanding the range of gifts. We’re generally improving everything we do wherever we can. We also supply single greetings cards. Some prisons are fine with this, others won’t allow it - even though they allow you to send out money and order form. It is always best to check before placing an order but I refund the money if there is a problem and they decide you’re not allowed your cards and they are sent back to me. “So for 2013 it’s ‘watch this space’. We have many plans that will mean prisoners can feel they have some control over the choice of a small gift they want to send to a loved one on that special day. This surely isn’t too much to ask is it?” Please see advert on opposite page
20
New sentence planning instruction
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
At long last... © prisonimage.org
by Juliet Lyon & Mark Day Prison Reform Trust
A
new prison service instruction is set to improve sentencing planning for prisoners, especially for those serving an IPP sentence and for people who have a learning disability. The much criticized IPP sentence was abolished by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act passed earlier this year. But many existing IPP prisoners are still unable to work towards their legitimate release due to a lack of available places on offending behaviour programmes, which are overly relied upon to demonstrate reduced risk of causing serious harm through re-offending. A place on these scarce and variable programmes is often barred to people with a learning disability or a low IQ score, trapping these most vulnerable people in a maze with no exit. Ministry of Justice figures show that at the end of September 2012 there were 6,020 prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP). 3,523 of these prisoners are held beyond their tariff expiry date. Since 2005 just 502 people serving IPP sentences have been released from custody. The new PSI 41/2012 changes the priority given to offending behaviour programmes in sentence planning and stresses the importance of setting realistic and appropriate targets that take account of the individual needs of the prisoner. It provides clearer guidance for prison staff and prisoners and encourages a more individual approach that engages with
WRONGLY CONVICTED? SENTENCE TOO LONG? Maybe an experienced, direct access barrister can help. For a free initial assessment please telephone/write or email
a welcome change to sentence planning for IPP prisoners and people with learning disabilities the prisoner and focuses on the importance of effective resettlement as well as risk.
Key changes include • Prisoners should be encouraged to engage with the sentence plan and be actively involved in setting targets. • Sentence plans must be realistic and achievable. They should not just be a list of interventions and offending behaviour courses. An intervention should not be in the plan if a prisoner has been assessed as unsuitable for it. • Plans should consider the needs of the prisoner. This could be individual factors like drug dependency or poor problem solving skills – or social factors - such as housing, employment, strengthening relationships and building community ties. • Education, employment and housing are likely to be essential parts of most prisoners’ sentence plans. • Not all prisoners will be suitable for, or need to do, offending behaviour programmes. Offending behaviour programmes are considered more suitable for medium and higher risk prisoners. Prisoners at low risk of reoffending will benefit from rehabilitation services which might be provided by the prison or an outside agency. In a letter to the Prison Reform Trust, the Justice Minister Jeremy Wright outlined the intention behind the new PSI as “to encourage offender managers and offender supervisors, involved in the sentence planning process, to think creatively in terms of risk reduction”. He acknowledged: ”It is possible that, for a time, certain offender managers and supervisors focussed solely on formal accredited programmes in sentence plans and lost sight of
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the evidence which may be derived from other types of intervention can bring in terms of risk reduction – such as education and training, engaging in work and resettlement support”. “NOMS is working to ensure that sentence plans are well written and subject to review as prisoners progress through their sentences, and circumstances, such as risk levels, change,” he said. The Minister confirmed that “once the new sentence planning instruction is published, officials in the NOMS Offender Management and Public Protection Group will meet senior management in the Parole Board to ensure that Panel members are giving due weight to all the interventions specified in the sentence plans.” There have been a number of court cases taken against NOMS by prisoners which have clearly identified the problems faced by people making progress in their sentence and successfully challenged existing arrangements. Representations have also been made by the
Prison Reform Trust and allied organisations to help to ensure that, through personal accounts by prisoners and their families, applied research, advocacy with Ministers and officials and press coverage, the situation for people serving IPP sentences and those with learning disabilities has remained on the political and public agenda. For many people in prison, trying to progress their sentences has proved a long, painful and frustrating process. While these new instructions will not solve everything, and outcomes must be kept under close review, they do present a clearer and fairer way for people to plan and serve their sentences and to achieve release. More details can be found on PSI 41/2012 and also on a new information sheet on sentence planning produced by the Prison Reform Trust’s Advice and Information Team. Prison Reform Trust, FREEPOST ND 6125, London EC1B 1PN.
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2 February 2012
We can assist with:Dear Sheffield Magistrates Court – 27 January 2012
Parole | Adjudications & Appeals | Categorisation & Appeals Body of letter Licence Recall & Conditions | Lifer Hearings | IPP Hearings Sentence Planning/Progression | Sentence Calculation | HDC Appeals
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
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and so I invite the MoJ, Prisons and Probation Inspectorate and Offender Management staff to truly engage with prisoners and enter into honest, open and non-judgemental discussions about how they can help them to successfully progress through their sentences and become the better people they are striving to become. Stop the demonising, negative and critical approach, with its occasional disingenuous ‘Keep up the good work’ comments. Re-engage with the social support worker role that was your historical roots.
s the title to this piece the motto for Offender Management towards prisoners in UK prisons? It may as well be if they are going to continue the institutionalised bullying, intimidation and incompetence that prisoners are having to endure at the hands of those tasked with supposedly reforming and supporting those in their care towards becoming better people. Personally I have been terrified at the thought of sticking my head above the parapet for fear of becoming the target of the vindictive retribution that Offender Management staff mete out to anyone who dares to question their absolute power. Well, as they say, ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’, and, sad to say, there is overwhelming evidence that Offender Supervisors, Offender Managers, Probation and Prison Psychologists have been given such power to decide on the progress a prisoner makes towards release, that they have become judge, jury and (due to their despairingly unjust decisions leading to some poor souls seeking their only way out in a body-sized box) their executioner. Sadly justifying this by dispensing their opinions on highly impactful sentence plans, parole reports and psychology reports without an ounce of honest and provable evidence in the smug complacency that most of us are too terrified of being kept in prison forever to ever dare contest this unsupportable opinion. And even if we do they casually respond with the mantra of ‘Well, it is just my opinion’, as if they can dispense this summary judgement and it will have no future impact on our potential release. Don’t get me wrong I am no suppressor of free speech, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but if it is a ‘personal’ opinion then keep it to yourself as good manners would dictate in a professional situation. If it is a ‘professional’ opinion then firstly you would have to be properly professionally qualified and experienced in the area over which you are casting your professional opinion, and secondly, and probably more importantly, you should have real provable, honest evidence to support this opinion. The great intellectual, Leonardo Da Vinci once said ‘There is nothing more deceptive than to rely on your own opinion without any other proof, as experience always proves to be the enemy of alchemists, necromancers and other ingenious simpletons!’ I don’t believe that Offender Management staff are alchemists or necromancers, but if they continue to demonise and hamper our efforts to change for the better and progress through our sentences with nothing but unprovable opinion then there is only one group left that Da Vinci could put them in.
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Abandon all hope and despair all ye who enter Robert Pennington has a message for Offender Management I am not one of those bleeding heart woe-is-me prisoners who wonders why I am being punished so and crying all the time that life is not fair. I feel like I deserved to go to prison and I believe the world would be a better place if everyone accepted that life cannot be fair to everyone at all times. I felt driven to write this article to try and expose the plight of many in prison, particularly indeterminate prisoners like myself who really want to change for the better, address their offending behaviour and go on to lead peaceful and crime-free lives. Is this positive, hopeful, responsible approach being supported by those who can help and assist in these very laudable aims? Unfortunately, for the most part – NO! Is this because the people tasked to support us have better proven approaches that will more quickly and successfully help us
fisher meredith
to rejoin society at the earliest opportunity? Again, unfortunately – NO! Whilst I fear that my speaking out may mean that my life sentence becomes exactly that, despite having committed a terribly violent act myself I have vehemently disliked bullying and injustice against the weak and I cannot stand by and watch it continue in the guise of Offender Management. I am not just being antagonistic or an antiestablishment trouble causer as Offender Management would undoubtedly classify me, as they have with others who speak out, but I genuinely wish to see change. I was always taught that if something is harmful and wrong then I should speak out, even at my own risk. The great Martin Luther King said – ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’ –
You may notice I describe ‘us’ as ‘prisoners’ and not ‘offenders’ because I, as well as many others, have no intention of committing another ‘offence’. So, whilst I have offended, I am not and never will be an ‘offender’. You may think this a case of semantics and unimportant and yet, if Offender Management were to be renamed ‘Prisoner/Licensee (ex prisoner on license) Management’ and were encouraged to take a more positive and progressive approach towards helping prisoners change their lives for the better then they may actually find better attitudes towards prisoners and be better placed to motivate change in them. I realise that Offender Management are under pressure by a hypocritical media who desperately dramatise any mistake in order to sell more papers, but how about rising above this pressure and being professional and doing what is best for everyone in society? And I know this will draw the inevitable comment of – ‘Unlike you, we are thinking of the victims and future potential victims first!’ But, are you? Are you really? I had the absolute privilege of meeting some very brave and compassionate victims of crime at a Restorative Justice Programme I took part in earlier this year, and these strong, forgiving people took time out of their day to come into prison (which must have been a traumatic experience), and did they do this so that they could demonise or vilify us? No. They were honestly interested in finding out why we did what we did, and to know that there was hope that we would not go on to reoffend against others. So rather than the motto ‘Abandon all hope, and despair all ye who enter’ maybe Offender Management staff can take a leaf out of those victim’s book and truly help us to become the good, honest members of society that most of us long to be. Perhaps they should adopt the motto - ‘There but for the grace of God go I’.
Robert Pennington is currently resident at HMP Garth
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org reduce them to being very expensive turnkeys. And, being a contrary bunch, the last thing that staff want to be seen as is mere turnkeys; they want to be seen as being professionals, and being reduced to locking and unlocking is hardly a profession. The divide between some staff and prisoners may be important in shaping the view that the crim has of society as a whole. As a carrier of society’s attitudes, as a barometer of authority, then being dealt with by staff who believe that you are “scum” or “vermin” (as they call prisoners both on my blog and on their blog) inevitably colours your view of society - and then your view of whether it is either possible or sensible to try to live a straight life. © prisonimage.org
Prison staff To ask a con, or ex con, if prison staff are worth a damn is to open a whole can of worms. The instinctive reaction is to laugh like a loon and walk away shaking your head. And yet …
In good faith I was hoping to generate debate, to tease out any strands of common humanity that may exist between staff and cons. As ever, I was challenging but never abusive, playing the argument and not the man.
Ben Gunn
T
o talk about “prison staff” is an invitation to fall into the same trap that catches those who talk of “prisoners”. There is no homogeneous group to which particular characteristics can be ascribed, either when talking about staff or prisoners. Each collective comprises a disparate amalgamation of types, personalities, interests, needs and intentions. Some are good; some are shocking. That said. The place of prison officers in the debates around reoffending is that of bystander. I have yet to see any mention of the role or influence of staff in the discussion, they are treated as an irrelevance. And yet wing staff - the archetypal screw - are the authority figures which have the most dealings with prisoners and so could be said to have the potential to influence their charges. Some may recall my brief appearance on the (illegal!) blog run by anonymous prison staff.
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This was a dismal failure. I was bombarded by abuse, banned from the site and was followed by some screws who take advantage of my anti-censorship stance to post abuse here on my blog. And even though I failed to create dialogue, the attempt was instructive in the sense of gaining an insight into the outlook and belief systems of some staff. And I stress that caveat, “some staff”. Generalising from those posting on their blog is as meaningless as generalising about prisoners from my blog. There is a mind-set amongst some staff that lags somewhat behind the research.....Crime is simply a matter of free choices and crims make such choices deliberately. And it follows from such views that prison staff have no role to play in reducing reoffending; it is nothing to do with them. Of course, such a view of criminality is far removed from the reality, where crime is committed by the stupid, desperate, addicted, drunk, mentally ill....and the selfish. To suggest that prison staff have no role is to For advice and representation on: Adjudications Life Panel Tribunerals Parole Hearings Recall To Custody Categorisation Tariff Review Please contact: Carl Buckley, Andrew Mandleberg, Michelle Paterson, Carla Riozzi or Kelly Cyples at:
The role of Probation staff, Education staff and Psychology staff within prisons is debated and they are attributed with a place in reducing offending. It is strange that the staff most in contact with prisoners, then, is relegated to a sidenote, a caricature, and that this is allowed to pass unchallenged. That some staff embrace a view of indifference to any role in reoffending is an abrogation of professional as well as social responsibility. We pay the price for it, both in their healthy terms of employment and in terms of future victims. Prison staff should be challenged, not only for any wrongful acts they commit (brutality at Dartmoor, Scrubs and Frankland are lowlights of such) but for their deliberate refusal to engage with those they call “vermin”. Because they have immense opportunities to change attitudes and to encourage the exploration of new, pro social, paths in life and the
neglect of this potential is itself criminal. Obviously, to solely blame staff for their disinterest would be to allow policy makers off the hook. As the prison service became more professionalised and managerialist over the last couple of decades, increasing numbers of “specialist” staff were recruited. Top of that list are psychologists of various shades of ability, and some uniformed staff saw an opportunity for a slight career change and buggered off into being course tutors. That these semi-detached discipline staff are often labelled “care bears” by their colleagues only highlights the indifference staff can have towards rehabilitation. During this professionalisation, nearly every group of staff who had contact with prisoners altered. Education was privatised, psychologists imported, drug use workers shepherded in, healthcare finally handed to the NHS… Change has been the order of the decade. Except for the bog-standard screw. Prison service policy makers – the nerds in HQ who churn out all the paper and policies – forgot all about the screws. They were allowed to bumble along essentially unchanged in either their role or their training. They are now the least trained and professional group in prisons, and remain neglected in any talk about a “Rehabilitation Revolution”. Are they content to remain turnkeys? Or will they ever want to actually try to engage with prisoners instead of despising them? Ben Gunn was released recently after serving almost 32 years in prison
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
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n every prison you will find some prisoners who refuse to hold conversations in their cells, preferring to hold them on landings. Other prisoners holding conversations on landings will cover their mouths as they speak, ‘to avoid the Prison Service Lip Readers seeing what I’m saying’. Many prisoners will tell you that prison censors routinely photocopy all prisoners’ mail, regularly open legal letters ‘in error’, always record legal phone calls and often videotape legal visits. Of course, you could say that all the above are examples of paranoia, but even paranoids have people out to get them. The reality is much of the above prisoner suspicions are true. The videotaping of legal visits is something I experienced myself at Full Sutton in 2007 or 2008, when forgetting something in the legal visits cubicle I re-traced my steps to encounter a Senior Officer coming from visits with a folder marked ‘Rose Legal Visits’, and carrying a video tape. I challenged him about the videotape, but he just pushed past, and was gone. Of course, the tape could have been his personal copy of ‘Deep Throat or Emmanuel 25’. A complaint form received the reply, ‘I was mistaken’. I may be senile, but there’s nothing wrong with my eyesight. Needless to say, my lawyers never used legal visit cubicles, and still don’t. In another case at Full Sutton, a prisoner nicknamed ‘Corporal Booth’ for two scars on his back, was charged with bringing drugs into Full Sutton. From the CPS he received transcripts of his phone calls, to his courier. Included in the transcripts were printed copies
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As someone much hated by the Prison Service as an amateur observer and commentator on prison policies and practices, I have always accepted that surveillance was a part of prison life. What did not occur to me was there existed a detailed PSO/PSI on the methodology of the ‘Secret’ Surveillance of Prisoners. There is, and an extract from the public version is printed below. A full public version is available on the Prison Service website. There also exists an extended version of the PSI, issued only to governors, which remains secret and restricted.
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1.8 ‘Secret’ surveillance will assist with the maintenance of control in prisons and allow Managers to take informed decisions. 1.9 Compliance with RIPA across the whole prison estate and for this to be confirmed annually by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC). Application 1.10 This PSI is applicable to all establishments although it should be noted that in Contracted Out prisons, the application and authorisation process is slightly different. 1.11 ‘Secret’ surveillance must only be undertaken in accordance with the law.
Prison Service Instruction 22/2012: ‘Secret’ Surveillance of Prisoners. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act: National Security Framework - Ref: NSF 4.6 Issue Date 16/07/2012, Effective Date 30/07/2012, Expiry Date 16/07/2016.
1.1 The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) came into force in 2000 and provides prisons with a power to use ‘secret’ surveillance. The legislation and associated codes of Practice provide the framework for the use of ‘Secret’ surveillance and the application within prisons is set out in this PSI. 1.2 This PSI replaces the previous version of PSO 1000, National Security Framework Function 4, regarding ‘Secret’ surveillance. 1.3 A restricted PSI is being issued to governors, which contains more detailed instructions. Governors must only share that PSI with staff engaged in or likely to be engaged in the use of ‘Secret’ surveillance. 1.4 This instruction covers ‘Secret’ surveillance by public authorities (directed surveillance) and ‘Secret’ surveillance in a dwelling (includes a cell) or private vehicle (intrusive surveillance). Desired Outcomes 1.5 All prisons will use ‘Secret’ surveillance where it is necessary and proportionate to do so for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime/serious crime, preventing disorder, or on the grounds of public safety. 1.6 All prisons will have trained staff in the key
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1.7 Use of ‘Secret’ surveillance will be an integral part of the intelligence gathering process within prisons.
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1.12 Overt CCTV cameras must not be used for pre-planned target use against prisoners or visitors unless supported by an appropriate RIPA authorisation. Well I’m going to stop there, not because this is the end of this PSI, but the headings as reproduced above extend 3.16, which reads, ‘Further information is set out in the restricted PSI’. However, you get the picture, the paranoids have it, and the dubious sceptics are now enlightened. A concern of mine that the existence of this PSI brings to mind is that of remand prisoners. How can a person, allegedly innocent until proven guilty, properly prepare a defence whilst in Prison Service establishments? The Prison Service is far from neutral, and each prison contains a Police Liaison Officer. There have been well recorded examples of Police Officers masquerading as Prison Officers in high profile cases; the Birmingham 6 case is an example. Also, PSI 22/2012 specifically states at 3.12 ‘Information obtained by ‘Secret’ surveillance is shared securely with identified stakeholders’. Who are these ‘stakeholders’, the PSI doesn’t tell us, but you can bet it won’t be for the benefit of prisoners, remand or not. Perhaps the best way of dealing with life in prison is to remember a quote from the New York Times (18/12/94), ‘Only the paranoid survive’. Sleep well, ‘Big Brother is watching you’ (George Orwell 1949), and recording you and observing you and … Keith Rose is currently resident at HMP Whitemoor
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Old wine in new bottles Charles Hanson turns the spotlight on Offending Behaviour Programmes
Charles Hanson
A
s the reoffending rates of released prisoners continues to rise it is almost certain that there are members of that branch of psychology, the intellectual and criminological elite who will be thinking up the next Offending Behaviour Programme, given that current ones attract such diverse opinions as to whether or not they are effective. However, it will result in the same exercise of bottling old wine in new bottles. According to PSI (Prison Service Instruction) 07/2012 and PI (Probation Instruction) 01/2012 which became effective on 1 April 2012 and expires on 28 February 2016, accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes (‘courses’) currently being run within the custodial and community settings are a ‘systematic series of activities that are evidence-based and congruent with the “What Works” literature and which have been accredited by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel (CSAP). ‘In order to achieve accreditation each programme will have demonstrated that they are based on sound evidence on what techniques and interventions help offenders to change and what assessment tools are reliable in targeting the appropriate offenders for each intervention. For every intervention there is also a commitment to rigorous monitoring of the quality of programme delivery and an evaluation of the impact made by the programme on future reoffending’. It is also claimed that there is ‘growing international evidence’ that the type of cognitivebehavioural techniques that these accredited programmes apply are the most effective in reducing offending behaviour.
Where is this evidence? Where does that evidence emanate from? Who is providing this evidence? What links have the evidence providers got with the optimistic researchers who make such claims? What is the methodology in arriving at such optimism? What are the samples used and how many? Where? So many questions, and so many which remain unanswered. Offending Behaviour Programmes which range from Think First, CALM (Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage it), ART (Aggression Replacement Training), SCP (Self Change Programme), Sex Offender Treatment Programmes which includes no less that twelve different types of sex offender courses and five different ones for domestic violence, account in part of some thirty different types of programmes spread out across the prison and probation services and seem to, according to the claims, be the solution to reduce offending behaviour. Indeed the ultimate solution; the panacea to bringing down reoffending. With some 70% of released prisoners being reconvicted within two years of their release, and with many having undertaken courses of one description or another, is the other 30% who may have evaded the criminal justice system counted as success? Is a breach of licence for a non criminal matter regarded as a success? What evidence and what is success? In 2002 a Home Office study (Home Office Research Findings No. 161) by Caroline Friendship, Linda Blud, Matthew Erikson and Rosie Travers stated that ‘reconviction fell considerably after cognitive skills ‘treatment’. For example, two-year reconviction rates for treatment groups were up to 14 percentage points lower than matched comparison groups. Based on the number of prisoners expected to complete a cognitive skills programme in 2002–2003, this reduction represents almost 21,000 crimes prevented’. Well, Ms Blud the
creator of ETS would say that wouldn’t she and quite how anyone can calculate the figure of 21,000 crimes being prevented is a bit like clairvoyance for how can anyone possibly know? What do they base these figures on and again I ask, what is the methodology being applied here? Francis Nugent along with L. Falshaw, C. Friendship and R Travers were saying almost the same thing in their report ‘An Evaluation of HM Prison Service Accredited Cognitive Skills Programmes, Research Findings 206 in 2003.’ In that report, a Home Office study acknowledged that the cognitive skills schemes (ETS and Reasoning and Rehabilitation) had their limitations.
...there is rarely conclusive evidence that specific programmes have actually reduced offending behaviour The journal ... Criminology and Criminal Justice (February 2012)
That evaluation found no differences in the two-year reconviction rates for prisoners who had participated in cognitive skills programmes between 1996 and 1998 and a matched comparison group who had not participated. In other words, there was no difference between those who had completed the course and those who had not done the course. Current research into the success of these programmes seems almost entirely focused on a 12 month reconviction rate which of course tells us nothing about the reconviction rate over a longer period.
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Another research study in 2003, Home Office Research Findings 226, by Jenny Cann, Louise Falshaw, Francis Nugent and Caroline Friendship ‘Understanding What Works: Accredited Cognitive Skills Programmes for Adult Men and Young Offenders’, found that there were no differences in the one and two-year reconviction rates between adult men who started a prison-based cognitive skills programme and their matched comparison group and; that there were no differences in the one and two-year reconviction rates between young offenders who started a prison-based cognitive skills programme and their matched comparison group. The finding found that the reconviction rate for those who had completed a course between 1998-2000 was 75.3 per cent and those who had not done the course 75.7 per cent. This was hardly a success story. Over £27 million was spent on schemes such as Reasoning and Rehabilitation, and Enhanced Thinking Skills, until this Home Office study found that very few criminals had ‘changed their ways’, which eventually brought both courses to an end. Cognitive skills courses were first introduced in 1992 and were stepped up under the Blair Government. They are based on the idea that criminals carry out crimes because of mistaken beliefs. They might tell themselves that no one gets hurt (they are all insured) or interpret innocent actions as aggressive (demanding to know what are you looking at if you catch their eye in the street) or they may simply be unable to put themselves in other peoples shoes. Psychologists claim to know how to alter these attitudes and both the Home Office and now the Ministry of Justice have been stepping up the number of Offending Behaviour Programmes inspired by their theories. In 2002-03 over 12,000 courses were
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org completed at a cost of over £25m. Today, the cost to the public purse has increased out of all proportion to any successes. Many professional commentators have expressed concerns over offending behaviour programmes and whether they work to reduce risk. Jackie Craissati, a psychologist from the Bracton Centre, speaking at The Annual Conference of the Association of Prison Lawyers 2009 as reported in Inside Time (Examining the Flaws November 2009) expressed concern about the zero tolerance approach to failure which leads to the catastrophic consequences of a mistake in open conditions but has no regard for the fact that people do learn from mistakes and lapses. It was thought that it is a problem that people are not looking for alternative ways to offending behaviour programmes of reducing risk. Robert Forde, an independent forensic psychologist, said that, ‘the quality of research into this problem was very poor and making release contingent on doing programmes to reduce risk when there was no evidence of the effectiveness of those programmes was indefensible’. Almost half a million crimes a year are committed by people who have been released from jail, convicted or cautioned within the previous 12 months. Around 50,000 were committed by criminals who had previously been jailed at least 11 times. More than 3,000 of these new crimes were serious, violent or sexual offences.
are given help to leave behind their lives of crime. NOMS is currently undertaking a review of Accredited Programmes in consultation with the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel (CSAP). They say: ‘The existing costed operating models will provide valuable data to inform this review which will rationalise existing programme provision by identifying opportunities to introduce further savings and increase efficiency in programme delivery. A range of new programmes which will replace the current suite are due to be introduced in a phased process throughout 2012/13’. In the journal, Criminology and Criminal Justice (February 2012), ‘What Works’ and the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel: Taking Stock from an Inside Perspective’, the authors wrote that, ‘while there is often some evidence, at a general level of the general effectiveness of methods used in the programmes which the CSAP accredits, there is rarely conclusive evidence that specific programmes have actually reduced offending behaviour. Indeed members of the Panel have commented that in some cases accreditation itself has come to function almost as an alternative to evaluation: in other words, accreditation itself has been treated as evidence of effectiveness so that further evaluation is thought unnecessary. Noam Chomsky once said: “One waits in vain for psychologists to state the limits of their knowledge.”
The Ministry of Justice released the figures just days after David Cameron promised a “rehabilitation revolution” to make sure all prisoners
Charles Hanson is a former resident of HMP Blantyre House
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Remand prisoners Resettlement support for remand prisoners should not be overlooked, writes Francesca Cooney
PRISON REFORM TRUST Francesca Cooney Advice & Information Manager Prison Reform Trust
T
he difficulties people experience on remand are the same as anyone else in prison. People can still lose their home and their job, and see their relationship break down if they go to prison, whether they are sentenced or remanded. Services that cover resettlement support in prisons don’t always work with people on remand. The Prisons Inspectorate found that often remand prisoners had to try and access services themselves, and many would not have been in prison before. Many of the people on remand that the Prisons Inspectorate spoke to did not actually know what services were on offer in the prison. Two thirds (66%) of the people surveyed said they did not know who to contact for help with any area of resettlement. Remand prisoners will usually have an initial needs assessment. However, follow on work does not often happen. It is more difficult for prison staff to work with people on remand because there is uncertainty about how long they will be in prison. Housing advisers and providers find it hard to allocate housing when there is no exact time when someone will leave prison. Remand prisoners
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There is a legal principle that remand prisoners have more rights than convicted prisoners. This follows the principle of innocent until proven guilty and means that people on remand should have support to keep their lives going while they are inside. Remand prisoners are entitled to help from the prison with maintaining a (legal) business, contacting their family, maintaining employment and access to legal advice. However, limited access to phones makes this very difficult. The LASPO Act brought in new laws about remand. This means that people should not be remanded if there is ‘no real prospect’ of them getting a prison sentence. We hope this means that fewer people will be in prison on remand. If you would like more information about rights on remand or any other aspect of prison life, please telephone the Prison Reform Trust on 0808 802 0060, Mondays 3.30-7.30 and Tuesdays/Thursdays 3.30 -5.30. You can also write to us at Prison Reform Trust, FREEPOST ND 6125, London EC1B 1PN.
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The discharge grant is another area where someone who leaves prison having served time on remand in disadvantaged. The policy is that if your case has been dropped or you have walked free from court you cannot get the £46 discharge grant or a travel warrant, even though you are likely to have no money.
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can get housing benefit for up to a year (if not convicted). The idea behind this is that people who have not been convicted of any crime should not lose their housing. Accessing housing benefit can often make the difference between keeping and losing accommodation. People on remand with a mortgage can also get help with paying the interest part of the mortgage.
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Or write to us: Darren Jones Canter Levin & Berg, 1 Temple Square, 24 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 5RL
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
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structural power. In the past this was utilised by the priesthood to gain influence over monarchs. Today the same situation applies to scientists (or rather, those who employ them) and, to an equivalent degree, the legal profession. It is perhaps ironic that the one and only power a prisoner can wield is the same one that got them incarcerated. The system knows this. Whilst it is compelled to give limited access to certain aspects of the law (such as PSOs), it does its best to avoid helping prisoners from representing themselves. One may be able to obtain application forms from the Courts, but when it comes to presenting arguments or grounds in a professional manner a series of obstacles is raised. The photocopying, typing and printing of legal documents can be a nightmare. In my own case I was fortunate to be in a private ‘B’ category prison that facilitated these things whilst I prepared my grounds for appeal. It is likely that had I not been able to adequately research the relevant case law and type it up, the Court would have rejected my appeal. In short, the placement in a public sector prison would have stopped the wheels of justice from rolling. No doubt those seeking to initiate Judicial Review proceedings against the prison system face similar, if not greater, problems.
he legal books filled shelf upon shelf, each a compendium of cases from the As to the Zs. Textbooks on sentencing procedure, arguments for defence, and appeal technicalities had a dedicated section opposite a row of computers. One huge turnstile with racks of law related magazines stood to the left of the door that led to the main library, where a photocopier stood on standby. The only sound was the gentle hum of the computers and a distant murmur of rain. Welcome to Allenwood’s Law Library. No, this is not some picture of a reference library in central London. Nor is it the latest addition to a low-security Scandinavian jail. Allenwood is a medium security federal prison in upstate New York, and its law library is open practically every day to every inmate. It is just one example of the average law library found in most American prisons. No such comparison can be found in England. The closest I’ve seen was in a ‘B’ category private training prison. In the public sector libraries are run by or in partnership with a local authority. As such, resources and facilities vary widely. But one apparent similarity is the lack of any law library, or an area which allows prisoners to research, type and print legal work for their cases. Indeed, where there are no hindrances to accessing the library there are often prohibitions that block prisoners from doing any active casework. Questions and concerns arise as to why this should be so. Does the public sector prison estate deem prisoners too stupid to research and prepare their own case? Or is it because the system is afraid of what prisoners could accomplish if given the opportunity? Justice, as we all know, is by no means a uniform enactment. The length of a sentence and the outcome of an appeal can sometimes depend not on the facts of the case but upon which judge(s) made the decision. Often politics is allowed to play a part in a state of affairs which sees prisoners as unfortunate pawns in a corrupt voting game. Sure, Britain is not alone in letting the popular (‘gutter’) press form influencing policies on crime and justice, but it is arguably too dependent on what papers have to say or rather the un-convicted criminals who own them. This is perhaps why Britain has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, choosing to jail those who are no real threat to society or who could be rehabilitated in far better and cost-effective ways. In this country it is punishment (no matter how counter-pro-
Legal Eagle Stephen Jackley looks at how the law is stacked against prisoners ductive) that takes priority. There is one thing, however, that prevents the country from falling into a totalitarian state or mob-ruled mess: the law. Without it there would be no rights, no protection for the innocent citizen, no means to redress inhumane or discriminatory treatment, and no justice. It has the power to make entire institutions fall to their knees and shake the most corrupt corporate empires into sensibility. Despite efforts from various powerful and influential self-interested quarters to repeal long-established statutes, notably the fundamental principles of human rights, the law is meant to be long lasting and impartial. Nevertheless, new Acts can be made within parliament, which in turn become part of the law. Unlike Britain, America has a constitution: a document that enshrines a set of laws and
principles that cannot be erased. Nor has America’s foundations been forgotten: how a group of pioneers stood up to an exploitative tyranny, becoming condemned in the process only to emerge as founders of a new independent nation. Those who wrote the subsequent Constitution knew how important freedom was; how the rights and liberty of every citizen should be safeguarded. Such an ethos is echoed by the rights given to defendants in Court (you can make oral arguments in Court, for example) and by the opportunities given for self-representation. Britain has a far more elitist legal system, which succeeds in blocking all but a small minority from understanding and utilising the law.
Specialists in Prison Law • Criminal Court Proceedings and Appeals • Police Interviews in Prison • Mental Health Reviews
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Stephen Jackley is currently resident at HMP The Verne
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Unfortunately, the prison system is unlikely to lift the obstacles on self-representation any time soon, least of all to build American-style legal libraries. Whilst this remains the case, and Legal Aid cutbacks continue, justice cannot be within reach of all.
Knowledge is power – whoever is able to deny the access of others to a kind of knowledge and is able to control the avenues by which it is communicated has a very special brand of
Lewis Sidhu Solicitors Criminal Defence
Many would argue that self-representation is not an important issue because that’s what solicitors are for. But with Legal Aid cutbacks, the work of solicitors doesn’t go as far as it used to. And what happens to those who can’t get representation for their case? The increasingly selective criteria that law firms use to work with new clients leaves many with no apparent option but giving up. On the other hand, self-representation is no easy course. It requires patience, perseverance and a not insignificant degree of legal knowledge. This is not to say it cannot be done. In addition, self-representation can be a beginning step towards securing Representation Orders for a chosen solicitor/barrister, provided the Court sees merit in the case. If this happens you will not have to worry about speaking before a judge (which isn’t allowed anyway) or about delving deeper into a legal labyrinth.
• An ‘in house’ advocacy team for all prison law Hearings-Adjudication and Parole
Need Help? Contact Michael Robinson
emmersonssolicitors
52 John Street, Sunderland, SR1 1QN 0191 567 6667 emmersons-solicitors.co.uk
Even as a serving prisoner you still have rights and we will do our best to protect and advance those rights.
• Links to specialist barristers and QCs for Appeals Against Sentence, Wrongful Conviction & Judicial Review • An excellent track record in relation to POCA/Forfeiture matters • A well respected criminal department, solicitor with Crown Court Rights of Audience and a team of police station representatives. Members of the Association of Prison Lawyers
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11 T h e P a v e m e n t , P o p e s L a n e , Ealing, London W5 4NG
National Prison Radio
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
writing socially conscious lyrics. They have a political message and sing from the perspective of the sufferer, which is something that people can identify with in prison.’ The newest influence comes via one of NPR’s most popular weekly music shows, The Rock Show. Metallica, Slipknot and Evanescence are all new entries in the NPR chart and make a big difference to the overall flavour of the station and the NPR Most Requested.
P T op 20 M H e h T
Dave, the presenter of The Rock Show thinks this is down to the loyalty of the show’s listeners - ‘We get dozens of letters every week from people who tune in to every show without fail. I think fans of rock music are some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable out there, so I get tonnes of requests. And there’s no denying that a lot of rock music speaks to some of the frustrations and anxieties people inside feel, so listening to something heavy can be a healthy release from prison life.’
NPR Most Requested Artists of 2012
Every January, National Prison Radio compiles a list of the most requested artists of the year. With some stark differences to the UK Top 20, there are also a few surprise appearances in the 2012 chart...
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ast year National Prison Radio received around 4,000 letters from prisons across the UK - over 1,000 more than the previous year. Many of the letters came from people wanting to share their stories or get more information on services available to support them in prison, and several hundred came from people wanting a free book or dictionary from the NPR Book Club. But the majority of letters included a request for NPR’s most popular programme, The Request Show - so much so that in October, NPR doubled the length of the show from one to two hours every weekday. For a special edition of the show seeing in the New Year, NPR took stock of all the letters and requests from 2012 and created a Top 20 Chart of the Most Requested Artists of 2012. The results are fascinating, and once again show a different side to people’s listening tastes than other charts published in the UK at the end of the year. One of the biggest differences from UK charts is the absence of women in the NPR charts,
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whereas female artists like Adele, Emeli Sandé and Jessie J have been dominant forces in the UK charts over the last year. Although Rihanna has gone up to fourth place in the NPR Most Requested, other best-selling female artists 2012 - including Lana Del Rey and Nicki Minaj - are nowhere to be seen. Like last year, the NPR Most Requested has a particularly urban slant, with Tupac once again topping the chart, British rapper K Koke coming straight in at number three and Canadian hip-hop artist Drake appearing for the first time in fifth place. Reggae and dancehall also remain huge influences in the NPR chart, with Vybz Kartel staying in the number two spot, and Gyptian and Jah Cure appearing in the top twelve, though Bob Marley surprisingly fell from third place to 14th. Richie, presenter of NPR’s weekly reggae show Bob and Beyond at HMP Brixton, says that reggae is making a big comeback and that its popularity in prison is down to the music’s themes and lyrics. ‘Artists like Jah Cure are leaving behind the slackness and violence and
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Tupac Vybz Kartel K Koke Rihanna Drake Akon Metallica Pink Floyd Biggy Smalls Gyptian Jah Cure Slipknot UB40 Bob Marley Lil Wayne Eminem Evanescence Mavado Devlin Giggs
1 1 NEW
p1 NEW
p2 NEW
p 11 p4 q6 p5 NEW
q7 q 11 NEW
q6 NEW
q 12 p3 q 7
What do you think of the NPR Top 20? Does it represent your musical tastes? To hear your favourite tracks on National Prison Radio or tell us what you think of the chart, write to us at HMP Brixton, Jebb Avenue, London SW2 5XF. And your friends and family on the outside can request a song for you at www. nationalprisonradio.com. The Request Show - every weekday on NPR at 13.00, repeated at 18.00 Bob and Beyond - every Sunday at 7.00,
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repeated at 21.00 The Rock Show - every Friday at 9.00, repeated on Saturday at 20.00 Brit 40 - the UK’s only chart show presented by and for prisoners - every Friday on NPR at 15.00, repeated Monday at 9.00
‘I’ve heard prison is nice, I’ve heard some people say prison is fun’ For most, arriving in prison for the first time is daunting, confusing, even frightening. But Tim Westwood and National Prison Radio have found that for many young people, prison represents something very different, and worryingly unrealistic… This month on National Prison Radio, in the documentary Crossroads, DJ and presenter Tim Westwood meets three teenagers to find out if prison is really a deterrent from a life of crime. The young people have all been involved in gangs and faced arrest. In short, they are all at serious risk of entering the prison system before long unless they make changes to their lives. They reveal that the threat of a prison sentence is not a deterrent against committing crime, but rather an occupational hazard, or even a status symbol. In making the programme, Westwood also spent time with three serving prisoners in HMP Brixton, talking to them about their own youthful perceptions of prison life and how the reality compares. Together, they recorded messages to send back to the youngsters, busting the myths about the glamour of prison. You can hear what happened when Westwood took these testimonies to the teens, and find out if the truth had an impact on how they live their lives. Crossroads broadcasts on National Prison Radio on Friday 18 January at 5.00pm. Crossroads was originally produced for and broadcast on Radio 1Xtra in November 2012. How does prison life really compare to the image on the outside? If you could send a message to your sixteen year-old self, what would it be? Tell us what YOU think: write to National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF.
Birchall Blackburn - Specialists in Prison Law Be represented by a Qualified Solicitor with experience in prison law with a reputation for success
The assistance we can offer is: -
Parole: Paper Parole Panels, Lifer Panels, ESP & IPP Representation, Recall Reviews including Representation at ORAL HEARINGS. Progression & Re Categorisation: CAT A... Sentence Planning, Re Categorisation, HDC, ROTL, Risk Assessment/Reduction. Any
Issue effecting Progression or release, Challenging Licence Conditions Adjudications: Independent and Governor Adjudications Human Rights Issues: Disability Discrimination, Parole Delay Any other violations of Human Rights Appeals and Challenges: Appeal against conviction and sentence, Applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, Challenging Parole Decisions’, Judicial Review arising from any Prison Law matter.
Video Link Facilities available NATIONWIDE SERVICE
We also offer assistance with: Magistrate/Crown Court Representation, Family Law, Personal Injury Initial Enquires to: Matthew Bellusci - Head of Prison Law Birchall Blackburn, Prison Law Department, Merchant House, 38 – 46 Avenham Street, Preston, PR1 3BN Members of the Association of Prison Lawyers Tel : 01772 552229 Fax: 01772 202438 Mobile:07834 630847
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Ombudsman
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Reflections on independence PRISONS AND PROBATION
OMBUDSMAN for England and Wales
Prisons & Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen writes exclusively for Inside Time.
Nigel Newcomen CBE Prisons and Probation Ombudsman
T
he Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) can be an exposed role, with plenty of criticism to contend with – and the occasional compliment - as Inside Times’ letters pages demonstrate. This, of course, comes with the territory. Recently, some national newspapers loudly disagreed with my upholding of certain complaints from prisoners, while at the same time other commentators hit these pages to roundly condemn my office for never going far enough. Perhaps this suggests I am achieving an appropriate balance – and certainly demonstrating clear independence of mind! This independence of mind is absolutely essential. The whole point of creating the PPO was to meet Lord Justice Woolf’s 1991 criticism that prisoners lacked an independent avenue to pursue complaints. As a result, a Prisons Ombudsman was created, later expanding to take on complaints from those on probation and then those in immigration detention. In a further major expansion of responsibility, independent investigation of all deaths in custody was added in 2004. Independence has always been central to what we do. It is disappointing that this independence, and the powers I need to do the job, were never
set out in law, although this has long been promised by Governments, including this one. Instead, my published terms of reference provide administrative guarantees of absolute independence from the services to be investigated, together with operational independence from the Ministry of Justice, the Government which “sponsors” me (ie funds me – and public money requires a departmental owner or “sponsor”). Like my predecessors, I continue to press for a statutory basis for my work as this would provide greater visible independence, unarguable legal powers and place a legal duty on the services I investigate to co-operate with me.
in an open competition in line with the public appointments process and my appointment was confirmed by the cross-party Justice Select Committee of the House of Commons. The Committee is no push over.
Interestingly, this issue of the visible independence for criminal justice scrutiny bodies has been the subject of recent public and Parliamentary debate. Thus the Independent Police Complaints Commission has had its employment of former police officers questioned, while – in contrast - the new Chief Inspector of Constabulary has been criticised for not being a police officer! In similar vein, there has been some interest in my background and that of my staff.
We don’t have easily accessible employment data but, because of the public debate, we recently undertook a snap shot survey of the employment backgrounds of PPO staff. Of just over 100 staff, 15 had previously worked in operational jobs in the organisations we investigate: prisons, probation or immigration detention (for example as prison or probation officers). A further 30 had spent part of their civil service careers working in the national headquarters, or other non-operational areas, of these services (in roles such as policy, casework, finance, human resources or other support services). Most had never worked in any capacity for the organisations we investigate.
For my part, I have worked in both the probation service and as a Home Office civil servant in the headquarters of the Prison Service. But that was some time ago. For nearly nine years before my appointment, I was Deputy Chief Inspector of Prisons, in what is widely acknowledged as a robustly independent Inspectorate, firmly focused on human rights and the conditions for and treatment of detainees. I was recruited as PPO
As to my staff, they come from a wide range of backgrounds, inside and outside the civil service and bring a rich source of experience to the task. Whatever their backgrounds, all my staff have to become Ministry of Justice civil servants simply to get paid - just as previously they had to become Home Office civil servants when that was the “sponsoring” department.
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Indeterminate and Life Sentence Prisoner issues Lifer and Category A Reviews Adjudications (Northwest Regions) Judicial Reviews Proceeds of Crime and Confiscation Orders Appeals - Sentence and/or Conviction Representation for Prisoners on Licence Recategorisation Representation Representation at Extradition Hearings For an immediate response call:
Yasmin Aslam
Solicitor Advocate/ Prison Law Supervisor
0161 226 2070 24 hours a day 7 days a week Fax : 0161 226 7020
Community Legal Service
In any case, the issue of staff backgrounds should not be overemphasised. My staff are not recruited for their background, but for the skills and competencies they bring to the role. All investigators now also undertake accredited investigative training to develop their skills as independent investigators. Irrespective of background, all my staff are required to exercise absolute independence of judgment and to behave in a way that is fair, honest and impartial in line with our published core values. Which is why we do not allow complainants to pick and chose their investigator – the cab rank principle applies: you get the first investigator available. And there is ample evidence that my staff do act without fear or favour. Where we see fit, we will find against the bodies we investigate and in favour of the complainant. Where we see fit, will we criticise robustly any failings in the care given to those who have died in prison or immigration custody or probation approved remises. Equally, where we do not find fault, we will not find in favour of complainants. And where we see good safer custody practice we will commend it. That is how it should be – no fear or favour. We will not and do not expect to satisfy everyone. We also sometimes make mistakes and must learn from those mistakes. So we will keep taking the criticisms (and the smaller number of compliments), keep learning and stay robustly impartial. In the end, we will be judged on our behaviour and our independence of mind in our decision-making. I accept that the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
This seems to be a reasonable mix of different experiences. For example, in my day in the Inspectorate of Prisons, around half the inspectors were seconded prison
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governors but the organisation’s independence of mind was - rightly - rarely questioned.
Yasmin Aslam (formerly of Levys) Successful in Prison Law for over 10 years Board member of Partners of Prisoners
AGI Criminal Solicitors 94 Withington Road Manchester M16 8EE
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How to complain to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) l The PPO investigates complaints from prisoners and probation supervisees in England and Wales, and from immigration detainees anywhere in the UK. l We are not part of the Prison Service, the Probation Service, NOMS or UKBA. We are independent, impartial and unbiased. l We can investigate complaints about most aspects of your management, supervision, care, and treatment. We can’t investigate complaints about medical treatment or about decisions by a court or the Parole Board. l Before you complain to us you must complete all the stages of the internal complaints process first. If you are still unhappy: l write to us within three months of receiving the final response l send us a short note telling us why you are not happy with the response to your complaint l send us your completed complaint forms - we will copy and return them to you. (If you don’t have the complaint forms you can still complain to us but it will take us a bit longer to respond). Write to us at: Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Ashley House, 2 Monck Street, London SW1P 2BQ.
The Parole Board
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
The Parole Board ... wants prisoners to play a more active part in parole reviews says the Board’s Chairman Sir David Calvert-Smith Chairman, the Parole Board
I
am proud to have taken up the position of Chairman of the Parole Board in October last year. I feel a strong sense of responsibility towards those prisoners who depend upon the Parole Board for robust, timely and fair decisions in their cases. Parole Board decisions have life changing consequences for prisoners and that is not a duty to be taken lightly. The Board has a duty to make independent decisions which take account of all of the evidence available to us, including evidence provided by prisoners themselves, and that is a duty that we take very seriously.
Reducing delays in hearing cases A top priority for the Parole Board is to reduce the delays in holding oral hearing cases. In order to cope with continued rises in IPP and life sentence cases we have increased the number of cases we hear from 200 a month in 2009/10 to 325 a month in 2011/12. However, despite a record number of oral hearings, the increase in cases sent to the Board has continued to rise, and further increases are on their way. Things are not as bad as they were. The backlog of cases was cut by 40% from 2,650 in April 2010 to 1,420 in April 2011. Unfortunately, the backlog has now started to rise once again and stood at 1,600 in August 2012. In 2009/10 and 2010/11, 32% of parole reviews were held on time. However, the fall in the backlog of cases started to feed through to waiting times during 2011/12 and the number of cases held on time rose to 38% in that year.
CG LAW SOLICITORS
We know how important it is to start getting waiting times down once again and we are committed to do everything we reasonably can to try to achieve this. We want to get the number of deferred or adjourned cases down and also make use of new technology, such as electronic dossiers, to become more efficient.
Parole hub video-link hearings You may have heard tales from the South West about the possibility of appearing at your parole hearing by video link. A pilot scheme ran at HMP Bristol for 6 months testing the technology and also how well the hearings work. The idea behind the pilot was to increase the number of hearings the Board can hold, to reduce the number of cases deferred because a witness could not attend in person, and thereby to reduce delay for prisoners.
Prisoner survey The Parole Board already carries out an annual survey, asking people we work with what they think about the work that we do and the way that we do it. However, as these surveys are carried out online they do not include prisoners who do not have access to the internet. This leaves a big gap in our understanding of how prisoners experience the parole process and how well they are able to engage with it to make sure that they get a timely and fair decision. There are a wide range of issues which can affect a prisoner’s ability to play an active part in their parole review. We can take account of some of these factors such as learning disabilities. However, there may be many other things which the Parole Board does not know
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about. We accept that it is very difficult for prisoners to raise any concerns they have with the Board directly. To fill this gap the Board is now carrying out a survey of offenders, including those who are in prison and have recently had a parole review, and those in the community who have been released on parole licence. The survey will ask about how you prepare for your hearing, your experience of the hearing itself, if you have attended one, and how the panel’s decision was communicated to you. The survey has been designed in an easy read format with the invaluable help of the Working for Justice Group and Keyring, who work with ex-offenders with learning difficulties, and is being distributed to all prison libraries with the very kind assistance of Inside Time newspaper. The survey should be completed and returned to the Parole Board at the FREEPOST address on the form. A digital copy will also be published on the Parole Board website and can be printed out from there if you cannot get a hard copy. If you need help completing the survey please ask. We will not ask you to identify yourself on the form. Please do get hold of a copy of the survey and let us know what you think. We really do want to hear from you. The New Parole Chairman for Scotland page 43
In the first six months of 2012 the “hub” held 150 hearings with 300 video links between the “hub”, satellite prisons and probation offices. This allowed Parole Board panel members and more than 500 witnesses to take part in the parole process, saving many of them the cost and time of travelling to the hearing. There were some problems with the technology and also the location of the parole “hub” at HMP Bristol. So in October 2012 it moved to Parole Board HQ at Grenadier House in London. This has enabled us to provide better administrative support and accommodation. There are now 13 satellite prisons feeding the “hub”, including HMP Blantyre House, Garth, Leyhill, Lindholme, Ranby and Shepton Mallet, with more to follow. Video-link hearings will take some getting used to for everyone involved. But they are now common in the court system and help to save time and money, and reduce delays for all.
61 Birkenhead Street, London WC1H 8BB 020 7843 4344
[email protected] www.cg-law.co.uk
CG Law Solicitors is a London based firm of criminal defence lawyers and can assist in all defence cases regardless of where the court may be. We specialise in the following types of offences: Murder, Serious Drug Cases, Fraud Charges, Cannabis Cultivation, Money Laundering, Confiscation Matters.
Clients can be represented at the Magistrates or the Crown Courts and a team of lawyers are available to undertake representation on all types of criminal cases. They can also advise on matters of : Appeals against a Conviction and/or Sentence
When representing you, you can be assured of the very best attention at all times and committment to achieve the desired outcome. Only the best barristers are employed to assist and represent you. We will not turn our back on you, you will not be alone. Please write to us at the above address.
Kendi dilinizde davanizin hazirlanmasini istiyoursaniz bizi arayin veya bize mektup gonderin gelip sizi gorelim, sizi dinleyelim, size yardim edelim cunku bizimle yalniz oldugunuzu unutacaksiniz. Turk vatandaslari cezanizi Turkiyede tamamlamak istiyorsaniz bizi arayin size yardimci olalim.
Prisoner Survey 2013 Fifty copies of the Survey (and envelopes) have been despatched with Inside Time to all prison libraries. The deadline, for returning the Survey, is the end of March 2013. If reading and writing is easy for you please help others who want to complete the Survey but who are unable to do so.
Do YOU need help?? • have you been injured or mistreated? • have you been wrongly convicted? • have you been recalled on licence? • do you want help with recategorisation, IPP or your parole hearing? • do you have a prison disciplinary issue?
We can assist - call the EXPERTS A QUICK response guaranteed Call today and ask for George Shelley or Catherine Jones 02920 484550 or 07771 568525 or write to:
Bowden Jones Solicitors 19 Newport Road, Cardiff CF24 0AA
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Murray Hennigan Solicitors 25a Warwick Row Coventry CV1 2EZ 024 76 632950
serving the midlands
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Criminal Cases Review Commission
Insidetime December 2013 www.insidetime.org
Applying to the CCRC If you are thinking about applying to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), there are some important things you need to bear in mind Justin Hawkins Head of Communication Criminal Cases Review Commission
F
irstly, you should ask yourself whether you should be applying to the CCRC, or whether you should be trying to appeal normally. This is very important because if you haven’t already tried to appeal in the normal way through the courts, the CCRC will usually be unable to help and will probably advise you to go back and ask the courts for a normal appeal. Remember, you could be wasting valuable time if you apply to the CCRC before you’ve tried for a normal appeal. It could take the CCRC several weeks to look into your case and decide they can’t help because you haven’t tried to appeal before - that will be several weeks wasted. So, if you haven’t tried to appeal before, you need to try that first. Don’t worry too much if you have missed the time limit for a normal appeal, because you can still try to appeal this is called appealing “out of time”. You can still apply to the CCRC if you lose your appeal, or if the court doesn’t give you permission to appeal. Also, you should not apply to the CCRC if you already have an appeal pending because we won’t be able to look at your case. In some rare cases the CCRC will look into a case even when someone has not already tried to appeal. For this to happen there have to be
special reasons (called “exceptional circumstances”). This is very unusual and in the majority of cases, there are no exceptional circumstances. As everyone knows, the appeal process can be very complicated. So, to help you get to grips with it, the CCRC has teamed up with Inside Time and with the charity JUSTICE, to send a copy of a book called How to Appeal to every prison library in England and Wales. The book, written by JUSTICE, explains how to appeal
against Crown Court convictions and sentences in England and Wales. The books will be arriving in prison libraries in January. Anyone with access to the internet can see the book at www.justice.org.uk or by googling “Justice how to appeal”. Another important question to ask yourself before applying to the CCRC is: “What am I going to say that is new?” This is really important because, if the CCRC is going to be able to refer your case for an appeal, it will
PROBLEMS WITH THE PRISON? YOU NEED
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need to find some new evidence or legal argument that makes your case look significantly different now. “New” usually means something that was not covered at your trial or your appeal. For example, it may be new evidence not known about at the time of your trial or appeal (like the evidence of a new witness, or something that has changed since you were convicted like a new development in science). It will also have to be something significant – for example, it won’t be any use to say that you can prove a witness got the colour of your shoes wrong if the colour of your shoes was not important in the case, or if there is a lot of other strong evidence that helped get you convicted. Lots of people apply to the CCRC by simply saying that the jury made a mistake and believed the prosecution instead of believing them. That approach doesn’t really give the CCRC anything to go on. We need something new, some new evidence or legal argument that the magistrate, jury or judge didn’t hear, that makes the case seem different now. The CCRC doesn’t expect you to hand us new evidence on a plate - we will go looking for it ourselves - but what we need to help us is a clear account of what happened in your case. It’s no use just telling us that the jury got it wrong and didn’t believe you. We need to work out what went wrong to land you with a wrongful conviction so we need to know things like: what was it that misled the jury, why you think your alibi fell apart, why are you so sure a witness was lying, what was it that the jury didn’t get to hear that might have changed their minds. Every case is different and these are just a few examples of the sort of things you should be thinking about. The key thing to remember is that we are basically looking for something new, not the same stuff the courts have already heard at your trial or your appeal. You might ask, “Why do I have to have appealed first?” and “Why does the CCRC have to find something new?” Well, the straight answer is that it’s because those are
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an information informationpack packand andapplication applicationform, form, please For an please phone us write to to: us on on 0121 0121633 2331800 1473oror write Criminal Tower,Place, Criminal Cases Cases Review ReviewCommission, Commision, Alpha 5 St Philip’s Suffolk StreetB3 Queensway, Birmingham B1 1TT. Birmingham 2PW www.ccrc.gov.uk www.ccrc.gov.uk
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org the rules. When the CCRC was created in 1997 it was given the job of investigating alleged miscarriages of justice. It was given powers to investigate and the power to send cases back to the appeal courts where necessary. It was also given a set of rules to work by. One of those rules is that the CCRC cannot normally refer a case if the person hasn’t tried to appeal first. Another is that a CCRC referral must be based on some new evidence or argument. That may seem harsh to some people, but, apart from some very rare exceptions, they just are the rules. The CCRC is not just free to send any case it likes for a new appeal – it can only refer cases that meet the conditions. You should also bear in mind that the CCRC is independent. This means that we don’t work for the police, the courts, the prosecution or the government. It also means that we don’t work for you, at least not in the way that lawyers work for their clients, and we don’t take instructions like lawyers. We are only interested in the facts of the case. If we find something that supports your claim that you were wrongly convicted, we will take it into account. But, if we find something that supports the case against you - and this happens quite a lot - we will also take that into account when we make our decision. There have been some inaccurate figures quoted about how many cases we refer and how many CCRC cases are won on appeal. Here are the actual figures. Since it started work in 1997, the CCRC has so far referred 509 cases - that’s an average of 33 a year, or just over one case every two weeks. Just over 70% of the people whose cases have been referred have won their appeals. Since 1997
we have received a total of just over 15,500 applications – around 40% of those have been from people who had not tried to appeal before applying. In almost all of those cases, the CCRC could not help and had to advise those people that they should try to appeal in the normal way through the courts. Some people will tell you that applying to the CCRC is a waste of time. We disagree. You should think carefully about whether you should apply. Think about the rules explained in this article. Have you tried to appeal through the courts? You will almost certainly need to have done that first. What are you going to tell us to help us find something new in your case? You should think carefully about applying, but if you have already tried to appeal and got nowhere, and you have a genuine claim to have been wrongly convicted, you should apply. There is a CCRC Questions and Answers document that tries to explain the things you need to know before you decide whether applying is the right thing for you. It also contains some information about how to appeal in the normal way. We will send it to you, with an application form, if you write to us at 5 St Philip’s Place, Birmingham B3 2PW. (The Q and A and application form can also be found online by going to www.ccrc.gov.uk and clicking on “Forms and How to Apply”.) We hope that with this information, and with the copy of the How to Appeal book we are putting in every prison library in England and Wales, everyone thinking of appealing, or thinking of applying to the CCRC, will be able to make the right decision for their circumstances. Appeals: a Q&A guide page 42
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CNN’s article says that if the body count “holds up”, this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening.
Quote of the Month Turn off the news!
Morgan Freeman’s comment on the Newtown massacre
You want to know why. It’s because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theatre shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single ‘victim’ of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.
Fox News has plastered the killer’s face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer’s identity? None that I’ve seen yet. Because they don’t sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you’ve just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care centre or a maternity ward next. You can help by forgetting you ever read this man’s name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news. It turns out Morgan Freeman’s spokesman said that this piece was a hoax and confirmed that it had not been written by the Actor. Nonetheless it received extensive viewing on the internet.
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New Bridge: Befriending Evaluation
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Celebrating the work of the New Bridge Foundation New Bridge volunteer
N
ew Bridge is a charity founded in 1956 to create links between offenders and the community. It’s Befriending Service aims to support people in prison, by establishing and maintaining contact through letter writing and visiting. In the past 5 years 34,891 letters have been exchanged between volunteers and offenders. In the past 10 years New Bridge befrienders have travelled 843,514 miles to make visits to prisoners.
The Befriending Evaluation Senior staff at New Bridge and Trustees designed a questionnaire specifically for this study. Questionnaires were sent to all of those in prisons in the United Kingdom who have received Befriending support for more than six months. 153 responses were received (53%). We would like to thank all prisoners who took the time and trouble to complete the questionnaire, and who provided us with the valuable data for this report. Findings indicate that the Befriending Service has promoted a number of positives outcomes: l Increased motivation to re-establish contacts with those in the community; l Improved self-esteem and confidence; l Reduced feelings of isolation; l More positive thinking about their current and future lives; l A move towards a more positive sense of personal identity.
Professor David Wilson, a New Bridge Vice President together with Sophie Rowe, the Report’s Author at the launch.
On 28th November 2012 New Bridge launched Foundations & Futures, the first Befriending Service Evaluation Report. The launch at Hogan Lovells LPP, London, was attended by long-term supporters of New
ing Service had been met (see table below). 87% of prisoners said that contact with New Bridge had reduced their feelings of isolation. 119 (78%) prisoners reported that New Bridge had positively changed the way they think about their life now and for the future. These outcomes indicate that long-term befriending of prisoners can help towards successful re-integration into the community and can reduce the likelihood of re- offending. When asked what New Bridge could do to improve the Befriending Service the dominant
suggestion was to widening access and knowledge about New Bridge and what it could offer. This Evaluation is part of an on-going process in which we are engaged: to monitor the impact of our work and to show where we need to focus in the future. Sophie Rowe is a lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University. New Bridge, 27a Medway Street, London SW1P 2BD Tel: 020 7976 0779 Registered Charity No: 1103511
How far have prisoners' expectations of the Befriending Service been met? How far have prisoners’ expectations of the Befriending Service been met? 90 80 70 Percentage
By Sophie Rowe
Bridge from the prison service, NOMS, as well as several of our volunteers. Some newer faces were also introduced to the organisations work. New Bridge President Sir Joe Pilling and Professor David Wilson, Vice-President introduced my research presentation.
Met
60 50
Somewhat met
40
Neither met or not met
30
Somewhat not met
20
Not met
10 0
Someone outside to take an interest in me
Visits
Letters
Reduced my feelings of isolation
As a result of their involvement with New Bridge: l 79 (52%) said they felt more motivated to contact friends; l 79 (52%) said they felt more motivated to contact family; l 90 (59%) said they felt more motivated to contact people from other organisations. We were pleased to see how many prisoners reported that their expectations of the Befriend-
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Psychology
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Why the Parole Board is such a mess by Dr Bob Johnson Consultant Psychiatrist
“P
RISONER in the dock, the jury has found you guilty, so as Trial Judge, my task is to sentence you”. So far, so commonplace. But what if the Honourable Judge then spoke as follows “I see from the irrefutable medical evidence before me, that society is ultimately responsible for the crimes committed within it, so for every year I sentence you, I shall fine the taxpayer £50,000, and where I impose a life sentence, that’d be £1million a decade”. These figures are underestimates, yet how many Home Secretaries or other politicians would dare voice even a fraction of them? And there’s worse. What the Judge is also doing is taxing society by confiscating all that profitable work you would normally have done, had you been in gainful employment. All the income tax, VAT and other taxes you would have paid, all the benefits to society
your trade or employment would have brought - or are we to maintain the myth that criminals are inherently lazy and good-fornothing, and always will be? Anglo-Saxon views of crime certainly need bringing up to date. I would, of course, lock up mad-axe (wo)men, but this is ridiculous. If you think that’s bad - try the Parole Board. Sentences used to be fixed - serve a proportion, and then out. Not now. What the Trial Judge decides no longer applies. Once you’re in the Parole Board system your sentence, with its concomitant costs to the taxpayer, becomes a piece of elastic. It’s now determined not by a judge and jury, which works well enough, but by an amorphous ill-defined concept of ‘risk’, which too often deteriorates into prejudice - guilty until proved innocent. The Parole Board’s job is to find out if you are safe to release. Does it ask what your plans are? Does it find out if you now see the error of your ways, and won’t do that again? Does it rely on what you want to do? Not a bit. Parole Boards I have attended pay vast attention to witless tests, the PCL-R prominent among them, administered by junior, inexperi-
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enced staff who would lose their job if they bucked the trend, as I did, twice. And these tests - if you really saw where they come from, you’d wince. The concept of ‘intent’ which is vital in law, is excluded - so you have legal eagles bandying arguments on the basis of so-called ‘instruments’ whose basis excludes choice or intent altogether once a ‘bad-un’, always a ‘bad-un’. It beggars belief how such a twisted view of humanity can pass for justice in our prison system.
Once you’re in the Parole Board system your sentence ... becomes a piece of elastic. It’s now determined not by a judge and jury ... but by an amorphous ill-defined concept of ‘risk’, which too often deteriorates into prejudice - guilty until proved innocent.
More - what used to be called ‘double jeopardy’, i.e. the notion that you cannot be tried for the same crime twice, has been turned on its head - all, and I mean all, your past misdemeanours are raked up for review, justified by this notional and unreliable concept of ‘risk’. Justice is portrayed as blindfolded, at least that’s what’s happening here. To cap it all, the Parole Board system shot itself in the foot by ruling out all paper reviews. Where a judge could review a dozen cases a day, on paper, filtering out those that merited immediate attention, now this safety valve has been ruled out of court, proving justice
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delayed is justice denied. Let’s do some elementary mathematics - suppose, for arguments sake there are 3000 lifers, and another 3000 IPPs (Indeterminate Public Protections) which are equivalent, and that each is entitled to a Parole Board review every two years - which works out at 60 Boards every week, year in year out. If prisons are an expensive way of making things worse, what about Parole Boards? Finally, the most grievous flaw with Parole Boards is of course, the judge. No disrespect, but three factors sink them. Firstly, a judge’s primary skill is evaluating evidence from the PAST, in Parole Boards they’re called on to adjudicate the FUTURE - evidence for which simply hasn’t happened yet - which clown of a Home Secretary foisted this baloney on them? Lawyers talk of precedents - what happened before - it’s doctors who talk of prognosis - what happens next. Secondly, their normal workload involves carefully judging ‘INTENT’ - was it murder or manslaughter? But, because of the benighted nature of the PCL-R and other backward looking gobbledygook, ‘intent’ is here ruled out of court - taking with it, the only sensible evaluation of future behaviour, which everyone else relies on everywhere else. Thirdly, and most significantly of all, they’re currently deprived of the solid scientific evidence of risk of crime, especially homicide. Data published in the British Medical Journal, one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals (April 1997, page 1271) has yet to restore reality to the Criminal Justice System. If you divide Chicago, once the murder capital of the world, into 77 sub districts you find that people who live in a high homicide district, also die sooner from natural causes. Conversely, those living in a sub-district where the homicide rate is low, can look forward to increased longevity. The district you live in determines how many people are murdered or alternatively how long you could enjoy good health - so, inescapably, murder is a social disease. If we were really serious about abolishing crime, we’d find out what’s making the difference. Let’s do it.
Dr Bob Johnson - Formerly Head of Therapy at Ashworth Maximum Security Hospital. He was also Consultant Psychiatrist, Special Unit, C-Wing, Parkhurst Prison 1991-1996.
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Thought for the day
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time I had driven through the Bakka Valley. Years ago that name struck terror into the hearts of many as it was reputedly the place where many hostages of all nationalities were kept. It’s a long fertile corridor which extends to the Syrian border. Now the danger lies across No Man’s Land in Syria itself and could easily spread into Lebanon.
Ammar Moussawi, Hezbollah’s Head of International Affairs talks with Terry Waite
From over the wall Terry Waite writes his monthly column for Inside Time was broken and I spent almost five years in chains.
Terry Waite CBE
I
t was late at night as I drove across Beirut. My mind went back across the years, twenty five years in fact, to the time I had driven along the same road to meet men who eventually became my captors. They had promised me safe conduct in order for me to visit hostages who, allegedly, were very sick. That promise
That afternoon I had visited the apartment building from where I descended the steps, climbed into a car and disappeared from public view. The building hadn’t changed at all but Beirut had. Years ago when I walked along that street a civil war was raging. One had to keep a lookout for snipers and car bombs were virtually a daily and deadly hazard. Now Beirut was enjoying a fragile peace but across its border with Syria terrible slaughter was taking place. On arrival in the country this
On the day of my travel an armed gang seized three men on the very road I was on. The abductors were probably opportunists seeking ransom. Because of the so called ‘Arab Spring’ in Syria thousands of refugees are fleeing the country. No one can give an accurate estimate. They seek refuge in Turkey on the one border and Lebanon on the other. I visited some of them and it was a pitiable sight. Many were Christians who had lived for generations in peace with their Islamic neighbours. Others were Shia muslims who had been attacked by Sunni fighters. It is one unholy mess. One can argue that the Arab Spring began with a good intent which was to have a greater democratic participation in government. It had deteriorated, like so many revolutions of its kind, into mass slaughter of innocent people. Are we totally crazy as a human species? Can we never find a way of changing situations without resorting to killing? Always in warfare it is innocent civilians who suffer, die and are forgotten.
the past. The past was the past. No one group in Lebanon has clean hands as far as the past is concerned. I wanted to put that behind us and look to the future. Syria is in dire trouble. Libya is in chaos. Egypt is riven with division. The only way forward for the region is for the different groups to do what had been done in Syria for generations and that is have mutual respect for difference and live creatively with that respect. If Lebanon falls apart then more deaths will occur. Hezbollah has changed in the past years. Now it has grown into a political party with two Ministers in government and a political alliance with many of the Christian groups in the country. It has a vital role to play in promoting peace. I wanted to make a small act of reconciliation remembering that reconciliation on a larger scale is made up of thousands of small acts. It is the only way. We shook hands and I left with a promise that Hezbollah will give extra support for the refugees in the country. No one can blot out the past but it should not in any way prevent us from moving on. That is true for you as it is for me and as it is true on the larger political scale. I am not totally politically naive and I recognize the utter complexity of the situation in the Middle East. Trust building is never easy but it must be tackled. I don’t want to see further slaughter of the innocents.
These thoughts went through my mind as I drove to the secret location to meet my former captors. A guard met me and I entered a small lift. A senior representative from Hezbollah was waiting for me. He was understandably apprehensive at first but I opened the conversation by saying that I had not come to discuss
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Michael Purdon Solicitor Advising prisoners nationwide since 1994
Terry Waite was a successful hostage negotiator before he himself was held captive in Beirut between 1987 and 1991 (more than 20 years ago). He was held captive for 1763 days; the first four years of which were spent in solitary confinement.
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Obtain specialist advocacy at your parole hearing from our in house advocacy team backed up by handpicked prison law barristers to enable us to provide a nationwide service.
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Family Welfare
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The families of prisoners are key to rehabilitation Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP addresses the Action for Prisoners’ Families Annual Conference Sadiq Khan MP
I
Shadow Justice Secretary
know from my previous life as a solicitor before I became an MP how important a prisoners’ family can be in the successful rehabilitation of offenders. Equally, I also saw how families can be deeply affected by the criminal actions of a loved one. Some of the most harrowing cases I came into contact with were deaths in custody, and time and again families faced enormous difficulties in getting the facts of the cases made public so that we could know what happened to their loved ones. Families of offenders can be affected in a number of ways. Whether it be a parent imprisoned and leaving the remaining parent to cope on their own, or a single mother imprisoned leaving the child to go into care – or maybe the parents of a youth offender trying to cope with imprisonment of their child – in all these cases and many more, we see very unique stories as to how and why a son, daughter, mother, father, husband or wife gets to become an offender and also the effect their actions have on those closest to them. When we think about victims of crime, we
have a traditional perspective – the person mugged, or the householders burgled – and that is, of course, right. But crime creates other innocent victims, such as the family and friends of those in prison. Lives are turned upside down, children separated from parents, parents split from children, restrictions placed on access, all of which can create enormous pressures on family structures, the ramifications of which can in turn be very worrying. As an example of the effect on children, it is estimated that there are about 200,000 children with a parent in prison every year that is three times the number of children in care and more than six times the number of people on the child care register. In addition, 2/ of women prisoners and 59% of men have 3 dependent children under that age of 18. As policy makers, it is critical that we do all we can to stop crime happening in the first place. Preventing crime stops the needless creation of victims, spares communities the blight of crime, and saves the taxpayer money. So, doing all we can to root out deprivation and inequality, improving housing, education, health, employment, investment in Sure Start, Educational Maintenance Allowance, family intervention projects, welfare to work – all of which can have an impact on an individuals’ life and potentially prevent them going down the path of a life of crime. This is the ‘tough on
the causes of crime’. That is not to say that the individual committing the criminal act is not responsible for his or her actions, but things can be done to help prevent a drift into a life of crime and I’m proud that, between 1997-2010, Labour did a lot of fantastic work in this area. Unfortunately some of this good work is now being unpicked by the Conservative-led coalition government. For those who are found guilty of crime, it is right and proper that they are properly punished for their actions. For many, this can mean that their crime demands a custodial sentence – being sent to prison and deprived of their liberty. This is when the role of a prisoner’s family becomes even more important.
I am determined that Labour will focus on what works to prevent crime happening in the first place, and do all we can to stop criminals re-offending. We know that housing, jobs and a stable family environment are critical if we are to stop re-offending. That’s why prisoner families are crucial. Prisoners are less likely to re-offend if good family relationships are maintained throughout their sentence. That’s not just my view; it’s the view of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, as well as other experts. Prisoners with family ties are more likely to report having both housing and a job to go to on release, thus reducing the problems which housing, employment and other services face when working with them in the community. Positive contact with family and friends on release can help successful resettlement. By acknowledging that prisoners are individuals with different needs we acknowledge that, as well as punishing them for their crimes, there needs to be more tailored resources in rehabilitating offenders and also helping their families. I’m determined to make our justice system better – better for victims of crime, better at punishing and reforming those in our prisons and probation service, better for those who work in it and better for the innocent families and friends of loved ones who are in our prisons. This is an abridged version of a speech delivered at the Action for Prisoners’ Families Conference on 5 December 2012.
Marsh Awards The Marsh Christian Trust has supported Action for Prisoners’ Families for three years now to make awards to volunteers working with prisoners’ families. Pictured: Brian Marsh, from the Marsh Christian Trust, presents awards to; Pact, Sarah Smyth from Personal Services Society Liverpool and Penny Clow from Prisoners’ Families and Friends Service.
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Family Welfare
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Ending gang and youth violence
POPS have also facilitated a series of consultations with families affected by the involvement of family members in possible gang and youth violence activities. Funded by Greater Manchester Probation Trust these forums have provided families with the opportunity to share their experiences and to identify their needs. Funding will inevitably come to an end, despite the initial report emphasising the ‘long-term’ nature of the work and the importance of ‘a sustained effort’ but in spite of this we hope the work we have undertaken will be a catalyst which will give affected communities the confidence to come together to discuss the issues at the same time as raising awareness amongst policy-makers of the needs of families affected and the solutions to be found in local communities.
by Diane Curry OBE CEO, POPS
I
t’s a new year. Traditionally a time for fresh starts, resolutions and renewing your gym membership. At POPS we are reflecting on a year of significant changes within our organisation, both the expected and unexpected, which have led us to explore new areas of work and develop new and exciting partnerships in our local area. Not least of these has been our involvement in projects driven by the Ending Gang and Youth Violence agenda. The civil disturbances in August 2011 prompted extensive analysis by the government and many external policy commentators as to the drivers behind the series of events which unfolded that fateful week. A number of causes were initially muted for the riots, from poor parenting to organised crime. But as the picture has expanded and we have understood better the diverse and complex issues surrounding the events of 2011 so the government has begun to target perceived areas of concern. It has been acknowledged by the powersthat-be that the number of rioters with gang connections is proportionally low, 1 in 5 in
London and fewer than 10% across the majority of the rest of the cities affected. Despite this, the disturbances proved to be a catalyst for exploring the on-going issue of gang and youth violence, with the Prime Minister requesting the Home Secretary review the issue and report on the scale of the problem of gang and youth violence and make recommendations as to what can be done to bring about change. Published in November 2011 the report sets out a number of proposals focusing on five areas: prevention, pathways out, punishment, partnership working and providing support. Funding soon followed through a variety of routes and POPS were successful in two areas; firstly as the lead agency for the BME roundtable, on behalf of the local authority, to identify issues around youth violence pertinent to Wythenshawe (an overspill estate) in South Manchester and secondly, in engaging family
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Manchester Police to ‘proof’ projects and initiatives working with gang members to ensure suitability and relevance.
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members on behalf of Greater Manchester Probation Trust. Serious youth crime is seen as an emerging problem in the Wythenshawe area with young people in the area considered to be particularly vulnerable to being recruited to possible gang affiliation. POPS, on behalf of the BME Roundtable, has led on the coordination of a needs assessment and the development of an agency toolkit. The project has been extremely successful in encouraging partnership working across organisations operating in the Wythenshawe area and in inspiring fresh conversations about the possible causes of gang and youth violence. This has mainly come about through multi-agency capacity building workshops delivered in the area in partnership with a range of agencies and individuals, including the MancheSTARS, young advisors with personal experience of gang involvement, who now work with the Greater
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To date issues arising have included the use of the word gang as an overall description of young people involved in violent crime, the role of families and relationships in prevention and the role of schools in supporting young people in desistance. Our initial findings uncover an association of serious youth violence with poverty, unemployment, low self-esteem and a lack of hope distinct from the factors often cited as causal such as in-built aggression and financial gain. The fundamental aim with both projects has been to kick-start conversations, foster partnerships and ultimately leave in place a set of tools for local agencies, groups and individuals, including families, to identify and replicate good practice and sustain progress in this area for the benefit of local communities here in Manchester and further afield. But we hope that the legacy of the project will also go further, challenging our use of the word gang and the stereotypes which have grown up around youth violence.
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Prisoners Families Voices prisonersfamiliesvoices.blogspot.com Prison Mentors?
6 December by Jackie My other-half has been out of prison now for nearly 12 months and is struggling. I have always supported him and he has a good family network behind him. For 12 months he has fought to find work but has been knocked back on every occasion. Probation have done nothing to support him but that’s not a shock in this day and age. They did at one point put him in touch with an agency that deals with companies who employ ex-offenders, but that company has since folded and apparently lost its funding. Due to the state of the country, I hate to say this, but this prisoner mentoring scheme that the Government are planning in my opinion is going to be a shambles. It won’t be about learning to budget your finances and bills, at this rate, the mentors will be pointing them in the direction of food banks to pick up food parcels. It is difficult for any straight member these days to find employment so what chance have ex-offenders got? I’ll admit that yes we have told fibs on his CV, but so what, I should imagine thousands of law-abiding citizens are doing exactly the same! My brother is a qualified mechanic and has worked in this profession for over 25 years. He is now working in a bargain store because that’s all he could find in the form of work.
Licence conditions on home leave 10 December by LB
My partner is currently at Castle Huntly Open Estate, Longforgan and has just begun stage releases. Despite the recommendation from his Supervising Officer that he stay in a hostel at night with visits permitted at home during the day and overnights, increasing from one to two as his leaves go from 3/4 days to 7 days,
the RMT board decided to ban him from our home town. This effectively means that, as I am not allowed in the hostel, we are required to spend all day in cafes and restaurants, if we want to eat or drink at great expense, on top of the mounting cost I have to bear of running to and from the city he is based in; a distance of 16 miles. I am bipolar and have regular appointments at home and so this now means that I need to run back and forth accordingly. I also have a 14 year-old son, who then has to sit with us in a house, currently vacant, with no gas or electric supply, with only a tiny camping stove and a torch in the evenings and is another 16 miles away, making that a combined distance of 32 miles from where we live. I wrote to Castle Huntly and received a rather condescending response informing me that this was for my partner’s social and domestic benefit and for the safety of the community, though despite repeated attempts to discuss this with anyone at Castle Huntly, I have failed to elicit any response or explanation of how this is to the benefit of ANYONE! I already think that these Risk Management Team board meetings are a complete disgrace, from a system that purports to be encouraging prisoners to be responsible, as they do not take into account any of their feelings or opinions. These “secret squirrel” meetings are totally unethical and must surely breach the prisoners’ human rights and indeed are contrary to all common sense or decency (even children are given a right to have their views heard in front of a Reporter). I would appreciate it very much if you could highlight this issue, not only for the benefit of myself and my partner but all prisoners as I honestly believe that this system completely undermines the self-esteem and/or rights of all offenders’ to make responsible decisions affecting not only themselves but also their families and their futures.
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f there’s one thing I struggle with in the New Year, it’s the prison phone call on New Year’s Day! My partner never forgets to wish me a “Happy New Year” and after a few seconds silence from me, I reply, “Happy Same Year” because there really is nothing else I can say. I have yet to see any cards in the shops that offer that title. Jailmate Cards, could you put me out of my misery next year please? Call me a ‘Bah Humbug’ I don’t care, but I have never been a lover of New Year’s Eve. It’s the only day I can’t remember and all those resolutions get right on my nerves. I was over at my niece’s house having a few New Year scoops with Amber and Simone, and both of them were quite adamant to quit smoking. A few bottles of Baileys and Vodka later, Amber asked me for a cig. I frowned disapprovingly and said, “Hang on a minute; I thought you made a New Year resolution to quit smoking?” She sternly replied, “I am! I’m in the process of quitting and right now I am at stage one!” Intrigued, I asked her what exactly stage one was. She just simply answered, “I’ve quit buying them!” I just gave her a fag and thought fair enough! Every New Year’s Day, I am always invited over to the in-laws. And every New Year’s Day she always sets a place out at the table for my partner (Her son). It’s very morbid, but she says she always saves him a meal in case he escapes. Last year I told her to set another two table places out at either side of his for the coppers who’ll come for him – Oh, and it’s best if she also takes down the large Xmas wreath off the front door. We wouldn’t want the coppers to get it stuck on the end of their battering ram would we? The local rags would have a field day! You can see the headlines now – Holly Hell Breaks Loose! To be fair, I don’t mind going over to the
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in-laws on New Year’s Day. When I thought I knew absolutely everything about my partner, more skeletons appear! It’s like a scene from Jason and the bloody Argonauts! You see, my in-law’s always like to reminisce around the festive table. My mother-in-law told me about her brother, Uncle Keith’s, wedding. My partner was six at the time and was chosen to be the ring-bearer. She showed me a photograph and bless him; he did look like an angel. God knows what went wrong, but he did look cute dressed in his little page-boy outfit - but the story that followed certainly didn’t match the photograph! Apparently, when he walked down the aisle with the brides ring firmly fixed on the small velvet cushion, he growled at all the guests and even scratched a few on their arms! When asked afterwards why he behaved so badly, he just said that he wanted to be a good ring bear! I’m not sure how many times the St John’s Ambulance have attended weddings, but my guess is not very often. Trust him eh? The mother-in-law always asks me to tell her about the ‘good times’ me and my partner have had together. The conversation only usually lasts a minute, but at least she can’t turn around and say I didn’t contribute to the reminiscing session! One of my fondest memories was when he absconded from prison on New Year’s Eve. I decided to have an afternoon nap whilst he was kitting out the wheelie bin to use as his hide-out. When I woke up, he was sat having a drink of real branded Hooch on the sofa. I was startled and said to him, “I just dreamed that you gave me a beautiful diamond ring for a New Year’s present. What do you think it all means?” He gazed lovingly at me and replied, “Aha, you’ll know tonight my love.” Anyway, when midnight struck, he gave me a small package. I was gobsmacked and ripped it open with delight! I nearly wrapped the gift round his neck too as I held the small book in my hand titled, ‘The Meaning of Dreams.’ My mother-in-law loved the story; she just smiled and said, “How romantic.” Take care until next time and remember: Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits. Anonymous
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News from the House
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Parliamentary Questions Highlights from the House of Commons Prisons: Drugs Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the level of illegal drug use in prisons; and what steps he has taken to reduce this figure. Jeremy Wright: Estimating the extent of a covert activity such as drug use in prisons is by nature very difficult. One measure is the proportion of prisoners testing positive under the random mandatory drug testing programme. In 2011-12, 7% of prisoners tested were positive, down from 24.4% in 1996-97. NOMS has a comprehensive range of measures to tackle drugs. These include drug detection dogs, procedures to tackle visitors who seek to smuggle drugs and phones into prisons, and mobile phone detection technology. NOMS is also increasing the number of drug free wings in prisons, rolling out a networked IT intelligence system and providing prisons with short range mobile phone blockers which will help prisons prevent prisoners using mobile phones, which is often associated with drug supply. Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many searches for narcotics among the prison population resulted in finds of (a) heroin and (b) needles used for drug taking in each of the last 10 years; and how many people serving a custodial sentence tested positive for heroin use in each such year.
Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of seizures of heroin in prisons across England and Wales for the period 1 January to 31 December. Total Seizures 2002-2012 10,288 The following table shows the number of needles found used for drug taking in prisons across England and Wales for the period 1 January to 31 December 2002-2012 (2012 October 12). Authentic needles Improvised needles 946 13 The following table shows the number of positive tests for opiates in prison across England and Wales for the period 1 January to 31 December 2002-2011 (2012 0ctober 12). It is important to note that the number of tests does not equal the number of prisoners tested positive as some prisoners may be tested more than once. NOMS tests for opiates abuse include heroin within all opiates. It is not possible to disaggregate the figure to identify heroin alone. Number of positive opiates tests 2002-2011 50,903
Figures summarised by Inside Time
Prisoners: Repatriation Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of how many other EU member states are ready to implement the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement; and by what date each member state not ready to do so expects to complete its preparations to implement the agreement. Jeremy Wright: We are aware that 11 member states other than the UK, have already implemented the EU PTA. The remaining member states are expected to implement by 2014. Further information is available on the Council of the European Union’s website.
Prisons: Drugs and Alcoholic Drinks Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners addicted to (a) heroin and (b) alcohol in each prison; (2) how many people serving a custodial sentence died of an overdose of heroin while in prison in each of the last 10 years; (3) how many people serving a custodial sentence participated in (a) maintenancebased and (b) abstinence-based drug treatment programmes in each of the last 10 years.
Anna Soubry: No recent estimate has been made by the Department on the number of prisoners addicted to heroin or alcohol as a nationwide total or by prison. However, further analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales carried out for the Department in 1997 showed that, in the year before prison, 29% of male remand prisoners and 21% of male sentenced prisoners reported heroin use. The ONS data showed 41% of female remand prisoners and 26% of female sentenced prisoners reported heroin use. ONS data also showed that in the 12 months before coming into prison, 30% of male sentenced prisoners and 30% of male remand prisoners reported alcohol dependency. For female prisoners, 20% of sentenced prisoners and 19% of female remand prisoners reported alcohol dependency. Alcohol dependency was measured by ONS as a score of 16 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Data is not collected by the Department about the number of people serving custodial sentences who died from a heroin overdose while in prison. Data is available on the number of clinical interventions for opioid dependence since 2001 in prisons and is shown in the following table. It is only possible to disaggregate maintenance prescriptions from detoxifications since 2007-08 and caution should be shown when using this data because it refers to the total number of clinical interventions, not the number of prisoners receiving these
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News from the House
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org treatments. Individual prisoners may receive more than one clinical intervention in any given year. Number of clinical interventions for opioid (heroin) dependence among prisoners in England between 2001-02 and 2011-12: Maintenance-based prescription and abstinence-based detoxification programmes, male and female all ages 1. Total number of maintenance prescriptions 111,742 2. Total number of individual detoxification treatments provided 189,926 3. Aggregate number of clinical drug interventions 619,221
Source: National Offender Management Service. Summarised by Inside Time
Offensive Weapons: Sentencing Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals have (a) been prosecuted for and (b) subsequently received a custodial sentence for an offence of carrying a bladed or pointed article in a public place in England and Wales in each of the last seven years. Jeremy Wright: The number of individuals proceeded against at magistrates court and sentenced to an immediate custody at all courts for having a bladed or pointed article in a public place in England and Wales, from 2005 to 2011 can be viewed in the table: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates court and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for “Having an article with blade or point in public place”(1), England and Wales, 2005-11(2,3) Proceeded against Immediate custody 54,447 9,071
Figures summarised by Inside Time
Young Offender Institutions Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the capacity was of (a) secure children’s homes, (b) secure training centres and (c) young offender institutions in England and Wales in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012 to date; (2) how many people under the age of 18 were held in custody in (a) secure children’s homes, (b) secure training centres and (c) young offender institutions in England and Wales in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012 to date. Jeremy Wright: Table 1 shows the average
capacity in England and Wales for (a) secure children’s homes (SCHs) (b) secure training centres (STCs) and (c) predominant function young offender institutions (YOIs) in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012 to date. There are two types of YOIs (under-18 YOIs and young adult YOIs which accommodate 18 to 21-year-olds). A combined figure for all YOIs as well as a separate figure for under-18 YOIs is included in Table 1 for comparison purposes. Table 1: Average capacity in SCHs, STCs and YOIs SCH STC Under 18s YOI All YOIs 2011 185 301 2,151 8,242 2012 172 301 2,024 8,092 Table 2 shows the average number of young people under the age of 18 held in custody at any one time in England and Wales in (a) secure children’s homes (SCHs) (b) secure training centres (STCs) and (c) under 18-year-old young offender institutions (YOIs) in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2012 to date. Table 2: Average population in the under 18 secure estate by sector 2011 2012
SCH 162 155
STC 274 274
Under 18s YOI 1,565 1,335
Young Offenders: Literacy Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children in (a) secure children’s homes, (b) secure training centres and (c) youth offending institutions were unable to read and write at the appropriate level for their age at 1 November (i) 2008, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2010, (iv) 2011 and (v) 2012. Jeremy Wright: Every young person’s literacy level is assessed as they enter a secure children’s home (SCH), secure training centre (STC) or under-18 youth offending institution (YOI), but the data are not collected centrally for the entire youth secure estate. For under-18 public YOIs, the Education Funding Agency collects information on the literacy levels of young people entering the establishments; however these levels cannot be directly compared to a specific age equivalent.
George Eustice (Camborne and Redruth) (Con) This story begins in 1949, with the first Royal Commission advocating that Parliament should do something about the issue. Four years later nothing had happened, so the Labour MP C.J. Simmons, a former journalist, introduced a private Member’s Bill, which forced the industry to say that it would now act. In withdrawing his Bill, he said: “I give warning here and now that if it fails some of us will again have to come forward with a Measure similar to this Bill. In 1962, a second Royal Commission told the press that it needed to toughen up self-regulation: “We think that the Press should be given another opportunity itself voluntarily to establish an authoritative General Council… We recommend, however, that the government should specify a time limit after which legislation would be introduced.” In 1977, there was a third Royal Commission on the press, after more failure. It said: “We recommend that the press should be given one final chance to prove that voluntary selfregulation can be made to work.” Let us fast-forward to 1990 and the Calcutt Committee. At the time we were told: “This is positively the last chance for the industry to establish an effective non-statutory system of regulation. In 1993, the Calcutt Review said that the Press Complaints Commission was not effective and recommended a tribunal backed in statute. Each and every one of those commissions and inquiries was sparked by the abuse of unaccountable power, and I would say that that is what we are seeing today. People sometimes say, “It was a newspaper that exposed phone hacking.”They are right - one newspaper exposed phone hacking - but
Lord Leveson is very clear on this: none of the other papers exposed it, and there was almost a conspiracy of silence. He says: “There were what are now said to be rumours and jokes about the extent to which phone hacking was rife throughout the industry, but (with one sole exception) the press did nothing to investigate itself or to expose conduct which”, if it had involved anybody else, “would have been subject to the most intense spotlight that journalists could bring to bear”. That one exception was Nick Davies from The Guardian, who wrote a story on 9 July 2009 saying that the huge scale of the settlements being paid to some people in respect of phone hacking suggested that a cover-up had taken place. What did the Press Complaints Commission do about it? Did it then think, “Perhaps we should take a second look at this and investigate it”? No, it did not. As Lord Leveson points out, the PCC “condemned the Guardian” for running the story, which is extraordinary. The new body that he recommends would have powers of investigation, and that would deal with the culture which led to this criminality. The central recommendation of Lord Leveson’s report, which we must not lose sight of, is this: “In order to give effect to the incentives that I have outlined, it is essential”- not preferable or helpful but essential - “that there should be legislation to underpin the independent self-regulatory system”.
I agree with Lord Leveson on that, because throughout his Inquiry one question simply would not go away: how do we make a reality of independent self-regulation without some of underpinning in statute? kind
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Legal Comment
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Confiscation Order guidelines changed in Mortgage Fraud cases Solicitor Ian Anderson examines the recent changes in Mortgage Fraud Law
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landmark judgment in a long awaited case involving mortgage fraud has finally been published by the Supreme Court on 14 November 2012.
R. vs. Waya, which has taken nine months to conclude, will affect the way that confiscation orders are calculated in mortgage fraud cases. The case will mean that convicted defendants who face confiscation proceedings or who have been subjected to hefty confiscation orders could have those orders reduced by hundreds of thousands of pounds, or quashed altogether and sent back to the Crown Court to be heard again. The Defendant, Mr. Waya was a businessman who resided in London. In 2003 he bought a flat for £775,000, of which £310,000 came from his own resources. The payment of £310,000 was shown to be from legitimate funds. The balance of £465,000 was obtained from a mortgage lender. In order to obtain the mortgage Mr. Waya made false statements about his earnings and his credit history. It was suggested that Mr. Waya’s mortgage
advisor may have encouraged him to make those false claims. The mortgage and purchase were completed in the usual way and Mr. Waya moved into the flat. In April 2005 Mr. Waya remortgaged. The remortgage was in the sum of £838,943. Some of that money was spent on improving the property and some was spent by Mr. Waya on living expenses. The value of property in London had gone up dramatically between 2003 and 2005. Mr. Waya was arrested in November 2005 and was charged with two counts of Obtaining a Money Transfer by Deception. He was convicted and ordered to pay back £1.54m in confiscation proceedings. That figure was arrived at by deducting the £310,000 deposit from the full market value of the flat, which was by then worth £1.85m. Mr. Waya appealed against the confiscation order to the Court of Appeal and the amount was reduced from £1.54m to £1.1m. Mr. Waya appealed again, this time to the Supreme Court and it was decided that he
o’keeffe solicitors APPEALS - CONFISCATION - PRISON LAW
should pay back only £392,400. In arriving at that decision to reduce the original order by some £1.2m, the Supreme Court have radically changed the approach to be adopted in confiscation cases involving mortgage fraud. The thrust of the judgment is easier to explain using an example: A house is bought for £200,000. The deposit on the house is £20,000 (10%) and the deposit has come from a legitimate source. However, the mortgage of £180,000 has been fraudulently obtained because the person applying has over-inflated their income. Two years later when the house is worth £250,000 the defendant is convicted of fraud by false representation in relation to the mortgage application. The Supreme Court judgment in Waya states that this is the correct way to calculate the benefit figure: Market value now: less Mortgage: equals Equity less Original Equity (deposit) Increase in value 90% thereof
£ 250,000 180,000 70,000 20,000 50,000 40,000
So in this example case, the Supreme Court guidance suggests that the confiscation order should be £40,000. That being the amount the asset has appreciated by, less the legitimate deposit, less the mortgage. Under the procedure being adopted prior to Waya the confiscation order would have been at least £70,000, that being the equity in the property and could quite easily have been £230,000, that being the value of the property minus the deposit. The Supreme Court also issued some guidance on what should happen where a mortgage has been paid off over the years from a defendant’s legitimate income. The Court stated that once the repayment of capital was made, that amount could be added to the legitimate deposit monies and so reduce the amount which has to be confiscated. It remains to be seen exactly how the Court of Appeal and Crown Court will deal with any mortgage fraud confiscation orders referred back to them following Waya, but we would suggest acting as soon as possible and contacting Petherbridge Bassra for a confidential and free discussion regarding your situation.
Ian Anderson is a solicitor at Petherbridge Bassra Solicitors
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Criminal defence lawyers against the media – a lost battle? Joseph Kotrie-Monson of Mary Monson Solicitors talks about the power of the press and police to damage a defence case before it starts, and whether a defence lawyer can fight back Joseph Kotrie-Monson Director of Mary Monson Solicitors
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e have just recently heard the recommendations of the Leveson report. Already there seems to be focus on either phone hacking (already illegal – Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act), or protecting royals and celebrities. Somehow the argument over the behaviour of the press has evolved into something about Hugh Grant and the Royal Family wanting more privacy. Obviously that is of massive public importance…. But looking at the media in criminal cases, it seems that society has a bit more to worry about than reporting of Hugh Grant’s midnight drives and Charlotte Church’s rear (of the year). Press reporting of criminal cases has become massively biased and anti-defendant in recent years. There is a growing feeling among most average people that everyone who faces trial ‘wouldn’t be there unless they done it’ and should be ‘strung up’ with immediate effect. The tabloids always talk about clever lawyers who get their clients off on ‘technicalities’. Usually a ‘technicality’ turns out to be the same as not having done it. The case appears in the paper before a jury have given their verdict and the headline reads Mother ‘killed her children’. The speech marks in that headline, which most readers ignore, mean it is an allegation, but the impression is made. When you read the headline to yourself, you can’t hear the speech marks. The guilt of this person has already begun to set in. The focus in the press is on the guilt of the defendant, not the weak points of the prosecution case. So long as they add the words ‘say the prosecution’ at the end of each one-sided paragraph, the reader is fooled, and they haven’t done anything wrong. The press are also obsessed with how short sentences are and how easy the system is. It’s funny how the same Tory MPs who agreed with the press on our soft justice system always seem to have a complete turnaround after being convicted and sentenced, and then they campaign for reform. I’m thinking of former Conservative Party Chairman Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken MP who both went to jail for perjury before writing books about it. High Profile cases are the worst affected. Some cases are fashionable at the moment for the press to whip up a national outcry. At the moment, crimes affecting the economy such as banking fraud and counterfeit currency seem to be attracting the press’ attention in this way. Timeless classics which will always
seem to get the press wolves baying for meat include murder, especially of anyone vulnerable or who is part of the establishment, such as a police officer, and any offence against children. These cases are of course serious. But the process of vilifying the suspects in the press is not a helpful solution. Christopher Jeffries was arrested and quickly cleared by police of involvement in the murder of Jo Yeates. The press destruction of his character would have made defending him in court very difficult.
an anti-celebrity before even arriving at court.
The press stoking up an atmosphere in a big case doesn’t just affect the public, though. It affects juries, and it affects judges. By the time your client gets into the dock, the jury may already be biased because of what they’ve read or heard. The police and prosecution, keen on glory and promotion, will often have been providing regular updates to the media. In many European countries, the defendant cannot be named in the papers as a defence to the integrity of the trial. In the UK, he or she can be
One thing that a defence legal team must do is avoid being intimidated by the national atmosphere surrounding a case. Lawyers must always remember that they are there to fight for the client. Not bend with the wind and pull the client along with them.
So how does someone accused, say, of killing a police officer get a fair trial? The court can issue gagging orders on the press, but this is rarely possible unless the issue is one of public safety. The trial can also be taken out of the area where the alleged offence took place to a court where local feeling isn’t running so high. In a national news environment, this is probably less effective.
In really high profile cases, fighting fire with fire may be the only option. If the police are twisting the media, the tough defence lawyer may try to redress the balance, by giving the
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press an idea that the case is not as one sided as the CPS is saying. Provided it doesn’t interfere with defence strategy, communicating carefully with the press to make sure that reporting has a sense of balance to it can prevent the police press machine running wild. If government ministers begin to comment on your client’s case, as happens in the biggest cases, there may be no choice but to go on the offensive. For a defence lawyer, there is probably no better sign that you are doing your job properly than your defence of your client being criticised in Parliament.
Joseph Kotrie-Monson is a Director of Mary Monson Solicitors, a national law firm specialising in Serious Crime and Fraud, and is regularly asked to comment on criminal law by the BBC, Channel 4, The Times and other news organisations.
A difficult
situation needs a lawyer who
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Appeals: a Q&A guide Marie Akers, Appeal lawyer at Petherbridge Bassra Solicitors in the first of a series of answers to common questions about appeals
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ppeals are a long and winding road and can be very frustrating. The role of the Court of Appeal is not to reassess whether you are guilty or innocent, it is to ensure that the legal mechanism or ‘carriage’ of justice has performed correctly. If there has been a mistake in the law or procedure, or if evidence, for whatever reason, has not been properly assessed at trial or on appeal then there may be an error in that legal mechanism which can be described as a ‘miscarriage’ of justice. The Court of Appeal are guardians of the law and legal trial and not the champions of the innocent. Think of appeals as a purely technical process. A tick-box exercise. Try to link each of your issues into two questions. Does this mean my trial was unsafe or why is this sentence wrong? Above all, because of the complexity and technical nature of appeals if you are unsure, seek advice from a solicitor. It is important that you build up a good working relationship with a lawyer you can trust and who will listen to you as you may be working with them for some time. You may be completely innocent and cannot quite believe that the Justice system which you
previously trusted has let you down. You believe that errors in your trial mean that you should not have been convicted. You may have committed an offence but want to appeal your sentence. You are sat in your cell reading ‘Inside Time’ and contemplating the years ahead. You are considering an appeal. Here are a few questions and answers that may assist you at the start of that journey.
The Police had it in for me? Answer: It is extremely hard to make a case for Police misconduct, although it does sometimes happen. There must be evidence to support your claims. Those cases that have succeeded on appeal often involve Police Officers that have been the subject of misconduct proceedings. My legal team were rubbish?
Grounds of Appeal against Conviction Question: What are the Grounds of Appeal? Answer: The only ground for appeal is if your conviction was unsafe. There are many reasons for this, but you must have an argument that was not available to you, or used in your trial, unless there is a good reason why you should be able to use that argument again. Question: Can I appeal against conviction if:The Judge was really harsh with me? Answer: If the Judge was simply being stern with you but made no legal error then this is not enough to form a ground of appeal.
Answer: Sadly, despite some very fine defence legal teams in England and Wales, mistakes are sometimes made. Any errors by a legal team must have been so serious to affect the safety of the conviction. For example, there have been cases where a legal team has not examined the Unused Material which meant that a key piece of defence evidence was not identified, or if your case was not properly prepared because of incompetence. There was a lot of evidence I wanted to use but my legal team didn’t use it/a witness was not called? Answer: If evidence was available to your defence team at your trial they may have made a tactical decision for not raising it in Court.
This should have been discussed with you and agreed with you. If the evidence was available at the time of your trial then you may not be able to use it on appeal unless there is a really good reason why you feel it should be viewed. Often this relates back to whether any mistake made by your legal team fundamentally affected the outcome for you. I pleaded Guilty? Answer: There are very limited circumstances on which you can change your plea after conviction. If you were pressurised into pleading guilty, did not understand what you were pleading to, or received wrong advice from your trial lawyers then you may have a ground of appeal. I didn’t give evidence but want to now / there are things I should have said but didn’t because I was nervous? Answer: This is not a ground of appeal. The Judge let the Jury hear some evidence which I do not think should have been admissible? Answer: If the Judge has made a mistake as to law in any legal arguments made on admissibility of evidence then you may have a ground of appeal. My trial barrister said I cannot appeal – can I? Answer: You may still be able to appeal even if you have received negative advice. Every case is different and is decided upon its own merits. The best thing to do is to seek a second opinion from a law firm that will provide advice and
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org assistance for appeal work. Question: Three lawyers have now said I do not have grounds for appeal. I don’t agree, what can I do? Answer: You may still be able to appeal as every case is different and lawyers can sometimes have different experiences and opinions, however, it may become more difficult to obtain legal aid. If you find that you cannot get a firm to represent you on legal aid and you cannot afford to pay privately, then there are organisations out there that may be able to take your case on for free such as Innocence UK, Justice for Women, Miscarriage of Justice UK, etc. There are also a growing number of Universities who run ‘Innocence Projects’ that may be able to look into your case. Question: Can I appeal my sentence and my conviction? Answer: Yes, although it is sometimes best to deal with one before the other as they can involve distinct issues. Question: Will my sentence be increased if I appeal and lose? Answer: If you have been refused leave to appeal by a Single Judge and make an application to renew before the full Court they do have the power to make a “Loss of Time Order”. This means that any time that you have served whilst fighting an appeal is not counted towards your sentence. This is to encourage people not to make an application if their case is completely without merit and highly unlikely to succeed. It is one of the reasons why it is very important to consider getting a lawyer to take on your case rather than represent yourself as this can sometimes safeguard you against a Loss of Time Order. It doesn’t happen often but can do. Next Issue: How and When to Appeal
Career prosecutor appointed as new Chairman of Parole Board for Scotland Douglas Thomson, Solicitor Advocate, looks at what lies ahead for the new Chairman
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n 1st January 2013 John Watt takes up his position as the new Chairman of the Parole Board for Scotland. He is the third chairman since the parole system was reformed radically in 2001, and is the first lawyer appointed to chair the Board. However, in common with the last two holders of the post of Lord Advocate, and the last two Solicitors General (the “law officers” who are in charge of criminal prosecutions in Scotland), all of his 35 year long career in law has been as a state-funded public prosecutor within the Procurator Fiscal Service – a civil servant, with no experience of private practice, and little known history of taking a keen interest in matters relating to parole or the effects of long-term sentencing. This, of course, is not in any way to predict that he will not be wholly independent of pressure from the Government; after all, many of us remember that almost twenty years ago the then Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Forsyth, a man of firmly authoritarian views, appointed retired Colonel Clive Fairweather as Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons for Scotland. No doubt Forsyth, a Minister appointed by Margaret Thatcher, felt sure that a former officer in the SAS would be a vigorous supporter of making prisons even more punitive than they were, only to find, to his horror, that the army man was of considerably more liberal leanings than his CV implied. However, the recent acting’s of career prosecutors holding office as Scottish law officers have hardly demonstrated great independence of thought, or a willingness to tell politicians inconvenient home truths about the
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practical consequences of their policies. These are difficult times for the entire criminal justice system in Scotland. Legal Aid lawyers in Edinburgh have gone on strike to resist being forced to act as unpaid debt collectors to those in employment and accused of crimes, while in the background the prospect of the Government steamrollering a Bill through Parliament to abolish the centuries old requirement for corroboration in criminal cases (opposed by the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish Police Federation and 97% of the judges of the High Court) remains very much a real one, as does the possibility of sweeping away all current rules on the admissibility of evidence. It is thus all the more important that the Parole Board, whose budget has been cut heavily in recent years despite the fact that its entire costs in dealing with the cases of all long term and life prisoners, including recall and re-release, equate roughly to the cost of keeping twenty prisoners in custody for a year, retains its full independence from any hint of government influence. The Board should not be afraid to give Ministers a bloody nose when they deserve it, and its Chairman should be happy to stand up to defend the decisions of Board members. Many years ago, I chaired the tribunal of a recalled lifer. At the time he was returned to custody, three issues were of concern; he was using Class A drugs, was facing an assault charge, and his accommodation was far from stable. By the time I received the case papers, he had been acquitted of the assault and was stable on a methadone programme that his doctor was willing to continue on release. Very shortly before his hearing began (possibly even on the morning of the hearing) we were informed that very serious allegations had been made against the prisoner, that these were only now being investigated, and that it was likely to be some time before charges might be brought. As this would also have an impact on his accommodation, the hearing was adjourned for three months. By then, matters had not moved quickly, so the case went off (with the prisoner still inside) for another two months, by which time we learned
that the police report was complete, and had been sent to the procurator fiscal. A hearing date was fixed, to take place eight months after it was originally scheduled. Even at this stage, no decision had been made on whether the prisoner was to be prosecuted, although the consequences of the allegation had resulted in his accommodation being clarified. It now being clear that he had not been convicted of an offence whilst on licence, that his methadone would continue, his accommodation arranged, and there being no evidence that he was to be prosecuted, we directed his re-release. Within days, the then Justice Minister had the Chairman of the Board contacted to let it be known that she was not happy – not at the delays on the part of police or prosecutors as detailed in the decision, but with the decision itself. Fortunately, this approach was treated with the disdain it deserved. In recent years, the grant of parole has become an increasing rarity, reducing from 57% in 2000 to 28% in 2010, and with four-fifths of all tribunals declining to grant release. At the same time, prosecution of crime in the lower courts has been conducted largely by ageing fiscals with a degree of job security and one eye on their pension, or by young inexperienced staffers, often on short-term contracts, with limited courtroom experience. I understand that all or virtually all of the last 48 trainee lawyers have been released at the end of their training contracts. To have the chairmanship of the Parole Board placed in the hands of someone who has seen at first hand the decline in esteem in which the role of the prosecutor is held, at a time when those who control the budget have come from that same body, may or may not be encouraging. Should Mr. Watt prove to be little more than a Government placeman, then there must be a fear for the long-term future of an independent Parole Board in Scotland. It must be hoped, therefore, that he will demonstrate the same independence of thought and deed that has characterised some of his predecessors in the post. Douglas Thomson is a Solicitor Advocate
HAVE YOUR RULE 39 LETTERS BEEN OPENED IN YOUR ABSENCE?
We have been approached by several prisoners in HMP Long Lartin, HMP Whatton and HMP Swaleside who complained that their legal correspondence has been frequently delivered in ripped envelopes. We are aware that such breaches happen in other prisons too. Unfortunately, we do not have resources to deal with such issues in every case, but we must start somewhere. So if you are serving a sentence in any of the above prisons and if your privileged correspondence has been tampered with, please contact Lisa, Shkar or Malcolm and we will take steps to protect the confidentiality of your letters. Burnhill Business Centre Provident House Burrell Row Beckenham Kent BR3 1AT 0208 249 6459
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Does Life really mean Life? Emma Davies, Head of Prison Law at HINE Solicitors and Stacey St. Clair of the department examine in brief indeterminate sentences and the resultant parole process by Emma Davies Prison law solicitor
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he Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced new sentencing provisions which caused a great deal of controversy. The majority of that controversy was in relation to those sentenced to imprisonment for public protection (IPP). In recent weeks there has been much publicity regarding these sentences, which is mainly due to a significant case in the European Court and the imposition of the Legal Aid, Punishment and Sentencing of Offenders Act 2012. This article does not seek to go into the issues raised as a result of those, but rather remind prisoners that IPP sentences, and the impact they have, remain for those who are subject to them. This article seeks to concentrate on what those subject to indeterminate sentences have to do in order to work towards their release from custody. Before being eligible to be considered for release, indeterminate sentence prisoners (ISPs) must serve a minimum period of imprisonment, known as their tariff, as well as demonstrate that they have reduced their risk to such an extent as to show that they can be managed in open conditions or be released on licence into the community. Those serving an indeterminate sentence should be aware of the Indeterminate Sentence Manual (Prison Service Order 4700 Chapter 4) which has been updated by PSI 36/2010. This manual provides policy and guidelines for those who manage ISPs. It is important reading and deals
with issues such as categorisation through to how prisoners who maintain their innocence should be dealt with. ISPs need to show progression through their sentence and PSO 4700 Chapter 4 can be used as guidance for this. An ISP will be subject to the Parole process, which policy is governed by PSO 6010 entitled the “Generic Parole Process”. This PSO sets out clear guidance as to when those subject to an indeterminate sentence can expect to be subject to the Parole process. Many ISPs will only be subject to post tariff parole review. This means that they will only have a parole review close to when they have served their full tariff. However, if a prisoner’s tariff is 3 years and over then they may be subject to review prior to their tariff expiring, which is more commonly known as a pre tariff review. If you think that you are eligible for a pre tariff review, or want to find out further information about this then you should consider contacting a prison law specialist who can advise you on this. In any event, regardless of whether an ISP is subject to a pre tariff or post tariff Parole review, it will be the Parole Board who will recommend or decide the prisoner’s next step. In order to make a decision about this, the Parole Board will be provided with a document called a Parole Dossier. This is a bundle of paperwork consisting of documents such as a prisoner’s previous convictions, details of the index offence and reports following completion of offending behaviour courses. Most importantly it will contain a document known as the OASys assessment and reports from the ISP’s offender manager and offender supervisor who will make recommendations to the Parole Board about whether they
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should progress to open conditions or be released from custody. The Parole dossier is compiled by the prison where the ISP is located. Once it has been finalised it is sent to the Public Protection Casework Section (PPCS) at the Ministry of Justice who will then send it on to the Parole Board. If an ISP has nominated a solicitor to deal with their review then a copy of the dossier should be sent directly to them. In any event the prisoner must be provided with their own copy in accordance with paragraph 1.5.3 of PSO 6010. Once the dossier has been served on the prisoner they have 28 days in which to consider it and submit written representations for consideration by the Parole Board member who reviews their dossier. ISPs are advised to strongly consider contacting a prison law specialist who can assist in the preparation of written representations for consideration by the Parole Board on their behalf. Many prisoners assume that simply because they are past their tariff expiry date that this means they will automatically be subject to an oral hearing before the Parole Board. This however is not the case. All Parole Reviews are now subject to a paper review in the first instance. This review will be conducted by an Intensive Case Management (ICM) member of the Parole Board. This is better known as an ICM assessment. The purpose of ICM is to establish whether an oral hearing is needed or whether the case can be decided on the papers alone. An oral hearing will normally be granted in two sets of circumstances: • Where the member considers there is a realistic prospect of release or a move to open conditions; or • In any case where the assessment of risk requires live evidence from the prisoner and/or witnesses. If an oral hearing is required, the ICM process exists to ensure that oral hearings are effective and that the Parole Board has all the information necessary to make an informed risk assessment. If an oral hearing is not required, the ICM process ensures that the prisoner receives full reasons as to why the review has been concluded on the papers. If it is decided that a Parole Review should proceed to an oral hearing then the ICM Member will issue notification that a case should be put forward for a listing date and directions will be issued setting out what witnesses are required to attend at the oral hearing and whether any further information is required to be served. If a decision is made that the case is not suitable to proceed to an oral hearing then the ICM member will issue a paper decision. A prisoner will have 28 days to confirm whether they agree with this decision and if they do not they can make further representations as to why they believe that their case should proceed to an oral hearing if they feel that this is what is required. Once again prisoners are best advised to contact a prison law specialist who can provide advice on this point and prepare further representations where appropriate. In some cases the ICM member will decide that they cannot make a decision on the papers but
rather than request that the case be put forward for the listing of an oral hearing, will request that further information be provided and issue preliminary directions setting out exactly what information they need and when this should be served by. The ICM member will also make decisions about whether to defer Parole Reviews once a dossier has been prepared and sent to the Parole Board. However, in the event that a prisoner is aware that they want to alter the time frame for the next Parole Review due to the fact they have offending behaviour courses to complete, for example, then they can make this request directly to the PPCS at the Ministry of Justice, who will consider revising the time table for the next review based upon any request received. This will be something to consider with a prison law specialist when looking at sentence planning issues and planning for progress through an indeterminate sentence. If a prisoner receives notification that their case has been put forward for an oral hearing this will be the prisoner’s chance to provide their oral evidence to a panel of the Parole Board. This is the only time that members of the Parole Board will have direct contact with the prisoner and can be an imperative part of properly demonstrating the position to the Parole Board in relation to areas of outstanding risk. It is therefore important that written representations drafted for the ICM assessment contain all information relevant to an ISP’s risk and detail the progress they have made throughout their time in custody. Experience has shown that in some circumstances, a parole dossier fails to reflect the positive progress that has been made and it is not until legal representations are submitted that the ICM member considers this information. The preparation of written representations could therefore have a significant impact on whether an oral hearing is granted or not. All ISPs are released on a licence and are supervised by the National Probation Service. Life sentence prisoners will be subject to licence conditions for the rest of their life and therefore their sentence does mean life. Prisoners who are subject to an IPP sentence will be released subject to a licence that will be in place for a minimum of ten years. If after this period it is deemed appropriate that they no longer be subject to licence then an application can be made to the Secretary of State for the licence conditions to be removed. This position will be very much dependent upon the Probation Service’s views and recommendations. To date no IPPs will have made such an application as the sentences did not come into force until 2005. IPPs must be on licence for at least ten years before they can apply to have their licence discharged. Not all prisoners will be subject to a sentence for the rest of their life, unless of course they are subject to a life sentence. What is important is that all ISPs start to plan progression through their sentence as soon as possible upon their arrival into custody. Not only are prisoners entitled to representation throughout the parole process but they are also able to seek assistance from prison law specialists about matters such as sentence planning, access to offending behaviour courses and categorisation issues. If you need any help or advice with any prison law issues please contact Emma Davies and the Prison Law team at HINE Solicitors. FREEPOST – RSTC-URCY-XYZL, Hine Solicitors, 149-151 Fairview Road, Cheltenham, GL52 2EX or on 01242 256686.
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FOREIGN INTERCEPTS Challenging Admissibility Aziz Rahman, Solicitor and Jonathan Lennon, Barrister
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t is well known that material gathered from intercepted phone calls cannot be evidence in a criminal trial in this country. It is s17 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) that provides that prohibition. In fact s17 provides that it is unlawful even to ask questions in Court about the existence of intercept material - there are certain limited exceptions under s18. The reason is to avoid the general public learning of the authorities’ abilities and, more to the point, what the authorities cannot do. This prohibition must surely end one of these days - many prosecutors feel frustrated that they cannot use such material; equally many defendants feel that the Crown have in their possession material that may assist their defence. The starting point - RIPA In fact RIPA does not prohibit all intercept material from disclosure and use. In 2006 a Turkish national was convicted as a ringleader in a huge people smuggling operation. The police had intercept material from Belgium and the CPS made it known that the material could only have been admissible because it was obtained by overseas law enforcement agencies. What is the law in this situation? Interception warrants It is impossible to explain in a short article the complexities of this area - which many criminal lawyers don’t properly understand. The starting point is that under s1(1) of RIPA it is an offence to intercept any telecommunications or postal communications in the UK unless it is done with “lawful authority”. “Lawful authority” requires (in most cases) that an interception warrant is issued by the Home Secretary under s5 of the Act. Warrants however are not granted easily; the suspect’s right to privacy under Art 8 has to be considered and the interference must be ‘proportionate’ and ‘necessary’. This is a recognition of how serious the breach of privacy is -listening to ‘phone calls is clearly extremely intrusive and should never become a matter of routine. In R v P [2001] 2 WLR 463, the House of Lords considered the predecessor to s17 of RIPA, s9 of the Interception of Communications Act 1985 (IOCA). It found that the 1985 Act applied only to intercepts in the UK. The Court followed the earlier case of R v Aujla, Times Law Reps, 24/11/97. In that case the Dutch authorities intercepted calls between a person in this country and a person in Holland, without the knowledge of the British police. The Court found that the interception of calls by tapping a line in Holland was not a breach of IOCA (all UK ‘phone tapping is illegal unless properly authorised by IOCA, or now RIPA) - the issue for the Court then was should the evidence be admitted, not can the evidence be admitted. The Court held that the trial Judge had to take into account the circumstances in which the material was obtained. That discretion included considerable weight to be attached to the suspect’s right to privacy as guaranteed by Art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. All these cases of course are pre-RIPA. Today the European Convention has fuller effect since implementation, in October 2000, of the Human Rights Act 1998. Mutual assistance The UK, has been since May 2000, a party to the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the EU. This requires
E.U. States to co-operate with each other and provide assistance in respect of criminal investigations. Section 1(4) of RIPA applies to ‘international agreements’ - e.g. the EU convention. It provides that where such an agreement is in place the Home Secretary must not issue any request for assistance to another country without “lawful authority”. Lawful authority here means the Home Secretary must issue an interception warrant under s5(1), prior to any request for mutual assistance. So if you are now awaiting trial in this country and the evidence is based upon material intercepted overseas in an E.U. country (and you were in that country at the time) the first question must be ‘who ordered the interception?’ The British or the other State? Interceptions abroad - initiated by the British authorities Say, for example, that the UK police are investigating a suspect who is a British national but based overseas in an E.U. country. The police want to listen to his phone calls but need the assistance of that country’s authorities. Then, in that case s1(4) applies and the first step is for the police to get the Home Secretary to issue a warrant and then ask the Member State for assistance, as RIPA now specifically recognises the E.U. wide Convention on Mutual Assistance. It should be bourne in mind that RIPA only ‘designated’ that Convention on 1st April 2004 - RIPA (Designation of an International Agreement) Order 2004. It may therefore be arguable that any requests made prior to this date are simply unlawful as the mutual assistance Convention had not yet been recognised and the proper safeguards put in place.
RIPA s17 - The prohibition & asking questions Section 17 prevents any questions being asked about the lawfulness of an intercept operation. It is possible however to challenge whether the conditions are in place for a non-RIPA intercept to become evidence i.e. an overseas intercept - is it really non-RIPA, if it, then is the interception lawful in human rights terms; was the foreign interception properly authorised, are their systems human rights compliant etc etc? This was established in Att.-Gen.’s Reference (No. 5 of 2002), 4 ALL ER 901. R v Herbert Austin & Ors [2009] EWCA Crim 1527, 23/7/09 is a case which is of interest. It was an appeal from Winchester Crown Court of defendants charged with drug trafficking offences. The British authorities had been conducting surveillance on a suspect and were aware that he was flying to Columbia. They informed the Columbian authorities who also placed him under surveillance. This surveillance included phone intercepts. That material was provided to the British authorities following a letter of request. The Crown then applied to adduce the material before the jury at the subsequent trial. The defence resisted and relied on expert evidence to suggest that the calls were actually intercepted in this country and not in Columbia (in which case s17 would apply). The Judge heard evidence on this topic and also heard from the Crown in a Public Interest Immunity application - i.e. were the defence are excluded from Court. This procedure formed part of the challenge in the Court of Appeal. The trial Judge found that the recordings were made in Columbia not the UK and ruled the material admissible, The Appeal Court, having considered the PII material,
Assuming though that RIPA is properly engaged, because the British police had asked the overseas E.U. State for help (after 1st April 2004), and did use the s5 warrant procedure, then s17 is firmly engaged as well in fact s17(2)(b) specifically relates to international mutual assistance requests. Thus, it would be unlawful for that intercepted material to go before the jury. It would be for intelligence purposes only. Interceptions abroad - initiated by an E.U. authority If, on the other hand, the British police have not instigated the interception then RIPA might not be relevant and s17 would not bite. This though does not mean that the material is automatically admissible as evidence; as some may think. There should at that stage be consideration given to legal argument for the exclusion of that material. This would be an enhanced version of the Aujila arguments mentioned above. For example, just because RIPA does not apply, does not mean the Human Rights Act does not apply - questions would arise such as why was the intercept was authorised, is the procedure in the authorising country compliant with the Convention on Human Rights, and so on. However, just because material is gained unlawfully does not mean it is inadmissible. Unlawfully obtained material may be kept from the jury depending on the type of breach of the rules and the unfairness caused - only where s17 is involved is there a definitive stay on the use of intercept material. Furthermore, there are additional arguments about voice attribution; voices are not like fingerprints or DNA - it is an inexact science. In R v O’Doherty [2003] 1 Cr. App. R 5 it was held that, in the present state of scientific knowledge, no prosecution should be brought where the identification evidence relied solely on what is called the ‘auditory method’ (dialect/accent) of voice attribution, there should also be ‘acoustic analysis’, unless the voices concerned all related to a closed group of known individuals; see also R v Flynn & St. John [2008] 2 Cr. App. R (20) CA.
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found that it would have made no difference had the defence had sight of that material and therefore it would not have assisted in any s17 arguments. However, the Court found that the defence were not in possession of certain facts and materials which may have assisted them in an application to exclude the material - i.e. even though it was admissible, to exclude it anyway on grounds of fairness. This is often the basis for any exclusion applications - first submission: the material cannot be admitted, second; if it can it shouldn’t, applying s78 of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984. That second limb persuaded the appeal Court that had the proper PII and disclosure provisions been applied as set out in R v H & C [2004] 2 AC 134 things may have been different. Therefore the Court decided that the material ought to be evaluated with that question in mind and that evaluation would have to be carried out by a Special Counsel instructed to review the material and decide how much could be disclosed to the defence so that they could ably put forward their exclusion argument. The Future - SOCA & cross-border co-operation In this age of global mass-communication, internet crime and the European Arrest Warrant one thing is for sure; we are to see a lot more of the authorities attempting to introduce foreign intercept material before the Courts; whether they are successful or not is another question. Jonathan Lennon is a Barrister specialising in serious and complex criminal defence cases. He is based at 23 Essex Street Chambers in London. He is a contributing author to Covert Human Intelligence Sources, (2008 Waterside Press) and has extensive experience in all aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and is ranked by both Chambers & Ptnrs and the Legal 500. Aziz Rahman is a Solicitor- Advocate and Partner at the leading Criminal Defence firm Rahman Ravelli Solicitors, specialising in Human Rights, Financial Crime and Large Scale Conspiracies/Serious crime. Rahman Ravelli are members of the Specialist Fraud Panel and have recently been ranked by Legal 500 as an ‘excellent’ firm with Aziz Rahman being described as ‘first class and very experienced’. Both lawyers acted for H in the leading case of R v H & C.
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If you have a question you would like answered please send to: ‘Robert Banks’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Legal Q&A
night pub fight and I think I was arrested because I won the fight. There was no knife. The loser only had four stitches and a loose tooth. I had similar previous and I was given four months. I would like to appeal but my solicitor is against it. Should I?
Banks on Sentence Robert Banks, a barrister, writes Banks on Sentence and Banks on Sentence Compact. The main work is the second largest selling practitioner’s criminal text book and is used by judges for sentencing more than any other. The book is classified by the Ministry of Justice as a core judicial text book. It is priced at £94.99 and is regularly updated. The latest edition is also available in an App for iPads from the Apple iTunes Store. If you have access to a computer, you can follow him on twitter: @BanksonSentence
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Q
In December, I pleaded to a section 20 assault. Luckily the prosecution dropped a section 18. They had witness problems. The case was adjourned. The victim was knifed by two of us. I will claim it was all in a frenzy. I have a conviction for another section 18 and quite a few other convictions. For most of them I received custody. I’m told IPP has been abolished so what is the worst I face?
IPP, which could not be given for section 20, was replaced on 3rd December 2012 with the new extended sentences (EDS).
Criminal Justice Act 2003. EDS is available where a) the defendant pleads or is convicted of an offence which is in Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch 15 b) and where either i) the appropriate penalty is 4 years or more or ii) where there is a conviction for a serious offence like section 18. Therefore your previous section 18 offence means EDS is available. EDS means that you would have to serve two thirds of your sentence rather than the usual requirement of one half of your prison sentence. For you, because you were convicted of a Schedule 15B offence, there would be a release after serving the custodial sentence, but this does not apply to all prisoners. You might be interested to know that had you been convicted of section 18, on 3 December 2012 automatic life was introduced which applies to a) offences in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch 15B like section 18, b) offences committed on or after 3rd December 2012 and c) where either i) the appropriate penalty is 10 years or more or ii) where there is a conviction for a serious offence in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch 15B.
The Judge will consider whether you are a ‘dangerous offender’ within the definition in the
I was convicted of affray at the Magistrates’ Court. There was a Saturday
A
I have very little to go on. I am not sure two people using a knife in a frenzy is much mitigation. The maximum sentence is 5 years. I assume you are over 18.You will be entitled to receive a discount for the plea. How much will depend on when you offered to plead and what was said at your PCMH. Without more details of your previous offending I couldn’t predict the answer.
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Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org date of my sentence hearing. Surely there must be some application I could make to spare my family the distress of reading about what I’ve done and having to cope with what other children might say to my children. My brief says there is not much we can do. What can I do?
A
A
The other problem is that if you appeal you are dealt with by a judge. The general view is that they resist overruling magistrates whenever they can. Very few appeals succeed. The judge is also able to increase your sentence, which I think he or she might do.
In one case involving drink/drive the timing made the story more newsworthy. Some judges would think that publicity would be a good thing. It would show people who are tempted to commit this type of offence that they will receive the long sentence that I expect you to receive. Further it will enable the victims of this type of offence to see what the courts think is the appropriate penalty and to know that some of the offenders are arrested.
I doubt it. My perception is that magistrates try to impose a community sentence if they can. Here they may have thought that the other sentences that had been imposed before hadn’t worked and it was time for custody. I suspect you were arrested because you were part of a group causing fear to others, which are the ingredients of affray. The injuries are not insignificant. The guidelines indicate that you are either in the middle band, where there was ‘substantial fear’, which has a range of ‘medium-level community order to 12 weeks’ custody’, or the top band. The top band is where the ‘conduct caused risk of serious injury’. This has a range of ‘12 weeks’ custody to a committal to the Crown Court’. Both these ranges would need to be enhanced because of your previous convictions. If you had a weapon, you were lucky. If it was just fists, then late-night pub violence is often dealt with by a custodial sentence.
Q
I will be pleading to a burglary where I tricked my way into an old person’s home. I took money from her purse. I needed the money for drugs. I am utterly ashamed of it and am very worried that the case will be reported in the papers. My partner doesn’t know the true facts and I have children at a local school. If they had to read what it was I would be devastated. I wasn’t going to tell them the
In many countries open justice is not seen as important. In this country it has a long and important past. The public is entitled to know who is appearing at the courts and what they are being sentenced for. There are a number of very tightly drawn exceptions to this. Even where a defendant is accused of sexually abusing members of his family his real name is used in court. The reporting restrictions on the case will not be to protect the defendant. They will be there to ensure that the witnesses remain anonymous. There have been occasions when full-time magistrates who face charges have had their cases heard on a Saturday or first thing, and many suspect that this was done to avoid publicity. It still didn’t mean that there was any anonymity or any hearing was in a closed court.
Recently a prison governor at Wakefield was prosecuted for having extreme pornography on his laptop. The case received publicity in the papers. The effect on him was devastating. But he could not in any way claim that the case should not be reported. I am afraid there is no way of blocking publicity. However, you should remember that the press rarely report what you expect them to.
Asking Robert Banks a question: Please make sure your question concerns sentence, prison law or release and not conviction. It is usually not possible to determine whether a particular defendant has grounds of appeal without seeing all the paperwork. Analysing all the paperwork is not possible. The column is designed for simple questions and answers. Please start your letter with the question you want answered and send the letter to Inside Time, marked for Robert Banks. 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. Letters which a) are without an address, b) cannot be read, or c) are sent direct, cannot be answered. Letters have to be sent from Inside Time to a solicitor. If your solicitor wants to see a previous question and answer, they are posted on the website, www. banksr.com.
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If you have a question you would like answered please send to: ‘Robert Banks’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB.
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Prison & Release Law Questions answered by Robert Banks and Jason Elliott
Q
Each week, I read reports about the problems of inmates seeing a dentist. This seems pretty basic healthcare. On my wing there are lots of people who want to see a dentist but the wait goes on. What is our entitlement? I want to mouth off about it but my teeth are in need of repair!
A
It seems as if there is one thing worse than going to the dentist, it is not going to the dentist. In a 2003 survey by the Department of Health, the level of dental disease amongst prisoners was found to be around four times greater than that in the general population. Guidelines issued by the Faculty of General Dental Practice state that, ‘In circumstances where prisoners have complicated health care needs or where the service or equipment in the prison dental surgery is limited, referrals may need to be made to dental services outside the prison, but this is not simple because there are security implications, a need for escorts and escalating costs.’ PSI 16/2003 set out a strategy for the modernisation of dental practice, although this instruction has since expired. The stated purpose of Prison Standard 22, “Health Services for Prisoners” (May 2004) is, ‘To provide prisoners with access to the same range and quality of services as the general public receives from the National Health Service (NHS).’ That document also sets a standard at paragraph 6 that, ‘Staff comply with professional and ethical codes of practice.’ At paragraph 7, ‘Services are provided in discrete, properly equipped, clean accommodation that ensures medical confidentiality.’ A failure by the Prison Service to provide
adequate dental services can form a basis for successful legal action. In recent years, 24 inmates at HMP Wakefield were awarded damages totalling £47,000 after alleging substandard dental care. If you are experiencing difficulty or delay in obtaining adequate dental care then you should consult a solicitor as to whether legal action may be appropriate.
Q
I am in a long trial and each day I’m given what’s called ‘lunch’. It’s generally prepared food of the poorest kind. To take an example, a so-called meat pie has a gungy covering which can’t be described as pastry. If you cut this, a smell of preservatives and chemicals is given off. When you are really hungry it is difficult to decide whether to eat it or go hungry. In about two weeks I will be giving evidence. I feel run down enough without the problem of poor or no food. What is my entitlement?
A
I (Robert Banks) was once in a case at the Old Bailey. I and others persuaded the Judge that the food was so bad that the case could not continue. The food was shown to him and he ordered the sitting be suspended until the defendants had been properly fed. Food was brought to the cells by the defence solicitors and the trial was able to continue. Each day, further food was brought in. The story was on the front page of The Times and the cartoonists had a field day. Nowadays I cannot envisage there being enough interest in prisoners or trust in the defence solicitors for the same decision to be taken. Judges are reluctant to be involved in prisoner matters. When they do demand action,
such as that prisoners be brought to court on time, they are often ignored. The operation of Crown Court custody suites is outside the scope of the Prison Service (they are ordinarily run by private companies) and therefore there is no assistance to be gained from Prison Service policy in this regard. I’m told that court cells are now run by one company, GEOAmey and they say that ‘a prisoner is entitled to a meal during the day. Prisoners will be offered a packed lunch or a microwaved meal. This will depend on each court’s ‘kitchen’ facility. Special dietary requirements will be catered for.’ You may be interested to know that in prison there are specific rules on the provision of food. Prison Rules 1999 Rule 24(2); as amended states: ‘The food provided shall be wholesome, nutritious, well prepared and served, reasonably varied and sufficient in quantity.’ Further PSI 44/2010 para 3 provides, ‘Prisoners will be provided with 3 meals per day. As a minimum this provision will include breakfast, lunch and evening meal. Drinking water will be made available to all prisoners at all times. A multi-choice (minimum five choices), preselect menu including a minimum of one substantial hot meal choice per day will be provided for the lunch time or evening meal. The menu cycle will be for a minimum of 4 weeks.’ Finally, PSI 44/2010 para 3.1 provides for prisoners’ views, ‘Prisoners are consulted about and can make comments on the catering provision.’ Adrian James of HMP Cardiff wrote (Inside Time Dec 2012) about how expressing concern can work but also how it can be twisted by the tabloid press. All this is not impressive. Oliver Twist and his request for more comes to mind. I am told that cost-cutting is the major factor.
Q
I am up for my parole hearing in four months’ time. It’s complicated because people have told lies about me. I want help. How do I get a lawyer? How do I prepare for the hearing?
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Legal Q&A
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A
The format of a parole hearing is a lot more informal than most court proceedings. It is termed ‘inquisitorial’ (the board takes an active role in ascertaining the facts), as opposed to the ‘adversarial’ (two sides battling it out) process of a criminal trial. You will appear in front of a panel of up to three members of the Parole Board. Contrary to popular belief, it is not always necessary that one of these members is legally qualified, although this will be the case if you are a lifer seeking initial release. The test that the panel will use to decide whether or not to release you and the weight they give to the various issues will vary according to the nature of the sentence that you are serving and whether you are seeking release for the first time during the sentence or following a recall. In all cases, the paperwork that the panel will use will be in the form of a dossier and you or your lawyers should make sure that you have access to the dossier in good time so that written representations can be made in advance of the hearing and so that you can familiarise yourself with everything that has been said about you. The Parole Board has recently begun to pilot a process of conducting parole reviews by video link at some prisons. Given that there are factual disputes in your case it may be that such a process is inappropriate for you. The Parole Board will have to be informed of this (with suitable reasons) in advance of the review. Inside Time publishes a series of helpful fact sheets and these include several on the subject of parole. You should also discuss the specifics of your case with your solicitor. The Factsheets can be downloaded from www. insidetime.org and also are available from prison libraries (ask your librarian).
Jason Elliott is a barrister at Dere Street Barristers, Newcastle upon Tyne and 2 Dr Johnson’s Buildings, Temple, London. For details about how to have your questions answered see the Banks on Sentence column.
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Wellbeing
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Leading you to a healthy lifestyle ‘A lifestyle worth living’ Are you new to exercise, not sure what to do or looking for a different training approach? This month we will be looking at a way of mixing up your muscular training, to promote muscular size, endurance and definition using purely just bodyweight! by PE Instructor Matt Vanstone - HMP Erlestoke 2011 English Indoor Rowing Champion.
I
can almost guarantee most people that have been to a gym, and perform a split body part weekly routine have lifted some form of weight or resistance equipment at some point. But one of the main reasons why people don’t attend a gym or leisure centre is the cost and time. This month we will look at a bodyweight routine that targets different muscle groups over a week. For people new to exercise or completely changing their routine, they will see results with muscular size and definition. For the advanced weightlifter, you will see muscle vascularity (veins and arteries at the body and muscle 012_Layout surface) 1 23/05/2012 16:24 shape. Page 1 The routine consists of four sessions per week, hitting each major muscle group hard once a week. After the first two weeks, you should see an improvement in your final set of repetitions, so if you do, increase the amount of reps in previous sets by 2 reps. For all the exercises allow a 60 second rest in between sets, and if necessary adjust the reps accordingly to your fitness ability.
Session 1 chest, shoulders & triceps Exercise
Sets
Reps
Press up
4
Incline press up
4
Decline press up
4
Close grip press up
3
12, 12, 12, failure 10, 10, 10, failure 10, 10, 10, failure 12, 12, 12,
Wide grip press up
3
12, 12, 12,
Alternate shoulder press up
3
10, 10, 10,
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Exercise
Sets
Reps
Wide grip chin ups
4
Close grip chin up
4
Close grip chin up reverse grip
4
Body hang
3
Reverse grip chin up hold
3
10,10,10, failure 10,10,10, failure 10,10,10, failure To failure each time To failure each time
LEGS! - The session not to be missed
lying down pull ups
3
12,12,12
Exercise
Sets
Squats
4
25, 25, 25, 25
Lunges (each leg)
4 4
10, 10, 10, 10
3
12, 12, 12 12, 12, 12
Static squat
3 3
Calf raises
4
25, 25, 25, 25
squats
3
1 min, 1 min, 1 min
Coaching points: For the body hang, keep your arms straight and a shoulder and a half width grip apart. For the reverse grip chin up hold, get your chin up in line with your wrists. For both exercises hold statically for as long as you can. In a gym environment, the lying down pull up can be performed on a squat rack or smith machine by pulling your chest up to the bar.
Sumo squats Squat jumps Squat thrusts
Reps
25, 25, 25, 25
1 min, 1 min, failure
Coaching points: With the squat jumps, have a marker or a raised platform you can jump to. The calf raises can also be performed in this platform, and enforce a full range of movement to feel the stretch. The last exercise of squats you should push really hard. Your aim is to see how many squats you can do in each of the 1 minute rounds.
Core
Bodyweight exercises are often overlooked and under rated. Many top athletes over a Sit ups 4 12, 12, 12, broad range of sports purely use bodyweight Arm blasts 3 failure training, and in fact steer away from using 12, 12, 12, Leg raises 4 weights and resistance machines. The key thingPage to look KC Law DEC 2011 75 x 80 colour_Layout failure 1 30/03/2012 13:55 1 at is make your training relevant Coaching points: With the alternate shoulder Dorsal raises 3 12, 12, 12, to your personal aims and objectives. If you press up, you should lever your bodyweight failure follow a structured training program, you will 3 down to one hand and press up to the original V sits see the changes and adaptations to it at 12, 12, 12 regular set periods, and over the cycle of a press up start position. Then lever down to the Lie down stand up 3 year, athletes will have times where they don’t 12, 12, 12 opposite hand and back to the start position. perform resistance training, If you have found 1 min, 1 With the arm blasts, start in a press up Plank 3 you are not seeing any results, take a step min, failure position, then walk one hand up to a raised back, have a rest and evaluate what you are 1 min, 1 Side plank left 3 platform (bench or step box) and then follow doing. Maybe you have been constantly overmin, failure with the other arm and back down to the start training, or not training specific. I hope you all Side plank right 1 min, 1 3 position. Keep your legs in line with your back have had a good Christmas, and are now right min, failure back in to training in this New Year. at all times Dips close grip
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Back and Biceps
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3
12, 12, 12, failure 12, 12, 12, failure
Exercise
Sets
Reps
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Wellbeing
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Hard Core Yoga
Building up strong core muscles is good for your balance and posture, protects you from lower back pain and helps you with all kinds of training and sports. These poses are very challenging, but stick with them – January is a good time to commit to making a hard but important change.
The Prison Phoenix Trust
Balance like this for 5 deep breaths. Harder than it looks!
5
Get your hips as high as you can. Hold for 5 breaths.
6 When you next breathe out, lift one leg up behind you. Breathe in slowly, move forward into a kind of press up position, and pull the leg to your chest. Do this, moving with the breath, 5 times for each side.
1
If you want a free book and CD to help you set up a regular yoga and meditation practice write to The Prison Phoenix Trust, PO Box 328, Oxford OX2 7HF. The Prison Phoenix Trust supports prisoners and prison officers in their spiritual lives through meditation, yoga, silence and the breath. The Trust works with people of any religion or none. We also help set up and run weekly yoga classes for inmates and prison staff.
4
2
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Relax like this, your attention on your breathing, for five minutes. Well done!
3 Hold this strong pose for five slow breaths, then switch and do the other side. Hold like this for five breaths.
Can we PRAY for YOU & your FAMILY? Our Church has a prayer team committed to pray for prisoners and their families. Each request will be treated with full confidentiality. Would you like to be sent a free ‘Why Jesus?’ booklet and ‘Mark’s Gospel’? Send any prayer requests and/ or request for the booklets to: Paul Veitch Prison Ministry Coordinator Jesus Fellowship Central Offices Nether Heyford, Northants NN7 3LB If you would prefer to leave a prayer request by voicemail then call 07448 800 958
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Book Reviews
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Reading group round-up Image courtesy of Matthew Meadows
Andrew Lambert reports from HMP Bullingdon on George Orwell’s 1984 The main character is Winston Smith, a civil servant who lives alone in a world where Big Brother – the state – rigidly controls everything: the laws, the media, everything. Every room in every building has a telescreen that can simultaneously transmit and receive. And nothing, not even a wink, is
They say that every man has a breaking point. Does Winston live or die? Does he get the girl? Who wins? I’m not going to tell you that. But if it were me: would I roll over? Would I be a sheep? Or would I die fighting? The answer is: BAA!
ever missed.
Some members thought they’d read it before but then realised it was just because so much of the book is so familiar – Big Brother, Room 101, the power of surveillance. In any case it created a lively debate:
Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth requires him to falsify historical documents on orders from BB. When the Ministry of Plenty decides to reduce the chocolate ration from 30g to 25g per week, Winston has to alter the old records and newspaper articles to make it look like the original ration was only ever 20g. Now the Ministry can claim it has INCREASED the allowance!
• This book becomes more relevant with each passing year • I’m young and when I read it on my own it didn’t seem relevant to me. I didn’t get past page 20. But listening to you lot talking, I’m keen to try it again. • Was Julia (the girl) an agent provocateur or did she really love Winston? • Does this book warn us against communism?
Winston is plagued by the lies but knows that even if anybody else felt as he does, they could never show it. Dissent is not tolerated by BB, and people are sometimes removed and never seen again.
And the one that summed it up for our group: • This book is a modern classic and a must read!
Citizens are expected to love BB and are required to attend a regular ‘Two Minute Hate’, a message from the revolutionary leader broadcast to an audience over a giant telescreen. It includes shots of the enemy of the moment and people are encouraged to boo and hiss at the screen. Strangely, even Winston feels the urge to join in.
But maybe that’s just me…the power of the state is scary.
The Bullingdon group is part of the Prison Reading Groups project (PRG), generously supported by Give a Book www.giveabook. org.uk If your prison doesn’t have a reading group, encourage your librarian to have a look at the PRG website www.roehampton.ac.uk/ Prison-Reading-Groups PRG has also worked with National Prison Radio to start a radio book club. If you have access to NPR, listen out for details and ways to take part.
But it’s here too that Winston meets Julia, the girl he falls in love with, and O’Brien, who reveals himself as an enemy to BB. He also gives Winston a copy of ‘the book’, which denounces the power politics of the state. Both love and the book turn out to be powerful and dangerous and Winston pays a heavy price.
Charlie Darby-Villis - Reader in residence HMP Low Newton The Reading for Life group in the Learning Shop and library at HMP Low Newton is run using The Reader Organisation’s Get into Reading read-aloud model. We read short stories, novels and poetry aloud, together, speaking immediately not just about what the writing means but how it feels. We gather weekly to share great writing, discovering new things about the world, each other, and, sometimes, ourselves. This year The Reader Organisation is also coordinating RISE (Reading in Secure Environments), an exciting arts council funded project bringing contemporary writers of excellence to both literature festivals and prisons and secure wards where The Reader runs groups. As part of RISE great writers have already visited Styal and Kennet, while award winning poet Jean Sprackland came to read at Low Newton. A month or so after Jean’s visit, on a cold Wednesday in December, nine of us, Maura, Kayleigh, Mary, Claire, Ann, Cath, Bev, Tracey and me, gather to read James Baldwin’s superb story Sonny’s Blues. As usual, we then read a poem and this week returned to one of Jean’s:
Mattresses
Tipped down the embankment, they sprawl like sloshed suburban wives, buckled and split, slashed by rain, moulded by bodies dead or disappeared and reeking with secrets. A lineside museum of sleep and sex, an archive of thrills and emissions, the histories of half-lives spent hiding in the dark. Arthritic iron frames might still be worth a bit, but never that pink quilted headboard, naked among thistles, relic of some reckless beginning, testament to the usual miracle: the need to be close, however it stains and bruises. Jean Sprackland - Reproduced by kind permission of the poet We read the poem out loud then there is a moment’s silence, broken by readers wanting to be heard: “I really like this” says Cath; “Magnificent” says Claire; Mary looks at the poem quietly then says “This is good – the poem is about a woman not a mattress.” But the praise is far from universal. Tracey
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This strange and exciting new life comes crashing down on Winston when the Thought Police smash their way into the secret room and drag him behind the impenetrable walls of the Ministry of Love for interrogation. It’s here that he is forced to face his greatest fear: ROOM 101 The book is thought-provoking. It’s also many different things to different people. It’s a love story, but also a story of betrayal on so many levels. It raises questions of freedom, political ideology and the duty of both the state and its citizens.
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looks up “I really don’t like this – I’ve heard it before and I didn’t like it then, and I still don’t like it now. Don’t get me wrong I like Jean – I really enjoyed her coming in and talking to us, but this poem leaves me cold. Jean spoke about the inspiration being a mattress that she’s seen from a train window and that worries me – that it’s just about a mattress. So why put so much in?” Ann disagrees: “This poem divides opinion but I think it’s about a woman and I think it’s derogatory. Why/sloshed suburban wives/ Why not husbands?” Cath is quick to step in: “But that’s the point - it’s almost a feminist poem. It wants us to sympathise with the abandoned mattress and then perhaps an abandoned, perhaps abused, sloshed suburban wife.” Bev then speaks up: “I think you’re seeing this too much as about a person. I agree with Tracey that it’s just about the mattress but I think that makes the poem great. Just think about how much a mattress knows about your life. I mean it’s where we’re born, have sex, where most of us die. They witness all the important stuff. I love that verse that starts /a lineside museum…/ It really sums up the poem. You know that expression ‘If walls have ears’. Well imagine if mattresses did! What would they have heard?” Maura isn’t sure “I thought it was just about mattresses but listening to you all talk is making me think – perhaps this is more about a woman, and her life.” Mary agrees with her. “This is a poem that really speaks to me as a woman and I don’t think men would read it in the same way.” Bev looks up thoughtfully “Is the poem really this dark? I mean are we just bringing our experiences to it, are we seeing a bleakness to it because we’re sitting reading it here in prison?” This fascinating question brings a variety of responses, but on balance people think it would be the same, the bleak language remains. Cath responds with another question “do you think we’ll be allowed to read it on a sun lounger the med an experiment to Youth CourtinGuide (5thas Edition) see if we felt any different?” Pakeeza Rahman & Tony Rendell ISBN: 978 1 84766 982 7 We read the poem again, holding everything that we’ve already spoken about, and bringing it to this new reading. Ann speaks again “This poem has loads in it - it has loads of potential for interpretation and discussion, that’s why we’re talking about it so much. Think about all the past inhabitants of mattresses, if they were happy, sad – what were their lives?” Cath answers this with a line from the poem: / reeking with secrets/ “You can almost smell things, because of the poem.” Tracey is still unconvinced: “I write myself, I put my feelings into my poems, but this poem worries me - what were Jean’s feelings to have written this, and when she seemed so nice.” Claire has a final word: “Jean’s worked on it, she’s telling a story of something she’s seen from the train. She moulds her poems with words like a potter uses clay.”
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51
English PEN, The X Factor of writing talent is back: The Results! This is the second year of English PEN’s writing competition; we had over 400 entries from 60 different prison estates with a record 62 entries from HMP Frankland who will receive a PEN writer visit in 2013.
Our judge Mark Haddon (pictured), author of ‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time’ chose the themes Green, A Letter and Animal and there was also a book review section, the standard was high with a great diversity of writing and genres; poems, stories, memoir, essays, reviews. As Mark Haddon observed, ‘It might seem ridiculous to judge a poem against a piece of memoir and to judge a piece of memoir against a short story. In truth it’s the easiest thing in the world. Does it make you laugh? Does it make you sad? Are you entertained? It doesn’t happen often but when it does it’s unmistakable.’
Green/letter/animal Winner: The Gates of Ytan by Adrian Freeman, HMP Bure Runners up: A Letter For Mr Greene by Robert Lodge, HMP Holme House. Black Swans by John Kellow, HMP Usk. The Green Dragon by Greg Pierce, HMP Albany. The
Green Hornet by anonymous, HMP Frankland. A Letter To Myself by anonymous, HMP Whitemoor. Dear Witch by Jamie Forde, HMP Erlestoke. The Letter by Anonymous, HMP Parc. A Letter by Cherylin Norrell-Goldsmith, HMP Downview
Books Winner: Awoken From My Big Sleep by Nigel Cranswick, HMP Lowdham Grange Runners up: The Man Who Woud be King by Denzil Davies, HMP Ranby. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by John Cannan, HMP Full Sutton. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Mudadiwa Chinkyoka, HMP Frankland. A Little Bit of Wisdom by anonymous, HMP Full Sutton. Thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey by Barabara Gayton, HMP Askham Grange. The Slap by Stephen Marsh, HMP Swaleside. We had to choose 14 runners up, there was such such a plethora of great entries; the two winners receive £100 each and all runners up £10 as well as being published. We will also be publishing a further 20 commended writers in our final winning pamphlet in February. Copies will be sent to all the chosen writers and will be available to download from the English PEN website.
Pearls of wisdom: The world’s wisest quotes SINCE 1901 the Nobel Prize has been the hallmark of genius and its laureates such as Einstein, Mandela, Churchill and Aung San Suu Kyi are a source of inspiration. Author David Pratt has collected some of their quotes into a new book, The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said. Here is a selection of memorable words: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion.” Nelson Mandela - Peace, 1993 “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to handle them and pretty soon you have a dozen.” John Steinbeck - Literature, 1962 “When I was younger I made it a rule never to take a strong drink before lunch. Now my rule is never to do so before breakfast.” Winston Churchill - Literature, 1953 “If the dead could speak there would be no more war.” Heinrich Böll - Literature, 1972
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“We must learn to live together as brothers or we shall perish together as fools.” Martin Luther King - Peace, 1964 “I believe in God - in spite of God! I believe in mankind - in spite of mankind! I believe in the future - in spite of the past!” Elie Wiesel - Peace, 1986 “I used to think getting old was about vanity - but it’s actually about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial.” Eugene O’Neill - Literature, 1936 “The newspapers at one time said that I was dead but after carefully examining the evidence I came to the conclusion that this statement was false.” Bertrand Russell - Literature, 1950 “Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s just too much fraternising with the enemy.” Henry Kissinger - Peace, 1973
“Building democracy as an imposition from abroad is a form of imperialism.” Lech Walesa - Peace, 1983 “If you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” Desmond Tutu - Peace, 1984 “Governments never learn. Only people learn.” Milton Friedman - Economics, 1976 “I think we may take it, gentlemen, that the evening light is much the same for all men. When the shadows lengthen one contrasts what one had intended to do in the beginning with what one has accomplished.” Rudyard Kipling - Literature, 1907 The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said, by David Pratt. Published by The Robson Press. Price £9.99
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General Knowledge Crossword
TWENTY QUESTIONS TO TEST YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 1. Which sort of instrument would normally be made by a horologist? 2. What name is given to the Bibles purchased by a Christian organization and placed in hotel rooms? 3. In the seventeenth century, which French philosopher wrote Meditations on First Philosophy? 4. Which British city failed to win the bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics? 5. Which French wine-producing region includes Chablis, Beaujolais and Nuits-StGeorges? 6. With which sport is the name Nigel Mansell most closely associated? 7. Which football club did Steve McClaren manage prior to his appointment as England manager in 2006? 8. Johnny Borrell is the lead singer with which chart-topping UK band?
Across
Down 1. — Depardieu, French actor whose films include “Green Card”(6) 2. State of the USA in which Albuquerque is the largest city (3,6) 3. Hammond —, author of “Campbell’s Kingdom”and other adventure stories (5) 4. A region belonging to one country but surrounded by another(7) 6. 1976 Winter Olympic Games venue (9) 7. “Thoughts that do often lie too deep for —” (Tennyson) (5) 8. A type of lager, of Czech origin (7) 9. “My Love She’s But a — Yet”(Robert Burns: song title) (6) 15. A showjumping competition testing a horse’s ability to jump large obstacles (9) 17. Spiritual leader of the Tibetan people (5,4) 18. A rushing stream (7) 19. Israelite hero who performed herculean feats of strength against the Philistines (6) 20. “— and Old Lace”, 1944 film starring Cary Grant (7) 21. A small boat used in the Far East (6) 23. Deeply distressed (3,2) 25. Ancient teller of fables (5)
1. A person who is not a Jew (7) 5. The main tent in a circus (3,3) 10. Tree also known as the mountain ash (5) 11. Armour of interlocking metal rings (5,4) 12. Variable resistors (9) 13. Type of buffalo formerly widespread on the prairies of North America (5) 14. “The short and — annals of the poor” (Gray: Elegy) (6) 16. South American country to which the Galapagos Islands belong (7) 18. American slang term for twenty-five cents (3,4) 20. Substance capable of turning litmus blue (6) 22. “A Day at the —”, 1937 Marx Brothers movie (5) 24. Third wife of the Roman emperor Claudius (until he had her executed) (9) 26. Popular musician who began his career as pianist with the group Bluesology (5,4) 27. The skin and connective tissue covering the cranium (5) 28. Hopalong Cassidy’s horse, featured in sixty-six western movies between 1935 and 1948 (6) 29. In the USA, a police officer in charge of a precinct (7)
Keith Baker HMP20 GarthNew Year Books of
Resolutions the Bible
S D T G B K R O W R E E T N U L O V O D
T O R G T Y B B O H A P U E K A T H N E
T Y T I R A H C O T E R O M E V I G R G
B E C B E M O R E R O M A N T I C S I T
E D I E F G H I J Y K L M N O P Q V V U
9. A Mancunian is a native or inhabitant of which UK city?
S S R D L E A R N T O D R I V E E Y W T
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20 New Year Resolutions
O O G O I N J E T W N E B A L I E D Y D
H P O J C L O I L I M F G O H X J I Z Y
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BeActs More Colossians Romantic Corinthians Bungee Jump Deuteronomy Ephesians Decorate the Exodus House Galatians DoHebrews Volunteer Work Isaiah James Exotic Holiday Jeremiah Give Blood Job GiveJohn More to Joshua Charity Go Luke Jogging Malachi Go Mark on a Diet
Matthew the Landscape Nahum Garden Peter Learn to Drive Philippians Proverbs Play more Psalm Sport Revelation RunSamuel A Romans Marathon Thessalonians Timothy Titus Sky Dive Stop Smoking Take up a Hobby Tidy the Attic Try to Win the Lottery
Go Straight Join Gym Checka forward, backward and Check forward, backward and diagonally, diagonally, they they are are all all there! there!
Thanks to Angela Jones Thanks toHMP KeithDrake BakerHall - HMP Garth for for compiling compiling this this wordsearch. wordsearch. If If you you fancy compiling one for us please just send it in max 20 x 20 grid & complete with withanswers answers shown shown onon a grid. a grid. If we If we use ituse weitwill we send will send you £5 youas£5a as thank a thank you! you!
10. With which wind instrument is Sir
James Galway most closely associated? 11. How many strings does a violin have? 12. Which artificial red flower is worn in Britain for Remembrance Sunday? 13. From which fruit is the traditional West Country drink ‘scumpy’ made? 14. Which word can be a short name for the given name Edward and a child’s word for a donkey? 15. In 1620, which ship took the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth to what is now the US? 16. Which twentieth-century US president was known by his initials LBJ? 17. In which Chinese city is the Yuyuan Garden located? 18. Which British prime minister was the first to be born during the present Queen’s reign? 19. Which 1937 Disney movie contained the line, ‘Magic Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all’? 20. In Greek mythology, which hero led the Argonauts to capture the Golden Fleece?
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. · · · · · · · · ·
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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
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“Quotes” “
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start in top left hand corner along top row to find the christmas hits. Order of words below
Neil Speed, a former prisoner who came up with the concept of GEF BAD CHI whilst in prison. Inside Time features Blue Christmas a GEF BAD CHI puzzle on this page. Do they know it’sBAD Christmas GEF CHI By Neil Speed Published by Xlibris. RRP: £12.35 Fairy tale of New York I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus I wish it could be Christmas every day Last Christmas Submitted by Craig Eyre HMP/YOI Reading. Start on the left with the first number and work your Let’s party way across following the instructions in each cell. See how quickly you can do each puzzle and Little Donkey how your times improve month by month! Answers on page below. If you would like to submit Lonely this Christmas similar puzzles we will pay £5 for any that are chosen for print. Please send in a minimum of three Mary’s boy child puzzles together with the answer! Santa Claus is coming to town
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(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.
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×4 / double it / -18 / +1 / ×5 / ÷7 / +4 / -3 =
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Daily Sudoku: Fri 7-Dec-2012
9 5 6 2 8 3 4 7 1
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Daily Sudoku: Fri 7-Dec-2012
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8 4 3 2 6 1 7 9 5 1 3 8 4 7 9 6 5 2 3 1 7 9 2 4 51 in 8 5 6people are routinely refused hard insurance
Second Chance! (c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.
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CAPTION COMPETITION
Gema Quiz - Christmas films
Guest compiler Elyse Townsend
The new Gema Records ‘Winter Supplement’ is out now
1. What Christmas character did Jim Carrey NOT play? A] Grinch B] Elf C] Scrooge This supplement contains over 2,000 Music and 2. In what year was ‘The Santa Clause 2’ released? Film New Releases. We also include a great range A] 2002 B] 1999 C] 2001 of DVD titles all at £4.00 each and numerous 3. Who starred in ‘A Wonderful Life’? A] James CD’s at much reduced prices. Plus, we have Stewart B] Cary Grant C] Bing Crosby increased our catalogue of Reggae music, CD 4. In the film ‘Gremlins’ what are the three rules to packs and XBOX 360 games. abide by when owning a Mogway? A] Don’t expose it to bright light, don’t ever get it wet, don’t let it eat If you are a regular customer, you will automatically turkey B] Don’t expose it to bright light, don’t let it receive your own personal copy in the post. drink alcohol, don’t ever feed it after midnight C] Don’t Otherwise, please send in a cheque for £2 (payable expose it to bright light, don’t ever get it wet, don’t to Gema Records) to Gema Records Ltd, PO Box 54, ever feed it after midnight Reading RG1 3SD and we will immediately despatch 5. Which famous TV duo had a small role in the film a copy of this supplement, our recent Summer ‘Love Actually’? A] Reeves & Mortimer B] Ant & Dec Supplement and our main catalogue to you along C] The Two Ronnies with a £2 voucher to use against your next order. 6. How many characters in the film ‘Polar Express’ did Tom Hanks play? A] 6 B] 5 C] 4 7. In the film ‘Jack Frost’ Michael Keaton’s character GEMA RECORDS - SUPPLIER OF THE UK’S LARGEST BACK CATALOGUE OF MUSIC is a member of a band, what was his role? A] Lead Telephone: 01189 842 444 Guitarist B] Drummer C] Lead Singer 8. In the film ‘Deck the Halls’ what was Danny Devito’s character’s goal? A] To have the best decorated house Last Gema sponsors of Jailbreak B] For his house to be seen from space C] To get his month’s wife the biggest present winners Peter How HMP Gartree 9. In the film ‘Christmas with the Kranks’ what have David Tillen HMP Ranby the Kranks decided they are going to cancel this year? Mark Lewis HMP Gartree A] The Christmas eve party B] Presents C] Christmas altogether All orders and despatches are confirmed 10. In the film ‘Arthur Christmas’ how did they choose using the emailaprisoner service who would be Santa next? A] Passed down See black box to the right for details of how to enter. The first through generation B] Whoever finds him dead three names to be drawn with all correct answers (or nearest) C] The chosen one will each receive a £15 Gema Record Voucher & free catalogue Answers to last months quiz: 1. B - 1971, 2. C - Pakistan Earthquake, 3. A – Bono, 4. A – Help, 5. C – Boy George, 6. B – You’ll never walk alone, 7. C – Ferry cross the Mersey, 8. A – Comic Relief, 9. B- Walk this way 10. C - 1993
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. Which religion has decreased in number in England and Wales? 2. Who is the new chairman of the Parole Board? 3. Who was the most requested artist of 2012? 4. At which prison are 16% of prisoners not sentenced? 5. Who considered The Family Man course by far the best course they’ve done in 14 years? 6. At the end of November 2011, how many prisons in England and Wales were overcrowded? 7. How many prisoners reported that New Bridge had positively changed the way they think? 8. On day two of his release, what became a reality for Wayne?
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
Glaisyers Solicitors
10 Rowchester Court Printing House Street Birmingham B4 6DZ
0121 233 2971
Members of the Association of Prison Lawyers
HENRY HYAMS
SOLICITORS 7 South Parade, Leeds LS1 5QE 0113 2432288 Categorisation Parole/Recall HDC Progression Adjudications Appeals/CCRC Lifer/IPP issues Judicial Review Contact our Prison Law Team Katy Cowans - Rebecca Seal Rachel Jamieson
Members of the Association of Prison Lawyers
›› Registered with EMAP ‹‹
I’m just looking where my career’s gone - down the pan Last month’s winner
J Cook HMP Garth
£25
prize is in the post
Contestants Linda Robson and Charlie Brooks looking less than amused about being tethered together in the jungle.
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?
Thai prisoners dance to Gangnam Style in a competition aimed at building relations between inmates and officials.
>> To enter
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 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 22/1/13
9. How many oil fields were discovered in 2005? 10. Who is our guest question compiler? 11. Which prison is an enthusiastic supporter of the Anne Frank Project? 12. Who was the speaker at The Forgiveness Project annual lecture this year? 13. Where does Winston Smith work? 14. Which security firm was late in bringing prisoners to court? 15. What is the estimated number of children with a parent in prison every year?
Answers to Last Month’s Inside Knowledge Prize Quiz 1. Inside Radio, 2. 2005, 3. Manchester, 4. 2 years, 5. ONE3ONE Solutions, 6. Mexico City, 7. Sarah, 8. HMP Newhall, HMP Blantyre House, HMP Liverpool, 9. Ronald Post, 10. 60 years, 11. PYOP, 12. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, 13. HMP Cardiff, 14. More than 5000 people, 15. HMP Parkhurst Our three £25 Prize winners are: Karran Tatam HMP Drake Hall, Abraham Eiluorior HMP Bullwood Hall, Tom Regan HMP Highpoint Plus our £5 Consolation prizes go to: Chantelle Bain HMP Bronzefield, Shaun Lewis HMP Dovegate
“Locked in here all day; you don’t turn criminals into citizens by treating them this way” with kind permission from Billy Bragg
We have a dedicated and specialist team. We offer nothing but honest and professional advice. We aim to deal with your case speedily and efficiently. We aim to provide a quick response to all initial contacts. We regularly attend prisons throughout Northern England but do offer nationwide service in particular: Disability Discrimination Categorisation / Progression Parole & Licence Issues Lifer & IPP cases Adjudications Appeals / CCRC cases Recall HDC Judicial Review www.chiverssolicitors.co.uk
NORTH EAST OFFICE Chivers Solicitors, Abbey Business Centre, Abbey Road, Durham DH1 5JZ
☎ 0191 383 2222
YORKSHIRE OFFICE
Chivers Solicitors, Wellington Street, Bingley BD16 2NB
☎ 01274 561 666
›› Registered with EMAP ‹‹
Jailbreak
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
Mine used to be an eagle too
Rock & Pop Quiz
Do you remember? January 2nd 1969
Murdoch wins Fleet Street foothold The Australian media magnate, Rupert Murdoch, beats off a rival bid to win control of the News of the World newspaper group. It is his first Fleet Street newspaper.
1. Which rapper, who died from AIDS in 1995, established the Ruthless Records label?
January 6th 1977
A test of citizenship
EMI fires Sex Pistols The music publisher EMI ends its contract with the notorious punk rock group after reports of abusive behaviour at Heathrow Airport.
Immigrants wishing to become citizens have to pass an exam. This consists of 24 questions with a pass mark of 75%. After downloading a specimen list of typical questions from the Government website, we completed the test and failed. A number of our relations and friends also failed. We are all British-born, universityeducated subjects.
2. What does the ‘J’ stand for in the name of Mary J Blige? 3. Sympathy for the Devil, a song originally by the Rolling Stones, was covered by which band for the movie Interview With The Vampire?
January 7th 1965
Krays in custody over menace charge Identical twin brothers Ronald and Reginald Kray are in custody charged in connection with running a protection racket.
January 12th 2001
Swedish ‘Iceman’ starts England job The first foreigner to coach the England football team, Sven Goran Eriksson, flies in to start his new job.
Here are four questions as examples:
4. On January 1st 2000, Prince played which of his songs live in New York, vowing never to play it again?
1. Which year did married women get the right to divorce their husbands? a. 1837; b. 1857; c. 1875; d. 1882.
5. Which rock and blues rock band is comprised of Dusty Hill, Frank Beard and Billy Gibbons?
55
2. How many parliamentary constituencies are there? a. 464; b. 564; c. 646; d. 664.
6. In 2004, rapper Kanye West won three Grammys for which debut album? 7. What is the weird title of U2’s threetimes-platinum album of 2004?
3. How many million children are there up to the age of 19? a. 13; b. 14; c. 15; d. 16.
8. In 1996, with which backing group was Gladys Knight inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
4. How many days per year must schools legally remain open? a. 150; b. 170; c. 190; d. 200.
9. Which singer has earned the titles ‘Hardest-Working Man In Showbusiness’ and ‘King Of Funk’?
January 20th 2002
Camp X-Ray pictures spark outrage Photographs showing al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects shackled and masked are published by the United States military.
We fail to see how any of these questions indicate suitability for citizenship.
10. Washington DC-based Chuck Brown is known as ‘The Godfather of…’ which music genre?
Answers in the table below.
• Judicial Reviews & Human Rights Cases We also deal with Housing, Debt & Welfare Benefits.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITORS FREEPOST: RSJS - SHTS - HHGB 227/228 STRAND, LONDON, WC2R 1BE
0800 051 1069 0207 353 7000
Members of the Association of Prison Lawyers
0208 554 0012
Mind Gym
(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.
T
Contact: S i d d i k A b o o b a k e r or Robert Cashman at SA Law Chambers Solicitors 1st Floor, Heraldic House 160 -162 Cranbrook Road Ilford Essex IG1 4PE
Citizenship test
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(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.
Criminal Defence Service
3 8
• Closed Visits
5 9 6
NATIONWIDE SERVICE AVAILABLE
Sudoku
4
• IPP and Extended Sentences
Pathfinder
4 7 6 2
• Allocation / Relocation / Moving Prison
3 4
• Categorisation and Reviews
5
• Sentence Calculation
6 3 5 2 7
• Home Detention Curfew
1
inc Release on Temporary Licence
Daily Sudoku: Fri 7-Dec-2012
• Early Release
hard
• Recalls
Daily Sudoku: Fri 7-Dec-2012
• Prison Hearing/Parole Reviews
1. 6, 2. 168, 3. 639 Winter’s Tale Do they know it’s Christmas 9 2 7 5 1 6 8 4 3 Blue Christmas 5 8 4 3 7 9 2 6 1 Last Christmas 6 3 1 4 2 8 7 9 5 I saw mummy kissing 2 7 5 9 6 4 1 3 8 8 1 6 2 3 5 4 7 9 Santa Claus 3 4 9 1 8 7 6 5 2 Santa Claus is coming 4 5 8 6 9 2 3 1 7 to town 7 6 3 8 5 1 9 2 4 Mary’s boy child 1 9 2 7 4 3 5 8 6 White Christmas Fairy tale of New York http://www.dailysudoku.com/ Lonely this Christmas I wish it could be Christmas every day Little Donkey Let’s party
inc Mobile Phone/ Failed MDT
1. b; 2. c; 3. c; 4. c.
• Discipline Hearing
• Appeals of Conviction/Sentence • Judicial Review • Parole Board Representation • Re-Categorisation • Adjudications • Licence Recall • Lifer Panels • HDC/ROTL
Rock & Pop Quiz
1. Eazy E 2. Jane 3. Guns N’ Roses 4. 1999 5. ZZ Top 6. The College Dropout 7. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 8. The Pips 9. James Brown 10. Go-Go
• Parole Hearings
Down: 1 Gerard, 2 New Mexico, 3 Innes, 4 Enclave, 6 Innsbruck, 7 Tears, 8 Pilsner, 9 Lassie, 15 Puissance, 17 Dalai Lama, 18 Torrent, 19 Samson, 20 Arsenic, 21 Sampan, 23 Cut up, 25 Aesop.
Governors & Independent Adjudications
General Knowledge
Crossword Across: 1 Gentile, 5 Big top, 10 Rowan, 11 Chain mail, 12 Rheostats, 13 Bison, 14 Simple, 16 Ecuador, 18 Two bits, 20 Alkali, 22 Races, 24 Messalina, 26 Elton John, 27 Scalp, 28 Topper, 29 Captain.
• Adjudications
> ANSWERS
1. Watch 2. Gideon Bible 3. Rene Descartes 4. Manchester 5. Burgundy 6. Motor racing 7. Middlesbrough 8. Razorlight 9. Manchester 10. Flute 11. Four 12. Poppy 13. Apples 14. Ned 15. Mayflower 16. Lyndon Baines Johnson 17. Shanghai 18. Tony Blair 19. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 20. Jason
We can help you with
sa law chambers
The Independent Criminal & Prison Law Specialist
Week commencing 28th January 2013
> looking ahead • February Inside Entertainment • March Scottish Focus • April Poetry Supplement
56 National Prison Radio
Insidetime January 2013 www.insidetime.org
January January 2013
2013
National Prison Radio is currently available in more than 90 prisons across England and Wales.
What’s on National Prison Radio? What’s on National Prison
Radio?
We broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, into your cell. If your prison has National Prison Radio, you can listen through your TV by using the tuning buttons on your remote control.
Day
Mon
Tue
07:00
Porridge
Wed
Thur
Fri
The first national breakfast show made by and for prisoners - big tracks, news, sport, information you need to start your day Listen out for... Friday – the famous Porridge Music Special
08:00
09:00 10:00
Radio? Wed
Thur
The Album Show A classic album in full
Shake Rattle and Roll Classic hits and sounds
NPR Urban Hip-hop, RnB and dancehall
Brit 40 The UK’s number one chart show
All Music Daytime
Music and information designed to help you make the most of your time inside
Asian Beats The biggest asian tunes The Rock Show The best in loud guitar music
Prime Time
11:00
Tue
Monday Music Special From prisons across the country
Fri
NPR’s daily show helping you make the most of your time inside Sat
Sun
hind Bars 12:00 Porridge
Another chance to hear this morning’s show
Request Show
The Request Show
requests in to: l Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
14:00
ge
Requests and shout-outs from prisons across England and Wales The Brixton Hour your favourite song on National Prison Radio? Want to hear To hear your song, message or poem on the radio, write to us at National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
of this morning’s show
The A List
15:00
For information, see edition at 07:00
19:05 Oldies Sounds from the 60s, 70s & 80s
19:05 Gospel Hour Uplifting gospel music
20:05 This American Life Stories from the US
20:05
Brit 40 The Selector Two hours of the best new ove Songs Hour of classic love songs, the perfect soundtrack for writing those letters 16:00 UKhomemusic. Bull Music Academy Radio Interviews ings, interviews, mixes and documentary features, exclusive to NPR. and mixes
w s xes
Running through the latest music to hit the National Prison Radio offices
Request Show
21:05 The State We’re In
A repeat of Friday’s show
All Music Daytime
Music and information designed to help you make the most of your time inside
The Brixton Hour
om 18:00
For information, see edition at 07:00
Sun
Eve
Mon
All Request Saturday The week’s Request Shows back to back through the day. Write to us at: National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
Bob and Beyond A solid hour of reggae classics
17:00
Prime Time
Gospel Hour Uplifting songs on a Sunday morning Prime Time Repeat from Monday
Prime Time Repeat from Wednesday
Brit 40 The UK’s number one chart show
National Prison Radio Book Club An omnibus edition of the week’s book reading
top Music and Information International news from the studios of Sky News, every hour, on the hour, and the latest news from prisons across the country - every weekday at 10:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 21:00 and in Porridge, National Prison Radio’s breakfast show.
rison Radio:
dailyevery TV ational news from the studiosYour of Sky News, hour,Guide on the hour at
9:00, 11:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 20:00
Wed
Thur
Fri
Listen out for... Monday – the show comes directly from the women of HMP Styal Friday – hear the best extended features in the Prime Time Doc Slot
18:00
The Request Show
Requests and shout-outs from prisons across England and Wales. Want to hear your favourite song on National Prison Radio? To hear your song, message or poem on the radio, write to us at National Prison Radio, HMP Brixton, London SW2 5XF
Sat
Sun
The Selector Two hours of the best in new UK music, plus interviews, mixes and live sets. Presented by DJ Goldirocks
Information Centre All the facts you need if you’re new to prison
Brit 40 The UK’s number one chart show, direct from the National Prison Radio studios
27th - NPR Book Club Brixton Hour For HMP Brixton prisoners
19:00
Listen out for... Wednesday – the Request Show Soundclash, where two prisons go head to head in a battle for musical supremacy Thursday – Family and Friends Requests, presented by the women at HMP Styal, with shoutouts and dedications from your loved-ones Tell them to visit www.nationalprisonradio.com to join in
Porridge Music Special A repeat of Friday’s show
20:00
Monday Music Special From prisons across the country
The Rock Show The very best in loud guitar music
21:00
The Love Bug Love songs and tips for writing home
22:00
National Prison Radio Book Club Tune into this month’s book reading – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday. Free books are available – just write to National Prison Radio and we’ll send you a copy.
22:30
Red Bull Music Academy Radio Live recordings, interviews, mixes and documentary features from the Red Bull Music Academy
23:30
Late Night Love Bug Back-to-back love songs, seven nights a week – the perfect soundtrack to write letters home
01:00 07:00
Dream Time Dreamy chill-out tunes and information on how to stay safe while you’re inside
Prime Time Repeat from Friday The Brixton Hour
Tue
NPR’s daily feature show. Entertainment and support, helping you to make the most of your time behind bars
Prime Time Repeat from Tuesday
Prime Time Repeat from Thursday
ars is your award-winning daily feature show focusing on a different side of prison evening. We bring you the best chat, music and information to keep you informed son life and give a voice to your thoughts about life behind bars s Induction Show - all the basics about how prison works s Women Inside - focusing on life for female prisoners days Your Life - looking at how to keep your body and mind healthy ys The Inside Story - your in-depth guide to staying out of jail The Album Show - we play an entire album in full from start to finish ys The Love Bug - helping you keep in touch with family and friends on the outside s The Magazine - featuring the best bits of National Prison Radio
13:00
Sat
The Selector The best in new UK music, plus interviews, mixes and live sets, with DJ Goldirocks
The Album Show A classic album in full
NPR Urban Hip-hop, RnB and dancehall
Shake Rattle and Roll Classic hits
Asian Beats The biggest asian tunes
Ministry of Sound Keeping you in touch with the dancefloors on the outside
Bob and Beyond A solid hour of reggae classics
NPR Urban Hip-hop and RnB
Shake Rattle and Roll Classic hits
prisons across the country at 10:00, 12:00, 16:00, 18:00 and 22:00
t 9:00, 11:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 20:00
Inside Time are proud to sponsor the NPR schedule along with the following advertisers.
a1st Prisoner class post
n a 2nd class stamp
100 UK prisons now get e mails y, friends and legal representatives ils call 0844 873 3111
rds - Supplier of the UK’s ck Catalogue of Music
S2 Bundles and pre owned ew Xbox 360 consoles. For a
ue send a £2.00 postal order to: PO Box 54 Reading RG1 3SD
surance SURANCE PRODUCTS
SONERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
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Gema Records Supplier of music, dvds and games (See full advert on page 54)
SIS Insurance Second chance! 1 in 5 people are routinely refused insurance (See full advert page 53)
Email a Prisoner Faster than 1st class post & cheaper than a 2nd class stamp (Full advert below)
Email a Prisoner • Faster than 1st class post • Cheaper than a 2nd class stamp
Email a Prisoner
Prisoners in over 100 UK prisons now get e mails from their family, friends and legal representatives For full details call 0844 873 3111
Gema Records - Supplier of the UK’s Largest Back Catalogue of Music
›› Faster than 1st class post ›› Cheaper than a 2nd class stamp ›› No cost to HMPS
plus DVD’s, PS2 Bundles and pre owned
games and new Xbox 360 consoles. For a personal catalogue send a £2.00 postal order to: Gema Records PO Box 54 Reading RG1 3SD
SIS Insurance
AWARD WINNING INSURANCE PRODUCTS DESIGNED FOR FORMER PRISONERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
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0161 969 6040
Contact a member of our friendly team
The HMP Top 20
Every January, National Prison Radio compiles a list of the most requested artists of the year. With some stark differences to the UK Top 20, there are also a few surprise appearances in the 2012 chart... page 27 National Prison Radio is currently available in 90 prisons across England and Wales. We broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, into your cell. If your prison has National Prison Radio, you can listen through
your TV by using the tuning buttons on your remote control.
We are sponsoring Inside Time’s Valentines message board see page 7
›› Anyone in establishments using the service can receive emails from their family and friends, solicitors and other organisations registered. ›› Solicitors and organisations registered can provide clients with a fast and efficient service and keep them fully updated with progress. Note: Not suitable for Rule 39 correspondence. ›› Over 90% of UK establishments and IRCs are using the EMAP service and more are being added each month. Prisons and Solicitors should call Derek Jones on 0844 873 3111 for further details or visit the website
www.emailaprisoner.com
