Inside Time banned from the wings!

insidetime the National Newspaper for Prisoners

Circulation 42,000 (monthly) / ISSN 1743-7342 / www.insidetime.org / Issue No. 107 / May 2008

MW

page 12

Photo courtesy Toby Farrow

A scene from Stand or Fall, a play written and directed by Brian Woolland about two men, three generations apart, who struggle to escape the labels that have been pinned to them. A hugely successful collaboration between the Playing for Time Theatre Company and The University of Winchester, and staged at West Hill HMP Winchester in April, the play received an enthusiastic audience reaction at all its performances.

Over half of the prison population are drug users M

ore than 40,000 prisoners are drug users and more than 1,000 kg of drugs with an estimated street value of £100 million are being traded in prisons each year, Hussain Djemil, former head of drug treatment policy at the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), told BBC Radio 4. David Jameson, Chairman of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at

Wandsworth prison, told the programme that they did their own calculation of the internal drugs market. ‘A crude estimate on the value of drugs within Wandsworth is about £1 million a year … those figures may even be conservative’ he said. The Government says that if you want to get a good indication of the level of drug use in prison, you only have to look at the number of prisoners testing positive in

mandatory drug tests (MDTs). This has been steadily falling from almost 25 per cent in 1997 to just under 9 per cent today. Critics of MDT’s say that there are several reasons why the positive tests are falling. Addicts buy urine from non-drug users as a way to cheat the test. Lord David Ramsbotham, who was Chief Inspector of Prisons for six years, believes there is another more significant reason for the

fall. ‘I have quoted several times finding on a cell wall a man with nine certificates and I asked him what these were? He said that he didn’t use drugs and he was therefore tested regularly because it helped the Prison Service figures. Prison governors are judged on whether or not they have reduced drug taking. Now, this is nonsense and the Prison Service has got to be clear of the size and shape of its problem’. Continued on page 12

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Mailbag

insidetime

a voice for prisoners since 1990 the national newspaper for prisoners published by Inside Time Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Bridge, a charity founded in 1956 to create links between the offender and the community. Registered Office: 27a Medway Street, London SW1P 2BD

Board of Directors Trevor Grove - Former Editor Sunday Telegraph, Journalist, Writer and serving Magistrate.

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Home grown version ignored .............................................................................................................. NAME SUPPLIED - HMP LONG LARTIN Am I the only one absolutely disgusted with the Government's plan to increase the ‘pay off’ to foreign national prisoners from £1,500 to £3,000 to return home and thereby free up prison places or, as Government spin would have us believe ... ‘to find accommodation, employment and support their families’. What about those from the UK given £49 and offered a room in a shabby, flea-infested, drug-riddled hostel, often not fit for human habitation? No chance to return to families who have stood by you and the opportunity to stay away from other criminals and aid rehabilitation and integration back into society. Why not provide those who are released with tools to carry out training or a trade, and perhaps arrange places at colleges.

Tony Pearson CBE - Former Deputy Director General of the Prison Service.

So the taxpayer funds foreign national ex-offenders to the tune of £3,000 to basically ‘cut and run’, whilst the home grown version, urgently in need of support to rebuild their broken lives, doesn't get enough to fund one night's bed and breakfast at a Travel Lodge. Good to know the Government is heading in the right direction!

John D Roberts - Former Company Chairman and Managing Director employing ex-offenders.

Faster care packages

You don’t have to watch it

Alistair H.E.Smith B.Sc F.C.A. - Chartered Accountant, Trustee and Treasurer of the New Bridge Foundation.

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SOPHIE BARTON-HAWKINS - HMP SEND

PEDRO REYES-JOFRÉ - HMP WYMOTT

Eric McGraw - Former Director of New Bridge (1986 - 2002) and started Inside Time in 1990.

Chris Thomas - Chief Executive, New Bridge Foundation

The Editorial Team

Rachel Billington Novelist and Journalist

John Bowers Writer and former prisoner

Eric McGraw Author and Managing Editor

John Roberts Operations Director and Company Secretary

Correspondence
Inside Time, P.O.Box 251, 
 

Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ. 01489 795945 01489 786495 [email protected] www.insidetime.org

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I read with interest the article on self-harm in the Newsround section of your newspaper. I was an inmate on remand at Eastwood Park from September 2007 until March 2008 and on the biggest wing (98 girls) for the majority of my time there. As a self-harmer, I found the support and care from staff on my wing astounding; they were always there for a chat if things got on top of me. However, I noticed that more girls self-harm on the induction and detox wings than on the main wing. Could this be because the staff have less time to spend with prisoners due to the high turnover of inmates? Care packages take a long time to set up, mine took 3 months, and I fear that new receptions suffer because of this. If faster and more effective care packages were put in place as soon as the inmate arrives, I think self-harm incidents would drop. I personally did not know what services I had access to until I moved onto the larger wing, as staff on the smaller wing weren't very knowledgeable. There is nothing worse than being in an alien environment, isolated and alone, and feeling like no one can help. I didn’t come here to die page 23

I write in reply to Mike Dickinson's comments in your February issue about the DVDs shown on channel 6 here at HMP Wymott and how he found it ... ‘incomprehensible that the prison authorities actually approve the screening of DVDs that contain such emotive material’. Thanks to individuals like him we have now had the privilege of daily DVDs removed and even though I agree with him that the prison could use Channel 6 to promote material relevant to our rehabilitation, I do not agree that the material we watch should somehow be censored. The DVDs we have watched for the past two years have been from comedy to action films and although they may contain violence and scenes of a sexual nature, they have never been anything that an adult mind can't comprehend. The films we were provided with were obtained from an approved DVD rental company and although they weren't all checked individually for their content, they were selected from a list of most commonly watched films and latest releases. A useful privilege has been taken off us and I feel it was not necessary because it was just entertainment such as that provided by the free to air channels. The simple fact is that if you don't like what you see on TV you don't have to watch it; there's plenty of choice on the other channels.

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

✪ Star Letter of the Month ......................................................... Congratulations to Christopher Bourke who wins our £25 cash prize for this month’s Star Letter.

Seeking to justify terrorism ................................................... CHRISTOPHER BOURKE - HMP SWALESIDE What would you call Muslim terrorists? What about fundamentalists? I disagree with the use of the term ‘fundamentalist’ to refer to the philosophy of terrorists because this is a misnomer; the very word implies ‘back to basics’. But the planters of bombs in trains, shops, offices and on buses are not going back to the basics of Islam. They are writing their own script and then arguing retroactively; seeking to find Koranic passages that justify their war. There are fundamentalists in all religions. Christian monks in a closed order, sworn to poverty, self-denial, chastity and obedience. Ascentrics exist in all religions but they do not advocate indiscriminate mass murder of men, women and children. Look at all religions and sects and you will see that to wish to return to the basic teachings is not terrorism, for in no religion, including Islam, do the basic teachings advocate mass murder.

So what about jihadists? Even jihad is the wrong word. Of course jihad exists, but it has rules; it is either a personal struggle within oneself to become a better Muslim, but in that case it is completely non-aggressive, or it means true holy war - armed struggle in the defence of Islam. That's what the terrorists claim they are about, but they choose to airbrush the rules out of the text. For one thing, true jihad can only be declared by a legitimate Koranic authority of proven and accepted repute. Bin Laden and his committee are notorious for their lack of scholarship. Even if the West had indeed attacked, hurt, damaged, humiliated and demeaned Islam, and thus all Muslims, there are still rules and the Koran is absolutely specific on these: • It is forbidden to attack and kill those who have offered no offence and done nothing to hurt you • It is forbidden to kill women and children • It is forbidden to take hostages • It is forbidden to mistreat, torture or kill prisoners. Al-Qaeda terrorists and their followers do all the above on a daily basis, and let us not forget that they have killed far more Muslims than Christians or Jews. So what about martyrs? All bombers claim to be martyrs, yet how can they justify this? They have been duped; well educated though some of them may be. It is perfectly feasible to die as a martyr fighting for Islam in a truly declared jihad. But again there are rules and these are quite specific in the Koran: • The warrior must not die by his own hand even though he has volunteered for a no-return mission • He must not know the time and place of his own death. Suicides do exactly that. Yet suicide is specifically forbidden. In his lifetime Muhammad, the founder of Islam, absolutely refused to bless the bodies of people who committed suicide. Those who commit mass murder of innocents and commit suicide are destined for hell, not paradise, and the false preachers and Imams who trick them down this road will surely join them there.

Stereotyped and insulted! ............................................................................. JAK JONES - HMP MOORLAND Having read the interestingly funny contribution in your April issue, namely ‘Conjugal Visits’ by Alison Henderson, I thought it represented a refreshing change from the various issues normally highlighted in Inside Time on behalf of inmates.

E

nnon

&co.

SOLICITORS

CRIMINAL DEFENCE LAW AND PRISON LAW LAW SPECIALISTS

• • • • • • •

Hiding behind excuses .....................................................

Mailbag

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Contents

BRAD FOSTER - HMP ALBANY The impact of recent legislation has impacted not only on a dangerously overcrowded prison population but also on prisoners sentenced to open-ended sentences with a tariff of 2–5 years. To protect lifers with short tariffs being arbitrarily detained, legislation was introduced to enable prisons to prioritise them for offending behaviour programmes over other lifers with longer tariffs. Despite assurances by Baroness Scotland, then Minister of State at the Home Office, that the government would provide offending behaviour courses to enable lifers to be released at or as soon as possible after tariff expiry, and therefore ensure that the Criminal Justice Act 2003 would be passed and become law, it would appear that this is not the case. The reality in practice is far removed. Not nearly enough programmes are available for short tariff lifers and there does not appear to be any active policy as advocated in PSO4700. Therefore most post tariff lifers could argue that their detention has become arbitrary. Prison as a punishment must be seen to serve a purpose and provisions set in place to ensure that prisoner's rights are adhered to. Hiding behind excuses such as lack of money or overcrowding should not be allowed to stand. If the mechanisms are not in place, then the law must be changed or money given immediately to provide what is needed. The consequences of procrastination and prevarication about responsibility are not felt by the lawmakers but by those short tariff lifers who end up spending much longer inside than the Courts originally intended. A quick and fair solution to the problem would be to make minimum terms of five years and under determinate in respect of time spent in prison; with the time spent in the community on licence being the preventative indeterminate element. Give prisoners hope and something tangible to work towards and rehabilitate themselves in the process.

I laughed at the image conjured up by Alison of the prison call operator trying to deal with the booking of a conjugal visit! However, I really do feel I need to defend my fellow men from her insinuation that most of us only last three minutes at the ancient arts! How very dare you! I feel stereotyped and insulted! Like many men, I like to think I can go the full distance at horizontal jogging. And as for the assumption that all men need a map to find the ‘deprived nether regions’ ... maybe some do Alison, but not all of us! We can all wish and dream of that great conjugal visit in the sky … maybe one day ... who am I kidding!

Magistrates court, serious crown court Independent adjudications Court of appeal cases Prison discipline hearings Confiscation & proceeds of crime proceedings Judicial review hearings “IPP”/extended sentences Established relationship with prison law specialist barristers at: CARMELITE CHAMBERS, London Ennon Solicitors travel throughout England & Wales

Mailbag ........................ pages 2-9 News from the House pages 10-11 Newsround ............. pages 12-16

Regulator backs use of DNA technique in court cases .................................... page 13

Inside Health ................. page 17 Month by Month .......... page 18 Comment ............... pages 19-24

If it was left to me ... .................................... page 21

Short Stories ...... pages 25-27 Legal News ................... page 28 Legal Comment .. pages 29-30 Legal Advice ................... page 31 Legal Q&A ............. pages 32-33 Book Reviews ........ pages 34-35 Jailbreak ................. pages 36-38 Poetry ...................... pages 39-40

Ennon & Co Solicitors 2nd Floor, 689 Holloway Road, Archway, London N19 5SE

0207 281 2123 mob: 07816 520 300 [email protected]

Please speak to Gemma Burns, Michael Frankal, Deji Adejobi or Joseph O’Flaherty

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Mailbag

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Screened by the Koran

HARRY CRAIG - HMP FULL SUTTON

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… After reading the item in your April issue I find myself extremely concerned that religion is being used as a way to avoid participating in group-work.

YUNUS BHAD - HMP WELLINGBOROUGH As a Muslim lifer who has served over 20 years inside, I was amazed and extremely angry after reading the letter in your April issue about the Muslim inmate attempting to use Islamic laws, which don’t teach people to commit crimes and in fact teach respect for others, to justify not participating in the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP). Having offended, he should do the SOTP the same as other sex offenders in order to seriously reduce the risk of re-offending and traumatising another victim, and before this anonymous contributor or anyone else thinks I am racist, I am not ... this is all about honesty and facing the consequences, as indeed I have done this past twenty years for murdering someone.

The question I have for PSHQ Muslim Adviser Ahtsham Ali is: Where were the inmate’s religious beliefs when he was committing the offence? Why should it be relevant now? The Times report on the letter ‘SOTP in question for Muslims’ in the April issue.

Incidentally, I am a sex offender and had to do the SOTP, and would like to point out that my letter is in no way ‘having a go’ at Muslims or Islamic teaching; however certain Muslim sex offenders choose to hide behind their teachings when they want to play the system but are happy to ignore those same teachings when committing sexual offences.

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➜ Muslim prisoners at Belmarsh:

CARL GERMON - HMP WHATTON

In a recent Chief Inspector of Prisons’ inspection report on HMP Belmarsh, which holds nearly 200 Muslim prisoners, Muslim prisoners ‘responded more negatively than non-Muslims to 43 out of 56 key questions. Whereas 70% of non-Muslim prisoners said they could turn for help to a member of staff, this was the case for only 40% of Muslims. Very few Muslim prisoners felt that their training, education or other interventions would help them on release’.

… I read 'SOTP in question for Muslims' and to say that it annoyed me is an understatement, and pushed me to speaking out, not something I would generally do. The writer is saying that it is ‘against Islamic teachings' to speak of his crimes in a group setting. So let's step back a minute: • To be asked to do the SOTP you have to be a sex offender • That sex offender will have victims • Those victim's rights will have been violated • I am sure Islamic teachings do not agree with anyone, adult or child, being abused in a sexual manner by another person, including Muslims. So are Muslims right when selectively using Islamic teachings when it suits them? They broke not just British law but human law and all they've been asked to do is the SOTP. I'm sure Islamic laws would not be so lenient, so in a way he is getting the soft option. Stop moaning and making up excuses and do the course. I'm sure it will be a lot less painful than what your victims went through.

‘Any intervention by staff risked being interpreted, by disaffected Muslims, as deliberately provocative; and there were also claims of inappropriate behaviour by them towards female staff. However, the converse was also true: that any conversion to Islam, or any gathering of Muslim prisoners to pray or associate, could be interpreted wrongly by staff as threatening and evidence of radicalisation. It was not apparent that all staff understood the complexities within and around their Muslim population, or were able to establish effective and appropriate relationships with them.’

Views expressed in Inside Time are those of the authors and not necessarily representative of those held by Inside Time or New Bridge.

As a person who has fully participated in offending behaviour programmes, it is disheartening to know that those involved with policy responsibility for the SOTP programme should even be considering discussing this matter. Why should non- Muslims be penalised because of their own religious beliefs?

........................................................................ NAME SUPPLIED - HMP LEEDS … I write in response to 'SOTP in question for Muslims' and find myself, yet again, shaking my head in disbelief at the notion of the possibility of special treatment on the grounds of religious belief. Whilst not claiming any knowledge of the teachings of Islam, I think I can safely say that carrying out any offence against the law of the land, whether sexual or not, will be against those same teachings. Therefore surely it follows that if forgiveness or redemption can be given for the initial offence it can also be given for the unavoidable consequences of that offence, which in this case will be Islamic participation in the SOTP programme. I have no doubt that Ahtsham Ali, Muslim adviser to the Prison Service, has done much to ensure that Muslims move ever closer to receiving their right to equality in the way they are treated in prison, but surely his remit should be to ensure just that, equality, not special concessions. Enhanced equality or positive discrimination is just as divisive and damaging as any form of discrimination it claims to replace. There is also the possibility, of course, that once it is known that an easier version of SOTP (or even not having to do it at all) is available to Muslims we will very quickly have a large number of 'conversions' to that faith in prison and a similar increase in the number claiming that as their religion upon initial reception.

The mindless minority ................................................................................................ RUSSELL NELSON - HMP NORTH SEA CAMP Having read Wesley Scrimshire's comments in your March issue on North Sea Camp, I would agree that it is not an ideal place to reside in and is far from a comfortable environment. However this cannot be blamed on the staff, governor or inspectors. I'm sorry to say that it is a result of the mindless acts of a minority of inmates that make the prison what it is. If I was the governor, I would not be inclined to provide any degree of luxury - why throw good money after bad? Since arriving here I have witnessed thousands of pounds worth of damage being done, such as fire doors broken and pool tables slashed. There is no excuse for this totally irresponsible behaviour, and staff are right when they say the only people to suffer are the inmates. For instance, why smash up a toilet block causing it to be shut down and leaving prisoners having to use one much further away? One way to stop some of this happening is for more stringent steps to be taken to assess the suitability of prisoners downgraded to Cat D based on trust and previous behaviour. A lot of problems stem from the gang mentality of certain young offenders and I think there should be facilities available between YOIs and mainstream Cat D prisons. If this can’t be done then leave them where they are.

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Mailbag

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

Stereotypical views influencing judgement ................................................................................. ASSISTANT PSYCHOLOGIST BSc, MSc (WEST MIDLANDS) I would like to respond to the article by Keith Rose in your April issue: ‘Origin of a sub-species’. It is ironic that Mr Rose is hoping to join this sub-species of graduates because it appears he is also studying for a Bachelors Degree in Science. After many years of hard work, I am sure that he will also become the proud owner of a ‘shiny new’ qualification which, as he well knows, will involve a lot of statistical research. He may like to practice such data collection in preparation for future assignments so that his results are reliable and valid; after all, we wouldn’t want him to be accused of plagiarism.

Mr Rose has made several sweeping statements in his article that according to our ‘textbooks’ are termed: extreme thoughts. If he has completed the Enhanced Thinking Skills (ETS) course then he will be familiar with such terms. If not, then he might like to ask a graduate so they can provide him with the full definition. After completing a refresher course, they will now be able to give him a ‘textbook’ answer, which hopefully, along with the other skills they have gained, will encourage them to lead a life that does not involve criminal activity.

We are led to question who indeed is paying for his Degree? Many trainees are more than capable of holding down a job whilst studying for their qualification. Surely this group of people should be commended for achieving no mean feat and evidently have the ability to multi-task! At this point it may also be important to add that Trainee Psychologists are paid much less than those in the National Health Service. If their belief were that all prisoners have a personality disorder, and knowing that sometimes they can be volatile, would they still be interested in working with these individuals, where they would be consciously putting themselves at risk of harm on a daily basis.

I am interested to know where he has obtained his information regarding the typical ‘species’ of Trainee Psychologists. If such a category of people exists, then why hasn’t it been brought to the attention of the Home Office before now? There is evidently a need for such professionals within the Prison Service and would it be fair to say that he is allowing stereotypical views to influence his judgement? Furthermore, would it be fair to make the comment that once a prisoner always a prisoner? There would be pandemonium if such a view was openly expressed, and in this society shouldn’t we be accepting of individual differences and give people a second chance? Instead it seems that the generalisation of groups is being favoured and ignorance is encouraging people to make assumptions. If we are trying to dispel these sorts of myths about people then how helpful is it to hold such rigid views. What sort of implications will there be for those that are released into the community, needing help and support from professionals with expertise in specific areas.

Tame the tabloid parasites

Arts and crafts ideas

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SHAH MOHAMMED HAQUE - HMP SWALESIDE

A BIDMEAD - HMP NOTTINGHAM

The April issue of Inside Time contained an extremely thought provoking contribution by John Roberts regarding his telephone conversation with a News of the World reporter and the article that subsequently appeared. The almost daily ‘assault’ by tabloid parasites on prisoners is a matter which requires some affirmative action to tame these guttersnipes. Prisoners themselves can make a start and a huge difference to that end. One of the most offensive aspects of the attacks on prisoners by these rags is that they treat all prisoners as ‘evil’, without any distinction. They ignore the fact that a large number of prisoners plead guilty to the crimes they commit, serve their time, and face the consequences with humility. A large number of prisoners are wrongly convicted. Yet tabloid parasites, and a large number of the broadsheet variety for that matter, continue to kick this already fallen section of society. How can we tame these tabloid hate-mongers? In a strange way, prisoners themselves are supporting these parasites by buying their filth-ridden publications on a daily basis. Imagine for a moment the number of tabloids being bought by prisoners throughout the prison estate in the UK. If the current population of 81,000 prisoners buys even one paper on a weekly basis then they are buying a staggering 81,000 copies of the very same papers that regularly spread hatred and contempt against them. Add the friends and relatives of prisoners outside who may be buying these tabloids on a daily basis and the number rises to hundreds of thousands of copies per week; an amazing irony.

There is nothing worse than the boredom of being in your cell after lock-up, especially if you suffer with anxiety or depression. Luckily, I have been able to buy art materials and been able to do some modelling. I would like to produce a booklet of ideas for arts and crafts that can be made (legally) in our cells; soap carvings, tissue flowers, roses out of bread etc; and would like other prisoners to send their ideas and instructions on how to make particular models or crafts, which could be put in a booklet with photos or diagrams anything to help pass the time. If you have any suggestions that would help this project please send it to me: Mr A J Bidmead ML7453, HMP Nottingham, Perry Road, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 3AG.

SEB Solicitors Prison Law Specialist

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

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

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

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Psychologists close ranks ..................................................... CARL ROYAL - HMP FRANKLAND Two years ago, a senior psychologist offered me and another prisoner a proposition: “Say what I want to hear in relation to your offending and I shall have you de-categorised from Cat A to Cat B and transferred to Cat B conditions”. I made no comment; the other prisoner accepted the offer and fell into his role superbly … he is now a Cat C. When asked some weeks later by an assistant psychologist what work I intended to take part in with psychology, I explained the proposition I had recently been offered and that unless I conform to that ‘story’ it would be futile to take part in any such work. A few days later, the senior psychologist called me up and, poorly attempting to mask her rage and mortified at being shown to be both dishonest and unethical, announced that she would not be recommending my downgrading and transfer, and was referring me to Rampton! With hindsight, she may have thought this was a tad ambitious and settled instead for DSPD at HMP Whitemoor. I had subsequent interviews and psychologists loaded the Cat A report with psychopathic traits direct from the psychopathy check-list, knowing DSPD assessment is based two-thirds on reports and one-third on interview. Despite a DLP hearing some months later that overturned the psychologist’s evidence, I have been unable to get legal help to challenge the decision; the professionals appear to close ranks in such circumstances. I took my complaint to the British Psychological Society, claiming the psychologist was malicious or negligent, and provided supporting evidence, but even though the BPS said they would seek further evidence from the prison they never did and concluded there was ‘no case to answer’. No matter what the circumstances of a complaint, and whatever procedures you follow, it always ends up the same – you're on your own!

INSIDE? YOU NEED A FRIEND ON THE OUTSIDE... At Keith Park Solicitors we have many years experience representing our clients, not only before sentencing but also once they are in custody. There are many ways we can help you with advice and representation once you are on the ‘inside’. Our team of Legal experts will be your friends on the outside. We specialise in: OUTSIDE ADJUDICATIONS. Have you committed an offence whilst in custody? We can provide representation for you in front of the adjudicator. PAROLE BOARD HEARINGS. We can supply written representations and attending oral hearings. CATEGORISATION. If you want us to assist by way of written representations – we can help.

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

Call us on freephone: 0800 374388 (24 hours).

CRIMINAL DEFENCE LAWYERS

Keith Park Solicitors Claughton House, 39 Barrow Street, St Helens WA 10 1RX E: [email protected]

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Mailbag

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

What’s in a name? ........................................................................

there is absolutely nothing ‘normal’ about that and however you wish to label it, paedophilia or hebephilia, we are talking about young children and the law says 16 is the age of consent. Full stop.

Why not the same punishment? ........................................................................

JON LEAVER - HMP DOVEGATE

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DAVID POLLARD - HMP SHREWSBURY

I write with astonishment in response to Clive Hall's contribution in your January issue entitled 'Common Misconception' and truly struggle to grasp exactly what point he is trying to make. In his patronizing condescending manner, he labels the public as 'ignorant' for not being able to differentiate between ‘hebephiles’ and ‘paedophiles’, describing hebephiles as ‘adults who are primarily attracted to young adolescents and are able to abuse children in a given situation but do not generally have a preference for sexual contact with children over adult relationships’, while ‘paedophiles prefer children as their primary sexual partners’. Are you any the wiser now? Neither was I after reading his contribution.

BRIAN UTTLEY - (FORMER PRISONER) LEEDS

It concerns me when reading articles in Inside Time and other newspapers that women are being let off far too easily. All I keep reading is that women are so vulnerable and they shouldn't be locked up in prison because they have been abused and that's why they offended in the first place; or they can't cope or some other rubbish. Men can be just as vulnerable in and out of prison, and they could also have been abused.

Does the difference even matter? To simplify, he then writes 'paedophiles prefer children without secondary sexual characteristics while hebephiles prefer children with secondary sexual development' and thinks 'this distinction is an important one'. Why is this important? What's in a name? They're still children. Is Mr Hall saying that it's not so bad if one is 'able to abuse children in a given situation' then return home to their wife and 'normal adult relationship'? Let me say this Mr Hall,

... Newsreaders and media reporters insist on using the word paedophile for just about any sort of sexual offence. And every sex offender is named as a ‘convicted paedophile’. The offence does not exist in law therefore nobody can be convicted of paedophilia. Yet the media, especially the terrible tabloids, really do love that word. It is the very reason why parents nowadays are afraid to let their children play outdoors. It is also one of the reasons for prisons being overcrowded. Sex offenders rarely get parole because every time a sex offender is released, even without parole, the headlines scream ‘beasts’ and ‘pedos’ (sic) and ‘fiends’ being released ‘early’. And even when a sex offender is finally released there are the ‘conditions’ for the rest of his life; the main one being that he can never again be in contact or work with anyone under the age of eighteen. No matter that his offence may have had nothing to do with children. It is a condition of the Sex Offender Register. As the saying goes, they are all tarred with the same brush.

Why should women prisoners be allowed to wear their own clothes all the time while in prison, either on remand or convicted? Mostly, men can only wear their own clothes on remand. Also, over the years I have heard plenty of women say they are as strong as men and can do anything men can do; so why let them off going to prison? If a woman does wrong then she should be punished the same way as a man would. Women are sometimes even worse than men. I would like to hear from men and women, in or out of prison, whether you agree or not; or just want to tell me about your experiences. Write to: David Pollard VB7993 HMP Shrewsbury The Dana Shrewsbury Shropshire SY1 2HR.

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Are recalls really the answer?

MIKE ALLEN - HMP WAKEFIELD

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Meaningful family contact Time and patience rewarded

As from 31st March, Whitemoor ceased to hold vulnerable prisoners; a proposal apparently introduced as a means for the governor to streamline the prison and reduce running costs in line with budgetary restrictions imposed by Prison Service HQ.

..................................................... ZAC CAPEL - HMP RISLEY

This action essentially means that VP location inmates, ordered to be detained within the High Security estate, are unable to be held any closer to the southerly point of the UK than Wakefield, over 150 miles north of London. As a result, category A prisoners from areas south of Wakefield, and whose families live in these areas, will have been wilfully and knowingly discriminated against by the prison service regarding their ability to receive regular ‘meaningful family contact’ - with maintenance of positive family ties and communication widely recognised as a key factor in reducing the likelihood of re-offending. This will also include access to accumulated visits.

When I first came to prison I really did not care. To me, prison represented a total waste of time and there was absolutely nothing it could offer me. All I wanted to do was run around the place looking for drugs and any other illegal substances I could get my hands on. Every week I would be spending my entire canteen money on drugs so that I could get through the endless boredom. Then one day a friend of mine called John came to my cell with a guitar and started to show me how to play. He must have seen how messed up I was getting and took it on his own back to help me. As a result of his intervention I have now stayed clean, moved onto a drug-free unit and I'm doing my ‘A’ levels in English and Maths; an excellent stepping-stone to further and higher education when I get out. Every night and weekends I practice my guitar, it's an excellent way of killing the monotony. So to any prisoner who has just read this piece and is looking at a friend who seems to be going downhill … go and try to help him/her - show that you care and you will reap the rewards. I would like to thank John Crowney for having the time and patience for me; he didn't have to.

Comment from Prison Service HQ would be appreciated.

➜ The Prison Service writes: The Directorate of High Security recognises the need to ensure that all prisoners are kept in conditions which are safe and decent, and that they have access to the services and support they need to tackle their offending behaviour. I can confirm that the decision to remove vulnerable prisoners from HMP Whitemoor was taken not for financial reasons, but rather to streamline the local regime, ensuring resources are better balanced against service requirements. In Mr Allen’s letter, he claims that as a result of this decision the nearest High Security establishment suitable for vulnerable prisoners in the South will be HMP Wakefield. I can confirm this is not correct and would like to point out that HMP Long Lartin will continue to support vulnerable prisoners on a dedicated unit and run offending behaviour courses. I would also like to take this opportunity to clarify and confirm that the Directorate will give priority for vulnerable prisoners to have their accumulated visits at either Belmarsh or Woodhill and not limit such visits to the dispersal estate. We will continue to monitor and review this policy decision, as we do with all population management issues.

Inside Time (March issue) reported that 13,299 people were recalled to prison over the past 12 months, of which only 2,289 were actually charged with further offences. Of the other 11,010, their breaches were for some very insignificant incidents – missing a probation appointment, staying at the wrong house etc. With chronic prison overcrowding at the moment, should someone be asking if recalls are really the answer? It has always been hard for released prisoners to stay out of trouble but now they get recalled without re-offending - how is this good for anyone? Apart from clogging up the system with people who have already done their time it wouldn't surprise me if it is against our human rights; if we ever had any to lose.

APOLOGY Shannon Trust - Reading Mentors A number of prisoners have written to us over the last four months and they may not have received a reply. That’s because we published the wrong address! The correct address is in our advertisement on page 35 of this issue. If you are still interested in mentoring please write again.

Stewart Wheatley - HMPS

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If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

7

A tool to help prove innocence

Always happy to advise Take it on the chin

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JEREMY BAMBER - HMP FULL SUTTON

CATHY LEE - HEAD OF COMMUNICATION, CRIMINAL CASES REVIEW COMMISSION (CCRC)

PHILLIP ALLTON - HMP BROCKHILL

I write regarding the article by Jon Keeler featured in your March issue: 'The Magic of Science' in which he examines the implications of polygraph testing. Whilst being an interesting piece, I consider that Mr Keeler missed the point of my earlier contribution about 'the innocent having nothing to fear' by taking the test. This is not about statistics or the accuracy of polygraph tests. My point is that even if you're one of the unlucky few who happen to fail the polygraph test as a false positive, it cannot be used against you in a court of law and, in any case, how would anyone know you failed as your test results are confidential unless you choose otherwise. The reason for me requesting the publication of my taking and passing the polygraph test was to let other truly innocent men and women in prison know that we are now allowed to take this test if we want to. It's another aid to proving that you are telling the truth, although obviously not the be all and end all. At its best, studies using the latest version of the polygraph test give a 97.5% accuracy rate in real life double blind studies. According to Terry Mullins, who carried out the test on me, he reckoned he could tell if a person was failing the test but telling the truth and if he thought that was happening, he'd stop the test and not enter a result. I do agree with Jon Keeler that great caution should be taken with allowing the state to use and control the use of lie detector tests, but as a tool to help those fighting to prove their innocence, one that must be voluntary and always remain so, it can do no harm whatsoever. * Jeremy Bamber was convicted of murder in October 1986 but has always vehemently protested his innocence.

Psychological profile exposed ......................................................................................... JOHN CARDEN - HMP WINCHESTER Well done to Inside Time for publishing the letter about smoking in prisons by Mike Taylor (March issue), whose opinions appear typical of those who are dependent on the little white crutch and who suggests that ‘how we live our lives is not your concern’. He obviously has no empathy for those of us who are exposed to the smoke, the obnoxious fumes, that is forced upon them; he has no tolerance level for those who profess an objective opinion; and has no clear understanding of what the original article was about – that is; compensation for prison officers who are exposed to a smoker's environment for the ten seconds they do cell checks and the equality of compensation for inmates that have to live in cells used by smokers. Had he understood what his article exposed about his own psychological profile, I am sure he would have felt the same embarrassment I felt for him. Maybe a spot of ETS would enlighten Mr Taylor? No, it would be wasted.

,

In response to Mr Jeremy Bamber’s letter in your March issue relating to CCRC applications, we obviously can’t comment on the details of our review of his case, but thought it would be helpful to answer the general points he makes. Mr Bamber talks about the time it takes for the CCRC to review cases. It is true that cases can be complex and take a long time to complete, and thoroughness is our priority. However, the CCRC has worked hard to reduce waiting times and at present (March 31 2008) no applicants who are in custody have been waiting longer than six months for their case to go for review (those at liberty can wait longer as priority is given to those in custody). Once a review is in progress, there is no ‘queuing’ for issues to be dealt with. Mr Bamber also says that we do not visit applicants. It is true that we do not usually visit applicants, but we will do so if we think it would help with the review of their case. We have to consider visits carefully, as with 1,000 applications a year and 43 case reviewers, visiting everyone could actually slow down our work. He also states that legal aid should be available for applications to the CCRC. In fact, applicants may be able to get advice and assistance from solicitors under the Legal Aid scheme about applications to the CCRC. A lawyer will be able to tell you if you are financially eligible - it depends on the income and capital you have. The CCRC has recently sent out leaflets to all prisons (libraries and Legal Services Officers) giving more information about applying to us. Or applicants can phone us on 0121 633 1800 or write to: Criminal Cases Review Commission, Alpha Tower, Suffolk Street Queensway, Birmingham B1 1TT. We are always happy to advise and answer questions. CCRC advertisement page 29

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For many of us this is not our first time inside, so when you were out committing crime you knew full well what to expect if you got caught. Well, you got caught and you're back, so stop whining and take it on the chin. Prison is what you get for committing crime - if you can't handle prison life the answer is very simple - DON'T BREAK THE LAW! If you can't do the time then don't do the crime! If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (concise and clearly marked) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ. Please note letters for publication may be edited. To avoid any possible misunderstanding, if you have a query and for whatever reason do not wish your letter to be published in Inside Time or appear on the website, or yourself to be identified, please make this clear. We advise that wherever possible, when sending original documents such as legal papers, you send photocopies as we are unable to accept liability if they are lost. We may need to forward your letter and /or documents to Prison Service HQ or another appropriate body for comment or advice, therefore only send information you are willing to have forwarded on your behalf.

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Mailbag

8

An uncompromising system .....................................................

Continuing to operate unlawfully

Try walking the walk

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JOHN BARNETT - HMP WYMOTT

ROBYN LEVERS (WIFE OF A PRISONER)

ROBERT CALLAGHAN - HMP WOLDS

Recently I wrote regarding the Parole Board being declared illegal by the High Court. Having said 'watch this space', I now have an update for your readers.

In March 2000, I was sentenced to life with a two-year and two-month minimal tariff for my second serious violent offence. The judge stated that once my tariff expired, provided that I can prove it's no longer necessary for the protection of the public then there was no reason why release should not be granted.

In September 2007, four prisoners brought a writ against the Parole Board and the verdict was that the Parole Board system did not appear to comply with human rights laws. Two judges declared that the Board, funded by the Ministry of Justice, was not as independent from the Government as it should be. The verdict was suspended to allow Jack Straw time to lodge an appeal. In January 2008, the Appeal Court subsequently upheld this verdict and the Parole Board were declared to be operating unlawfully.

I am now 6 years post tariff and in September due for my fourth oral parole hearing. In September 2007 I had an oral hearing and the Parole Board recommended that I progress to open conditions. In December I was transferred to Kirkham, however in February transferred back to closed conditions after an officer made up several allegations regarding my conduct. All these allegations I have since proven, with the support of my legal team, to be untrue and malicious - yet I remain in closed conditions through no fault of my own. In your July 2007 issue, a prisoner in HMP Send (Lisa-Marie Davies) expressed apprehension regarding ‘rocking the boat’ and the situation that myself, Lisa and other section 109 lifers are in … but what more can we do? We remain compliant and complete targets, sentence planning and are ready to be considered for parole. We prove conclusively that we no longer represent a risk, yet still get no credit. The system seems uncompromising and the same goes for the Probation Service, who appear unwilling to communicate with us, which is obviously of some concern as it is they who monitor us upon release from custody.

Rumours spread that an independent adjudicator would sit on the Parole Board. I didn't believe this and as I was going through a parole review myself, I approached my solicitor. My hearing was due to take place in January and my solicitor was advised that the delay was due to the Parole Board implementing changes in how cases are dealt with. Although the Parole Board have been deemed unlawful, there will be no recourse for prisoners who were dealt with by the Parole Board in the past. Effectively the Parole Board will continue to run in the same vein, however with no direction from the Home Secretary. The Board were found unlawful because of being funded by the Ministry of Justice - as there is no other way for them to gain funding except by central Government they are technically obsolete, unless they continue to operate unlawfully! They will continue to act unlawfully, repeatedly re-offending, yet I thought the objective of the Parole Board was to assess an inmate on their risk of re-offending? What is of most concern is that there is no redress for prisoners who have had an unlawful decision made against them in the past. I realise that it would be impossible to reflect on all past decisions, but surely there must be a starting point? Perhaps these short-sighted politicians will now give decisions back to those who are best qualified to make them – the Courts. We, as inmates, must ensure that we let the authorities know that this system is unacceptable.

Covertly recorded conversations .............................................................................................................. NAME SUPPLIED - HMP GARTREE In recent weeks, two prisoners from Gartree have been transferred out because they covertly recorded conversations between themselves and members of staff, including a PO (lifer manager), probation and psychology. For one prisoner in particular, the transcripts of these recordings proved that the staff members involved had been providing the prisoner with false and misleading information regarding offending behaviour work, recommendations and release. The prisoner involved is a section two lifer who is four years over tariff.

My latest OASy's report deemed me as low risk of re-offending and my HCR20 Independent Psychologist report recommended release. I have completed a constructive and realistic release plan. The question is: are section 109 lifers being lawfully treated? I believe that we are not.

While he was on a parole board his barrister handed the transcripts over to the chairman of the board. These transcripts were proof of one of two things; either they were incompetent at their jobs or they were deliberately trying to hamper his progression and release.

P R I VAT E

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As you can imagine, once these transcripts were revealed the proverbial ‘hit the fan’. The prisoner was escorted to the segregation unit and the prison called the police and tried to get the barrister arrested for an alleged security breach. The prison also tried to get the transcripts back from the chairman of the board; the chairman refused saying they were now the property of the Parole Board.

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I write in response to the letter in your March issue by Alison Henderson (Cut Us Some Slack), which was about prisoners’ families organisations. I totally agree with Alison, although I would have worded the title ‘Money For Old Rope’ because I’m bewildered as to what they actually do for us? I once rang a main organisation only to be passed from pillar to post. I have been a ‘prison widow’ for six years and have received leaflets and newsletters with the British sob stories. That’s all they seem to print. There is cash going into their funding pots but where exactly are the resources, apart from hosting conferences with people who can only talk the talk. Prisoners’ families organisations are in desperate need of a reality check. We are consistently referred to as isolated, poverty stricken people. Nice try, but let me point out that I live no worse off than pensioners in my community and I am no better off than other families receiving low incomes. I struggle along with the majority of the population making ends meet whether my husband is in prison or not. There are online support forums such as Prison Chat UK and the Email A Prisoner service, excellent services too but to be able to afford an Internet provider in the comfort of your own home hardly classes us as destitute beings thank you very much. I have never felt isolated and neither have other families I’ve met along the way. I have never hid the fact that my husband is in prison and my children have never been told that their dad is ‘working away’ in some obscure place. To fill a child’s head with that rubbish is ludicrous. We frequently hear that families are supposed to play a key role in the reduction of re-offending. If that is so, then why are all the resources only available to the offender? We need a little more than a refurbished visitors centre and a ham sandwich. In particular I’d like to ask Action For Prisoners Families why they don’t offer more encouragement and push to promote education, well-being and employment resources for prisoners families? Where is the positive outlook? Or do the sob stories contribute towards securing that all-important annual funding that lines the pockets of those who can talk the talk but in my view fail miserably to walk the walk.

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If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

T h e G r a i n s t o r e , Wo o l pa c k s Ya r d , Wa k e f i e l d W F 1 2 S G

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If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

Church of offender management ...................................................................... PAUL CUMMINS - HMP WINCHESTER From the moment you arrive you are cut off from your family, friends and normal influences. You have very limited access to phones and post, and encouraged to break off contact with those who are considered to be encouraging offending behaviour. The isolation strips you of your normal support systems, and increases feelings of powerlessness and a need for group acceptance within your establishment. It removes the sounding boards you use to evaluate situations, and confidence in personal judgements deteriorates; making independent action almost impossible. Your environment is controlled, diet, rest, work, play, money and outside contact. You can do nothing without the approval of your ‘keepers’; the only support being what they offer in the form of behaviour programmes.

Once you are completely brainwashed you will be encouraged or ‘coerced’ to fit in and depend on a different form of ideology. A logic created by the system, advocated by the system to benefit the system, not you. No criticism is allowed; complaints are ignored or held against you. You are encouraged to consider the people in your life that you have hurt, disappointed or rejected; made to feel worthless; and then you are brought back from the brink of total emotional despair with a lifebelt as long as you are prepared to change to fit the system. Finally you are allowed to leave, but having been remoulded you are unable to cope with the real world; unable to think or act for yourself … so you think of ways to return to the system. Sound familiar? You may think this is a description of prison life, and it could be. In fact it is taken from a letter written by a rescued member of a cult. Prison is no longer looked on as a deterrent or a punishment, it has become the Church of Offender Management; with a current membership of 81,000 committed members. Will prison ever reform? Unlikely. Too much is invested in the cult!

Branston storage

Parole for prisoners with extended sentences

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GARY OSBORNE - HMP GARTREE Can Inside Time provide information regarding how I might go about getting property back from HMPS Branston storage? Numerous items were taken from me in reception when I got to Belmarsh in September 2005, including some treasured photos of my late mother, yet despite putting in numerous applications since arriving here at Gartree in August 2006, I seem to be getting nowhere.

➜ The Prison Service writes: Mr Osborne asks for clarification how and when prisoners can request the retrieval of stored property from the National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Branston. Prisoners can ask for property in excess of normal volumetric controls to be held at the NDC. Other than in exceptional circumstances, or when they are about to be released, property held there cannot be accessed within 12 months of being placed into storage. Once the 12-month period has passed, prisoners should submit an application locally, providing the NDC seal number if known. Staff at the prison will then request the property from Branston. For specific information about his stored property, Mr Osborne should contact HMP Gartree’s reception department. Full details and further guidance about prisoner’s property can be found in Prison Service Order 1250.

Paul Lanham - Briefing & Casework Unit

MR WATTS - HMP STANDFORD HILL I seek clarification in respect of the number of extended licence prisoners who have gained parole at their first attempt and how long an extended licence prisoner must wait for a second parole hearing.

➜ The Prison Service writes: Dangerous offenders convicted of a sexual or violent offence specified in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which carries a maximum penalty of less than 10 years will be sentenced to an Extended Sentence for Public Protection (EPP). This sentence comprises two parts; a custodial period of at least 12 months and an extended licence period. Release is at the discretion of the Parole Board at any time between the half way point of the custodial period and the custodial end date. The licence can extend for up to five years for violent and eight years for sexual offences, with the proviso that the combined period of custody and licence cannot exceed the maximum penalty for the offence. After the first parole board review, if the offender has not been released, their eligibility for parole will depend on the length of custodial sentence remaining. For example: • Less than 13 months between Parole Eligibility Date (PED) and Conditional Release Date (CRD) - no further review. • More than 13 months but less than 15 months - a review commencing 39 weeks before CRD. • More than 15 months - a review on the anniversary of the PED. Figures relating to the number of prisoners released at their first Parole Board review are not held by the Prison Service and are a matter for the Parole Board. However, according to the Parole Board Annual Report for 2006/07, they considered 934 cases and awarded parole in 91 of them. However, it must be borne in mind that the Criminal Justice Act 2003 was enacted with effect from 4 April 2005, and therefore offenders who received an EPP sentence would not have become eligible for parole until 2006. These figures therefore reflect no trends other than the very first of such cases becoming eligible. Mr Watts also asks whether the availability of offending behaviour courses would impact adversely on the parole process. Failure to attend or complete offending behaviour courses is not an automatic bar to parole. The Parole Board consider a range of factors which includes an offender's behaviour in custody and his/her attitude towards his/her offending behaviour. No single factor will decide parole but obviously if an offender has shown a commitment to addressing offending behaviour it is a positive rather than a negative indicator.

J White - Briefing and Casework Unit

AA LAW

MACKESYS SOLICITORS PRISON LAW SPECIALISTS in

Mailbag

9

Family support ..................................................... MRS EMMA O'LEARY - COUNTY DURHAM Can I draw your readers’ attention to the positive and tireless work of all those who work within the Family Liaison Team at HMP Durham. As a family member with a loved one serving time, it is often mentioned to us how important it is for us to visit, along with our children, and to maintain the family support network which greatly assists with our loved ones rehabilitation and preventing them from re-offending. We know this is proven - after all, we read it in every piece of literature concerning the families of prisoners, yet all too often it's found that little if any provision is made throughout the prison estate to assist in the building of bridges over what is the very big hurdle of imprisonment and all that accompanies a sentence. However Durham Prison seem to have taken it upon themselves to show families they really do care and they do want to help. The creche is always open, the toys are always out, and I know my kids have forged great friendships with the friendly staff - it makes the visit enjoyable and the time they spend with their Dad better quality than it would be if they were made to wait around bored and frustrated. However, family assistance doesn't stop there, as we also have a lifeline that every prison throughout the UK should have and unfortunately don't -the Family Liaison Team.

Double standards ..................................................... GRANT COUZENS - HMP WANDSWORTH I was convicted of dealing drugs and when I arrived at HMP Wandsworth I was faced with discrimination; not on the grounds of race, religion or physical disability but because I'm a selfconfessed ‘user’. The problem is blatant from healthcare to other inmates - double standards of treatment and looks of sheer contempt; no attempt is made to cover up their feelings towards you. You are a drug user; a lower class of human being; and the contempt is visible. Since my incarceration I've taken nine courses and jumped through hoops to beat a problem I didn't know I had! I asked to be moved onto a VDT wing where there is supposed to be a tighter control on drug dealing. As a self-confessed user, I have stuck to my side of the bargain yet because of my ‘disease’ I am at risk of getting even more punishment. The prison does not make it easy for someone to try and stay clean and gives very little incentive. The least little slip and you face more time. An addicted prisoner is not given fair treatment and very little preparation for facing the outside world with £47.50 in your pocket.

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News from the House

10

The information is not available in the requested format but HM Prison Service’s legal costs since April 2004 are as provided in the following table. They include the costs of the Treasury Solicitor, Counsel’s fees and other disbursements. Comparable legal costs in respect of secure training centres are mostly incurred by the private companies who run the centres.

Image courtesy of The Week

Prison service inquest costs 2004-05 £901,000 2005-06 £1,547,000 2006-07 £1,670,000 2007-08 £1,962,000 Total £6,080.000

National Offender Management Service: Expenditure

In the previous five years the level of prisoners in this circumstance is in the following table. Snapshot of prisoners held over 50 miles from their homes (to nearest 100) 2002 25,700 2003 26,800 2004 27,300 2005 27,600 2006 27,800

Prisoners Transfers Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much his Department spent on prison transfers in each of the last 10 financial years; and if he will make a statement; (2) how many prisoners have been transferred between prisons during their sentence since April 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost of the National Offender Management Service was in 2006-07.

Mr. Hanson: The cost of the National Offender Management Service in 2006-07 was £4.3 billion resource and £0.4 billion capital expenditure. This includes expenditure on public and private prisons, 42 probation boards and the Youth Justice Board, as well as central policy and administrative functions. The capital expenditure was mainly on the prisons' estate.

National Offender Management Service: Probation Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders are directly managed or supervised by staff of the National Offender Management Service.

The gathering storm Prisoners: Repatriation Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the average cost of repatriating foreign prisoners held in UK prisons in the last 12 months, broken down by country of origin.

Mr. Straw: In 2007, foreign prisoners held in England an Wales were repatriated under Prisoner Transfer Agreements to the following countries to continue serving their sentence: Belgium Cyprus Dutch Antilles France Germany Ireland Italy

10 2 5 3 2 5 1

Lithuania 1 Norway 2 The Netherlands 75 Poland 1 Spain 2 Switzerland 1 Turkey 1

In each case the flight and escort cost of

MARTYN HEWETT

transferring the prisoner from the United Kingdom to the receiving State was met by that State. The repatriation of prisoners from Scotland is a matter for Scottish Ministers and the repatriation of prisoners from Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Prisons: Coroners Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent by his Department on legal representation and advice on each coroner’s case into a death in prison service establishments (including secure training centres) in each of the last four years. Maria Eagle: Inquests into deaths in prison custody are inquisitorial fact-finding processes, heard by a Coroner with a jury.

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Mr. Hanson: At 30 June 2007 there were a total of 254,762 offenders in prison or being supervised in the community by the Probation Service in England and Wales. The number of offenders supervised by the Probation Service in the community (either under court orders or under post release licence) was 175,028. The number detained in prison was 79,734.

Prisoners David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were held in prisons over 50 miles from their homes in the last 12 months.

Mr. Straw: As of September 2007, the latest date for which information is available, there were approximately 33,150 prisoners held over 50 miles from their home address. Where no home address is listed for a prisoner the committal court has been used as a proxy address.

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Mr. Hanson: Details of expenditure on inter-prison transfer services by the inter-prison transfer contractor for each financial year since 2001-02 are set out in the following table. Data are not available for financial years 1997-98 to 2000-01. Financial year 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 (to Feb)

Cost (£) 5,390,061 5,390,061 5,147,078 5,798,057 5,786,057 7,906,739 7,006,886

The following table shows the number of inter-prison transfers under the interprison transfer contract in each month since April 2007. A breakdown of the number of transfers of sentenced and unsentenced prisoners under the inter-prison transfer contract is not held separately. Number of prisoner Inter-prison Transfers April 2007 5,302 May 2007 6,183 June 2007 6,028 July 2007 7,253 August 2007 6,341 September 2007 6,185 October 2007 6,504 November 2007 6,428 December 2007 5,297 January 2008 6,838 February 2008 6,256 In addition to this there are prisoner transfers that are managed locally. These are not recorded centrally. (Almost 200 prisoners were involved in travelling from one prison to another every single day throughout the 11 months of April 07 Feb 08 at a cost of £1,120 per trip - roughly the cost of a week’s cruise on the Caribbean. Ed.)

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Prisoners: Compensation

Nationality

Male Female

Total

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claims for compensation were made by inmates of each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each year between 2000 and 2007; and how much was paid in compensation.

Mr. Straw: The following table details the number of compensation claims received from prisoners over the last three financial years and the total amount paid in compensation, whether by way of out of court settlement or by a court award. The figures exclude private establishments. Compensation figures prior to 2004-05 were not collated centrally and those for 2007-08 have not been finalised. The claims received each year may not be the same as those that are settled in the same period, as litigation often takes several years to resolve. Prisoner claims - excluding private establishments and judicial reviews Prisoner compensation claims received 2004-05 958 2005-06 973 2006-07 1034 Total compensation paid(£) 2004-05 2,291,277 2005-06 4,432,046 2006-07 2,036,271 (A total of £650,476 compensation was paid out by Wormwood Scrubs over the three year period 2004-2007 and a staggering £2.9 million by HMP Liverpool for the same period. HMP Manchester paid out a mere £321,464. Ed.)

Prisoners: Foreigners David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign prisoners from each country of origin there were in prisons in England and Wales on 1st March 2008.

Mr. Straw: The following table gives a breakdown of all foreign national prisoners in prison establishments in England and Wales as at 31 December 2007.

All nationalities 75,275 UK nationals 64,099 Foreign nationals 10,337 Not recorded 840 Central and South America Middle East North America Oceania West Indies Africa Europe Total other

294 584 121 44 1,399 2961 2264 4

4,330 79,605 3,264 67,363 974 11,310 92 932

42 5 10 4 140 436 145 0

335 589 131 48 1,539 3397 2409 4

Segregation of Prisoners Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were housed in segregation units in each of the last (a) five years and (b) 12 months.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, by surveying every establishment in England and Wales. (One in five suicides take place in healthcare or segregation units so for this reason alone these figures should be compiled and reviewed regularly and held centrally. Ed.)

Young Offenders Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persistent young offenders are registered; and how many and what proportion of total offences there were in which the offender was a persistent young offender in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997. Mr. Hanson: Statistics on Persistent Young Offenders (PYOs) are available from 1997 to 2007. The following table shows the number of PYOs in England and Wales in each year since 1997. It also shows the number of cases involving such offenders and the average time from arrest to sentence for dealing with them. The definition of a PYO relies on counting successive sentencing occasions for a single offender during a limited time period.

Key statistics on persistent young offenders (PYO), 1997 to 2007

Young Offenders: Restraint Techniques

(A) Number of PYOs (B) Number of PYO convictions (C) % of court convictions (D) Arrest to sentence interval (days)

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

(A) 9,868 11,079 12,014 13,094 13,854 14,244 14,242 14,403 14,725 15,528 16,512

(B) 16,010 18,605 21,151 23,130 25,393 26,116 26,083 26,363 27,037 28,252 30,683

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2004 2005 2006

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State for Justice whether he will place in the Library a copy of the manual for control and restraint in young offenders institutions.

Mr. Hanson: Control and restraint (C and R) techniques are used in all Prison Service establishments, including young offender institutions, as a last resort when all other de-escalation techniques have failed. The restraint methods involve a variety of defensive and disarming techniques ranging from simple breakaway techniques through to defensive strikes and defence against improvised weapons and firearms. For reasons of security the prison service does not disclose details of the individual techniques used in C and R. (If Members of Parliament of both houses are law makers the manual for control and restraint used in YOIs and in all prison establishments should be placed in the Lords and Commons libraries. Ed). State sanctioned violence page 22

Prison Drug Treatment statement The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Mr. David Hanson): The Government are committed to improving prison drug treatment. Effective prison drug treatment lies at the heart of reducing re-offending; reducing the harm to individuals, their families and the wider community caused by drug misuse; and in helping offenders to lead law-abiding, productive lives upon release. I am, with the Minister of State for Health and the Under-Secretary of State for Health, announcing additional Department of Health (DH) funding for prison clinical drug treatment. £12.7 million was invested in 2007-08, this will rise to £24.4 million (actual) in 2008-09, £39 million (indicative) in 2009-10 and £43 million (indicative) in 2010-11. This additional funding, further developing the integrated drug treatment system (IDTS) in prisons, is aimed at improving the volume and quality of drug treatment with a particular emphasis on the first 28 days in custody and better integration with the community services to which most drugmisusing prisoners will return. We are also pleased to announce that a national prison drug treatment review group will be established to oversee the continued development of prison drug treatment, chaired by Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel from the University of Central Lancashire to consider the findings of a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The PwC Report identified the lack of a clear inter-departmental strategy; fragmented organisational arrangements for funding, commissioning, performance management and delivery of services; the lack of a clear evidence base for some services currently offered; and inefficiencies and gaps in services.

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continued from front page...

Over half of the prison population are drug users ‘The elephant in the room’ If the Prison Service wants to really get a handle on its drug trade, Lord Ramsbotham says, ‘it has to tackle the most controversial supply route through staff.’ One former prison governor told Radio 4 that although the popular perception was that most drugs were brought into prison by families and friends visiting prisoners ‘more drugs are coming in with staff than any other way … it’s only a minority, you can count the number of staff on one hand’ he said. Conservative MP Henry Bellingham, a member of the Shadow Justice team, told the programme that ’80 per cent of drugs coming into prison are coming in on members of staff.’ There are quite a few prisons where it is virtually impossible for drugs to come over the wall because of the way the perimeter fence and the buildings are positioned. Hussain Djemil said he was also convinced that staff are ‘the main route of drugs into prison … they won’t systematically share intelligence between prisons ... and between prison areas and nationally’ he added.

Two years on, Gordon Cooper, Chairman of the IMB at Pentonville, told Radio 4 that to the best of his knowledge no criminal charges had been brought against any of the fourteen officers but added that the incidents of prisoners testing positive on MDTs’ went down quite significantly and the obvious inference from that is that the level of drugs within the prison dropped’ he said. Drug treatment programmes in prisons are costing £70 million a year and thousands of prisoners are being weaned off drugs but that impressive work is being blunted by the inability of the Prison Service to stop hard drugs getting in. Hussain Djemil believes that it is time to root out the tiny minority of rogue officers. ‘It really is the elephant in the room’ he said. ‘The Metropolitan Police wanted to confront corruption and they had to go to extraordinary lengths to do it and I think that the Prison Service is at the crossroads and they may want to learn some lessons from the police services that have had to do this because of public scrutiny’.

Inside Time banned from the wings! Numerous complaints from residents at HMP Lowdham Grange prompted an investigation into claims that Inside Time was not being fully distributed on the wings. Martin Oates, Deputy Director at the privately run prison, explained that it seems Inside Time has unfortunately become a victim of its own success in the prison. “As it is the only free newspaper available in such large quantities on the wings, copies were being taped together to make ‘mini poles’. These poles were then being joined together to make giant fishing rods with a coat hanger for a hook attached to the end. These were being used to hook up packages of drugs and mobile phones that had been thrown over the walls,” he said.

The latest official figures show that in 2006, sixty-eight prison staff were suspended for trafficking drugs and other items. Lord Ramsbotham said that to end suspicion about prison staff the Government should set up an independent anti-corruption unit to investigate any allegation along the same lines as the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Trust in the Prison Service will be greater. ‘If they have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear’ he said. The Prison Service’s highest profile case involved the suspension of fourteen officers at Pentonville prison in August 2006 on suspicion of drug trafficking and what it called inappropriate relationships. This was the largest number of officers suspended in living memory from any establishment and came just weeks after a leaked report to the BBC in which it was estimated that there were at least a thousand corrupt prison staff within the system.

Matthew Williams HMP Dovegate

The fact that Inside Time is now a substantial 40 pages seems to have made it ideal for using in this creative way! The good news, Mr Oates tells us, is that cells being used to ‘fish’ from are in the process of having grills fitted to the windows. Normal service will be resumed very soon and prisoners will no longer be complaining that they have to go to the library to read their copy of Inside Time. With the Olympics to be screened this summer, on a TV screen near you, the prison is now concerned that nobody gets any ideas after watching the pole-vaulting!

Jailing fewer women ‘would cut crime’ The Sun publishes a photo taken on a mobile phone of Pete Doherty in the detox unit of Wormwood Scrubs.

Dramatically reducing the number of women sent to prison could save £18 million a year and help to cut crime, research claims. Community-based support rather than custodial sentences for the 2,000 non-violent female offenders would offer the taxpayer much greater value for money and improve the life chances of some 8,000 children a year whose mothers are in prison, said the New Economics Foundation.

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LEGAL AID FRANCHISE FOR CRIME Contact: Mr Ezennia / Seama or Chuks Denton Solicitors 113 George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1AB 020 8989 7477 (24hrs 07888 745 077) [email protected] www.dentonsolicitors.co.uk

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Cases fail because prosecutors were not ready for court

Public shame for lawyers who break the rules

Thousands of people accused of serious offences have had cases against them dropped because prosecutors were not ready for court. In 2006-2007, 2,325 Crown Court cases for offences including actual bodily harm and burglary were dropped.

Thousands of solicitors who are found guilty each year of a range of crimes and misdemeanours, from ignoring letters to plundering clients’ money, are to be identified publicly. Those solicitors in England and Wales found guilty of breaching professional rules will be listed on a Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority (SRA) website which will be available to the public.

The Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate also found failings in keeping victims and witnesses informed. The problem was identified in a previous inspectorate report but this is the first time the numbers have been known. Chief Inspector for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Stephen Wooler said: "It's partly the fault of the CPS. They have to work as a team with police in preparing cases for court."

Early release ‘undermined confidence’ Britain’s most senior judge has spoken out against the early release of prisoners, insisting that it ‘undermined confidence in the judicial system’. Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice, said that releasing prisoners early was an undesirable response to jail overcrowding; comments that will be a blow to Justice Secretary Jack Straw, who in March had to change the rules of the end-of-custody licence scheme after it was revealed that two terrorists had been freed early. Since the scheme came into force in June 2007, 21,000 prisoners have been released early. Calling for a simpler sentencing structure, Lord Phillips said: “Where prisoners are released in these circumstances, that is to a degree an erosion of the sentence that the judge imposed and anticipated would be served. “It would be very much better if one had a clear sentencing structure, where if you imposed a sentence you could see how long that individual might spend in prison and when they would be eligible for parole”.

Regulator backs use of DNA technique in court cases Tiny samples of DNA evidence are safe to use in criminal prosecutions, in spite of recent concern from the police and the judiciary that the technique is flawed, the forensic science regulator has ruled. Andrew Rennison was responding to an independent report by scientists at the University of Strathclyde into the analysis of low-template DNA - amounts too small for standard DNA profiling. The report found the technique to be scientifically sound and Professor Brian Caddy, who carried out the review, said it should not cause wrongful convictions. The review comes after last December's verdict in the Omagh bombing case where Sean Hoey, a republican, was acquitted of killing 29 people in 1998. The British-pioneered low-copy DNA technique of amplifying small amounts of genetic material so it can be read was used in the prosecution case and in his verdict Mr Justice Weir, the trial judge, said he was not satisfied that it was valid for use as evidence. He said that in the Omagh case the DNA material had been so amateurishly collected and stored as to be valueless. He also questioned the level of academic analysis of the technique. However, the review's authors called for improvements in the collection of DNA from crime scenes and in its analysis, to avoid the evidence becoming unusable.

Didn’t he do well ... The late (and usually polite) President Ronald Reagan says in his diary for May 17, 1986: A moment I’ve been dreading. George (H.W. Bush, his Vice-President) brought his ne’er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida (Jeb); the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I’ll call (journalist Michael) Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they’ll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work.’ Didn’t George W Bush do well for himself?

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Pastoral care of prisoners a ‘vital mission’ ‘Prison doors may be locked shut, but people must not close their eyes and minds to the inmates behind bars’ was the message conveyed by Vatican officials at an international gathering of prison chaplains in Rome, where Pope Benedict XV1 called the pastoral care of prisoners a ‘vital mission’ that deserved the support and guidance of bishops and the involvement of local Catholics.

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The website will enable the public to check out a solicitor prior to engaging them, be it for anything from a house sale to representing a client in court on criminal charges. Information will be held on the site for three years and will show details of how the solicitor took steps to put right his failing. During the period November 2006 to November 2007, 1,984 solicitors had conditions put on their practising certificates and 351 were given warnings, rebukes and reprimands.

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Peter Williamson, chairman of the board of the SRA, said: “The findings of misconduct that we deal with are not those most serious ones that go to the tribunal. But they are the majority, and you could say that any finding of misconduct is a serious matter in itself. This is about making our decision-making process transparent, which in turn helps create public confidence in the system for regulating solicitors by demonstrating where action has been taken. That is the most important thing.”

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☺ NEWS IN BRIEF

Immigration is not a benefit to the economy says House of Lords Report

The moment is captured when Robert Mugabe remembers Joseph Stalin’s words: ‘the people who cast the votes do not decide an election: the people who count the votes do’.

Did I say that…?

‘I want more migrants to come to Britain’. Agnieszka and Isabella from Poland check plants for fungus

Alistair Darling announces that he is to impose an annual tax of £30,000 on non-doms and a non-dom who is sent to prison will be known thereafter as a con-dom.

For most of 2006 and 2007, immigration was the number one issue of concern to the British public, more important than law and order, the state of the National Health Service or even international terrorism says a Report by the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs. The Report says migration into the UK has reached a level ‘unprecedented in our history’ from less than 100,000 a year in the early 1990’s to more than 300,000 in 2006.

News that anorexia is now becoming a problem for even older women, a group in the Midlands celebrate their success in overcoming the eating disorder.

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott who spent £4000 of taxpayers’ money on food says his binge eating days are over.

It contradicts the Government, which has argued that migrants to the UK have boosted the economy by £6 billion a year and have helped to plug shortages in the labour market. These claims are rejected by the Select Committee, which includes two former Chancellors of the Exchequer and a former CBI president. The Select Committee conclude that the record levels of migration into the UK are bringing no economic benefit to the community and warns the Government that uncontrolled migration to the UK ‘risks stoking social tensions’. In fact, the Committee say, uncontrolled migration into the UK has an important economic impact on public services with some schools struggling to cope with the rapidly rising number of children who do not speak English as a first language. Although the Government presented extensive written evidence to the Select Committee’s inquiry it did not mention the impact of migration into the UK on housing. This, the Committee said, was surprising as about a third of the projected household growth in

beesleyandcompanysolicitors Personal Injury and Civil Action against the Police and other authorities • Personal Injury (accidents both in and out of custody) • Assault • False imprisonment • Malicious prosecution • Negligence • Interference with property/goods • Allegations of mistreatment/injury caused by inmates or staff We can also assist with debt and housing issues.

England over the next 20-30 years is a result of net-immigration. Large-scale migration into the UK can also have an adverse affect on employment opportunities of young people who are competing with migrant workers from other EU countries. In addition to its direct impact on the housing market, rising population density creates wider welfare issues and consequences for the living standards of UK residents. Yet Government appears not to have considered these issues at all, the Select Committee said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown responding to the House of Lords Report, which strongly recommended that the Government stop uncontrolled migration into Britain. England, where 50 million people live, is three times more densely populated than China. And over the next five years England’s green fields and meadows will be covered in concrete and asphalt to make way for 263,900 new houses; needed because of population growth mostly as a result of migration into the country.

A separate Report compiled by the police and presented to the Home Secretary said that while some 800,000 new arrivals from Eastern Europe in the last four years (that’s about four cities the size of Southampton) had caused community tensions and placed a burden on some police forces ‘we find no evidence that it had led to a significant increase in crime’ said Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Cheshire and coauthor of the Report. However, the police had to acknowledge that their total cost for translators in England and Wales had soared to more than £24 million – an increase of £10 million in two years. It is also the case that 20% of those convicted of or charged with murder in England and Wales last year were foreign nationals. Furthermore there has been a 152% increase in foreign national prisoners in the last 10 years compared to a 55% increase in British nationals sent to prison.

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

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So the Campaign to Protect Rural England is asking: What would you rather have? • A hedgerow teeming with butterflies or an out of town supermarket teeming with cars and shoppers? • A quiet row of oak trees casting shade on the path or roaring lorries belching their fumes everywhere. Thought so!

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 Do you know...? • A heraldic lion has been shorn of it’s “equipment” after complaints from a group of Swedish female soldiers. The women said that the emblem of the EU’s Nordic Battlegroup – a crack force of 2,400 troops – was too ostentatiously male. “We were forced to cut the lion’s willy off with the aid of a computer,” said Christian Braunstein, from the Tradition Commission of the Swedish Army.

cereal harvest is fed to intensively farmed animals. • Although bigamy is illegal in this country, ministers have decided that where benefit claims are concerned, polygamous marriages can be recognised by the state – provided the wedding took place in a country where they are legal. In future, claimants in polygamous marriages will be entitled to the standard couple rate of £92.80 per week, plus £33.65 for each additional spouse.

• Christmas lights could disappear from Britain’s high streets because of the cost of meeting health and safety regulations. Council officials have been told they must test every bolt and light fitting, and make workers use expensive hydraulic platforms to put up lights, since ladders are deemed unsafe. The Local Government Association has said many councils will have no choice but to forgo festive lights altogether. • The city of Belmont in California has become the first to forbid residents from smoking in their homes. The city of Calabasas may be next. “The time has come,” said councilman Barry Groveman, although he admitted that the ban had its opponents. “I’ve gotten threats like you wouldn’t believe.” • Between a third and a half of the world’s

• A quarter of all children in the UK between eight and ten have never played outside without adult supervision, according to new government figures. • 60% of French people think that Carla Bruni will help modernise France’s image while 47% believe she will help promote French culture abroad. However, only 30% think that she will improve their opinion of her husband. • An annual pancake race has been shelved because of health and safety rules. Choristers have taken part in a Shrove Tuesday race at Ripon Cathedral since the 15th century – but this year it was cancelled because of the cost of the risk assessment, a £250 council fee, and the need to have medical staff on hand. • One in five British teenagers think Winston Churchill was a fictional character; 47% think Richard the Lionheart was a mythical figure; 25% don’t think Florence Nightingale really lived. By contrast, 65% believe King Arthur was a real person, while 51% believe that Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest and 58% that Sherlock Holmes really solved crimes from a house in Baker Street. • 65% of Britons aged 50 or over are sexually active, and 46% of them say they have sex at least once a week. 85% say they find sex less pressurised than in their youth; 76% find it more fulfilling. • There was a 61% rise in the number of men having tummy tucks last year, while

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Complaints that Tony Blair’s first confession, after becoming a Roman Catholic, took forever were soon forgotten when he asked to use the Vatican for his holidays.

• Concerned parents can now buy their children bulletproof hoodies. Retailing at £300, the Defender, made by the London company Bladerunner, claims to protect against all bullets except those fired by high velocity rifles.

• 40% of Britons fear being lonely in their old age. 66% are frightened by the idea of having to move into a care home. More than 90% say they could not survive on the state pension.

• Google has a market capitalisation of $216bn, more than all the other dotcom companies combined.

• Fear of abuse allegations are so widespread that most schools and nurseries either have an explicit rule banning teachers from touching children, or an “implicit understanding” that contact is to be avoided wherever possible, according to a survey by researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University.

• In Japan, one person commits suicide on average every 15 minutes.

• 82% of Americans believe in God, and 62% in the devil. Only 42% believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution – a figure that falls to 16% among born-again Christians.

• The number of speeding tickets issued has almost trebled since Labour came to power, from 700,000 in 1997 to 1.9 million in 2005.

☺ NEWS IN BRIEF

• Ten times as many Chinese people watch Premier League Football as do British people.

• More than 800,000 Eastern Europeans have registered to work in Britain in the past four years. That figure does not include self-employed workers, who are not obliged to register.

• A new gadget will help people keep tabs on their carbon footprints. Users enter everything from how many cups of tea they’ve drunk to how many hours they’ve spent watching TV, and the gadget calculates the CO2 emissions.

• Three-quarters of women aged 16 to 30 do not practice safe sex in casual relationships. A third of 22 to 25-year-olds have had unsafe sex more than 20 times. 86% of 16 to 18year-olds do not realise this can lead to HIV.

breast reductions for men were up by 27%.

15

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• One in five spouses in Britain admit to snooping on their partner’s emails and text messages.

The good news is that Gordon Brown will not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in China but the bad news say ‘elf and safety’ is that he will attend the closing ceremony and bring the torch back to London for 2012.

• British households bin 4.4 million apples a year, almost a third of the 600,000 tonnes bought. They also dump 5.1 million potatoes a day. • 62 of the world’s 100 richest men are married to brunettes. None is married to a redhead. • Parents’ groups have condemned a new online game which encourages girls as young as nine to buy silicon breasts and diet pills for their virtual characters. Visitors to the Miss Bimbo website are invited to purchase “bimbo dollars”, which they can then spend on cosmetic surgery, lingerie and saucy outfits. The aim of the virtual beauty contest is to create “ the coolest, richest and most famous bimbo in the world”. The owners of the website – which originated in France – claim to have 260,000 visitors in this country, most of them girls aged nine to 16. • According to a book on the press by journalist Nick Davies, the word “crap” appears more often in British newspapers than the word “capitalism”.

HENRY HYAMS S

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And Sir Paul McCartney tries out the first chapter of his new book for children on his daughter.

This really hurts me Balls, said Burnham. Yes, doesn’t it Burnham, said Balls.

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Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Newsround Pill for every ill

Cannabis use 9.5m 16 to 59-year-olds have

Doctors are prescribing 27% more medicines than they were five years ago, pushing the NHS drugs bill to £10bn in 2006.Experts say the increase is largely due to medical advances, but also blame poor prescribing by GPs, aggressive marketing by drug companies, and patient demands for a “pill for every ill”.

used cannabis at some time in their lives

2.6m

16 to 59-year-olds have used cannabis in the past year

1.5m 16 to 59-year-olds have

Did I say that…?

used cannabis in the past month

2.5m

16 to 24-year-olds have used cannabis at some time in their lives

‘Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s’.

1.3m 16 to 24-year-olds have used cannabis in the past year

820,000

16 to 24-year-olds have used cannabis in the past month Senior police officers are calling for cannabis to become a class B drug again after it was downgraded to a class C drug in January 2004. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs – a panel of a couple of dozen experts on drugs - is expected to recommend to the Government to keep the current C classification. However Gordon Brown is apparently in favour of returning the drug to class B. At a recent Downing Street press briefing he said that the Government needed to send out a clear message that cannabis use was illegal and unacceptable.

George Clooney used a high profile speech to ridicule Charlton Heston’s illness before he died. The iconic movie star, who won an Oscar for playing Moses in The 10 Commandants, died on April 5th at the age of 84 at his home in Beverly Hills. Heston responded at the time by saying: ‘I don’t know the man, never met him, never even spoke to him, but I feel sorry for George Clooney; one day he may get Alzheimer’s disease’.

Needles cure back pain

Hope for Alzheimer’s A drug routinely prescribed to lower levels of “bad” cholesterol may also help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, says The Guardian. In a US study, researchers examined the brains of 110 elderly people after their deaths, and found that those who had taken statins were less likely to have developed the tangle of nerve fibres that are an indicator of Alzheimer’s. The team described the findings as “hopeful”, but stressed that they needed to be confirmed. “Our data says the drugs appear to be doing something in the brain,” said Dr Thomas Montine. “Whether this will translate into behavioural changes, we can’t say.”

Acupuncture is a more effective treatment for back pain than conventional therapies, according to new research in Germany. But so is “sham” acupuncture – when needles are inserted, but not in the recommended places – suggesting that the body responds positively to needle pricks, or that the ancient Chinese therapy has a powerful placebo effect. For the study, 1,100 volunteers with chronic lower back pain were given acupuncture, fake acupuncture, or conventional therapies of painkillers, manipulation, and exercise. After six months, 47% of patients in the acupuncture group reported significant improvements in their symptoms, compared with 44% in the sham group, and just 27% of the volunteers who had conventional therapies. “The superiority of both forms of acupuncture suggests a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain generation, transmission of pain signals or processing of pain signals by the central nervous system,” said Dr Michael Haake, of the University of Regensburg in Bad Abbach.

Is beer a real thirst quencher? When you leave the gym after a vigorous workout, head to the pub. It doesn’t sound like sensible advice, but according to new research, a glass of beer may be just the thing to rehydrate the body. Professor Manuel Garzon, of Granada University in Spain, asked 25 students to run on a treadmill at temperatures of 40C (104F) until they were close to exhaustion. Half were then given a glass of lager to drink, while the rest were given the same volume of water. According to Garzon, tests later showed that the group given the beer had a “slightly” better rehydration affect than those given the water. He claims beer is the perfect postexercise drink because the carbon dioxide in it quenches thirst, while its carbohydrates replace lost calories. However, previous studies have shown that most alcoholic drinks have a diuretic effect, which means that they encourage the body to lose water through urination.

Clooney, who was in London when Heston died was here to promote his latest film ‘Leatherheads’ described by The Mirror’s film critic as ‘Bumnumbingly long … with less laughs than your average wake.’

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Health

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Inside Health... with Dr Jonathon Following the launch of Inside Health in October we have received a number of queries from prisoners about health matters. Providing this service is Dr Jonathon Tomlinson, a GP practicing in East London. If you have a question relating to your own health, write a brief letter (maximum one side A4 paper) to Inside Time (Health) PO Box 251, Hedge End, Hampshire SO30 4XJ. Everyone will receive a reply, however only a selection will be published each month. No names will be disclosed.

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another one, but if the acne is severe and painful with scarring you should be referred to a dermatologist for a treatment that is available on the NHS and is suitable for someone with severe acne with scarring. It’s called Roaccutane. This is a vitamin A derivative which can have serious side effects including severe drying, peeling and redness of your skin during treatment, muscle aches and pains, and a worsening of depression. However, the evidence for its effectiveness is, at the moment, much clearer than that for laser treatment. Most patients find that they can manage the soreness and dryness of their skin with regular use of moisturisers, and they are usually very pleased with the results afterwards.

Q I have had Perthes disease since I was eight. I am now 37 and have been in a special brace and plaster cast. I now get arthritis in my hip and the bottom of my spine with severe stiffness and pain. This happens every day and my sleep is totally upset; I wake up with cramp and my hip locks up. Over the years I have tried many things, the doctors have me on 200mg Tramadol in the morning and 100mg at night. I also have a 15mm shoe-heel which is not working as my foot doesn't fit my trainer properly. I have asked for boot trainers. I have sent for Glucosamine and Cod Liver oil, do you think this will help? Also, what food would help as I have heard that some food is bad for arthritis.

by supplying Niquitin patches; only after five weeks you actually don't smoke! I gave up a few months before entering prison and even went through this stress without a puff but now, after sharing a cell with seven different cell-mates, all smokers, I've started again. When I asked healthcare for a few patches to get started, as I'm in a single cell, I was literally told that I need to give up first. This makes no sense! I only need these patches in the first few days and that is surely what they were invented for! How do we change this?

A

Thanks for your letter about nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to help you quit smoking. Nicotine replacement comes in patches, chewing gum, lozenges, tablets, inhalers and sprays. They are available with or without a prescription. They double your chance of quitting smoking compared to trying to stop without any treatment.

A

Q

I hope Dr Jonathon can help me with something that has been bothering me since I was a teenager; this being that since I was 16, I have suffered with terrible acne which has left many scars on my face. The redness changes in severity but these scars are always visible. I have recently been diagnosed with depression, the acne being a contributory factor as I always worry about my appearance. I am aware of new laser treatment that removes acne scars and I understand is available on the NHS. Is it possible for a prisoner to have this treatment at an outside hospital?

A There are such good treatments for acne nowadays that no-one, not even someone in prison, should have to suffer from poorly treated acne. Acne is caused by a mixture of factors including skin structure, natural oil (sebum) production, hormones, infection and inflammation. Diet doesn’t appear to have any effect, though smoking may make it worse. Treatments range

from lotions, creams or gels that are applied to the skin, antibiotics which are taken by mouth for several months at a time, the oral contraceptive pill for women, vitamin A derivative creams, gels or tablets and occasionally laser treatment. Laser treatment is not yet available on the NHS, because it doesn’t appear to work well enough to recommend it. Having said that, there are some doctors and patients who have found laser-resurfacing treatment to be very effective for treating scarring. Mild acne may be managed by using antibiotic or anti-inflammatory gels, creams or lotions on the skin. For moderate acne you should be prescribed a course of oral antibiotics for 3-6 months in combination with a cream, gel or lotion applied to your skin. Women may benefit from the oral contraceptive pill, in particular one called dianette, though in practice other combined oral contraceptive pills are effective. If one antibiotic has not had any effect after about 8 weeks it may be appropriate to try

Perthes disease is a condition that affects only about 1 in 10,000 children. It is caused by a disruption in the blood supply to the head of the femur (the bit of the thigh-bone that sits inside the hip joint). In some cases it can be treated as you described with plaster and a brace to prevent movement. In some cases no treatment is required, though some precautions may be necessary to avoid damaging the growing bone. In many cases there are no long-term problems. Unfortunately in some cases, such as yours, there is pain and stiffness caused by arthritis in the hip joint. The arthritis occurs because the head of the femur does not grow normally. In some cases this can be managed with painkillers and exercises, which are best taught by a qualified physiotherapist. If the arthritis is severe and the pain cannot be adequately controlled, then you should be assessed by an orthopaedic specialist to see whether you would benefit from a hip replacement or similar operation. Given your age, and the pain you’re in, I would recommend an assessment by an orthopaedic surgeon.

Q I don't know how it works in other prisons, and this is my first time inside, but in HMP Bullingdon the NHS helps to give up smoking

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If you decide to stop smoking with the help of NRT, it’s almost always more effective if you have the support of a nurse, doctor or pharmacist. They can advise you about the different products and how to use them, the correct dosage, and the side effects. Most importantly, they can help with encouragement and motivational counselling. Once you’ve made up your mind to stop you should choose a ‘quit date’. You should start the NRT when you stop smoking. You shouldn’t smoke at the same time as using NRT. This is different from two other types of smoking cessation products (which are not NRT) called Bupropion (Zyban) and Varenicline (Champix) which should be started a couple of weeks before the quit date. Most people use NRT patches, though some use patches plus chewing gum or inhalers because although the patches give a background nicotine replacement, they don’t give the same boosts that the cum or inhalers give. The 24-hour patches may cause odd dreams, but they are useful for stopping morning cravings. If you smoke more than 18 cigarettes a day you should start on high-dose NRT. A full course of NRT lasts 6-12 weeks and you usually reduce the dose as the course goes on.

Diary

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Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Month by Month by Rachel Billington

in his talk. I pointed out that two-thirds of women prisoners had dependent children and the majority were convicted for non-violent crimes and sentenced to short sentences. Again his answer was breathtaking in its easy dismissal of the problem. He pointed out that the government had accepted the recommendations in last year’s Corston Report on Women in Prison without adding that nothing at all had been done about putting them into practice. He continued to say that since there wasn’t over-crowding in the women’s estate, there was really no need to get worried. Still apparently trying to win over his audience, he suggested that the reason most women were in prison was because they failed their community orders and ‘exasperated’ the magistrates or whoever was sentencing them. He did not, however, despite his earlier endorsement of community sentencing, query the reasons why the women failed their sentences.

Photo courtesy RSA

ack Straw (pictured), our Minister of State for Justice, presents himself as a charming man, keen to be appreciated for his intelligent, caring approach to crime, its victims and its perpetrators. I watched him in action last month as he gave a keynote speech to launch the Royal Society of Art’s Prison Learning Network project.

J

His talk covered interesting court initiatives such as that in the Community Justice Centre in Liverpool designed, as he said, to enhance confidence in the criminal justice system. He also cited restorative work being done in Gloucester Prison to benefit the local community and quoted Lord Denning’s ‘Justice is rooted in confidence.’ He called for more community involvement, both from judges and prison governors, and told us that ‘Courts and prisons should be treated as schools and hospitals.’ He spoke warmly of the need for extending community sentencing. So far, so good. It seemed Mr Straw believed that keeping or creating the links between the prisoner and his/her community was of major importance. It was therefore with some astonishment that we heard him confirm, without a blush, the government’s plans to build three massive so-called Titan prisons, which would each hold 2,500 prisoners. In fact he actually stated, against all logic, that they would bring prisoners ‘closer to home’. It was no surprise therefore that the first question he received asked him to explain this extraordinary claim. Naturally that was impossible, although he made a valiant effort with talk of

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direct rail links making visiting easier. Pressed on the point, and still keen to be sympathetic, he admitted that he would much rather have five local prisons instead of one huge one but there was the problem of planning permission and the fact was (unsupported by any evidence) that one large prison cost a lot less to run than five small ones. Even so he appealed to us, his audience, to please let him know if we had any helpful suggestions, an invitation later repeated to readers of the Guardian. Andrew Coyle, former Governor of Brixton Prison and presently professor at the International Centre for Prison Studies, wrote in response that instead, Straw ‘should be seeking advice about better ways to spend the sum, which he gave to the Justice Select Committee in December, of £2.3bn for providing an additional 10,500 prison places by 2014, on top of the £1.5bn for a further 9,000 places by 2014.’ Coyle believes, like most other people who understand the system, that the courts will make use of prisons however many are built. It is, of course, the M25 story. If you build roads, the cars fill them. Except that here we are talking about the fate of real live people. More questions followed at the RSA. Lord Ramsbotham asked whether it was necessary for prison governors to move round the system so quickly and the minister was glad to be able to agree this seemed a bad idea and he would look into it. Eventually, I got my chance and raised the question of women in prison, scarcely mentioned

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Leaving the talk, I found myself, possibly naively, profoundly depressed at Jack Straw’s attitude. He seemed unable to reconcile the gap between what he personally believed and what was politically expedient and therefore going for the ‘washing hands’ option. Later this year the Longford Trust will be having a debate on the proposition ‘We can’t build our way out of the prisons crisis.’ I shall make sure Mr Straw gets an invitation. Politicians seldom get a good press these days. Perhaps they never did. But doubtless the increase in media attention has done too much for their sense of self-importance and not enough for their recognition of their role as servants of the people. I have been following the great London Mayor campaign with more attention than usual because Boris Johnson is my godson. My bus pass is in a special Boris for Mayor holder and I even took the trouble to watch the three front-runners, Ken Livingstone

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Boris (above) has being suffering recently from being forbidden to make jokes in order that he should be taken seriously. As I take him seriously anyway, it strikes me as a bit of a shame. He did squeeze in one witticism right at the end of the debate, when we weren’t really listening, about Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, which Livingstone had chosen as his preferred reading. Boris chose the same book and likened himself to the heroic pig, Snowball. But as poor Snowball was thrown out by the wicked pig Napoleon, on the whole I hope I misheard. Of course by the time you read this you’ll know the outcome of the election. Onward and upward Boris! My latest novel Lies & Loyalties, reviewed in Inside Time recently, features among others a ‘good’ politician as well as a handful of worse than bad. Now we’re sending a couple of free signed copies to all women’s prisons – yes, it’s preferential treatment. So my best wishes to all readers and I hope you enjoy the novel. The most recent review called it ‘an utterly gripping page-turner.’ Jealous men can always order it through their libraries.

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(Lab), Boris (Con) and Brian Paddick(Lib Dem) perform in a debate organised by the Evening Standard. They were all given eight minutes to speak and, if judged by the amount of words they got in, Boris was an easy winner, managing by my calculation twice as many words as the wily Livingstone and at least three times more than the plodding Paddick.

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Comment

19

Another Eurovision loser Video games: mental Jonathan King reflects on The Brits and the Eurovision Song Contest and wonders whether this year’s UK entry is doomed to be yet another failure The outdoor festival season is upon us once again with Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds and others, and every year we see another clutch of Awards shows. I actually feel they are pretty pointless; a lot of back-slapping; terribly predictable shape, both on TV and in person; very dull speeches, and most of all - who actually cares? I did take over ‘The Brits’ some years ago. Having hosted and presented the show in 1987, 21 years ago, and having invented the name (they used to be called The British Rock And Pop Awards, hardly catchy, so I called them The Brits, standing for the British Industry Trusts Show), I became producer and writer in 1990 after the fiasco of the Sam Fox/Mick Fleetwood 1989 event. The good thing about that was, because that had been such a disaster I was allowed a free hand - nobody else wanted to be involved! By 1992, having brought the event back with a bang, I resigned because the major label bigwigs started sticking their noses in and turning it once again into a BoreFest. Why? It is perfectly possible to make it entertaining viewing. In my years I had then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher crooning How Much Is That Doggy In The Window? - a hypnotic moment - and featured unsigned bands like Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine in short segments. They were decent shows. The Brits, Grammys, Oscars and all were as dull this year as always. But back to the future and another show I was involved in Eurovision - is coming around again this month. I ran the British end in the mid-1990s when we entered the song I felt was a certain winner - Gina G’s

by Andrew Cousins

➜ Reaction speeds increase hugely from playing

Once again video games have come under attack, having been criticised for a slump in literacy amongst English primary schoolchildren. Ministers say the drop in standards amongst 10-year-olds who took part in the ‘Progress in International Reading Literacy Study’ was due to a sharp rise in addictive video games, coupled with a decline in reading at home.

There is a view that the attraction of Video Games and TV is that they offer ‘instant gratification’, making them more appealing than reading which requires the development of skills that can take years to master. However, to anyone who has played many of the current games on the market, it is clear that these games require a lot of patience and the ability to absorb a large amount of information, including text, to even pass the first levels of the game.

video games! In nearly all video games you often need to react fast. Obviously if you do something a lot then you are going to get better at it, and it is for this reason that video games improve reflexes and reaction speeds. ➜ Last but not least, video games improve your concentration span. Because in most games you need to concentrate for extended periods of time, the slightest lapse in concentration will be punished in nearly all games. If you concentrate plenty then your concentration span will increase!

‘Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit’ - which only came eighth. But I did bring the UK a winner the next year, 1997, with Katrina and the Waves and ‘Love Shine A Light’. Since my era, the quality of our UK entries has drooped - culminating in a pathetic NUL POINTS a few years ago. This year we have chosen another loser - albeit a nice man, Andy Abraham - and I suspect we will see a disastrous UK placing in late May in Belgrade, Serbia.

My favourite of a couple of years ago, Dima Bilan (pictured above), who came second for Russia, beaten by the rockers from Finland, LORDI, is in the show again. His song is far less strong but he’s such a charismatic performer and a great singer that I would not be surprised to see Russia win this year. A good bet at 7-1. I put £100 on Johnny Logan and Ireland a couple of decades ago and won £700. Paid for my holiday that year! Ireland have entered a puppet this year, giving up on any serious effort, and guess what? It's a turkey... Dustin the Turkey in fact. Well, it should get strong points from Turkey. The UK, by the way, is currently at odds of 100-1. Says it all really doesn’t it?

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exercise or brain candy?

It emerged that 37 per cent of English 10year-olds play computer games for more than three hours a day - an increase since 2001 and one of the largest rates in the world. At the same time, the number of children who ‘very seldom’ read outside school increased significantly. A quarter of boys and one in 10 girls said they never read at home. Whilst playing games for an excessive amount of time each day can lead to health issues such as lack of physical fitness, laziness and tiredness, I contend that spending a moderate time playing video games can lead to the following health benefits:

➜ Video games can improve your logic and ability to solve problems. This is because most games involve some sort of strategy that you need to find out and improve as the game progresses; this is effectively training your brain's logic and strategic abilities; thus making it more efficient and effective. ➜ Your hand eye coordination is greatly improved playing video games. Nearly all video games require continual fast, accurate and precise hand, finger and thumb movements. This strengthens the muscles in your hands and greatly improves hand eye co-ordination.

Reading is considered important in the development and stimulation of an individual’s brain and imagination as well as a basis for communication. Game playing offers the same ability for mental stimulation but is not viewed as assisting in the development of communication skills. I believe that in today’s world, print literacy is not enough. Visual literacy is equally significant, as symbols, images and graphs are also important ways of communication alongside words. Andrew Cousins is Managing Director of Gema Records, the leading supplier of Music, Games and Films to UK prisons. Their extensive Winter 2007/08 catalogue is available to all prisoners at a cost of £2, which is fully refundable against the first order. To request a copy, send your cheque or P.O. to Gema Records, PO Box 54, Reading RG1 3SD.

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Comment

❝Quote of the month❞ An innocent boy and the ugly face of PC zealotry

John O’Leary wonders what would enable him to become part of society instead of the social misfit the government has taken so long to produce hy is it that after 16 years of coming in and out of jail (and it has been more in than out, believe me) I still don't have a trade? Surely with the amount of time I have spent behind bars I could be a brain surgeon, a rocket scientist … anything really. It’s not that I lack the aptitude; it's the opportunity that’s missing. Ten years of New Labour, and most of the prison populace can only just about string a grammatically correct sentence together; yet there is within the prison estate a great source of intelligence that remains virtually untapped. These meaningless tests that we all have to do when we arrive in prison to establish what our individual levels of education are could and should be put to much better use.

be a competent bricklayer? That would probably just about enable you to be a hod-carrier, not much else though. And what about ‘work experience’? One firm has got a contract here where you are required to sit at a table for 7 hours a day folding together paper catering hats. Totally useless and soul destroying. Look into the eyes of the workers and it is reminiscent of a Vietnam veteran! I have got absolutely no intention whatsoever of going to work for this firm on the outside; so why must I work for them in here? Like most ‘career criminals’ in this day and age, I no longer view prison as a deterrent - it's an occupational hazard. Nothing more, nothing less. And I don't think that is ever going to change. Not for me anyway.

How about a prison that trains you for a career? What about a centralized point that caters for those of us who have an above average intelligence and could enable us to actually do what the mission statement proclaims …’help lead a law abiding life upon release'.

Yet if I had a goal to aim for, something that I could do to really change my life, something that would enable me to become part of society instead of the social misfit the government has taken so long to produce, I would be over the moon. But no, the government is happy to keep throwing good money after bad, with the likes of me, long term recidivists, on the receiving end.

W

I still don't understand what I was supposed to learn from ETS (Enhanced Thinking Skills) and I am fully aware of the impact that I had upon my victims (without Victim Awareness Courses). Even at the time of committing my offences, I knew what I was doing and quite simply didn't care. Yet I would like to use my time constructively whilst in prison. I study a lot; I've done the ‘A’ level thing on previous sentences, now I'm doing the degree thing. It's not going to do me any good on release though; for me to balance my criminal record I don't even think a doctorate would help. However if the powers that be were to offer real vocational training of the sort that would enable me to get a decent job on release, I for one would be more than happy to participate; but all they do is provide silly basic courses to meet government targets and contractual obligations, which in reality aren't even recognised outside of prison. I mean, come on, four weeks to learn how to

Even my own mother used to call me Fletch, after Norman Stanley Fletcher in the TV series ‘Porridge’, and that is what I have become. Someone who knows very little of how life operates on the outside but can survive in any one of the 140 plus establishments of incarceration in this country. Is it too late for me to change my ways? I honestly don't know. And the worst thing is; I don't know how to. However I do know that ETS; Therapeutic Communities; and Reasoning & Rehabilitation courses aren't the thing that will do it. Being provided with the option of a position in society would help, rather than being outcast and ostracized. John O’Leary is a pseudonym for a prisoner currently resident in HMP Lowdham Grange

GANS & CO

❝

Of all the changes to Britain in my lifetime, the most shocking has to be the insidious spread of political correctness and petty officialdom into our everyday lives. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, a case like that of Jamie Bauld comes to light. Jamie, 18, who has Down’s Syndrome, has the mental age of a five-year-old. He is a gentle teenager, yet unable to tie his own shoelaces or use the lavatory unassisted. And yet this loving lad has been persecuted by the police, threatened with jail and branded a racist. His crime? After allegedly pushing an Asian girl in the playground, he was investigated on charges of racism, and assault. Never mind that his mother Fiona says Jamie can’t even differentiate black skin from white, let alone British from Chinese children. Jamie was put through seven months of hell for a race crime he can’t even comprehend, let alone commit. All the charges have been dropped. But that’s scarcely the point. For this terrible story is shocking on almost every level. Why on earth was an advert placed in a local newspaper, appealing for witnesses to the ‘racial assault’? What kind of idiot police officer would arrive at the Baulds’ home, meet Jamie and still press ahead with the interview? And why did it take seven months for the case to be thrown out? The answer to all these questions, I fear, is that we live in an age in which political correctness has become a new kind of tyranny. An age in which the thought police patrol school playgrounds on the lookout for any perceived transgression. Something very unpleasant is happening in Britain’s public services. People who once behaved with common sense and compassion are being turned into the kind of brainwashed zealots employed by totalitarian regimes. It’s all very worrying.

❝

Social misfit

Amanda Platell - writer and broadcaster

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Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

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n an ideal world, everyone would earn the same because every job needs to be done. How do you argue the merits of paying a brain surgeon more than a road-sweeper? Who would you miss first? In an ideal world, there would be a bottomless pit of money to pay public servants: generally the public sector produce nothing, so do not generate money to finance their wages. All public sector pay must be financed out of taxes. In an ideal world, prisons would be efficiently run by competent professional staff. Unfortunately, it is not an ideal world!

considerably less for longer hours, lower staffing levels and no fat pension pay-off.

How can we decide pay rates for public servants? This sector covers everything from dustmen to doctors, soldiers to social workers, teachers to traffic wardens and judges to prison warders - there are millions of them. None of these generate actual new money (traffic wardens tax motorists) so their wages have to be earned by productive workers - people in factories, banking, tourism etc. If you include all taxation, the average productive worker has to support a number of public servants. This is a finite resource. How much is the 'earning worker' prepared to put into the pot?


Finally, is being a warder a job that is difficult to recruit for? There is no shortage of the under-skilled, the unemployed or ex-squaddies.

I

Here are some of my criteria for working out public sector wages:
What qualifications are needed to secure the job - how long do these take to achieve?
Is there a real day to day danger (firemen go into burning buildings) to personal safety?
Do the working hours disrupt normal family life?
Are there nationally recognised standards of qualifications for the job?
How much does the private sector pay for a similar job?
How do the public rate the job? How much of their tax would they be willing to pay?


The public has consistently rated the prison warder as one of the lowest jobs and that was before their recent television appearance where certain of them portrayed themselves as belligerent thugs.
Nobody's life depends upon their expertise. They actually lose up to 100 of the people to whom they have a ‘duty of care’ through suicide each year.

If it was left to me ... In an eight-part series, former long term prisoner Paul Sullivan identifies what he considers needs changing about the prison system. This month he says prison officers are paid too much ... oh dear!
Do individual lives depend upon the individual’s expertise, training and qualifications?
Is the job difficult to recruit to? Is a higher pay level needed to fill the post? If we look at the Prison Service as it is today, and consider its employees against the above criteria, we can work out our own views.

maimed by prisoners in the last ten years? Compare this to soldiers and trawler-men who lose their lives at work yet earn less than the average warder; many of whom don't even know the prison rules.
Prisons are now run for the convenience of warders, who rarely work before 7am or after 7pm. Evening lock-up times have been made earlier so that warders can get home before dark.


Warders need no real qualifications or experience. It is almost impossible to fail the selection process or the minimal training.


There are no 'warder' qualifications - just a few weeks basic training.


How many warders have been killed or


The private sector pays ‘custody officers’

>> insidetime

Warders themselves, many of them, if they were being totally honest, would look around at their overweight, under-motivated colleagues sitting around reading newspapers and drinking coffee: some too lazy to even unlock cell doors, and agree. If a warder has time to sit and read then he is surplus to requirements. If the coasters and deadwood were systematically weeded out and not replaced, there would be more money for the working warders. What would I do? I am absolutely opposed to private prisons; jails should never be run to make a profit out of misery and misfortune. If the state wants to incarcerate its citizens then it has a duty to hold the key. If the public (led by the tabloid press) want to lock up more and more people then it has to pay the taxes required. Prisons could be made more cost effective, be managed properly and even, in some cases, made to work. * Next month, Paul Sullivan looks at reorganization; introducing proper management; dismissing the warder flock; and in the process hopefully making things better for warders and prisoners; and saving millions of pounds in the process.

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Comment ritain has a long and pernicious history of abusing and brutalising working class children confined to state institutions, so it was hardly surprising recently when a statutory instrument amending the rules governing the treatment of children in ‘secure training centres’ legitimised the use of so-called ‘physical control in care restraint techniques’, one of which authorised staff to inflict blows to the face of children, euphemistically called the ‘nose distraction technique’.

medical experts. Her concern was obviously not based on any moral reservations about beating up children in prison, but simply a worry about possible legal consequences.

Of course the use of overt physical violence to control socially marginalised and powerless children in penal-type institutions is nothing new, and for decades Borstals and Detention Centres operated regimes that were intrinsically brutal and designed to teach a ‘tough lesson’ based on fear and intimidation. The death of a child in the notorious Reading Detention Centre in the late sixties partially exposed the regime of terror that operated in such places, although the state was always careful to maintain the illusion that it neither sanctioned or created the violence routinely inflicted on children in such custodial settings.

The psychological damage inflicted on children in custody is well-researched and well-known; 85 per cent of prisoners in youth custody institutions show signs of personality disorder, with 10 per cent exhibiting signs of severe psychotic illness such as schizophrenia. Into this mix of mental suffering and pain, the state wants to throw some good old fashioned physical brutality. This by any definition is child abuse and it is systemic and organised, and thousands of children are irreparably damaged by it.

B

More recently the extraordinarily high incidence of suicides, self-harm and death in suspicious circumstances of youngsters in Feltham YOI suggest that intimidation and brutality remain the standard methods by which children in custody are treated and ‘controlled’. Thirty children have died in penal custody since 1990. The youngest, Adam Rickwood, was just 14 years old. Just over a third of boys and girls in custody have felt unsafe at some time. One in ten boys and girls in prison say they have been hit, kicked or assaulted by a member of staff.

John Bowden makes a powerful case against the use of brutality on young people in custody

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Traditionally, the state has never publicly admitted or condoned the deliberate use of violence against children in custody, which is why the statute authorising the use of overt brutality in subduing ‘disruptive’ children inmates was so disquieting and shocking. In fact, so horrific was the scenario of state-sanctioned thugs physically brutalising children in a prison setting that the more liberal elements in the government, in the form of the Parliamentary Joint Committee On Human Rights, announced that it would be reviewing the use of such ‘restraint’ methods in children’s prisons, claiming they had been introduced without any reference to human rights legislation. Subsequently, Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes announced that she was suspending the methods pending a report by a panel of

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In October 2007, the Prison Officers Association offered it's own enlightened contribution to the issue of controlling disturbed and already brutalised children in jail by calling for a change in the rules that would allow prison staff to use batons on children as young as 15.

The state's assault on the rights and freedoms of children under New Labour has been sweeping and vicious, and the number of 15 to 17 year olds in prison custody has increased by 86 per cent since Labour took office. In tandem with this mass criminalisation of already socially disadvantaged children is the creation of prison regimes openly designed to brutalise them even more. The media and tabloid press, usually very keen to whip up hysteria and a climate of hatred against child abusers when campaigning for tougher laws, have remained consistently quiet about the abuse of children in closed institutions; creating a silence and invisibility around these children that increases their vulnerability and ill-treatment. Each year, over 70,000 children are dealt with through the criminal justice system and around 12,000 of them are incarcerated in penal-type institutions that are no more then training grounds for the adult long-term prison system. This represents the wholesale destruction of young working class lives in the interests of a system that is itself inherently anti-social and predatory towards the poor and powerless. The imprisonment of children is barbaric and one of the worst forms of state cruelty, and unless we speak out and campaign against it we are all in some way complicit in it. John Bowden is currently resident in HMP Noranside, Scotland

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Comment

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org n the light of a recently published report by INQUEST, an organisation whose strap line is 'Working for truth, justice and accountability' much has been written and reported in the press on suicide in prison.

Suicide, I think, can be categorized on three counts - one as a cry for help which, if caught in time, can be just that and dealt with accordingly; secondly the victim feels that it is the only way out of a desperate situation and is inclined to attempt it whether they are in prison or not, and thirdly if someone really does have a mental illness then often suicide signs will be hidden within other psychotic behaviour.

I

Rowan Walker in The Guardian quotes figures that imply 70% of women in prison have mental health problems, suggesting that this is the reason for the high suicide/self harm rate; were these diagnosed prior to sentencing? More to the point, are they being managed successfully in prison? The fact that many women prisoners self-harm or try to commit suicide suggests not. Talking to some girls who self-harmed in the most appalling manner, not just making superficial cuts on their arms, there were obvious cases which were mental health issues that were not being properly addressed and yes, the ladies concerned were in the wrong establishment for their needs. Real self-mutilators insert foreign objects into their own bodies by way of cutting with anything that comes to hand; what sane person would implant a biro in their tummy or a paper clip into their arm, which then becomes implanted and can only be removed by surgery? Attention seekers are more likely to introduce scratches on their arms which can be made with just about anything, including fingernails - they fall into the ‘sad but not mental’ category, much the same as teenagers following the current trend of being an 'emo'. At no point do I want the readers to think I am being callous, those who mean it are not inclined to shout about it - they want to just slip into the oblivion that suicide can bring as quickly and quietly as possible - not sit on the balcony rail threatening to jump and getting as much attention as possible with no intention of jumping. I was in a prison where one young lady succeeded in killing herself. ‘Succeeded’ may be an odd word to use in this context but she had tried before and timed her demise to perfection within the officers rounds - including her suicide watch. Hers was an obvious case that, whatever she had done and however long her sentence was to be, she was in the wrong place and the prison must carry some of the blame for not making sure she was being properly assessed and transferred to an appropriate establishment.

23

All the reports in the world will not stop suicide in prison. Attention is given to the female estate and calls for non-custodial sentences, early release - just what many of these women are hoping for - and suitable activities to keep body and soul sane. I'd go along with that and feel that organised physical activities could be the answer – nothing gets the endorphins rushing better than some physical exercise. Despite constant cries from every organisation that has a voice, not sending women to prison is not the answer; if a woman commits a crime that carries a custodial sentence then it must be considered. A male would not be treated in the same kid glove fashion for the same crime. Perhaps then the answer is to treat EVERY prisoner as a potential suicide victim and assess them regularly - prevention is better than being included in the next INQUEST report.

I didn't come here to die Former prisoner Lucy Charman says that suicide prevention is better than being included in the next INQUEST report The NHS is hard pushed to treat all the ailments presented to them by prisoners, plus keeping the addicts topped up with the cocktail of choice, but adequate mental assessment should be done on all prisoners, male or female, who have a psychiatric history before coming to prison and regular checks on others who may veer that way once incarcerated. Depression, a definite form of mental illness, can very quickly set in when you are put in prison, this depression is caused by a traumatic event in your life similar to those who have suffered

divorce or bereavement and going to prison is pretty traumatic. In the weeks leading up to my trial - something I had not told a soul about - I was working in London and could not trust myself to travel on the tube. Yet if you had seen me in the smart suit with my briefcase I was probably one of the last people on the platform that you would have expected to jump. I'm sure I wouldn't have done it - I wasn't going to prison for ever - but when mental trauma exists you really don't know how it will affect you.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT WOMEN DYING IN PRISON ARE LIKELY TO BE: • • • •

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Young, White, Mothers, UK Nationals Drug users Housed in local prisons Charged with a diverse range of offences, including one third who are charged with non-violent offences In the early stages of their imprisonment On remand or not sentenced Serving long or life sentences Housed in single cells Hanging themselves Already at risk of suicide - previous suicide attempts & mental health problems

Source: Inquest Report, Dying on the Inside

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Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Comment

Somebody is listening Keith Rose praises the Listener Scheme and tries to clear up a few myths, mysteries and misunderstandings about being a Listener o matter what establishment you are in, you will see notices for Listeners. What is a Listener? And what do they actually do? In some prisons they wear fancy coloured T-shirts and can move freely from wing to wing. In others they wear a badge and introduce themselves to new arrivals; nosy buggers?

N

There are so many misunderstandings about the function of a Listener, and their role, that hopefully this will clear up a few myths and mysteries. Every prisoner has problems; being separated from family and friends in a strange, artificial environment, often far from home, usually among total strangers. Category A, Category B, Remand, Sentenced, Bang-up, Lock-down, Screws, Nonce, Smackhead, Ponce, Grass, Wrong 'un … even the language is strange. Minor problems become major when you are not free, unable to get on the phone, unable to talk things through. Major problems become insurmountable. A death in the family? Divorce proceedings? Money problems? Kid's schooling? You are in crisis. Who do you talk to? You can talk to a cellmate, but they have their own problems, and probably don't want to be burdened with yours. Talk to a member of staff and appear over-anxious and you'll probably find yourself on a 2052 or ACCT form - suicide watch. Even talking to a member of staff in some prisons is enough to have you labelled as a ‘wrong 'un’. What is a Listener? A Listener is NOT an informer; NOT a tobacconist; NOT a trafficker; NOT a messenger; NOT a drug or tobacco courier. A Listener is a prisoner who cares, who has probably been through crisis himself or herself, and is genuinely trying to help. A Listener is not just playing a role, or being

With a wealth of experience and technical knowhow, we can represent you on Adjudications, Parole Hearings (Lifer, IPP, and Determinate sentence prisoners), Licence Recalls or Categorisation issues and claims for Unlawful Detention, as well as advice on claims for Judicial Review. Whatever the matter, we can provide you with excellent, effective advice or representation. Contact Rob Smith on 01782 324454 for a free, impartial consultation.

A Listener does ‘exactly what it says on the tin’. They will listen to your concerns, your problems, without interruption, without offering advice or being judgmental. A Listener cannot and will not give advice; they are not personal counsellors, but only with your permission may suggest other forms of help. A Listener will let you talk through your problems, which may relieve the pressure on you. Talking through your problems with someone often reveals a solution to you without input from anyone else. A Listener will not sit in judgment on you or your crime. All you tell a Listener is in total confidence, which is worth repeating, in total confidence. Nothing is written down, nothing is recorded. A Listener does not broadcast anything learned from you. A Listener will not divulge anything you have told them to staff, to management, to psychology or to other prisoners, no matter what pressure is applied. Total confidentiality means exactly that. The confidentiality aspect of a Listener’s role can sometimes bring them into conflict with management, and particularly with the psychology department, who think they should be told of all ‘in crisis’ conversations. This is why being a Listener should never be regarded as a fast track to the gate, it isn't. The Listeners role is unpaid and largely unrewarded, except for the satisfaction of helping others. Listeners are trained and supervised by the Samaritans and, like the Samaritans, are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Keith Rose B.A. (Hons) is resident at HMP Long Lartin. He is currrently working towards a (BSc Hons).

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nosy. A Listener is also not on a fast track to the gate, for reasons that will be explained later.

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Short Story

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org doing was stealing quick glances at the clock. Neona took a deep breath, "Mum" she started. Her mother swallowed a gulp of tea, "Yes?" But the moment had passed; Neona brushed away her troubled thoughts. Seeing the frown on her mother's face deepen, she forced herself to smile. "Nothing, I forgot what I was going to say." Studying her daughter's face, she couldn't glimpse beneath the surface. Her evasive manner left her uneasy and she suspected that she was having some sort of marriage problem. But her instincts told her not to interfere. They finished their tea in silence and then she drove to her flat. Neona let herself into number 23. "I'm home," she called as she shut the door. Craig's broad frame appeared. He'd been waiting. Uncomfortable, Neona stepped back. Her mother, already having driven away, was oblivious to the uproar she had caused with a simple cup of tea. One floor below, Vikki was enjoying the first quiet moment in a hectic day when the commotion started. "Must there always be something with them?" she muttered angrily. "With them around there's just no peace." She noted this latest event in the diary she kept in a bid to get the couple moved. The noise stopped and just the faint sound of a woman crying drifted down. Neona lay curled up on the bathroom floor overcome with helplessness. She had a dull ache in her abdomen and was trying to block out what had happened. She couldn't connect the Craig who had done this to the Craig she loved.

Prisoner of Silence By Shama Dookhooah er Mother washed the dishes while Neona dried them. "Thanks mum, I miss your cooking", said Neona. She put away the dishes and glanced at the clock nervously; time was almost up.

H

"Mum can you take me home soon?" "In a little while. Let me have some tea first". Alright, I'll make it," Neona replied. They settled at the table, the evening had gone too quickly. But Neona now silently urged her mother to drink quickly. Her mother watched her quizzically; her daughter was in a strange mood she mused. While they should be having light conversation, all Neona was

Vikki put her rubbish outside and, as she did so, her neighbour Jill popped her head out. "Did you note it?" asked Vikki in a mock whisper pointing upwards. Jill nodded, frowning. Whatever happened behind closed doors wasn't their business. If Vikki wasn't in favour of calling the police then she certainly wouldn't. Standing over his wife, Craig looked haggard and remorseful. Neona opened her eyes and he slipped on the ‘little boy lost’ expression. "Come to bed" he pleaded. Neona stared up at him as she felt the tears drip down her cheeks. "Go away" she whispered. He sat beside her. She flinched as he lifted her face to his. He clocked this movement and questioned her. “Why do you do that, like I'm going to hurt you?" She looked at him in disbelief and felt like she was going insane as he calmly spoke to her. "It won't happen again”, he promised. "You always say that”, she said, "but your temper's getting worse and worse, you scare me." He smirked. "That's just silly babe, you always over react. If you hadn't been out having such a good time forgetting about

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me none of this would have happened. You know I love you." Neona was confused, considering his words. He had a way of making sense, of turning the blame around. He lifted her effortlessly to her feet and there was another brief exchange. He held back her hair while she washed her face and checked for marks. Her eyes met his in the mirror and he led her to the bedroom. Craig fell asleep - satisfied that he'd proved his love. Neona lay awake, her tears silently flowing. Fearful of waking him, she quietly tiptoed to the front room. She made herself comfortable while a million and one confused thoughts raced through her head. ‘Did she overreact? It wasn't as if the police had ever been called, it was the drugs that made him switch’. She was exhausted and her eyelids grew heavy. Craig woke up and felt the empty space next to him. "Where the fuck is she?" he muttered as he wearily got up. Vikki was rudely awakened by the loud commotion. She sat up, still half asleep. Her bleary eyes focused on the clock. "For God's sake it's 2am," she exploded, "why do they always do this?" Now wide-awake she stooped into the kitchen. She gazed out of the window, tuning out the screams from above. "All you had to do was stay in bed and sleep," Craig continued shouting, "but you're too stupid to even do that." He ranted and Neona was frozen as she recognised the red mist glazing over his eyes. She braced herself, her vision exploded and everything went black. The kettle just came to the boil when there was a loud thump on Vikki's ceiling. Shortly the sound of crying followed, but oddly it sounded like a man. Vikki stirred her drink, looking out of the window, debating whether or not to go back to sleep. Then she remembered that she hadn't noted this event and rushed back to the bedroom. As Vikki settled down, the room was suddenly filled with the blue strobe light from an ambulance. The buzzer for the main door sounded. Heavy footsteps sounded as the paramedics raced up the stairwell. Vikki peered through the peephole, watching the drama unfold. Neona was on a stretcher. Craig followed. His sobs echoed down the stairwell. Vikki caught snatches of broken conversation as they left the building. "No, don't know how long ... woke up ... must had fallen... just found her there." All went quiet and Vikki opened her door at the same time as her neighbour Jill. They stood there in stunned silence as the ambulance departed. Both afraid and ashamed, neither could quite meet the other's eyes. In the aftermath of the days that followed, the walls of silence finally crumbled … all except Neona. Her voice was silent forever. Shama Dookhooah is currently resident in HMP Downview

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Short Story

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

t was early morning and there was a light mist about us. We had been told that the war was over and we had won, but we had to go out on patrol to find any remaining resistance; small pockets of the enemy that may be left.

Some of the crying birds were chased away by my men; who cried themselves. Then, in the quiet of the day, someone cleared his throat and said, “We can’t just leave all these people like this sir”. “You're right Corporal,” I replied, “They deserve a better end to their lives than this. Take two details and collect the bodies, then have a community grave dug and I will say a few words of prayer over the bodies when ready.”

I

As we came out of the undergrowth, in front of us was a small village, we stopped to listen, there was silence but for a few birds fluttering about the trees and the only other sound was the buzzing of flies and other insects. We entered the village, keeping a watchful eye out in case there may be a few of the enemy hiding among the houses. We may think we have won the war, as conquerors, but we still have to make sure of the enemy before we can go home as heroes. Looking about us as we entered the quiet village, we found it a total wreck of a place, nothing like the beautiful place we had passed through when the war had first started many months before. There had been people standing on corners, waving us on, and children playing in gardens covered in flowers; women running about or standing over cooking pots and looking through windows with smiles on their faces. Now the trees around the perimeter were blackened by fire, the ground was pitted with craters where bombs and mortars had exploded. The roofing on most of the houses had collapsed and most of the gates and doors had been blown inwards or lay in gardens; others hung on broken hinges and made eerie noises as the warm wind swung them to and fro. Broken windows had tattered curtains flapping from them and there was a broken lovebird's cage lying on the road, feathers scattered about it; the bird must have been eaten by some hungry creature. It had probably been a peaceful and beautiful songbird. Clothing, bags and cooking pots were scattered everywhere in the mud outside of wrecked houses. As we crept quietly through the village, dogs and cats rushed away from around our feet, from under boxes and the entrances of houses; most were very thin, with lumps of hair and skin hanging from their bodies where they had been fighting each other and scavenging for food. Some had broken limbs and limped away from us with terror in their eyes and tails

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Wars won … but tragically lost The people who suffer most from wars are innocent civilians says Harry Bannermann between their legs. All cried pitifully with fright.We stopped by a door because the small foot of a child showed through the shadows of the interior. Looking in, we saw a small child's ravaged body with parts missing, grey dust mixed with blood covered the body. Another child lay beside the first one, flies eating from the wounds of its pathetic, broken body. Poor child. Someone behind me threw up. I covered the bodies with an old coat hanging on a peg near the door and waved the flies away with my hat. Looking about the room, there were two bodies half sitting on chairs, slumped across a broken table. One a man, the other a woman, and who must have been the parents of the children. The stench eventually drove us away from the open doorway. I tripped over a rotten halfeaten pig as I hurried away from the house.

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Slowly we moved from house to house until we reached the centre of the village square. Most of the village had death in the houses. In the centre of the square stood a large well which had been used as the main water supply for the village. A woman's body hung half in, half out of the well. Next to her was a small boy, his arms still wrapped round her legs as he tried to save her from falling into the well; his head was partly shot away. Everywhere we went about the village there was death and decay; everywhere was burnt out or destroyed and countless flies buzzed about the place. We stood around in the square, silently ashamed for what had been done to what was once a beautiful village with lovely cheerful people.

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As we crept quietly through the village, dogs and cats rushed away from around our feet ... most were very thin, with lumps of hair and skin hanging from their bodies ... some had broken limbs and limped away from us with terror in their eyes and tails between their legs. All cried pitifully with fright.

I turned to a reporter who had been travelling with us and said, “Go with two men and keep watch, this is no place for you.” I was very unhappy with the situation I had found in the village. Not one of us failed to feel deeply ashamed because of what had been done by our army to this beautiful and peaceful village. This was not a victory. It was an uncalled for slaughter of poor innocent people who meant no harm to anyone, yet we were all to blame. We were broken. Silently wishing we were not there and trying to blank out what we had witnessed … wishing we were home right then and not here. This was not a victory to be proud of and we certainly did not feel like conquerors. All wars are never won. There is always death on both sides. Will there ever be peace in the world? Or will this world end by the self-destruction of each other?

Harry Bannermann is currently resident in HMP Wakefield

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Short Story

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

This Way Up In 2006, we ran a popular nine-part series entitled ‘This Way Up’, which portrayed the various troubles experienced by Colin, an alcoholic repeat offender. The series followed Colin's release from jail and the subsequent problems he faced as he tried to turn his life around. Inside Time has been in touch with Col's creator, Andy Thackwray, who has developed This Way Up into a soon to be published novel. By popular demand, both Andy and prisoner illustrator Matthew Williams have agreed to team up once more and portray more of Colin’s hilarious, madcap and often poignant experiences.

On Doctor's Orders Matthew Williams

To solve the problem he quite simply recommended Col to drink shorts instead of beer towards the end of a drinking session, thus taking pressure off his bladder before he went to sleep. After considerably intense ‘research’, which took him along every top shelf in every bar in town, he finally settled on and started his long love affair with Johnny Walker whisky, and a ‘treble Johnny Walker Red Label with a splash of coke and no ice’, became his usual at the bar. The results were brilliant, Col recalled. He got twice as pissed twice as quick and never wet the bed. "What a brilliant man that Dr Golightly," he often proclaimed. The truth was, however, it wasn't just by obeying the doctor's orders that kept the bed dry; he actually had great difficulty even finding it - and seldom ever made it home, let alone to bed, after a night ‘on the Johnny.' Yes, his bladder could accommodate the shorter amounts of stronger liquor quite comfortably, but unfortunately his brain couldn't. This led to many nights sleeping with either his head through the cat-flap, or on the floor, or sometimes in the wash basket if he did indeed make it home. If not, he'd often end up on park benches, in the kid next door's ‘Wendy’ house, the Police Station, or even Casualty. The doctor's advice didn't do anything to help with Col's ‘brewers droop’ either; his wife ran off with a drainage expert from York. She emptied the joint account and the house of all its contents, leaving him with only debt, a rotary washing line and the cat. Reaching the entrance vestibule of the health centre, Col noticed quite a throng gathered there. All were stood smoking. Col gave them a nod, then shoulder-barged the double glass doors and immediately bounced back into the bosom of a large woman wearing a pink towelling tracksuit and more dodgy gold than a Ratners display dummy.

s Colin made his way across town towards the health centre, he remembered the first time he went to see a doctor with regard to his drinking problem, which at the time he genuinely thought he didn't have. The visit became necessary because Col was experiencing the fact that every time he had a heavy night on the beer (at that time his preferred tipple) he slept like a log and woke up the next day in a wet bed. He had found this very annoying, and his wife wasn't too chuffed either! Neither was she amused at his pathetic attempts at lovemaking when he came home rather the worse for

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wear. The enthusiasm was there all right, but the actual act rather resembled pushing a marshmallow into a money box. In order to save his marriage, and a mattress or two, he went to see his then GP, Dr Golightly. "I keep wetting the bed after nights out on the piss," Col spluttered. "I can't help it, I just go to sleep and wake up wet through." "How much do you normally drink on a typical night out?" enquired the doctor. "About four or five pints", lied Col. "So that's about a dozen then?" quipped Dr Golightly knowingly.

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"Pull it yeh' berk," she snapped, pushing him away. Col embarrassingly thanked her and pulled vigorously at one of the glass doors. It didn't budge. "The other one, dozy hole." Col pulled at the other and it opened easily. He walked through into the reception area followed by plumes of fag smoke, laughter and the collective jeering of, "Thick twat!" The reception desk was manned by a greyhaired old man wearing a checked shirt and green cardigan, who'd have looked more at home in the judge’s tent at a pigeon fanciers convention than receiving patients at a health centre. He had a large hearing aid wrapped around each of his ears. "Ignore them script-blagging bastards out there. How can I help you lad?" he shouted. "I've been referred here by Leegate alcohol and drugs agency." "What's the name son?"

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"Colin Rice," affirmed Col. The old man squinted down a battered looking appointment book placed in front of him. "Let's have a look lad. Ah yes, alc-o-hol dependence isn't it?" he bellowed. Col quickly looked around the reception area. Everyone was staring at him. He glared back at the old man. "Don't look so worried son, there's nothing to be ashamed about. I know loads of piss artists. Granted some are dead, but some do make it..." The old man paused thoughtfully, then added, "Mind you, half of them are in the loony bin and the rest never made anything of themselves. Take a seat and wait till yeh' name's called." "Thanks a bundle", replied Col sarcastically. He took a seat next to a mother and her extremely young looking, heavily pregnant daughter. "When's the happy day?" he enquired of the young girl. "Happy? Are you taking the piss son?" snapped her mother. "It's due in three weeks", replied the daughter quietly. "Oh, lovely. Thought of any names yet?" Col asked, totally ignoring the girl's mother. Again the mother butted in, "There’ll be no time for any bloody names: she's not keeping the little bugger. I'll have no child of a McKenny's in my bloody house." "Ahh, I take it you don't get on with the baby's father then?" "Would you? He forced himself on her. But will she testify? Will-she-hella's-like. She's not keeping it. Over my dead bloody body." "I am. We're going teh' get married an' everything," said the young girl tearfully. "How the hell can you when he's on remand?" "He'll get off with it and then we'll get wed. I know we will 'cos he always sez' he loves me in his letters." The young girl was in tears. "Loves yeh'? Aye, you an' the rest oh' the young lasses on the estate, the noncing bastard." Colin was saved by the old man at the reception desk. "Colin Rice, alc-o-hol dependence” he shouted again. “Doctor Crisp will see yeh' now. It's that door on the right … you can't miss it 'cos it's got Doctor Crisp written on it." "Never," replied Col. As he got up from his chair he turned to the mother and daughter, "Well, I hope it all works out for you both." "Oh, don't you bloody worry", replied the mother, "It'll work out all right. Once I've opened mi' gob in that witness box the bugger will never get out. Trial starts Wednesday... !"

In next month’s instalment we find Colin reflecting rather poignantly on his troubled childhood Andy Thackwray is currently resident in HMP Hull

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Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Independence day postponed Stephen Shaw, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, writes exclusively for Inside Time very month brings a succession of foreign delegations to the Ombudsman’s office. Recent visitors have included guests from Argentina, China, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (yes, I have to look up where some of these places are too).

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The question I always dread being asked by the foreign visitors is about how my independence is guaranteed. Explaining to people from countries where democracy and the rule of law are relatively new concepts that there is no statute setting out my powers and responsibilities is always difficult. All the more so when I have to admit that, formally, I am as much a part of the Home Office/ Ministry of Justice as any other functionary. Some prisoner-correspondents also question my independence (often in blunt language if I have not upheld their complaints). And it is an absolutely fair question since independence is the bedrock of any Ombudsman’s authority. By this time in 2008, I had hoped to share with readers my delight at the passing into law of legislation firmly establishing the Ombudsman as a statutory independent postholder. Unfortunately, and for reasons I need not go into here, the relevant clauses of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill were withdrawn when the Bill reached the House of Lords. I hope this will only mean a delay of a year, because I am not going to hide from you the frustrations that a lack of independence can lead to. This is not just a matter of how it looks to complainants and foreign visitors (although that is important enough), it is also about being able to run the office in the way that meets our needs. Here is an example. One of my investigators typed in PlayStation into Google on his computer to see how much a new console would cost for a prisoner whose PlayStation had got damaged. Back came the answer that access was blocked by the Home Office as it might

lead to a website with inappropriate material on it. No one had asked us if we might have a business need to visit these sites. In fact, damage to property represents the largest single category of complaints and we routinely compare prices on the Internet. But someone somewhere has decided the matter for us. Those of you reading this in your cell might think this a pretty trivial matter. But it directly affects the service we can offer. So do all the other restrictions in terms of accommodation, recruitment and use of resources. If and when the projected legislation comes back this Autumn, I hope it can be in a form that gives the Ombudsman’s office the freedoms enjoyed by our nearest sister organisation, the Independent Police Complaints Commission. But being part of a wider bureaucracy sometimes has its lighter moments too. Witness this gem from the office of a very senior official in the Ministry of Justice. We had written chasing up progress on a recommendation we had made in an important complaints case about the screening of toilets. Nothing had been done and we wanted to know why. The letter in response reads as follows: “Let me start by apologising for the late response to your letter. This may be due to the fact that we may not have received your earlier letter. I am saying may not have been received, as I was away on leave during the period this letter may have been received in this office and we had a temp covering me. At the moment I cannot locate your letter. This does not mean that no action has been taken since if we had received your letter … I will liaise with my colleagues to ascertain what has happened to your original letter if it was actually received in this office.” That is a form of English I should certainly not wish to explain to any foreign visitor. But do you wonder that independence day cannot come soon enough?

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CCRC refers murder convictions to appeal court The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has referred the murder convictions of David Shale and Paul Branchflower to the Court of Appeal DAVID SHALE David Shale was convicted, together with a co-defendant, in March 2001 at Bristol Crown Court of the murder of Robert Huggett and sentenced to life imprisonment. Mr Huggett’s body was found at his flat in Weston-super-Mare. He had been kicked and stamped to death. Mr Shale sought to appeal against his conviction, but the appeal was abandoned after advice from Counsel. Mr Shale applied to the Commission in August 2004. Having considered issues relating to new evidence, the Commission decided to refer the conviction to the Court of Appeal. Commenting on David Shale’s referral, Maslen Merchant from Hadgkiss Hughes & Beale told Inside Time: "David was convicted of murder in March 2001 and has, therefore, just entered the seventh year of his life sentence. “The CCRC referral is based on the fact that his co-defendant from the trial has now exculpated him. At the trial, the codefendant denied murder and David did not give evidence. “It is unusual for the CCRC (and the Court of Appeal) to accept a change of account by a defendant after the trial as 'fresh evidence'. However this case has proved to be quite exceptional.

a witness, which was not available at the trial. “The co- defendant has been giving the same version of events, exculpating David Shale, for a number of years and, in fairness to him, he has always cooperated with those making efforts on David's behalf, ever since the trial. “David's case is this firm's thirteenth referral to the Court of Appeal, by the CCRC."

PAUL BRANCHFLOWER Paul Branchflower was convicted of murder in February 2003 at Manchester Crown Court and sentenced to detention for life in a Young Offenders' Institute. The victim died after his own car passed over him, trapping him under the wheel. Mr Branchflower pleaded guilty to manslaughter but was found guilty at trial of murder. He appealed against his conviction but the appeal was dismissed in June 2004. His latest application to the Commission was made in August 2007. His solicitor, Campbell Malone, told Inside Time: “Paul Branchflower has accepted responsibility for the tragic death of Glynn Ellis and bitterly regrets that his foolish action in trying to steal Mr Ellis’ car led to him losing his life.

“The accounts given by David and his codefendant to the CCRC, when they were interviewed independently, agreed in all but minor detail and both accounts are supported by the evidence that was available at the trial.

“It was always Paul’s case however that he intended Mr Ellis no harm and his death was accidental, therefore he was not guilty of murder. The issue for the Court of Appeal to decide will be whether that defence was adequately put before the Jury by the Judge in his summing up to them.

“The CCRC used its 'special powers' under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 to seize and consider documents in the possession of HM Prison Service and has, again, found evidence that corroborates the co-defendant's current account dating back years. There is also completely fresh evidence, which supports the co-defendant's credibility as

“The decision to refer the case to the Court of Appeal was taken by the CCRC after careful consideration of the papers and the submissions made by us on his behalf. Of the hundreds of cases considered by the CCRC each year, only approximately 4% are ever referred to the Court of Appeal.”

Legal Comment

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

29

Building its way out of trouble Criminal Litigation Executive Nicola Dillon says to ease prison overcrowding, courts should be encouraged to use alternative punishments wherever possible

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The Times: April 16th 2008

by Julian Young Senior partner of Julian Young and Co. t seems to me that the Ministry of Justice, speaking of it in general terms, simply cannot get basic things right. Not so long ago the House of Lords decided that it was for the judiciary to decide on tariffs in serious [homicide] cases, that is, that it was for the trial judge to decide the tariff having heard the case and the evidence and that it was not for the Home Secretary to interfere and add years to a tariff or sentence.

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Surely it should have occurred to the senior civil servants that, similarly, it was for the judiciary or a semi-judicial body [such as the Parole Board] to decide issues in relation to the release of prisoners, not an elected politician. Few elected politicians, from any party I hasten to say, are experts in prison law or the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998 on detention of prisoners. If such issues are left to politicians, there has to be a [potential] danger that they will make decisions based upon political considerations including the popularity of policies and whether they can gain votes by making a certain decision, especially if the prisoner was convicted of a well-publicised offence. This has been shown to be wrong and I am surprised that the Sir Humphrey Applebys of the civil service have not read the Law Reports or sought advice before putting their collective feet down and insisting that politicians and the executive [the civil service] does not interfere in

issues with which they should not be concerned. In respect of Wayne Thomas Black, an inmate who is serving 24 years for a string of offences, the Parole Board recommended his release on licence but the [then] Home Secretary in 2006 refused to comply, saying that Black posed too great a risk of reoffending. It is of vital importance to note that Lord Justice Latham said in the judgment: “The inescapable logic is that a prisoner serving a determinate sentence is entitled to have the lawfulness of his detention determined, not merely speedily, but by a court”. This ruling affects hundreds of serious and dangerous offenders serving prison terms of more than 15 years but less than life. Inmates who feel that they could be affected by this ruling should seek specialist legal advice as soon as possible; Legal Aid is available from Solicitors who have a suitable contract with the Legal Services Commission and that advice is free. As a result the Justice Secretary retains only the power to block a Parole Board recommendation that a life sentence prisoner should be transferred from a closed to an open prison. It seems that the Executive is loathe to lose any power to anybody, Parole Board or Judiciary, whom they cannot control - Sir Humphrey Appleby is alive and well and second-guessing the Parole Board - and acting unlawfully in the process!! * Julian Young is a Solicitor Advocate and former President of the West London Law Society.

he Government’s plan to expand the prison service by building new prisons to house an ever growing number of offenders has been the source of much public discussion and debate. This costly initiative is similar to adding an extra lane to a busy motorway - it doesn’t address the issue of traffic and offers only a short-term solution before demand increases and the congestion returns. I support those who demand a review of the legal process, the sentencing guidelines and the power of the courts. There is an increasingly urgent need to re-examine how custodial punishments are used and to introduce restrictions and a degree of uniformity to how courts issue them. Don’t mistake my wishes. I’m not asking that offenders ‘get off lightly’, or that no one should ever be incarcerated, but I do believe that prison is supposed to be a last resort - the ultimate punishment - that protects the public from the threat of a dangerous individual and sometimes from themself. The Government could save the billions of pounds allocated to building new prisons by introducing reforms on the use of custodial sentences. Courts should be encouraged to use the many alternative punishments offered by the National Probation Service wherever possible, such as electronic tagging and supervision orders.

‘A convicted prisoner retains all civil rights which have not been taken away expressly, or by necessary implication’ Lord Wilberforce, Raymond v Honey (1983)

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Community Punishment Orders, are after all tailor-made ‘packages’ able to enforce a period of supervision and impose specific requirements to address an individual’s offending behaviour, such as ‘Enhanced Thinking Skills’, whilst restricting their liberty to a degree. These orders can be extremely testing and are by no means an ‘easy option’. The full spectrum of this type of punishment should be used much more, but the Probation Service, like many other vital resources, is both understaffed and under-funded. This is where the Government’s money should go. If our prison system was a commercial company, its resources and any increase in demand would have been anticipated and plans would have been made to diversify what it was offering in order to cope. We must review without delay sentencing framework alternatives to custody, not least because the issue of punishment will not be solved by the building of new prisons.

Nicola Dillon is a member of Eric Robinson Solicitors’ Criminal Team in Southampton

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Legal Comment

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Memory, make-believe and the courts - what's the mischief?

The problem is of course that when faced simply with distant claims where there is no access to process of recall, neither a jury nor an expert would be able to tell with reasonable certainty whether it is true or false unless there is clear and independent corroboration.

Margaret Jervis and Chris Saltrese take a look at ‘time travel’ in the Courts

In such cases it is difficult to conclude other than that the defendant may have to prove his innocence with his hands tied behind his back. For when a story has been made up, the means is generally all in the mind, and there are no ‘mind bank’ statements to fall back on. This is the reason why such evidence used to be frequently rejected as stale with corroboration tightly defined.

‘L

ess than candid’ and indulging in make-believe was how the judge put it. The Sun cut to the quick: ‘She’s a scheming liar!’ it screamed. Yes, McCartney v McCartney had come to a sticky end for the feisty Heather Mills, though she appeared to be the last to know with her barrage of self-adulation, while her erstwhile husband remained silent, basking in the glow of the judicially conferred sanctity of being ‘consistent, accurate and honest’. How did Mr Justice Bennett come to such a decisive judgment, given the vagaries of married life? The answer is quite simple. It was about money. The judgment was salvaged through raking the ashes of the relationship in terms of respective assets, transactions and behaviour; all of which was subject to a considerable paper trail. It was this juncture, or rather the disjunction between her claims and the record, that did for Heather. But what happens when, as is frequently the case in criminal courts, a complainant makes claims of criminal conduct about the past where there were no witnesses, no opportunity for alibi and no trail of forensic detritus other than what is claimed to be in the memory of the complainant? Memory decays and false claims can deceive one as well as others. Sometimes the most

convincing, detailed and emotional stories are just that - a good story. The cogency of past claims may be decided by the jury on whether the story captures their imagination - when in truth it may have been hijacked. For surprisingly, in our scientific materialist age, the courts have gone backwards. Sex abuse cases dependent on uncorroborated claims of offences twenty, thirty or forty years back are now routine. Memory experts are able to say that detailed narrative and conversations remembered from childhood are unlikely to be reliable. But when this evidence was put to the Court of Appeal, it was roundly rejected. In R v S; R v W[2006] EWCA Crim 1404, Professor Martin Conway had analysed some witness statements following conviction and found them wanting. From his perspective as a leading memory researcher, they didn’t ring true. Mrs Justice Rafferty bit the bullet head on: ‘Does that translate Professor Conway,’ she asked pointedly ‘into the more coherent the presentation, the more worried you become?’

Monty was oral testimony: ‘Carefully reflecting on a claimed memory of distant childhood events, the jury must decide whether any witness, and in particular the complainant, is truthful and accurate. Unless the jury believes that the witness is accurately describing an actual experience, the defendant is to be acquitted,’ the Court opined in dispatching the appeal. Consequently, expert evidence on ‘ordinary’ distant recall was banished to eternal perdition. What are the exceptions? Well, firstly there is detailed testimony relating to the period of ‘childhood amnesia’. This is childhood under 6 when normal memory development precludes detailed reliable recall. Then there may be cases of mental handicap, which touches on the competence of the witness. A third category is where there is evidence of the way in which the claimed recall may have been constructed. Classically this involves progressive recall during therapy, sometimes termed ‘recovered’ memory. An expert will, in such cases, look at the process of construction as much as the end product.

‘It pretty much does,’ was the reply. The Court of Appeal was having none of it. The witness statements, which may have been prompted in part by the interviewer, were not the testimony at trial; the full

In these types of cases an expert may assist the court coming to a decision about whether the evidence is safe to admit or assist the jury. It can have a dramatic effect on outcome.

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A trickle of false rape claims is now being prosecuted - but when discovered, they are almost all contemporaneous allegations. What is more, the rate of conviction in historic uncorroborated cases is higher than in contemporaneous claims. In crude terms this suggests that, the further the complaint goes back, the more likely it is that the jury believe the complainant because of, rather than despite, the lack of evidential hurdles to overcome. Strange? You may say so, but in our system, that’s a matter for the jury. Margaret Jervis is a legal researcher and consultant. Chris Saltrese a solicitor in Southport specialising in contested sexual abuse allegations see: www.chrissaltrese.co.uk

We are pleased to announce that Ms Rosamunde Benn and David Parker have joined our Prison Law department. We have a dedicated legal aid Prison Law team with over 15 prison lawyers throughout England and Wales, who will be able to assist and advise in all aspects of Prison Law, including:

If your conviction is mainly based on LCN, we WILL seek a review of the evidence in your case with the assistance of barristers with sound LCN knowledge. We will subject the evidence to close scrutiny to determine through examination of the police and forensic laboratory records whether your conviction is unsafe. We have the capacity and capability to challenge LCN DNA evidence. We are advised and work closely with experts from The Forensic Institute (Professors Allan Jamieson from the UK and Dan Krane from the US); the defence experts who gave evidence in the Omagh bombing trial that have caused questions to be asked about the reliability of LCN analysis.

The difference is though that when we are talking about now rather than then, there is much greater likelihood of confirming a truth or nailing a lie - remember the Hamilton ‘rape’ that was refuted by a supermarket receipt?

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If so, you may be serving a sentence based upon discreditable and unreliable scientific evidence that is NOT 'validated' by the international scientific community!

LCN DNA analysis is better suited as a tool to 'identify a potential suspect' as opposed to a science to PROVE that the suspect 'committed the offence'.

Of course memory distortion can affect contemporaneous as well as distant recall, and a false story may appear as convincing as a true one in such circumstances.

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Legal Advice

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Fraud: Tax Evasion and Money Laundering ... the new favourites. Aziz Rahman and Jonathan Lennon highlight the increasing importance of tax fraud type offences and money laundering cases

Aziz Rahman and Jonathan Lennon The Fraud Act 2006 It is impossible to write an article on fraud and not mention this statute. However, for these purposes the Act is almost irrelevant. The Act abolished all the deception offences in the Theft Acts of 1968 and 1978 and created, by s1 (1), one new offence of ‘fraud’, which could be committed in three different ways. However, the Act did not repeal any of the offences which can be described as offences against the revenue; e.g. s72 of the Value Added Tax Act 1974 on VAT frauds. Tax Fraud The common law offence of cheating the public revenue is perhaps the easiest route for the Crown to take, as all the prosecution has to prove is that the Defendant made a false statement with intent to defraud the revenue; R v Hudson [1956] 2 QB 252. In fact in R v Mavji, 84 Cr. App. R 34 the Court of Appeal held that an actual act of deception is not necessary – the offender in that case did not complete a VAT return or pay his VAT bill – that was enough, as he was found to have (not) done so with the necessary dishonest intent. Alternatively, in respect to specifically Income Tax, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has the option of the statutory offence under s144 of the Finance Act 2000 for those ‘knowingly concerned’ in the ‘fraudulent evasion’ of income tax. In the end, whether the offence you are charged with is s144 of the Finance Act 2000 or the common law offence of cheating the revenue, the ultimate question will be whether there was an intent to defraud – i.e. was the Defendant acting honestly or not? Typically, in any fraud case, there will be the highlights; that is key ‘facts’ that the Crown concentrate on, i.e. particular invoices, particular dates and your answers to the interrogators in interview. Obviously the defence team has to identify the prosecution ‘highlights’ and know them well at an early stage, but often though the answer will be in drawing the jury’s attention to other aspects of the case and satisfactorily laying the groundwork for that – aspects like the Defendant’s character or business practices, or the more technical aspects such as patterns in the invoices that tend to show a leaning towards late payment rather than non-payment, or material which shows that you have declared monies that might have been missed or not claimed against valid receipts etc etc. Careful drafting of the Defence Statement is often critical in tax fraud cases. The fruits of your defence may lie in showing documents

to the jury which tend to support your case – documents which perhaps you don’t even know exist. In R v Oliver [2007] EWCA, Crim 2220, the Court were concerened with a large scale VAT carousel fraud. The case was stayed as an abuse of process because of nondisclosure by HMRC. This included the fact that the schedules of unused evidence did not list substantial quantities of material that had been gathered from third parties. This assisted in one of the Defendant’s cases, as it showed certain trading associations which was important in the context of his defence. Money Laundering There are three main offences created by POCA which carry penalties of up to 14 years imprisonment. They are s327 – concealing, disguising, converting or transferring criminal property, or removing it from the jurisdiction.

Section 328; is entering into, or becoming concerned in an arrangement to facilitate the acquisition, retention, use or control by, or on behalf of another person, of criminal property knowing or suspecting that the property is criminal property. Section 329; is the offence of acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property. ‘Criminal Property’ The lynchpin of the 3 offences is the notion of ‘criminal property’. The prosecution has to prove that the property, whether it is cash, a house, a car or whatever it is, is ‘criminal property’. This is defined at s340(3) as property which represents a benefit from criminal conduct, either directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, so long as the launderer ‘knows or suspects’ that the property represents such a benefit. The Crown has to show that the alleged launderer committed the relevant act (i.e. transfer, concealing etc) knowing or suspecting that the property derived from criminal conduct. The prosecution will normally attempt to prove that a Defendant ‘knew’ or ‘suspected’ either by prosecuting the principal offence – drug trafficking etc on the same indictment, or rely on circumstantial evidence to try and prove that the money was criminal property. In R v Da Silva [2006] EWCA Crim 1654, 11/7/06 the Court of Appeal considered that ‘suspicion’ meant: “there is a possibility, which is more than fanciful, that the relevant facts exist.

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A vague feeling of unease would not suffice.” Of course the circumstantial evidence which the prosecution may bring to Court can be quite damming at first sight, e.g. large sums of cash, contaminated notes, lies in interview and a lack of commercial sense in some transactions - linked possibly with connections to anyone accused or convicted of a principal offence. So rebutting inferences can be a very significant part of the job of defending. It may lead to the instruction of an expert, for example an auditor with knowledge of the particular business area in question. The expert may be able to help rebuttal by comparing the business with other like businesses in the area and/or show the existence of a reasonable audit trail to try and make the Crown’s case look like no more than mere speculation. A Judge may then be persuaded that your case is suitable for the ‘circumstantial evidence’ direction to the jury, whereby he or she will remind them that before they can convict on circumstantial evidence alone they have to consider whether that evidence reveals any other explanations ‘which are or may be of sufficient reliability and strength to weaken or destroy the prosecution case’ – so if there is another plausible explanation, that direction will strongly point towards an acquittal. A recently decided case called R v NW, SW, RC & CC [2008] EWCA Crim 2, 23/1/08 is important for Defendants in money laundering cases. In that case, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Crown could not simply point to unexplained wealth and assert that there was no legitimate explanation and therefore it must be from the proceeds of crime - i.e. be criminal property. The Court felt that the Crown had to identify the criminal conduct or at least the category of criminal conduct alleged to have generated the money. Tax Evasion as Money Laundering In R v IK [2007] EWCA Crim 491, 8/3/07 the question for the Court was whether the proceeds of cheating the revenue could be ‘criminal property’. In a nutshell, a legitimate trader had earned legitimate money undertaking a legitimate business (a shop). However, the allegation was that not all the income was declared – thus cheating the revenue. The Crown prosecuted a money laundering offence, but the trial Judge ruled that there was no ‘criminal property’ – the money did not come from an actual crime. Following a prosecution appeal, the Court of Appeal found that the undeclared income could in part ‘represent’ the proceeds of crime, as that undeclared amount would be representative of the ‘benefit’ of tax evasion. In conclusion, there can be no doubt that the State will always maintain as many possible offences as possible when it comes to offences against the revenue; the plans to scrap jury trials in certain fraud cases must be fought tooth and nail, as the bottom line is always the question of the honesty and integrity of the Defendant; and who better placed to decide that question than a properly directed jury?

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. Jonathan Lennon is a Barrister specialising in serious and complex criminal defence cases and Prison Law at 23 Essex Street Chambers in London. He is former co-editor of the Prison Law Reports.

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Legal Q&A

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Inside Time Legal Forum Answers to readers’ legal queries are given on a strictly without liability basis. If you propose acting upon any of the opinions that appear, you must first take legal advice. Replies for the Legal Forum kindly provided by Frank Brazell & Partners; Levys Solicitors; Parlby Calder Solicitors; Stephensons Crime; Stevens Solicitors; Henry Hyams Solicitors; Morgans Solicitors - see advertisements for full details. Send your legal queries (concise and clearly marked ‘legal’) to our editorial assistant Lucy Forde at Inside Time PO Box 251 Hedge End Hampshire SO30 4XJ. For a prompt response, readers are reminded to send their queries on white paper using black ink or typed if possible. with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another. A demand will be unwarranted unless he has reasonable grounds to make the demand and the use of menaces is proper. Secondly, your correspondent asks whether it is blackmail to offer a reduced sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. He then gives the example of someone who gains a reduction of two-thirds of his sentence for pleading guilty.

From: Mr B - HMP Rye Hill Q I would like to know the legal definition of blackmail. I was thinking that if you plead guilty earlier rather than later then you'll get a reduced sentence; is this blackmail? Is blackmail getting someone to do something they wouldn't otherwise do? Could you also explain how giving a reduced sentence is a ‘reward’ when they didn't want a sentence in the first place!

A Firstly, your correspondent asks what is the legal definition of blackmail. Blackmail, as defined in the Theft Act 1968, is when someone makes a ‘unwarranted demand‘ with ‘menaces’,

It is an established part of sentencing that the defendant’s plea of guilty will be taken into account when deciding the appropriate sentence. Those who plead guilty in a timely manner can expect to receive a lesser sentence than those who plead not guilty and go to trial. However, judicial guidance for the specific sentences is based on a defendant convicted after trial and so it cannot be said that those who plead not guilty suffer. Those who plead guilty, and perhaps save witnesses from the trauma of giving evidence, are given credit and a reduction from the starting point for sentence.

hold your oral hearing on or before May 12th 2007, and it does not sit, is there anything you can do about it or do you just have to wait?

A Firstly, it is difficult to answer your question fully without further information. In particular I need to know how long your sentence is; what type of sentence it is; and when the offence was committed for which the sentence was imposed. Assuming that you are serving a determinate sentence of imprisonment (not an extended sentence or imprisonment for public protection), and the offence that you committed was committed after 4th April 2005, your sentence is governed by the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This means that you can be recalled for any breach of licence at any time before your sentence fully expires. Your licence and sentence will expire on the same date. You say that your sentence expires on 26th July 2008 and so provided you are a determinate sentence prisoner you will have to be released at that time and you will not be subject to licence supervision. If you are a determinate sentence prisoner and the offence that you committed was committed before 4th April 2005, your sentence would be governed by the Criminal Justice Act 1991. This means that your licence would end at the three-quarter point of your sentence, the Licence Expiry Date (LED), and not at the sentence expiry date (SED). In this case, on a first recall you would have to be released at your LED but your licence would be extended to your SED and so you would still be subject to supervision until your SED. You could then be recalled for any breach of licence at any time before your SED.

You have a right to have your case decided within a reasonable time. If unreasonable delay is incurred you may be able to take action. I cannot advise you specifically without further information. Whether or not the delay is ‘unreasonable’ will depend on the cause of the delay. There is a complaints procedure that can be used but this in itself can be time consuming. It would be in your best interests to instruct a solicitor who specialises in prison law. They will be able to assess the delay and advise you specifically as to the best course of action to adopt. It may be that you should apply to the High Court seeking Judicial Review.

............................................... From: Mr F - HMP Wealstun Q I was sentenced in March 2007

to four years for various offences. I received my release date, which was much as expected. I then received new release dates stating that because I was given less than twelve months for each offence, I was under the old law therefore my sentence was a parole sentence. Please could you clarify this for me?

A You state that you were sentenced in March 2007 to 4 years imprisonment for various offences and that the prison has told you that you must apply for early release on parole licence, rather than being automatically entitled to release at the halfway stage.

From: Mr B - HMP Lindholme Q Firstly: I am currently on recall.

You state that you believe ‘only a judge could sentence you’. This is because a prisoner (under CJA 1991) released on licence, who complies and is not recalled before the LED remains ‘at risk’ of recall until the SED. The time between the LED and SED is known as the ‘at risk’ period. During the ‘at risk’ period a person can be returned to custody if they commit a further imprisonable offence. The court has the power to impose the remainder of the unexpired sentence.

Unfortunately, without further information I cannot advise you fully. If any of your offences were committed prior to 4th April 2005 then they fall within the Criminal Justice Act 1991, all offences committed after that date fall under CJA2003. Sentences are dealt with differently depending upon which Act applies. In particular, consecutive sentences under the CJA91 are joined together to make a single term and if that single term is then longer than 4 years the prisoner will have to apply for parole at the halfway stage rather than being automatically released.

Secondly: If the Parole Board say they will

Secondly, if an oral hearing was due to take place on 12th May 2007 and did not, you need to carefully consider the reason(s) that the hearing did not take place before you can decide on what action, if any, can be taken.

If the sentences are a mix of CJA91 and CJA03 cases, the way that they are calculated is set out in PSO 6650 and the prisons employ people who are specifically trained to ensure that calculations are done correctly.

A guilty plea will nearly always be seen as a mitigating feature of the case when it comes to sentence, but it is always the defendant’s right to put the prosecution to proof and be fairly tried.

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

My SED/LED is 26th July 2008. Is it possible for me to get more licence after that and would I be recalled if I breach by missing an appointment? I thought only a judge can sentence.

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Legal Q&A

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org I would advise that you contact a solicitor specialising in prison law who can obtain all the relevant information and advise accordingly.

From: Mr S - HMP Rye Hill Q Is my detention lawful? I know that I was sentenced by the judge to imprisonment, however the prison were not issued with a court order. I understand that a valid court order has to be issued otherwise you would be considered to be detained unlawfully.

A The order for imprisonment forms the legal basis for detention and in the scenario explained it appears that a copy of the order for imprisonment may not have been provided to the prison by the escorting service. It would be highly unlikely for no order of imprisonment to be issued. It seems more likely that there has been some administrative error in forwarding a copy to the prison. If you wish to pursue this issue further then you should instruct a Solicitor or make an application under the Data Protection Act for a copy of the relevant papers. A first step may be to submit a request complaint form asking for a copy of the order for imprisonment and/or confirmation that one was actually received by the prison. If no order of imprisonment is in existence, then there may be a claim for unlawful imprisonment but we are unable to advise on this issue without further information.

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From: Mr R - HMP Forest Bank Q I was awarded extra days whilst serving a sentence, completed them, and was released on licence. I was recalled for breaching my licence and have been told that I have to serve the extra days again. Is this allowed? Surely they cannot punish me twice? Please could you let me know how I go about getting these days back?

A Your correspondent was awarded 62 additional days during a 2 year and 6 month sentence. He was released on licence after serving half of his sentence and the additional days. He has now been recalled and recommended to be released at his sentence and licence expiry date (SLED). However, the extra days have been added to this date and your correspondent wishes to know if this is right and asks if they can effectively make him serve those days again. The answer is that the extra days cannot be added to his release date, although not for the reason that they cannot make him serve the time again. Under PSO 6650 (Sentence Calculation) it is clear that additional days extend any release date except the SED or SLED. The sentence expiry date cannot be extended by additional days added. This is contained both in chapter 9 (see 9.2 and 9.6), which addresses additional days, and in chapter 18 (see 18.7), which addresses those sentenced under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. If the Parole Board had not recommended that your correspondent should serve until his SED but given an earlier Conditional Release Date, this could have been extended by the additional days added. In that situation, it appears that a prisoner can end up effectively serving the additional days twice – both during his sentence and after recall by having his release date extended. However in your correspondent’s case, it appears that a mistake has been made and we would advise him to put in an application to get those days back immediately and, if he is not successful in this, to seek legal advice.

............................................... From: Mr A - HMP Wymott Q When I appeared in court my

solicitor applied for bail. It was my first offence and I was in full time employment; the magistrate duly granted bail. However before I left the court building I was taken back and the Court usher advised me that my bail had been revoked, yet with no reason offered. I have

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knowledge of people committing far more serious crimes (not first time offenders) who get bail. Is it right and proper that a Court can change its mind in this manner? Also, I consider that time spent on remand could have been far better utilised supporting my family.

A You appear to be seeking an investigation into why you were granted bail and then almost immediately remanded into custody by a different Judge at Burnley Magistrates’ Court. Clearly that is not something that I can readily answer. If new information is brought to the attention of the Judge then the decision can be reversed, but I would argue that if bail has already been granted, the decision should stand and a fresh application made. You complain that time spent on remand could have been better spent supporting your family prior to conviction. I must point out that all time spent on remand should have been credited to your sentence - allowing you to be released prior to the halfway point.

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

From: Mr W - HMP Parc Q I seek advice about appealing against my 12 month IPP sentence. I have heard that amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill may be introduced to establish a minimum tariff of two years, below which an IPP cannot be given. If the Attorney General can appeal on grounds of undue leniency, does this mean I can appeal because I have a 12 month IPP? Could I be re-sentenced or does it not affect me?

33

not retrospective and therefore he would not be re-sentenced. It is important to note that the proposal is at the moment just that: a proposal. Any appeal against sentence will be treated by the Criminal Appeal Office in line with current procedure and case law. If the sentence is considered to be manifestly excessive, the Court of Appeal may reduce it appropriately. Obviously I cannot comment as to whether the writer has any prospect of success in an appeal against sentence, as I do not know the full circumstances of his case.

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

From: Mr S - HMP Hewell Grange Q I was sentenced to four and a half years in November 2004. I gained parole in January 2007, was notionally released, and then detained on a default warrant for an outstanding confiscation order for a further sentence of three years, with a release date of July 2008. It was my understanding that the time I serve on my confiscation would exceed my LED date. However I am now being told that this is not the case and I will be subject to licence conditions until January 2010. I would appreciate clarification on my actual licence conditions – if any.

A You will be subject to the provisions under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and because you were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 3 years, you will benefit from a conditional release at the halfway point of the sentence.

A Your correspondent asks whether a proposed new Criminal Justice Bill setting a minimum term allowable for IPP sentences as 2 years will affect his 12 month IPP sentence. In particular he asks whether he has any grounds for appeal.

As previously advised, the sentence is classed as a criminal sentence and therefore the licence period for the confiscation order sentence will now run from the halfway point until the end of the sentence. You will therefore be subject to the statutory imposed licence conditions for the remainder of your sentence.

It is highly unlikely that any new Act would have an impact upon the existing IPP sentences in the manner in which he suggests. As he quite rightly points out, new legislation is generally

If your licence is revoked and you are recalled to prison, you will then be re-released either at the SED date or at an earlier date approved by the Parole Board.

34

Book Reviews

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

No laughing matter - How I carried on

A Few Steps Ahead

by Norman Hudis

by Lord Higgins Danny Scheinmann has written a book which manages

Lucy Charman finds herself disappointed at a book she considers could and should have revealed much more about the author

Vic Terry discovers a remarkable book that left him wanting more!

This is an autobiography, although not in the normal sense of the genre. Norman Hudis was a scriptwriter for the enormously successful ‘Carry On’ films and I felt that it would be a good read. However it could best be described as a 'loo book' – written in small segments, which have good and bad points. The good is that you can pick it up and put it down, having read just a little at a time, without losing the plot – hence the loo reference. The bad is that the 'chapters' do not appear to run in a date sequence and jump from one subject to another. I would suggest therefore that it was more of a diary than an autobiography; it is also quite full of the author's own opinions about people and subjects, and reads more like the transcript of an interview, with the questions missed out. The book is divided into six main subjects and each chapter could be read in any order without reference to previous chapters. Hudis writes about his family when he was growing up and left me with mixed impressions - would I have wanted to meet them or not? Some of the anecdotes in other parts of the book are bear-

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able and one or two even raised a smile - the chapter headed 'Memories just a few' in the section Substitute Families about the author's wartime experiences for instance - you can see where he got some of his ideas for Carry On scripts. Talking of which, and in fact we weren't, there are sections of screenplay with explanations of how they were thought up or how a character portrayed them. Reading between the lines, I think Hudis wrote the Carry On scripts round the actors – their characters all portraying their fundamental traits or appearances; this despite the hurt that Hattie Jacques felt at times. She knew she was 'larger than life' but constant references to her weight and size were tiresome. This was something that Hudis did not find out about until Hattie's 2007 autobiography. Yet, as he says in this book, she was such a true professional that she just got on with the job! If I had been a Carry On fan I would have been deeply disappointed in the author's narrative about the stars, some of whom I have actually met and liked; he comes across as patronising and slightly egotistical – full of himself, and yet we find out very little about him as a person or his life. We read about his wife Rita and sons Stephen and Kevin, but in such a manner that although profoundly proud and loving, the author gives the impression that we, the reader, wouldn't want to know more. This is often the case with acquaintances when we tire of endless stories of little Johnny's exploits, something I am guilty of with my own grandsons, but in this case we would have liked to know more, thus making the author come across as more human and less like a production line of endless stories about obscure Americans in Hollywood and scripts for shows we have not heard of, far less seen! If you are a collector of media trivia then I rather suspect that this book will appeal to you; if you are a lover of the Carry On films, I think you may be disappointed that we do not find out more about what makes the man tick who wrote these much loved films.

This explosive, fast paced thriller has recently won the prestigious Random House Outstanding prize in the Koestler Awards. It is the author’s first book and one I simply could not put down; in fact I found myself reading it again a few weeks later for a second thrill. It really is a genuine page-turner and so realistic it could actually happen. A Few Steps Ahead is based upon a film and TV cameraman, Eddie Newton, who goes off the rails and uses his knowledge of special effects and pyrotechnics to create a real bomb within the City of London. In the explosion, the head of Global Oil is killed and his best friend, Alex Tremalin, vows to hunt down and kill those responsible.

himself pursued by Scotland Yard and the Security Services as well as Tremalin. In Eddie's quest for more powerful explosives he gets involved with East End gangsters and a German terrorist organization. Eddie comes up with a plan to bomb the British Grand Prix. He tells them that by using his local knowledge and skill, a bomb placed in the press centre above the pit garages would wipe out the sport of Formula One completely; drivers, team owners, car designers and sponsors would be wiped out in front of a live TV audience of over a billion. The book is written in the Jason Bourne / Robert Ludlum style and does not disappoint; the dialogue is excellent and the action has relentless pace. A truly marvellous read. A Few Steps Ahead by Lord Higgins can be obtained through Inside Time for £5.50p Vic Terry is currently resident in HMP Sudbury

During the ensuing chase, Eddie Newton finds

European Union’s official language The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as 'Euro-English'. In the first year, 's' will replace the soft 'c'. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be dropped in favour of 'k'. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome 'ph' will be replaced with 'f'. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter. In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent 'e' in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing 'th' with 'z' and 'w' with 'v'. During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vordskontaining 'ou' and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

No laughing matter - How I carried on by Norman Hudis is available price £7.99 from Apex Publishing Ltd, PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea, Essex CO15 5WN.

Youngs

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru. Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

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Book Reviews

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Make the Most of Your Time on Earth

SPONSORS OF INSIDE TIME’S BOOK REVIEW SECTION

A Rough Guide To The World: 1,000 Ultimate Travel Experiences Jane Andrews explores the world from her prison cell and conjures up some wonderful visions This is a remarkable book that you can pick up at any time and dream to your heart’s content, although you may well be reading this sat in your prison cell thinking ‘why on earth would I want to look at a travel book!’ Good question, but then again why not? Have you never thought how magical it would be to travel to some far distant shore ...? Within the pages of this book you too can sit back, close your eyes and take yourself off on any journey you wish and who knows, one day your dream may come true. It starts with an introduction from Martin Dunford, publishing director of ‘Rough Guides’, who even invites the reader to write in with their own unique travel experiences, because this book is exactly that; a unique index of personal experiences throughout the world. You have individuals sharing things such as ‘Painting the town red at La Tomatina' in Spain, a festival held on the last Wednesday of every August where hundreds of revellers get together to throw ripe tomatoes over each other! Yes, this is not your usual run of the mill travel book! The ultimate aim of this book is to make a destination's culture the focal point, highlighting everything from eating where the locals frequent to watching the local football match. In other words, a book to inspire the traveller to venture just that bit further from their norm, and who knows, to find a place off the beaten track which may just result in the travel experience of a lifetime. I feel at this point it is important for me to say that finding that special place to ‘mark’ an occasion does not have to mean travelling that far from blighty! You could start with 'Holkham Magic' by taking a walk along the beach at Holkham in Norfolk, which is considered to be the best beach in Britain. Take in the midnight air and watch the stars in the clear night sky ... or ‘Cycling in the New Forest', pitch your tent and take in some of the most exhilarating car-free cycle tracks ...

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or for the sports enthusiasts ‘Watch Football at the Theatre of Dreams', otherwise known as Old Trafford, home to Manchester United.

35

MORE TEACHERS URGENTLY NEEDED The Shannon Trust’s reading programme ‘Toe by Toe’reaches prisoners that the educational system cannot engage, and 4000 prisoners a year learn to read through this unique programme.The principle of using prisoners to teach other prisoners how to read has several advantages, not least of which is they are a huge resource to help the tens of thousands of prisoners who cannot read.

Could you help by becoming a teacher and in turn help others to enjoy reading? Each section of this book finishes with a miscellany section where you can read such things as `Law of the Land' where, at the end of the Britain and Ireland section, it amused me to read that, by law, all London taxi drivers must ask their passengers if they have smallpox or the plague! Luckily these are rarely upheld in today's society. Of course if you were inclined, or lucky, to venture far afield you could start by `Chilling Out in the Ice Hotel' in Sweden, which is the ‘only upmarket establishment in the World where you're guaranteed a frosty reception'. Just about everything in this ‘cool' hotel is made from ice, and of course you will not get a wink of sleep even though you are encased in expedition strength sleeping bags and reindeer pelts, however this is a once in a lifetime experience! Or if it is something even more romantic you are looking for then ‘Star-Gazing On Cerro Mamalluca' in Chile is one not to be missed. In the north half of this country, clouds are basically non-existent and the skies are the brightest blue; enabling you to see such constellations as the ‘Southern Cross’ and the familiar ‘Jupiter and Mars.'

Contact your education department or write to: Shannon Trust, 38 Ebury Street, London SW1W 0LU.

Children of Darfur ... 5 years on More then 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million have been forced to flee from their homes and villages. Children barely old enough to walk, let alone run, have seen their homes burnt and razed, their mothers raped and their fathers killed. Most are now holed up in sprawling camps, traumatised and living in fear. Children in Darfur draw pictures of bombs and guns. It is all they have ever known. Childhood is under attack in Darfur. It is time to change the narrative. It is time to tell a different story. In April many children in Darfur will have reached their fifth birthday without ever having known peace. The world needs to wake up. For too long it has let these children suffer. Our politicians need to act on Darfur. It is time they demanded an immediate ceasefire, fully supported by the peacekeepers, and punish anyone who tries to block their deployment. They must also do more to support a peace process based on justice and human rights, so there can be hope of an end to the suffering. The children of Darfur didn’t ask for this war, but are living their days caught in the crossfire of reverberating bullets. They must be allowed to be children again. Despite the daily terror they face, they still have hopes and dreams. The world needs to act now to give the children of Darfur a future. J.K. Rowling and other authors writing on the 5th Anniversary of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur *On 23rd April 2008 the BBC reported that according to the UN 300,000 people may have died as a result of the Darfur conflict.

The work which probably most shaped the modern travel book, and which inspired the greatest number of imitators 'Travels by Marco Polo' was a medieval bestseller and remains one of the most famous travel books ever. Throughout the past 150 years, travel writers, confronted by mass tourism, have repeatedly bewailed the end of ‘genuine’ travel and the deterioration of travel writing. The variety of manner which the genre has assumed this century contradicts these theories and underlines the travel books’ continued vitality and popularity. So if you fancy yourself as a present day 'Phileas Fogg', then you too may just fancy yourself travelling around the world, but maybe not in ‘Eighty Days.'

Jane Andrews is currently resident in HMP Send

MILLERCHIP MURRAY S O L I C I TO R S

Darfur: The evidence of war crimes 500 drawings by children who escaped the violence are to be submitted to the International Criminal Court as proof of war crimes by Sudanese forces. The testimony of the children, some as young as eight, emerged by chance when a peace campaigner handed the children paper, pencils and crayons to keep them occupied while she interviewed their mothers. Anna Schmidt, a researcher for Waging Peace, which campaigns against genocide, had been hoping to receive testimony from the women, who are among 250,000 to have fled to the relative safety in neighbouring Chad. Yet it was their children who provided perhaps the most significant indication yet of exactly what has gone on in Darfur. Most of them could not read or write. But they could draw. And, unprompted, they started to reveal what they had seen with their own eyes.

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36

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Jailbreak Gema Music Quiz 1990’s Duets

?

1. Ghetto Superstar - Pras Michel and Ol' Dirty Bastard and ….? (a) Nate Dogg (b) Pras (c) Lil' Kim (d) Mya 2. Wild Wild West - Will Smith and Dru Hill and ….? (a) Rob Thomas (b) Kool Mo Dee (c) Seal (d) Montell Jordan 3. All My Life - K-Ci and ….? (a) Usher (b) Dr Dre (c) Jojo (d) Ashanti 4. Endless Love - Luther Vandross and ….? (a) CeCe Winans (b) Janet Jackson (c) Mariah Carey (d) Diana Ross 5. Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough - Patty Smyth and ….? (a) Don Henley (b) Lindsey Buckingham (c) Tom Petty (d) Ozzy Osbourne 6. Beauty and the Beast - Celine Dion and …? (a) Regina Belle (b) R Kelly (c) Peabo Bryson (d) Brian McKnight 7. She Ain't Worth It - Glenn Medeiros and ….? (a) Jay Z (b) Maxi Priest (c) Marky Mark (d) Bobby Brown 8. Cailfornia Love - 2 Pac and …? (a) Notorious BIG (b) Dr Dre (c) Puff Daddy (d) Jay Z 9. Can't Nobody Hold Me Down - Puff Daddy and …? (a) Cece Winans (b) Janet Jackson (c) Jojo (d) Mase 10. Why - 3T and …? (a) Babyface (b) Toni Braxton (c) M ichael Jackson (d) Annie Lennox 11. Mo Money Mo Problems - Notorious BIG and ….? (a) Puff Daddy (b) Jay Z (c) Shaggy (d) Ja Rule 12. Whats It Gonna Be? - Busta Rhymes and …? (a) LV (b) Babyface (c) Janet Jackson (d) Stevie Wonder

?

TRY POP

R&B INDIE

SOUL ROCK

Which artist or group can also be heard on these duets? duets?

?

COUN

P

HIP HO JAZZ

CAPTION C OMPETITION And the English think the French beret is a stupid hat!!

Music & Computer Games

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reviews the Guard of Honour with the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle during his recent UK official visit.

Gema, sponsors of Jailbreak, Suppliers of Music CD’s and Computer Games, both new & pre-owned. Catalogues cost £2 (postal order payable to ‘Gema’) but this is r e f u n d e d w i t h f i r s t o r d e r.

Gema PO Box 54, Reading RG1 3SD PROBABLY PROBABLY THE UK’s UK’s LARGEST MUSIC BACK CAT CATALOGUE

? ?

LAST MONTH’S INSIDE KNOWLEDGE WINNERS £25 PRIZE WINNERS Alex Wood HMP Dartmoor

Micky Bebb HMP Lancaster

ANOTHER £25 PRIZE IS ON OFFER FOR THE BEST CAPTION TO THIS MONTH’S PICTURE. What do you think is being said or thought here?

Well done Micky your £25 prize is in the post.

Graham Haylett HMP Garth John McMullen HMP Lowdham Grange

For how to enter, see below. GEMA MUSIC QUIZ WINNERS The first three names to be drawn + UCHER with all correct answers £15 VO logue Robert Sargeant ta a free c HMP Blakenhurst (or nearest) will each receive a £15 Gema Record Voucher Neil Wray and a free catalogue. HMP Hull The answers to last month’s Mike Newton quiz are on the back page HMP Wealstun

CAPTION COMPETITION WINNER

£5 Consolation prize WINNERS Andy Senior HMP Gartree Anthony Smith HMP Moorland

Gordon Brown pauses for thought during his visit to the US to meet President Bush. The trip unfortunately coincided with Pope Benedict XVI’s first to the United States, only the second time a pontiff has ever gone to the White House. Mr Brown struggled to match the popularity of the Pope with the American public.

Inside K nowledge The T he p rize q uiz w here w e g ive y ou t he Q uestions a nd t he A nswers ! A ll t he a nswers a re w ithin this issue o f I nside T ime - a ll y ou h ave t o d o i s f ind t hem ! ! 1. In his lifetime, who refused to bless the bodies of people who committed suicide? 10. How many children have died in penal custody since 1990?

? ?

2. Which Muslim lifer has served over 20 years inside?

11. Which Church has a current membership of 81,000?

3. How many applications a year does the CCRC receive?

12. Thirty-seven per cent of English ten-year-olds play what for more than 3 hours a day?

4. Who did four prisoners bring a writ against in September 2007?

13. Who was stealing quick glances at the clock?

5. Of the 13,299 people recalled to prison over the past 12 months, how many were actually charged with further offences?

14. Who slept like a log and woke up the next day in a wet bed?

? ? ? ?

?

15. Where is childhood 'under attack'?

6. How many prisoners were held in prisons over 50 miles from their homes in the last twelve months? 1. 7. Where has Inside Time become a victim of its own success? 2. 8. How many of the World's 100 richest men are married to a redhead? 3. 9. Who was put through seven months of hell for a race crime he can't even comprehend? 4. 5.

Answers to Last Month’s Inside Knowledge Prize Quiz 6.5 billion John Barnett Voltaire Over 600 30

6. 31 January 7. Fleury-Merogis 8. Eastwood Park 9. News of the World 10. Charles Darwin

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

£25 million A fifth Readers' wives 18 February 2008 12,500

TO ENTER ANY OF THE ABOVE PRIZE COMPETITIONS PLEASE DO NOT CUT OUT ANY OF THESE PANELS. JUST SEND YOUR ENTRY TO ONE OR ALL OF THESE COMPETITIONS ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER. MAKE SURE YOUR NAME, NUMBER AND PRISON IS ON ALL SHEETS. POST YOUR ENTRY TO: INSIDE TIME P O BOX 251 HEDGE END HAMPSHIRE SO30 4XJ.

£

£

CLOSING DATE FOR . ALL IS 27/05/2008

£

YOU CAN USE ONE ENVELOPE TO ENTER MORE THAN ONE COMPETITION JUST MARK IT ‘INSIDE KNOWLEDGE, GEMA QUIZ OR CAPTION’. USE A 1st OR 2nd CLASS STAMP.

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37

Jailbreak

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

TWENTY QUESTIONS TO TO TEST YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

W O R D S E A R C H - LUCY’S S HOPPING L IST

1. In the Tomb Raider games, what is the profession of Lara Croft?

S P

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

2. In which US state was President George W. Bush born?

I

N A C H T C W P O T A T O E S H D

A H B A C O N E H A Q U L L O A C K B R

3. By what name was the Italian painter Giovanni Antonio Canale better known?

I

I

S H A M P O O

S O W N F O X J A U G

A E T W N R E V C H C A E L B O S S P B

4. What was the name of the character played by Rik Mayall in the TV comedy The Young Ones?

D T M T E A H E K

I

L Y O G H U R T A

I

D T S O Y R N Z E N R E D W O P P A O S

5. Which instrument in the percussion family has wooden bars which are struck with mallets?

R U H E N E G A N G P R E T T

6. Which trio had UK number one hits in the 1960s with 'Make It Easy On Yourself' and 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore'?

I

L T A C

E C Y C U A L E S U P R A W N S T O D U

7. Which Formula 1 Grand Prix is staged at Monza?

8. In 1911, which actress founded a theatre school in London named after her?

S E A F N N D E L P O L L L O R O O L

I

S R O F L A

T

I

9. The name of which martial art means 'Way of the Sword' in Japanese?

I

E V L S E O T A M O T

D E L O O V C E

N R E E B E U

I

I

S D E R D E T

I

I

K S

R Q E N H T A R H U A S

10. What is the collective noun for a group of rhinos?

G K R Y S B U R T U H E A H E D P R O T

11. Vert is the heraldic term for which colour?

N V L E O L E T O E M E

12. In which decade was Margaret Thatcher first elected as British prime minister?

I

15. Which silver-white metallic element has the chemical symbol Mg?

I

F

I

U L L

I

I

P

I W D T W O M I

D U

E C O F F E E S O F T E N E R R K Y R

H U B R O C C O L

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C F R U

C E H E L L O O T M B

16. In 1990, which Soviet leader received the Nobel Peace Prize?

I

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J U

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A M S D O O F T A C

FIND THE 40 HIDDEN ITEMS ON LUCY’S LIST Bacon - Baked beans - Bananas - Bleach - Bread - Broccoli - Butter - Cat food Cat litter - Cheese - Chicken - Coffee - Crumpets - Cucumber - Dog biscuits Flour - Fruit juice - Kiwi fruit - Lemonade - Lettuce - Loo roll - Mayo - Milk - Pasta - Pizza - Potatoes - Prawns - Rice - Salad dressing - Shampoo - Shower gel Soap powder - Softener - Spinach - Squash - Tea - Tomatoes - Toothpaste Washing up liquid - Yoghurt CHECK FORWARD, BACKWARD AND DIAGONALLY, THEY ARE ALL THERE!

17. Which celebrity chef, a regular guest on TV's Ready Steady Cook, won The Weakest Link Chef Special in 2002? 18. Which Taiwanese director made the 2005 Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain? 19. The 'Undertaker', 'Ultimate Warrior' and Bret 'The Hitman' Hart are legends in which TV sport? 20. Which 2001 Kylie Minogue hit begins with the line 'La la, la la la la la'?

Compiled by Lucy Charman, formerly HMP’s Morton Hall and Peterborough.

ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND ON THE BACK PAGE PAGE

time I wonder ..!

N Z S E R S A F E E

C E B U T T E R P Q A N O F M Y E

14. Football legend George Best played for which English club between 1963 and 1974?

Well, Jones, another search another mobile !

I

E B O N E D Z A D A B Y S

K H H T M D N

13. In a tennis match, what name is given to the official who sits in a high chair at one end of the net?

What’s your defence this

I

Give us five minutes to ring my brief and I’ll let you know !

Just how smart is your right foot? Try this for yourself, it's pretty strange and you’ll be baffled when you discover that you really can’t control your right foot, no matter how hard you try. See for yourself … While sitting where you are, lift your right foot off the floor and move it in clockwise circles. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand.

MW HMP DOVEGATE

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Tel: 0191 2321006 Fax: 0191 2320445 Irrespective of where you are in your life sentence you will experience delay in your progression. We can help. We advise on sentence planning, risk assessment and career progression of life sentence prisoners. We also specialise in mandatory lifer panels, discretionary lifer panels, IPP cases, recalls, CCRC applications and judicial reviews.

Your foot will now be moving in a different direction! We told you so, and there's nothing you can do about it. Before the day is done you will probably try it again, and again but if you have got your Inside Time early enough you could win a few bets - be very quick !

7

LIKE TV’s ‘Catchphrase’

14

I T SUDOKU

_ondon _aris

Just say What you see!

9ALL5 3 1

1

nafish nafish

cut cut cut cut

2

BLU

cut

16

9

3

FAIRY, WOLF & DUCKLING

• Chestnut •

ALLworld

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O V E R S

issue issue issue issue issue

lettuce cucumber tomato onion cress

19

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G G P

6

wear clean

Reawithson

Waether

HOAWNLD = BTUWSOH

2 4

5

7 8

1

6 3 2 7

2

3

4

5

must get here must get here must get here

6

7 8

9

10

12

13

14 15

16 17

19

18

20

21 22

23

26

24

25

27

ANSWERS TO

Clues Down

20

13

1 4

8 9 3

11

2. Name usually given to the US President’s wife (5,4) 3. Slightly open (4) 4. Responsible (6) 5. Wood (3) 6. Praises (5) 7. _ _ _ _ _ Arabia (5) 10. Cricket Dismissal (6)

8 6

3

1 2 7

1 8 5 1

8 2 5 7

2 7

1. Relaxed (7) 5. Amiss (4) 8. Major blood vessel (5) 9. Pizza Topping (7) 11. Information (4) 12. James Galway, for example(8) 15. Vegetarian Meal (5) 16. Cuts of Meat (5) 19. Dorset Town (8) 21. Cup of tea, possibly (4) 23. Prejudiced (7) 25. Scavenging Beast (5) 26. Daze (4) 27. Travel to work (7)

18

12

5

7

Clues Across

ATfrankfrankRA

issue issue issue issue issue

4

General Knowledge Crossword

Mail Male

11

4

6

17

10

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3 2 7

6

5 2 8 1 3 9 4 4 5

15

8

7 8 6

13 Far from ideal (9) 14. Exit (3,3) 17. Where an artist may work (6) 18. Perspire (5) 20. Dismiss (5) 22. 1980’s pop band (4) 24. Possess (3)

SUDOKU AND THE CROSSWORD

ARE ON THE BACK PA G E

A N S W E R S O N T H E E D G E O F T H I S PA G E > > > > > > > >

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Specialists in Prison Law and Criminal Defence Work We can assist you with : • • • • • •

All criminal court proceedings Adjudications Parole Applications Re categorisation and transfers HDC refusals Licence recalls

or any other prison law matter For a guaranteed prompt response c o n t a c t R a c h e l B a l d w i n at Shepherds Solicitors,Kendray Business Centre Thorton Road Kendray Barnsley S70 3NA

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3. Growing Pains 4. Leftovers 5. Ping Pong 6. A Bad Spell Of Weather 7. The Tale Of Two Cities 8. (A) Cut Above The Rest 9. Divide & Conquer 10. Postman 11. Tennis Shoes 12. Within Reason 13. A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush 14. All In A Days Work 15. Blue Movie 16. The Good The Bad & The Ugly 17. Frank Sinatra 18. Side Salad 19. Clean Underwear 20. The Three Musketeers

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

Jailbreak

....Catchphrase answers....Catchphrase answers....Catchphrase answers... Catchphrase answers.. 1.Tuna Fish 2. (It’s) A Small World After All

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W R I GH T W A Y SOLIC S IT ORS Humans Rights Judicial Reviews Immigration Cases Recall Hearings Tariff Reviews Parole Board Hearings Lifer Hearings Categorisation Complaints Adjudications Write to Appeals Norbert, Nerisa or Ekaete Transfers Parole Applications Wrightway Solicitors Licence Revocations 83 Lewisham High Street Recalls Lewisham Advocacy (assistance in London SE13 5JX

Specialist solicitors, covering all areas of prison law

disciplinary proceedings

0208 297 0044

before a Governor or

Fax: 0208 297 0060

other prison authority if

NATIONWIDE SER VICE

representation is allowed)

Poetry

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

★

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Love and Sorrow Marcus O Neill – HMYOI Reading

Congratulations to Shane Canning - HMP Highdown who wins our £25 prize for 'Star Poem of the Month'.

I know you ll never love me And this is why I cry I ll never feel your hand in mine Or hear you softly sigh I know you ll never miss me Or notice that I ve gone To me you are somebody To you I am no one

Role Models Shane Canning - HMP Highdown

I know you ll never cry for me I ll never cross your mind You ll never waste a thought on me I ll always find the time I know you ll never look for me The way I look for you Each face you see is different Each woman I see is you

Hi, I'm a pop star, everything’s going fine, Can I continue this interview when I've had another line? Hello, I'm a model and I've got everything I need, How do I keep my figure? Well, that's all down to speed. I'm a best-selling author, just an ordinary bloke, I get my best ideas with the little weed I smoke. Me? I'm an actor, box office superstar, I like to go out drinking, propping up the bar.

I know you ll never lose your heart The way that I lost mine They say that time s a healer To me there is no time I know you ll never love me And this is why I cry Although my body s living My heart is bound to die I know you ll never love me And this is why I cry

I'm a TV presenter, you see me reading the news, But when I'm not on the box, I also drink lots of booze. Now me, I'm an 'IT' girl, the talk of the town, You’ll find me in the toilet - booting a line of brown. I'm a c‘ elebrity’ - TV got me fame, I have a chosen poison ... a few lines of cocaine. You know me I'm a footballer, I play for England at the back, Last year I was in the papers, I got caught smoking crack. So what keeps us together, as we all unite as one? We all got caught taking drugs … but none of us got done. So what sort of message does this send to people in the street? To avoid drug convictions change your name to Kate or Pete.

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 Jennifer or Cosmas at: JOSEPH MYNAH & CO SOLICITORS Unit 54 Grove Business Centre, 560-568 High Road, London N17 9TA

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Assistance with all Prison Law issues, in particular CCRC Applications, Adjudications and Parole Board Hearings Specialists in all aspects of Criminal Law with particular expertise in Serious Crime and Fraud Cases and Confiscation Proceedings

For a prompt service please contact

Gareth Martin or Sarah Bull 19 Ralli Courts West Riverside Manchester M3 5FT 0161 831 5535

approved member of the Serious Fraud Panel

HiAce Solicitors The Legal Rights Bureau For proactive and dedicated advice and assistance in all aspects of prison law and Criminal matters including:• Licence Recall • Categorisation and Transfer • Parole Board Hearings • Adjudications • Tariff Representation • ALP/DLP/HDC/MDT/VDT/ROTL • Complaints about Maltreatment • Human Rights • Appeals • Criminal Cases Review • Judicial Review • Immigration including Deportations Contact Herbert Anyiam at HiAce Solicitors 24 Barclay Road, Croydon CR0 1JN

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The Poem's Trap Abz Rauf - HMP Grendon I'm writing on this board Within these four walls Asian, five foot ten tall Can anyone hear me? I'm giving you a call, Can anyone see me? I'm behind this steel door I've been here … I don't know how long for I'm gonna stay here Don't know how long any more If you open this metal flap You will see me, perhaps You could pass me a map So I can escape this poem's trap.

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

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

Regretfully we cannot make cash grants. Nor can we offer legal or appeals advice. If you would like further information, or a visit from one of our caseworkers to discuss assistance please write to: TRBL / SSAFA Forces Help (Ref Inside Time) Freepost SW1345, 48 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JY

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

Poetry

Insidetime May 2008 www.insidetime.org

The Special Brew Crew

Abandonment Matthew Walsh - HMP Camp Hill I'm coming home - it's been too long I've missed you so much, Your kind smile, beautiful hair and loving touch While together we become as one; A knot pulled tight, forcibly undone, My heart can sense it the time is near, The sky is a perfect blue, the air is clear The sun it shines - the birds are in full song I'm coming home - it's been too long.

The Good Neighbour

2-4-5-8 … make it a crate A slab of 24 cans of special brew mate. A can of brew for breakfast 'n' I feel great 24 cans later I'm in a right 2 and 8! You know all I want to do if the truth be told Is hang around outside drinkin' Carlsberg liquid gold, To maximise the pleasure it should always be drunk cold And if I've been munching Es, I always drink untold. Ecstasy and special brew is such a wicked buzz Not sure how or why – I don't know what it does, But every time I mix 'em I get in trouble with the fuzz Why do the bloody filth always seem to harass us? No drinkin' in public places is such a fucked up law, What do they think park benches and cans of beer are for? It gives the filth a kick to pour my beer onto the floor And say ‘don't let me catch you drinking brew round here no more’. But when the brew crews out in force they don't come near They tip toe past in silence, trembling with fear, We'd kick their fuckin' heads in, the situation’s clear Don't ever come between the special brew crew and their beer. Why such fascist laws, why can't I get pissed in peace? Special brew's expensive without fines from the police. If the coppers were drunk too, we'd all get along with ease, We'd stagger round as drunk as lords drinkin' where we pleased!

Shama Dookhooah - HMP Downview ‘Sorry’ was just so hard to say, It's a word I think of now, every single day. Before that came an attitude change Inside my head the emotions range Admission of crime For which I do time A hard look in the mirror to see the wrongs Retributive justice for a coked-up con. History can't have a rewrite But even now I refuse my pipe Enough of the drugs to numb the pain I finally face what drove me insane. Now I'm here I'll try my best So I'm not written off like the rest Of my past I'm fully shamed My inner demons I have to tame. Remorse, regret, full of sorrows A new start, my hope of tomorrow.

> NEXT ISSUE Week commencing 2nd June 2008

Gotcha!

Harry Cross - HMP Lewes

Repentance

40

We will award a prize of £25 to the entry selected as our 'Star Poem of the Month'. To qualify for a prize, poems should not have won a prize in any other competition or been published previously. Send entries to: Inside Time ‘Poetry' PO Box 251 Hedge End Hampshire SO30 4XJ.

Somewhere along this street, unknown to me, Behind a maze of apple trees and stars, He rises in the small hours, finds a book, And settles at a window or a desk To see the morning in, alone for once, Unnamed, unburdened, happy in himself: I don't know who he is; I've never met him Walking to the fish-house or the bank, And yet I think of him on nights like these, Walking alone in my own house, my other neighbours Quiet in their beds, like drowsing flies. He watches what I watch, tastes what I taste, On winter nights the snow; in summer the sky He listens for the bird lines in the clouds And, like that ghost companion in the old explorer’s tales, That phantom in the sleet, fifth in a party of four, He's not quite there, but not quite in existent nonetheless: And when he lays his book down, checks the hour And fills a kettle, something hooded stops As cell by cell, a heartbeat at a time, My one good neighbour sets himself aside And alters into someone I have known: A passing stranger on the road to grief, Husband and father, rich man and poor man, thief.

Editorial Note: This poem was sent to Inside Time by Duane Clarke, resident at HMP Preston. We thought it was brilliant and selected it as our ‘Star Poem of the Month’. But then after a little research we discovered that it was in fact written by the poet John Burnside and is included in his latest collection: The Good Neighbour published by Jonathan Cape. The Good Neighbour was chosen ‘The Sunday Poem’ and featured on 30th January 2005 by the Independent on Sunday.

Bretherton Law SOLICIT ORS Specialising in Criminal Defence and Prison Law. In particular:-

Jailbreak ANSWERS TO TO THIS MONTH’S TWENTY QUESTIONS TO TO TEST YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Parole Hearings Licence Recalls Adjudications Re-categorisation Requests/Complaints

1.Archaeologist 2. Connecticut 3. Canaletto 4. Rick 5. Xylophone 6. Walker Brothers 7. Italian Grand Prix 8. Italia Conti 9. Kendo 10.Crash

11. Green 12. 1970s 13. Umpire 14. Manchester United 15. Magnesium 16. Mikhail Gorbachev 17.Antony Worrall Thompson 18. Ang Lee 19. Wrestling 20.'Can't Get You Out Of My Head'

ANSWERS TO TO LAST MONTH’S GEMA PRIZE MUSIC QUIZ 1.Bryan Adams 2. Pearl Jam 3. Sheryl Crow 4. Pearl Jam 5. Metallica

6. Hole 7. Ace of Base 8. Christina Aguilera 9. 4 Non Blondes 10. Bitch by Meredith Brooks

SUDOKU 8 1 6 3 5 4 9 7 2

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9 4 7 5 8 3 2 6 1

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General Knowledge Crossword

Contact: Costa Cantaris or Ozlem Erbil Bretherton Law Alban Row 27-31 Verulam Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL3 4DG

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