Early 2008 News

HEADLINE NEWS

what's happening in prisons across the UK today?

find out by trawling our news pages that cover 2007 -2008

Jail drugs crackdown targets prison officers
Sara Gaines and agencies
Society Guardian, Monday July 7, 2008

Prison officers are to undergo body scans as part of an £80m crackdown on illegal drug use in prisons, the government said today.

The justice secretary, Jack Straw, said the new body scanners would be introduced at every jail in England and Wales by next March, to stop "treacherous" staff betraying their colleagues.

Mobile phone blockers are also planned for every jail to stop smuggling by officers, inmates and visitors.

Straw attacked corrupt staff after a new report highlighted the role played by them in smuggling heroin and other illegal drugs.

"It is a betrayal of society and it is also treacherous to colleagues because with corruption and the smuggling of drugs by prison officers goes major problems of disorder," Straw said.

"It is intolerable and we are going to do everything we can to catch you and ensure you get a very long jail sentence."

Today's report, by former policeman David Blakey, also revealed some prisoners get hold of drugs by abusing a system designed to allow confidential communication with their lawyers.

Blakey said talks with the Law Society, which represents solicitors, should consider a registration scheme in a bid to foil the smugglers.

He also proposed a ban on visitors handing property such as clothes to inmates because illegal drugs can be stitched into garments.

And he said prison bank accounts should be more closely monitored, as they may be being used to operate drug dealing behind bars.

"These accounts should be a major source of intelligence and they are not. I am not entirely satisfied that the service is keeping sufficient track of money that is being held for prisoners within prisons and outside," he said.

His four-month review found "substantial amounts" of drugs are smuggled into prisons or thrown over prison walls.

"Inevitably some clever and manipulative prisoners attempt to cultivate and compromise prison officers," he said.

"Some officers engage in inappropriate relationships with prisoners and some prisoners offer to pay to staff large amounts of money … for drugs."

Most staff had great integrity but were let down by a minority of corrupt colleagues, he said.

Wednesday, 2 July 2008 14:30 UK
BBC NEWS
Guards injured in prison violence

Four guards were injured as violence broke out between inmates at a high security prison.

A brawl broke out at Durham's Frankland after a cell was set alight and three prisoners attacked another inmate last week, the prison service has confirmed.

It is understood the cell was that of convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Kamel Bourgass, who is serving life for the murder of a special branch detective.

Durham Police are now investigating the two incidents on Friday.

A force spokesman said: "During the disturbance one inmate was slashed across the face and another was punched and kicked.

"A number of prison officers who intervened were injured, one suffering a broken arm.

"Our inquiries into the incident are yet to be completed."

A Prison Service spokesman confirmed that there had been a cell fire early on Friday afternoon, which was followed by fighting about five hours later.

He said: "A fire was discovered in a cell. The incident was dealt with quickly, with no injuries to staff or prisoners.

Skin grafts

"We can confirm an incident took place when three prisoners assaulted another prisoner.

"Due to staff's swift and courageous response the incident was quickly resolved.

"Four members of staff and two prisoners required hospital treatment."

Last month, convicted bomb plotter Omar Khyam had his jail sentence extended for throwing boiling oil over a fellow inmate at the prison in October last year.

This followed a similar incident at the prison in July last year when al-Qaeda inmate Dhiren Barot was seriously burned with oil.

He needed skin grafts, but an assault charge against another inmate was dropped on the request of Barot.

Prison officers denied stabbing protection
13-05-2008

Leaders of the POA have expressed serious concerns following the incident at HMP Risley on 1st May 2008 when a prison officer was stabbed in the course of his duty.

On the morning of May 1st a fight broke out between 2 prisoners which staff de-escalated. However, in the afternoon a further disturbance occurred between prisoners which was believed may have been racially motivated.

Colin Moses, National Chairman of POA said:

“Incidents like this re-emphasise the need for prison staff to be empowered. It is clear that officers and other uniformed staff no longer feel they have full control of prisons and prisoners, and something needs to be done to put right this wrong. The professional men and women of the service undertake an extremely dangerous job which is not fully recognised by those in authority”.

Tom Robson, National Executive Committee said:

“Thankfully, the officer is now recovering having been hospitalised. However, when prison officers are faced with dangerous and violent situations which result in them having to draw extendable batons in an attempt to maintain good order and discipline, questions must be asked. I must praise the professional men and women who put their lives on the line to ensure good order was restored. With the current pressure on prison population, the loss of prison accommodation could be catastrophic”.

Prisoners offered £3,000 to leave UK
Exclusive By Stuart Arnold
FOREIGN prisoners in North-East jails were offered payments of up to £3,000 each to go back to their home countries in an attempt to reduce overcrowding.

The move was part of a series of measures intended to tackle the problem of overcrowding, which last Friday saw the number of prisoners in jails across the country exceed normal operational capacity for the first time.

The Northern Echo has spoken to serving prison officers who said that, as a result of a directive from the Prison Service, they were asked to identify foreign nationals who might be eligible for the offer.

It is thought it only related to prisoners convicted of lesser offences, and not to violent or more serious offenders.

In one instance at Holme House prison, near Stockton, eight prisoners were said to have been identified for the payments, which are not cash in hand, but financial support towards housing and training in their home countries.

However, only one, a Polish national, is understood to have taken up the offer.

Terry Fullerton, chairman of the Prison Officers Association (POA) at Holme House, said: "We had to go to their cells and offer them £3,000 if they were prepared to be repatriated to their own country.

"That is four times more than the annual pay award we received this year. That sticks in the throat of every prison officer."

Mr Fullerton added: "The problem is that we have more prisoners to lock up than we have spaces.

"We are constantly amazed at the ridiculous things the authorities come out with to try to reduce the numbers in prisons."

A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said it was happy to answer questions about overcrowding, but referred calls over payments to prisoners to the Home Office.

In turn, it issued a statement from Lin Homer, chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency.

She said the agency was operating what she called a facilitated returns scheme for "foreign law breakers".

She said: "We strongly believe foreign lawbreakers should be sent home at the earliest opportunity.

"Every day that we can get these individuals out of the country early saves our taxpayers over £100 a night.

"That's why we want to use the facilitated returns scheme to get as many foreign criminals out of the UK as possible."

Last Friday, there were 82,006 inmates in England and Wales, nearly 100 above the normal operational ceiling set by the Prison Service. Of these about 11,310 were foreign nationals.

The Government responded by announcing that thousands of convicted offenders would be eligible for release and deportation from Britain 270 days before the halfway point of their sentences, rather than 135 days as had been the case.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has asked magistrates to send fewer criminals to prison and urged courts to consider using more non-custodial sentences.

The POA said its members had also been asked to move as many as possible of those prisoners deemed not to be a risk to the public from higher category closed prisons in the region to less secure open jails. Steve Cox, national vicechairman of the Prison Officers Association, said: "Overcrowding is currently a huge problem. "The powers that be are wandering around prisons across the country looking at broom cupboards to see if they can be converted into a cell. "We have got prisoners being locked up for longer and when you do this, they get more aggravated. "We are heading towards a Nineties Manchester riot situation in many prisons." Mr Cox said that on top of that, the Prison Service was having to make cuts to its budget from next month. The service has said it plans to "maximise its resources" to deliver a safe and decent regime for prisoners. Mr Cox said: "The authorities have a lot of difficult decisions to be made. Unfortunately, decisions like these should have been taken five or six years ago when the indications were that we were facing a prison population problem."

4 March 2008 view more news view the topic view the article

select to read more of the Author JOHN CHILD!

PCS: Unions in joint call over prison overcrowding
Thursday, 28 Feb 2008 08:35
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are joining forces to urge the government to act on prison overcrowding at today’s European wide action day in Brussels (28 February). The call comes as the prison population in England and Wales has soared to an all-time high of around 82,000.
PCS and RCN will be joining trade unions from 10 European countries at today’s demonstration in Brussels, which will see over 400 prison staff including prison officers, administrative and health workers rallying outside the Council of Ministers building, Justus Lipsius from 12-3 pm. The ‘No to Prison Overcrowding’ rally organised by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) will coincide with a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs.
The European wide action comes as Europe’s prison population tops 600,000 with the majority of prisons facing overcrowding problems. In England and Wales two thirds of prisons are overcrowded causing:

Disruption to re-offending programmes.
An increase in deaths in custody.
Basic standards of human dignity to be compromised, with over 12,000 prisoners being held two to a cell in cells designed for one.
Prisoners to be transported all over the country in the search for spaces, costing the taxpayer millions in transportation, causing delays to the criminal justice system, and jeopardising family relationships.
Dr Peter Carter, RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive said: “Prison nurses are under enormous pressure due to prison overcrowding. We urge the Government to take action to combat this European wide problem of prison overcrowding.
“Our members are telling us that time constraints and high stress are impacting on their ability to fully assess prisoners’ needs and provide quality care and treatment - it’s simply unacceptable that they’re put in this predicament.”
Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “Prison overcrowding undermines the work our members do in ensuring the smooth running of prisons and the important work in rehabilitating offenders. The government needs to act on prison overcrowding by recognising that it cannot simply build its way out of the problem and that rehabilitation and tackling re-offending is key in addressing the problem.”
28 Feb 2008 view more news view the topic view the article

The Government is evicting more than 600 prison officers from their homes so they can move in convicted criminals to ease the jail overcrowding crisis.

The news comes as jails were declared absolutely full for the first time ever, with the number of inmates in England and Wales totalling 82,068 – almost 100 above the official safety limit.

The Ministry of Justice has told the warders to leave their State-owned properties by May 1 so they can be used to home burglars, thugs and drug dealers released on electronic tags – raising fears over public safety.

More than 100 of the homes, ranging from one-bedroom flats to large townhouses, are in prime sites across London, where prison officers, who have been paying heavily subsidised rent, claim they cannot afford to buy houses.

The offenders include prisoners without stable home addresses whom the Government would like to release on tags but fears may abscond. Also included are those on remand awaiting trial or sentence.

Tony Mottram, 47, his wife Silvia, their two children and a foster son are facing eviction from their four-bedroom house owned by the Prison Service next to Wandsworth jail in South London. He said: "Prison officers earn a pittance and I cannot afford to buy a home in London."

24 Feb 2008 view more news view the topic view the article

Published Date: 23 February 2008
Source: Sheffield Star
Location: Sheffield
By: Claire Lewis
A CHESTERFIELD dad is gearing up for a meeting with MPs next month to discuss the death of his troubled daughter.
Peter Blanksby's 19-year-old daughter Petra died in hospital days after strangling herself in her cell in New Hall Prison, Wakefield.

An inquest into her death heard Petra harmed herself at least 90 times over the 130 days she spent in custody before tying a ligature around her neck. She was on remand for arson with intent to endanger life after setting fire to her home in another attempt at self-harming following years of abuse as a child in care. Her father believes someone with her mental health problems should never have been in prison, and is now calling for changes to the law. A jury in the inquest into Petra's death returned a narrative verdict. They found "prison was not an appropriate place" in view of her condition and said "there appears to be no infrastructure in the Forensic Mental Health Service" for people with her problems.

Petra's father, of Wythburn Road, Newbold, said: "Petra was crying out for help. "Recommendations have been made but nothing's been done and until MPs start talking about it then other people will continue to die." Petra's twin sister Katie, now 23, is to discuss the tragedy in Parliament next month as part of her fight for improvements to the treatment of people with similar mental health problems. "They need to invest and build proper facilities for people with mental health problems," she said. "They should be in appropriate facilities so they can get into therapy and come out a different person and be able to lead a normal life. "Lots of people like Petra are in prison at the moment and shouldn't be."

The Blanksby family's barrister Leslie Thomas said: "This was a needless death. If the system ever let someone down it was this case. "As one prison officer said during the inquest, 'Petra was a death in custody waiting to happen' and I couldn't agree more. If prison officers can see this it begs the question why was this vulnerable young woman ever imprisoned in the first place."

The Times
January 30, 2008
Government ‘has no strategy for prisons’
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent
Successive Labour home secretaries are to blame for the overcrowding crisis in jails in England and Wales, the Chief Inspector of Prisons says.

Anne Owers describes the Government’s emergency prison-building programme, which has been drawn up to cope with the record numbers, as an “insubstantial and rather expensive liferaft”. With prisoners again being held in police cells, Ms Owers is scathing in her annual report, out today, about Labour’s policies, which have led to a big rise in the prison population.

The “crisis was predicted and predictable, fuelled by legislation and policies which ignored consequences, cost or effectiveness, together with an absence of coherent strategic direction,” she says. She criticises the plans of the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, to build up to three “Titan” prisons. “All the evidence coming out of my reports is that smaller prisons do better than larger ones,” she says. There is a risk that the prison-building programme will simply lead to “large-scale penal containment, spending more to accomplish less”. The plan to lock down prisons from Friday lunchtime until Monday morning is “fraught with risk”.

Amid restricted public spending, the system could deteriorate, Ms Owers says. “Emergency proposals to increase capacity may see the return of the prison ship, and conversion of unsuitable army camps, as well as no end to overcrowding and the use of police cells. None of this will enhance safety, decency or the reduction of offending.”

The Ministry of Justice has announced that the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is to be overhauled. Phil Wheatley, Director-General of the Prison Service, is to run both the prison and probation services as part of the revamp. Opposition MPs said that the announcement spelt the end of NOMS, four years after it was set up. One Whitehall source said: “It is game, set and match to Phil Wheatley. He is a proven manager. NOMS never got a grip on anything.”

January 30, 2008 view more news view the topic view article

Three years ago, the director general of the Prison Service vowed the "indefensible" way one of its prison officers was treated for whistleblowing would never happen again.

Yet, at a tribunal in Leeds earlier this month, it appeared the Prison Service had failed to keep that promise.

Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 01:10 GMT Trials of a prison whistleblower
By Marie Jackson BBC News

Now calls are being made for external agencies to intervene to make sure whistleblowers are given the protection they need.

Emma Howie, 35, joined the Prison Service in 1997 and within a few years she was put up for the National Prison Officer of the Year award.

Her career looked promising and it was a job she enjoyed.

However, things soon began to go very wrong after she gave evidence in a disciplinary hearing at Full Sutton, a maximum-security prison in York.

Sent a wreath

By speaking out, Ms Howie had broken an apparent tacit code and earned herself a reputation for being a prison "grass".

She claims her fellow officers then turned on her - a wreath was delivered to her at work, grass cuttings were sent in the post and a colleague spat at her two-year-old son.

As a result, Ms Howie moved to Wakefield prison in the hope she could put the distressing events behind her.
Director General Phil Wheatley

said lessons would be learned

But again she found herself in a situation where she had witnessed possible wrongdoing and felt obliged to report it.

So in December 2004, she gave evidence on behalf of a colleague, senior prison officer Carol Lingard, supporting her claims that there was bullying at Wakefield, one of the highest-security prisons in the country.

Mrs Lingard won her claim of unfair dismissal against the Prison Service and was awarded £500,000, believed to be the largest public sector payout for whistleblowing.

During that tribunal the evidence from Mrs Lingard and Ms Howie exposed a culture of victimisation of whistleblowers.

'Never again'

In response, Phil Wheatley, the Prison Service's director general, told BBC's File on Four that Mrs Lingard had been "failed at every level by the organisation".

"This is, from my point of view, a regrettable and indefensible incident and one I don't ever want to recur again at Wakefield or anywhere else," he said.

He said lessons must be learned and complaints must be dealt with "properly and not, as in this case, fail the complainant".

But three years on, a tribunal panel has found that has happened again in the case of Ms Howie.

“Emma Howie is not a troublemaker - she has repeatedly done the right thing in very difficult circumstances”

John Sturzaker
Emma Howie's solicitor

On 10 January, Leeds Employment Tribunal found in favour of her claim against the Prison Service that she had suffered as a result of reporting wrongdoing.

The tribunal heard Ms Howie believed confidential documents detailing complaints she had made to her bosses were being leaked by a representative for the Prison Officers Association (POA) to another officer.

A 13-month investigation followed but the handling of it was "entirely inadequate", the tribunal found.

It highlighted a report by the Prison Service which identified lessons to be learned from the Lingard case, but said the service had failed to take the recommendations seriously.

The Prison Service had "uttered fine words but failed to carry those through into meaningful actions", it said.

The tribunal concluded a POA representative had been hostile to Ms Howie as a whistleblower, and that her legitimate interests were "entirely ignored". The POA was not available for comment.

29 January 2008 view more news view the topic view article

Times Online
January 19, 2008
Private prisons prove poor performers
Chris Gourlay, The Sunday Times
PRIVATELY run prisons are performing worse than their counterparts in the state sector, according to a leaked document.

An internal league table produced by the prison service ranks all 132 jails in England and Wales according to six measures.

The report places 10 of the 11 private jails in the bottom quarter and shows they are consistently worse than their publicly run equivalents.

The private prisons score particularly badly on maintaining order and security.

Peterborough prison in Cambridgeshire, which has been privately managed for three years, came bottom with a poor record for organisational effectiveness, decency and reducing re-offending.

The report will re-ignite the debate about whether the private sector should be involved in running prisons at a time when private companies are bidding to fund and manage a series of new jails.

Last month, the government announced plans to build three new “super-prisons” each with space for around 2,500 inmates to help tackle over-crowding.

Prison governors now want the government to re-consider proposals to expand private management of prisons.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said privately run and state sector prisons were difficult to compare. “Direct comparisons between public and private sector establishments are not appropriate because some data are counted differently in private prison contracts,” he said.

The government said it was working to develop a “consistent basis” for comparing prisons in both sectors.

Privately-managed prisons were introduced in the 1990s and are monitored by the prisons inspectorate in the same way as public sector jails.

January 19, 2008 view more news view the topic view article

Premium Dating Services

view news from 2007