Exclusive: Operation Safeguard confirmed by Ministry of Justice after damning report on conditions in one of UK’s biggest jails
The government has formally triggered a crisis measure to ease prison overcrowding by using police cells to house inmates.
The confirmation of Operation Safeguard by the Ministry of Justice follows a decision to consider releasing some prisoners 70 days before their sentences were due to end.
Continue reading...Natalie Elphicke said she was defecting to Labour due to ‘broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government’
PMQs starts in just over 20 minutes, and today there will be particular interest in the mood on the Conservative benches. Rishi Sunak has actively embraced the theory that the local election results show Labour is not on course to win an overall majority, but this is based on a projection that has been widely dismissed as unrealistic.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
It’s an issue of humanity and I think you’ve got to show equivalence. I condemn unequivocally the actions of Hamas on Oct 7; those 134 hostages must be released. At the same time I condemn unequivocally the actions of the IDF and Netanyahu; 34,000 people have perished including 14,000 children.
It’s utterly wrong and an insult to those victims to equate the brutality of Hamas to the legitimate military measures that Israel is taking in defence of its people and nation.
Continue reading...Longer sentences and court backlogs push 25% of prisoners in England and Wales into shared cells, adding to drug-use and violence
The scale of the prison overcrowding crisis has been laid bare by figures revealing that a quarter of prisoners in England and Wales have been sharing cells designed for one person with at least one other inmate.
According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), 11,018 cells intended for single use were being shared by two prisoners, with a further 18 such cells shared by three inmates. The overall prison population – which has ballooned over recent decades because of longer sentences and court backlogs – stood at about 88,000 when the statistics were originally compiled in late February.
Continue reading...Police Scotland thanks public who helped trace 29-year-old Jamie Ross who escaped from guards while at Edinburgh crematorium
A prisoner who escaped from guards while attending a family funeral in Scotland has been found, police said.
Officers began a search for Jamie Ross after he absconded from custody at about lunchtime on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Little action has been taken on issue at one of UK’s most notorious jails, Independent Monitoring Board says
Black prisoners are disproportionately subjected to the use of force inside one of Britain’s most notorious jails, a report has found.
The annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board, a statutory body that monitors the treatment of prisoners, found that from June 2022 to May 2023, black prisoners in Wormwood Scrubs were subjected to 43% of use-of-force incidents although they formed just 27% of the prison population.
Continue reading...Hackney MP says she feels more vulnerable after Tory donor said looking at her makes you ‘want to hate all black women’
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Conservative former chancellor, has said that the remarks about Diane Abbott attributed to Frank Hester were clearly racist and sexist. But he said he did not know for sure that Hester actually used those words.
Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Live, Kwarteng said:
[Those comments] are clearly racist, and they’re clearly sexist.
And I think Diane [Abbott] was right to point out that the call to violence, even in a flippant way, is really inappropriate. So they were very stupid remarks.
Continue reading...Inspector says he was ‘deeply shocked’ by incidents with no female officer present at young offender institution
An “incredibly vulnerable” girl held in a young offender institution was pinned down and stripped by an all-male group of officers on at least two occasions, a watchdog has discovered.
Charities have called for all female offenders to be removed from YOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire after the damning disclosure by the chief inspector of prisons.
In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Panel said it was not satisfied releasing former singer, jailed for sexually abusing girls, was safe for public
Paul Gadd, known as the former pop star Gary Glitter, has lost a bid to be freed from prison where he is serving a sentence for sexually abusing girls.
Gadd, 79, was automatically released from prison in February 2023, halfway through a 16-year sentence – but was recalled just six weeks later for allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.
Continue reading...James wrote A Life Inside column while serving sentence for murder and later edited Inside Time newspaper
Erwin James, the writer of an influential Guardian column about life in prison who would go on to be a leading voice on criminal justice, has died.
James, real name Erwin James Monahan, was convicted of murder in 1984 and served 20 years in prison.
Continue reading...Jason Moore says he learned of £10k reward to have him stabbed shortly after court of appeal application
A man in prison for a murder of which the victim’s family believes he is innocent says he fears for his life after learning intelligence of a hit ordered on him.
Jason Moore’s conviction for stabbing to death Robert Darby in an east London pub car park in 2005 relied heavily on witness testimony that is now in doubt. The victim’s brother, Tim Darby, is among those campaigning for Moore’s release.
Continue reading...Joe Outlaw is one of 2,921 inmates still on IPP sentences, which were abolished in 2012
It should be impossible to escape from a high-security prison, doubly so for prisoners held on the segregation unit, who are allowed only to exercise in a caged yard.
But on 21 June, the summer solstice and the hottest day of the year at that point, Joe Outlaw managed to break through the cage and get on to the roof of HMP Frankland, a Durham prison dubbed “Monster mansion” due to many of its inmates being convicted murderers, terrorists and sex offenders.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Orders should be done within a year of sentence as experts blame ‘chronic understaffing’ in probation service
More than 5,500 unpaid work orders that form part of community sentences have not been completed more than two years after being handed down, with experts blaming “chronic understaffing” in the probation service.
Ordinarily the orders, which can be for between 40 and 300 hours, should be completed within 12 months of sentence. Figures show there are more than 15,100 unpaid work orders not completed in that time in England and Wales,
Continue reading...Inmates at HMP Frankland in County Durham, some of ‘hardest to reach people in society’, did course in a year with no internet access
Inmates serving long sentences at one of the UK’s most secure prisons have been allowed to study GCSE English for the first time and have outperformed many of their peers on the outside.
More than three-quarters of the small cohort of prisoners who sat the exam at HMP Frankland in County Durham secured a pass at grade 4 or above – equivalent to a C – which is almost three times the success rate in further education colleges in England.
Continue reading...Change means drone operators could face fines up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of prisons or young offender institutions
New “no-fly zones” will be introduced around prisons in England and Wales to prevent drones being used to deliver drugs and contraband to inmates.
The legal change will mean drone operators could face fines of up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of closed prisons or young offender institutions.
Continue reading...Commons will vote on suspension recommended by independent expert panel after investigation
Peter Bone has issued a statement saying that the bullying and sexual misconduct claims about him made by a former employed, that have led to the IEP recommending a six-week suspension, are false and without foundation. He says the complainant did not raise them at the time and only submitted a complaint years after they had left.
As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.
The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months. The complainant first made the allegations years after they left my employment. They did not raise them at any time during their employment, either in writing or verbally with me, nor with their line managers …
I am also firmly of the opinion that on this occasion the independent complaints and grievance scheme investigation was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations. It is my belief that they have operated outside of the powers given to them by parliament and I am currently discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.
The commissioner found the following allegations proved:
Allegation 1: Mr Bone “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the complainant, and this was bullying.
Continue reading...HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite recent high-profile problems
Two-thirds of prisons in England and Wales are officially overcrowded, with HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite the alleged escape of a terror suspect last month.
In September there were 663 more men in Wandsworth than the 950 the south London prison has “good, decent” accommodation for, under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) definition. That means prisoners sharing cells designed for one, often with a toilet in the middle shielded by a curtain.
Continue reading...Use of portable buildings and more doubling up in cells could be part of package to be announced next week
Prisoners in England and Wales could be moved into portable buildings or released early as part of a huge extension of the electronic tagging scheme, as the justice secretary considers creative measures to solve the overcrowding crisis.
Alex Chalk KC is expected to reveal a package of measures on Monday that could add 1,000 prison places across the estate, the Guardian understands.
Continue reading...Government accused of letting down victims as full prisons mean convicted criminals will spend longer on bail
Victims of crime in England and Wales are being let down by a government that has failed to provide adequate resources to the criminal justice system, women’s groups have said, after it emerged that sentencing hearings of convicted criminals currently on bail – including rapists and burglars – were to be delayed because prisons are full.
It has been reported that the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, Lord Justice Edis, issued the guidance on a private call with senior crown court judges. A government source told the Guardian it applied to those who had been on bail throughout the court process and had, therefore, already been assessed as lower risk.
Continue reading...Humza Yousaf says Lisa Cameron’s move was ‘the least surprising news I’ve had as leader of the SNP’
NHS waiting lists have hit a new record high, with more people facing long waits, PA Media reports. PA says:
Figures for the NHS in England show 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July.
This is the highest number since records began in August 2007 and comes despite Rishi Sunak saying cutting waiting lists is one of his priorities.
Continue reading...Inquests flag up gaps in the care of prisoners in relation to at least nine deaths in custody since 2021
Prison understaffing and workload issues have been flagged in at least nine inquests into deaths in custody since the start of 2021, according to an Observer analysis of coroners’ reports.
Issues raised include gaps in monitoring of prisoners due to understaffing, a lack of prison-based clinical staff and shortcomings in the keyworker programme. Coroners have also repeatedly identified problems with staff training and the assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) process for prisoners identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm.
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