Harder Time: Recall to Prison

The UK’s overcrowded prisons wings hold both prisoners who are on remand and inmates who have been convicted. However, it can be forgotten that they also accommodate a significant number of 'recalls' - people who have been released on licence and then recalled to prison without being brought before the courts. For many cons the period they spend banged up on recall can prove to be far worse than their original custodial sentence.   

New name, same problems

The rules about recall to prison can be complex and depend on the type of sentence being served. Most prisoners who have been sentenced to fixed terms in custody will be released on licence at the halfway point. 

For example, on a four-year term of imprisonment, the inmate can expect to serve two years in prison, followed by two years on licence supervised by either the National Probation Service or by one of the newly created Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). Which body will be supervising during the period on licence is determined by the individual level of risk of re-offending the individual supposedly poses. Those who are deemed to be low and medium risk will be supervised by a local CRC as part of the government’s highly controversial ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ initiative. 

Life sentenced prisoners and those inmates who are serving Indeterminate Public Protection (IPP) Sentences – no longer imposed since 2012 – are subject to different rules. Lifers will be subject to life licence (and recall to prison) for the remainder of their lives, although IPPs can make an application to have their licence conditions lifted after they have been released back into the community for ten years. Other prisoners who are serving Extended Sentences will be on licence for longer periods than ordinary determinate sentenced prisoners. 

During any licence period, the individual who has been released is subject to his or her licence conditions. These consist of six so-called ‘standard’ conditions that are common to all ex-prisoners on licence:

• Behave appropriately and not commit further offences or undertake any activity that may undermine their attempts to resettle in the community. 

• Maintain contact with their supervising probation officer and do what is asked of them. 

• Allow their supervising probation officer to visit them at home if they need to. 

• Live at an address approved by their probation officer and keep them informed of any changes of address (even if only for one night). 

• Only do work, paid or unpaid, that has been approved by their probation officer and keep them notified of any changes in employment. 

• Not travel outside of the United Kingdom without prior permission.

Additional licence conditions, such as curfews, residence at an approved premises (hostel), submitting to testing for drugs, prohibition on contact with victims and participation in programmes can also be imposed depending on the nature of the offence and identified risk factors.

Not so very far from reality

It is very important to note that it is not necessary for an ex-prisoner who is on licence to commit any new criminal offence before he or she can be recalled, although an arrest for anything is almost certain to lead directly to a recall. Failure to abide by licence conditions or any behaviour that gives the supervising officer cause for concern can be sufficient to justify recall to prison at any time. 

There are two main schools of thought on recalls. Cons who have been recalled will tell anyone willing to listen that they have been returned to prison for “nothing”, although on closer questioning they usually admit to doing something daft – such as spending nights away from their approved address – or breaking some other condition in their licence, or being caught taking drugs. On the other hand, probation officers (now called ‘offender managers’) will claim that they really dislike recalling people and try to avoid it wherever possible because of the additional paperwork the whole process generates. My own view is that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

I do know a number of people who are not violent who have been recalled to custody because of disagreements with their probation supervisor. Others are back in the slammer because some aspect of their behaviour – which in anyone else might be considered a very minor, non-criminal matter – has caused “concern”. In my experience, this tends to happen in those cases where an offender manager was never really in favour of the individual’s release in the first place. 

Back so soon?

Once recalled to prison, however, the ex-prisoner immediately becomes a con once more. He or she reverts straight to Entry level within the revised Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system and adult male prisoners go back into grubby, ill-fitting prison uniforms again. They have very limited privileges and are basically treated as new receptions for at least the first two weeks of their recall (although the rules do allow for at least some of the induction requirements to be waived).

According to the rules, all prisoners subject to recall should be given written reasons for what has happened. This is often called a ‘recall pack’. In practice, it can take weeks or longer for a recall to even get sight of any documents. 

What is far more psychologically stressful is the uncertainty that many recalls face over their futures. This is particularly acute for lifers and IPPs, since they are only released on licence once they have satisfied the Parole Board that their risk can be managed in the community. If recalled to prison, they will need to go through the whole parole process again, including having an oral hearing before the Board - always a very stressful experience.

Prisoners serving shorter, fixed sentences may either be recalled for a fixed term of 28 days – basically a kind of ‘short, sharp shock’ – or on a standard recall. The latter is applicable when a prisoner has been convicted of a violent or sexual offence, or where their risk is judged to be high. Those subject to standard recall may find that they will serve the whole of the rest of their original sentence in custody, or they can make an application to the Parole Board for re-release on licence.

It's all too true

There can be instances where prisoners slip through the cracks. As an Insider (peer mentor) in a C-cat prison, I once had to deal with a young bloke who had been released at the halfway point in his fixed term sentence, but had been recalled a week later when he was caught taking drugs. 

He was a nice lad, but a bit of a numpty. Because he didn’t bother seeking legal advice or following up on his recall, he just sat around in prison doing nothing. I discovered that no-one in the prison’s Offender Management Unit (OMU) had bothered to see him and he had already ended up serving an additional two years on recall without any review. No application had been made to the Parole Board because no-one had bothered to explain to him what he should or could do. Needless to say he was functionally illiterate. 

Finally, I wrote on his behalf to his offender manager (outside probation) and reminded her of his existence. His case eventually went before the Parole Board and was then granted immediate re-release. Unfortunately, I later heard that he’d gone back to drugs and had been recalled for a second time. Without proper support for his ongoing addictions – beyond being prescribed methadone while in custody – it was probably inevitable that he’d be in and out of the revolving door of the prison system.

If I have a constructive criticism to make of the present recall system it is the lack of communication between OMUs and the recalled prisoners. During the period of uncertainty, it is easy for inmates to get very depressed and either resort to self-harm or to even suicide. I believe that if each recalled prisoner had a clearer idea of the likely timescale involved, then at least some of these tragedies could be avoided.

The current recall system can also make it very difficult for ex-prisoners who are on licence to rebuild their lives back in the community. I know people personally who have been released on a parole licence, have found work fairly quickly and have started the difficult process of reintegrating back into ‘normal’ life when a very minor incident or misunderstanding has resulted in an immediate recall to prison. 

Hope: it's what keeps most prisoners going

In one swift stroke, everything that a person has achieved since his or her release from prison – employment, enrolment in education courses, finding accommodation – can be destroyed and they can be left teetering on the brink of mental breakdown and at risk of self-harm. It can also prove devastating to their families, who are often left feeling helpless and desperately worried for the safety of their loved one who is back in prison without any idea of when – or even if – they will be released, especially in the case of lifers or IPPs, who after having had a taste of freedom may again face years without knowing what their eventual fate will be.

Of course, I’m sure that in such cases the supervising officers would defend their actions in initiating the recall on the grounds of public protection. However, based on my own experience as an Insider of dealing with the fall-out and human cost that recall can involve, I think the way prisons deal with recalled cons could be greatly improved, particularly in terms of better communications and assigning personal officers who have experience of dealing with recalls and the special problems that they face.

It would be very interesting to know how many of those prisoners who have recently committed suicide in custody were actually on recall at the time. I suspect that the number will be much higher than anyone will be willing to admit publicly. I'm going to try to find out and I'll let readers know.