tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post3462782667623257257..comments2024-03-19T08:48:37.047+00:00Comments on Prison UK: An Insider's View: Books and Pants: the Battle ContinuesPrisonUKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-20723402905344266752016-12-11T21:31:11.267+00:002016-12-11T21:31:11.267+00:00I hope this is seen and someone can respond! I hav...I hope this is seen and someone can respond! I have a loved one going to prison and I wrote a list of things he should pack to take with him based on what I have read online but now I've read that prisoners aren't even allowed their own pants and socks? <br /><br />Is there anything he can take in? (He will be cat-B.) I was hoping he could at least take his own underwear, some paper/pens/envelopes/stamps and maybe a couple of books :/ <br /><br />Also he is very tall and large roughly XXXL or XXXXL... with all these shortages will they even be able to get him clothes that fit?! <br /><br />Thanks in advanceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-50042980207121764762016-11-07T16:15:44.901+00:002016-11-07T16:15:44.901+00:00Dear Alex,
Thank you for your amazing blog! I am...Dear Alex, <br /><br />Thank you for your amazing blog! I am doing a PhD related to prison and information you provide is very interesting and useful. It also shows the comparison between the information available from the Government and the reality. <br />I am interested in volumetric control boxes and I have read in multiple documents about their use and measurements. But what do these volumetric control boxes look like? I have been trying to find photos and images, but I can't seem to find any depiction of them. <br />Would you be able to help me in the right direction or do you happen to have a photo of them? <br />Kind regards, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-86876518564055163792015-02-12T13:50:44.466+00:002015-02-12T13:50:44.466+00:00I guess Sports Direct would be a good clothes supp...I guess Sports Direct would be a good clothes supplier for Prisons.<br /><br />I read an article about Martina Cole visiting a Prison to promote the Six Book Challenge scheme recently. I had never read any of her books until now and the reason is perfectly clear - full of swear words and convicts! I guess she is a good starting point if you enjoy reading about crime and foul language.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-58937757818413090192015-02-08T16:33:52.005+00:002015-02-08T16:33:52.005+00:00Thanks for the link.Thanks for the link.PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-4647438316949088662015-02-08T16:32:34.953+00:002015-02-08T16:32:34.953+00:00Thanks for the link. British justice not covering ...Thanks for the link. British justice not covering itself with glory yet again!PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-10930301992953268692015-02-08T12:46:55.321+00:002015-02-08T12:46:55.321+00:00Also off topic but amusing a you tube vid about ta...Also off topic but amusing a you tube vid about talking to the police if arrested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc&feature=kpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-35384556193141266372015-02-08T10:44:21.005+00:002015-02-08T10:44:21.005+00:00Off topic but another scandal by the British gover...Off topic but another scandal by the British government in relation to an innocent man being denied justice down to lack of co-operation by the Home Office:<br /><br />http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/britain-criticised-for-dna-hold-up-keeping-an-innocent-man-locked-up-in-spanish-prison-10031429.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-87595489920630793422015-02-05T16:42:26.244+00:002015-02-05T16:42:26.244+00:00When the IEP changes came in I was at Holloway aft...When the IEP changes came in I was at Holloway after Downview closed. There was a hue and cry that we were no longer permitted white shirts or black trousers or anything which could approximate an officer's uniform because apparently we would simply dress up as an officer in this clothing and slip out the back door. Bloody silly decision considering the number of officers and education and other staff wandering round in normal clothing we could potentially impersonate. Visitors passes had no names or photos on them and visitors were not photographed. It would therefore have been incredibly easy to have impersonated someone wearing normal street clothing and get out that way if you were so minded. A lot easier than faking a uniform would be. I'd also note that Holloway had no incidents at all where any prisoner had even attempted to impersonate an officer for any purpose let alone escape so it was yet another pointless decision by HMPS that had absolutely no rationale behind it..<br /><br />Mind you Bronzefield whern I was there used to produce similarly silly diktats at regular intervals. We all used to sit there when one of these security memos was sent out going "you know what we would NEVER have thought about doing that but now, you've mentioned it . . . ". Maybe you can posit that the security departments in women's closed local prisons have nothing better to do with their time than think up daft things the prisoners might potentially do and then legislate against these silly fantasies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-53793762271881391462015-02-05T16:22:26.096+00:002015-02-05T16:22:26.096+00:00Thanks for your very enlightening contribution. I ...Thanks for your very enlightening contribution. I was pretty fortunate in that I was a new reception nearly two years before the revised IEP scheme came into effect. It did cause me a few problems - mainly disposing of black clothing, but by then I was at a Cat-D so I just took it all home on ROTL.<br /><br />The problem of grubby, old and stained prison kit was common to all six jails I had experience of. In the open prison it was assumed you wouldn't need any prison issue beyond bedding and work clothes, so they never had anything vaguely decent or clean in stock. When the new rules were introduced it was a chaos as prisoners were arriving from closed prisons in the kit they stood up in and there were no replacements available. One lad had to wear the same stinking trackies and t-shirt he arrived in for two weeks before he received some clean ones.<br /><br />The revised IEP policies have hit open prisons very hard. By the time I was released, you were no longer permitted to buy any clothing - or anything else for that matter - while on ROTL. Of course, some people did buy clean underwear and come back in wearing three pairs of socks or pants!<br /><br />During the winter, this meant that lots of prisoners had no access to warm winter coats or other clothing. Really terrible - particularly for the older men - and totally unnecessary, especially at a resettlement prison.<br /><br />Because of the changes to the IEP system, the M&M catalogues available didn't have a single winter coat that met the new rules. All were either black, or padded or had a hood. In the end, the governor had to introduce a local 'transitional' period where we were permitted to order coats from other suppliers or get ones we had at home sent in. Otherwise half of us would have got hypothermia during that winter. A total fiasco caused by Chris Grayling for no good reason.PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-10555490475835834342015-02-05T16:07:42.225+00:002015-02-05T16:07:42.225+00:00In all the female jails I have been in, the prison...In all the female jails I have been in, the prison provided bras, knickers and socks from stores which were all brand new. I've not heard of a single female jail where this was not the case. It would therefore be possible for an enterprising male prisoner to file a discrimination suit against the MoJ for failing to provide the equivalent in male establishments after all the Equalities Act makes it illegal for a public body to discriminate against someone by reason of their sex.<br /><br />I have to say the underwear provided by the prison was cheap and fell apart pretty quickly although the socks were relatively robust apart from the elastic that held them up. But at least it was all new and unworn by others. We could also purchase underwear from Gladrags which exists in most closed female prisons I'm aware of (or the local equivalent) which was generally sourced from Primark and thus also fell apart relatively quickly especially if you stuck it in a prison wash. AT ESP you could go out and buy your own undies from Primark on your ROTLs. Not sure if that changed after the IEP scheme was updated or not as ESP didn't have a stores per se that you could get prison kit from.<br /><br />M & M catalogues were also available in every female nick I've been in. Never understood the selection of Very as most of the clothing Very sells really isn't the sort of thing you'd want to wear in prison or would be allowed to for that matter. Most of the women's skirts are too short, party dresses are not really something you'd buy either. Not to mention its really expensive for what it is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com