tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post4776658326415615203..comments2024-03-19T08:48:37.047+00:00Comments on Prison UK: An Insider's View: A Voice From Out of The DepthsPrisonUKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-21935668104993567722014-08-14T23:36:01.552+01:002014-08-14T23:36:01.552+01:00Hi and thanks for your comments. It's really g...Hi and thanks for your comments. It's really good to learn that the blog is proving to be interesting and informative.<br /><br />When I first started blogging at the beginning of July, my main aim was to provide some much needed balance to the current debate over prisons, prisoners and probation. I'd noticed that although the national media is full of prison stories, very few prisoners (serving or recently released) are contributing or trying to give the other side of the story in order to correct distortions and misrepresentations. <br /><br />I also felt that it was important not to simply perpetuate the 'cons v screws' school of prison writing (which is sometimes a bit too evident in Inside Time or Converse, the two monthly newspapers aimed at prisoners). As a result, I decided not to name and shame individual prisons (unless commenting specifically on reports issued by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, where the whole report is already in the public domain). One reason for this is that I wanted to avoid simply criticising the four prisons I served my sentence in (or the other two I visited in transit) because that could just seem like personal animosity on my part. For that reason, I decided to focus on observations drawn from my own experience, and on information provided to me by others, but without being overly specific about the prison concerned. I do generally state the security category, as this is often relevant to the points being made.<br /><br />The other reason I'm careful about naming specific establishments is that I am still getting information from serving prisoners and I really don't want to put them at any risk, or to publish anything that might lead them to face increased monitoring of their mail and phone calls. As you can imagine, some prison governors are very touchy about many of the issues I'm raising and I don't want to provoke unnecessary trouble (remember, I'm also still on a parole licence myself!) <br /><br />What I have done, however, is ensure that the Prisons Inspectorate is made aware of my specific concerns regarding named prisons. I am also submitting a formal written contribution on the issue of suicides of young adult prisoners (18-24) to Lord Harris' official review, so hopefully some lessons may be learned.PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-24254821316078555222014-08-14T13:05:34.199+01:002014-08-14T13:05:34.199+01:00Is there a reason why you wouldn't want to ...Is there a reason why you wouldn't want to 'name and shame' particular prisons or governors, even while respecting the confidentiality of individual prisoners? Would it actually be breaking any laws to simply relate your experiences?<br /><br />It's difficult to avoid becoming angry reading an article like this one and it would be nice to shine the light a little more publicly where it's needed. <br /><br />Your blog has been hugely educational - thank you.<br />Colnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-19133071365776859252014-08-10T17:47:35.985+01:002014-08-10T17:47:35.985+01:00Thanks, Andrew. I'm preparing a very detailed ...Thanks, Andrew. I'm preparing a very detailed submission for the Harris Review now that the deadline has ben extended to 18 August. Although the ToRs under which the review was set up don't allow for reinvestigation of specific suicides there are some examples of truly shocking malpractice in certain prisons that do merit being flagged up. <br /><br />Sadly, the case of the lad whose letter appears above didn't end well. I can't be more specific because of confidentiality and out of respect for his family, but what happened to him at that particular adult B-cat certainly didn't help.PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-65006213146178362402014-08-10T17:16:25.627+01:002014-08-10T17:16:25.627+01:00Well said - thanks for recording it - I hope you h...Well said - thanks for recording it - I hope you have sent it to your MP and also Lord Harris.<br /><br />I last worked in a young offender institution, so long ago, it was called a Borstal!Andrew_S_Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09115192522317353139noreply@blogger.com