United Kingdom
Europe
United Kingdom
Justice Secretary Liz Truss will restart talks with the prison officers’ union later amid claims the service in England and Wales is “in meltdown”.
On Tuesday, up to 10,000 prison officers in England and Wales stopped work over claims of a “surge in violence” among inmates.
Source — BBC
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United Kingdom
Prison officers have returned to work after a High Court injunction ordered them to end a 24-hour protest.Up to 10,000 prison officers in England and Wales stopped work over claims of a “surge in violence” in jails.
Granting the injunction, Mr Justice Kerr said prison officers’ action had created a…
Source — BBC
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United Kingdom
The state of prisons in England and Wales isn’t something that often makes the national news agenda. In fact, it’s usually only when something has gone really badly wrong that our prison system makes the front pages.
After recent riots and prisoner escapes, such as the two inmates who were on the r…
Source — Metro
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Europe
Protest
United Kingdom
Video shows inmates whooping with excitement during six-hour rampage.Prison guards were forced to retreat to a ‘safe place’ until riot officers arrived.
Source — Huffington Post
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United Kingdom
Two prisoners have escaped from HMP Pentonville, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said.
The escape was discovered when officers carrying out checks found two pillows made to look like bodies in the prisoners’ beds on Monday.
It is understood the inmates, aged 28 and 31, used diamond-tipped cutting…
Source — BBC
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United Kingdom
A program called Tender Loving Canines is among the new and restored rehabilitation courses popping up in California state prisons since Gov. Jerry Brown began emphasizing programs that help inmates prepare to reenter society.
When a pair of puppies stepped into a state prison’s highest security ya…
Source — The Sacramento Bee
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Drugs
United Kingdom
Eagles could be deployed to intercept drones being used to smuggle drugs, weapons and other contraband into prisons.
Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said the birds of prey could be recruited to take down remote-controlled miniature aircraft as they are flown towards jails.
Source — Mail Online
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Europe
Violence
United Kingdom
Justice Secretary Liz Truss is due to hold urgent talks with leaders of the Prison Officers Association as concerns grow about safety in jails.
The union had planned meetings outside each jail on Tuesday, to highlight fears over increasing violence and suicides in English and Welsh prisons. The mov…
Source — BBC
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Violence
United Kingdom
Self-inflicted deaths at a record high and assaults rise 34% as observers condemn “toxic mix of violence, death and misery”.
The Ministry of Justice has explicitly acknowledged that staff cuts are a factor in the rising tide of violence in prisons in England and Wales.
Source — The Guardian
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United Kingdom
‘The Ministry of Justice has not clearly articulated to us why it has not acted decisively to develop a systematic new approach to young adults, given the weight of evidence’.
Young offenders are still developing neurologically up to age of 25 and should be kept out of adult prisons, a group of MPs…
Source — The Independent
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United Kingdom
Prison and probation services in England and Wales must be overhauled to drive down re-offending rates that cost the taxpayer billions of pounds, according to a report.
Ministers were urged to push up staffing numbers and bring in legislation to establish a new rehabilitation “duty”.
Source — Telegraph
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Justice
United Kingdom
The government’s ambitious prison reform plans are “simply not achievable”, the former chief inspector of prisons has warned.
Giving a lecture in London, Prof Nick Hardwick said rising suicides, assaults and murders in jails were proof of the “loss of control”.
His comments come days after a prison…
Source — BBC
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Women
Health
Mental health
United Kingdom
From self-harming in groups to starvation and self-immolation, women are overwhelmingly more likely than men to hurt themselves while incarcerated. So why isn’t the prison system responding?
Maria, 29, is a disability rights activist who uses a wheelchair. She also has borderline personality disord…
Source — Broadly
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United Kingdom
The almost 17 years Juliet Lyon spent as director of the Prison Reform Trust before stepping down in July was good preparation for her new role as chair of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAP). With figures last month showing violence and death in English and Welsh prisons at a…
Source — The Guardian
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United Kingdom
It is easier to get illegal drugs than to get clothes or sheets in Bedford prison, where standards have declined to “unacceptable levels”, according to the new chief inspector of prisons.
Peter Clarke, the former head of police counter-terrorism, said it was hard to understand how there had been “s…
Source — The Guardian
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Violence
United Kingdom
An official inquiry has criticised the “wholly unacceptable level of violence” in English and Welsh jails after a record six inmates were killed in 2015-16.
A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into the six homicides also uncovered a 38% rise in the number of assaults involving a blade o…
Source — The Guardian
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Health
Violence
United Kingdom
A prison inmate who suffered from severe asthma died due to “serious failings” in the way jail staff managed his medical condition, a coroner has ruled.
Senior Coroner Andre Rebello has warned that unless lessons are learned from the death of Ashley Gil, the prison service may experience future fat…
Source — The Independent
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Health
Mental health
United Kingdom
More prisoners are being diagnosed with mental health problems requiring hospital treatment, official figures obtained by the Guardian show.
The number of male prisoners being transferred to hospital under the 1983 Mental Health Act grew by more than 20% between 2011 and 2014 in England and Wales,…
Source — The Guardian
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Religion
United Kingdom
Le gouvernement britannique va dévoiler, lundi 22 août, un plan contre l’islamisme radical en prison, prévoyant notamment d’isoler les détenus les plus dangereux et d’interdire à ceux qui encouragent des croyances contraires aux “valeurs britanniques fondamentales” de participer aux prières.
Source — Le Monde
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Health
Protest
United Kingdom
An investigation is underway after 65 prisoners signed a petition criticising the medical services at Edinburgh prison.
The inmates have alleged “serious medical neglect” and claim that a prisoner who died recently did not get the help he needed.
Source — Herald Scotland
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