News September 9, 2018 United Kingdom: sexual assaults in women's prison reignite debate over transgender inmates A leading prison reformer has said prisoners who have committed violent offences against women should not be able to transfer to women’s prisons if they have not legally changed their gender, after it emerged that a transgender inmate had sexually assaulted fellow prisoners after transferring to a…
News August 20, 2018 UK: the litany of failures that forced government to take over jail from G4S Inspectors were told it was ‘easy to get drugs’ by half of the prisoners surveyed, with one in seven claiming they became addicted to drugs while in jail
News August 7, 2018 Inglaterra: los presos zombies, la terrible droga Spice y abusos de todo tipo en las cárceles This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the Spanish version.
News July 25, 2018 UK: prison tensions risk boiling over as heatwave hits 'oven-like' jails Fears over rocketing temperatures and poor ventilation.
News July 12, 2018 UK: Welsh prisons are much harsher than England’s on opioid treatment The difference is putting inmates’ lives at risk
News July 12, 2018 UK: jail overcrowding forces prisoners to sleep on cell floors One of the country’s busiest prisons is so overcrowded that inmates have had to sleep on the floor in recent months.
News July 10, 2018 Dans les prisons britanniques, bientôt un téléphone par cellule This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.
News July 10, 2018 UK: prisoners to get phones in cells in bid to curb violence Thousands of prisoners will be able to make calls from their cells, as part of government plans to reduce violence and crime in prisons in England and Wales. The move is part of a £30m package of measures to be announced later today by Justice Secretary David Gauke. The scheme, already in place at…
News June 27, 2018 UK: government scraps proposed women's 'community prisons' in new strategy to reduce female offending Campaigners warn funding offered for community focussed plans is “wholly inadequate”.
News June 27, 2018 UK: in prison I saw the futility of locking up women for minor crimes I spent nine weeks behind bars. I’m glad the government is scrapping plans to build new female prisons
News June 20, 2018 UK: juvenile justice report confirms steady progress As a society, it should sit uncomfortably that children find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system, even more so that some of them require to be held in custody.
News June 19, 2018 UK: a child prisoner with ADHD spent 22 hours a day in a cell, for 55 days – and he’s not the only one When my client, ‘AB’, called the Howard League for Penal Reform’s legal advice line last year, it was immediately clear from his voice that he was miserable. At the time, he was 15. He has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And he was locked alone in his cell in Feltham prison for mor…
News June 14, 2018 UK: number of far-right terrorists in prisons triples as arrests hit new record Islamists make up the majority of terrorist prisoners and suspects arrested in Britain. The number of far-right terrorists imprisoned in Britain has more than tripled in a year, new statistics reveal.
News May 31, 2018 UK: prisons inspector takes emergency action over HMP Exeter Justice secretary required to report on improvements in 28 days after soaring violence and self-harm uncovered.
News May 24, 2018 UK: prisoners could help fill post-Brexit workforce gap, says minister David Gauke launches strategy to improve prisoners’ work skills and prospects.
News May 23, 2018 UK: Brook House, detainees win bid for abuse inquiry Two former detainees at an immigration centre have won the first stage of a High Court bid for a public inquiry into alleged “widespread” abuse.
News May 20, 2018 UK: hundreds of homeless people fined and imprisoned in England and Wales The Guardian finds over 50 local authorities with PSPOs in place prohibiting begging and loitering
News May 12, 2018 UK: we are locked into failure and prisons are not working We need to make sure our jails are safe, clean and fit for purpose and then debate what they’re for.
News May 9, 2018 UK: violence at Feltham prison drops after sweet rewards Levels of violence at a young offenders institution dropped after teenagers were given sweets for good behaviour, inspectors found.
News May 2, 2018 UK: nearly 100 women die in prison over 11-year period due to ‘glaring failures’ More than 10 years after major review outlined need for more holistic approach to vulnerable women in custody, there has been ‘little systemic change’ as female inmates ‘continue to die’, warns charity.
News May 2, 2018 UK: solitary confinement of children and young people Last week, in a joint statement, the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health called for an end to the solitary confinement of children and young people held in UK detention facilities.
News May 2, 2018 UK: MoJ postpones plans to reduce female prison population Strategy to cut numbers being jailed for non-violent offences was to be launched this month. A multimillion pound government strategy to reduce the number of women being jailed for non-violent offences has been postponed, the Guardian can disclose.
News May 1, 2018 UK: how prison changes people Longer and harsher prison sentences can mean that prisoners’ personalities will be changed in ways that make their reintegration difficult, finds Christian Jarrett. Day after day, year after year, imagine having no space to call your own, no choice over who to be with, what to eat, or where to go.…
News April 23, 2018 Britain's prison crisis caused by "poor political decisions" by Conservatives and huge cuts, former head of jails says Former director-general of HM Prison Service says violence driven by ‘budget cuts, poor political decisions and frequent changes of political direction’