“I was about eight stone, battleship grey, [had] the ‘lovely’ high cheekbones of an addict, matted hair, probably the same jeans on for about a month,” says Billy Burrows. “I didn’t care about myself, never mind anyone else.”
Continue reading “Life coaches with a history of addiction tackle reoffending – The Guardian” »

Two important prison inspection reports were published last week. One received widespread media attention due to the astonishing nine-fold increase in use of force to restrain teenagers. The other, largely positive, report of adult male prison, HMP The Mount, slipped under the radar somewhat.
Continue reading “An Alternative to Overcrowded Prisons Must be a Government Priority – Huffington Post” »

“One in four offenders ordered to complete unpaid work, now marketed as community payback, in Greater Manchester did not successfully complete their work hours in 2011, Mancunian Matters can reveal.
Continue reading “Exclusive: Quarter of offenders in Greater Manchester fail to complete community payback – Mancunian Matters” »

In 2008, Nick Rhead, 24, and Simon Jackson, 26, then medical students, volunteered to give young people training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in Liverpool. “We had 11 in the group, aged 11 to 17, some in school uniform,” Nick says. “We asked who had seen a stabbing or had been stabbed. Every one of them put up their hands. Three had seen shootings. That’s what gave us the idea.”
Continue reading “The Liverpool Project: ‘We aren’t preaching to people’ – The Guardian” »

An innovative new Tri-borough youth service to tackle young offenders and gang crime in west London got the royal seal of approval on Thursday, 16 February.
Continue reading “Tri-borough youth service receives Royal seal of approval – Kensington and Chelsea Today” »

Clive Chatterton, former governor of HMP Styal was on BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour this morning. You can listen again on the Woman’s Hour website.

“Three years ago, Clive Chatterton became the governor of HMP Styal – the notorious women’s prison in Cheshire. It was his first women’s prison in a career spanning more than three decades with the prison service and he was shocked by what he saw. Now retired, Clive Chatterton has recently written to Justice Secretary Ken Clarke describing disturbing cases of prisoner self-harm and attempted suicide. He joins Jenni to talk about his time in Styal and about why he believes that short sentences for female offenders should be abolished.”

The former governor of Styal prison, Clive Chatterton, has drawn attention to the devastating social and economic impact of women’s imprisonment. Over the past 15 years, women’s prison numbers have more than doubled. Each year over 11,000 women are received into custody. Most are held on remand or serve short sentences for non-violent crime. Although women form 5% of the total prison population, they represent almost half of the serious self-harm figures (In numbers, Women, G2, 12 February). Each year, almost 18,000 children are separated from their mothers; just 5% stay in their own homes when their mum goes to jail. Imprisonment will cause a third of women to lose their homes, reducing future chances of employment and shattering family ties. Half will reoffend within one year of release.
Continue reading “Amend bill to keep women out of prison – The Guardian” »

Mrs Justice Lang said the Justice Secretary misinterpreted policy, acted in a way which was incompatible with human rights legislation and “fettered his discretion’’ by applying a blanket policy without considering individual circumstances of prisoners.
Continue reading “Women should get time out of jail to see their children, judge rules – The Telegraph” »

A PROLIFIC thief who stole to support his drug habit has turned his back on crime after becoming the first offender to take part in a new rehabilitation programme.
Continue reading “Prolific thief uses rehab programme to turn life around – This is Staffordshire” »

An army of more than 3,000 criminals has carried out compulsory unpaid work in the county worth almost £2m over the past three years.
Continue reading “Community service brings in £2m of unpaid work – Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph” »