42 Thrm “Th 11 Barack Obama 21 The psychopathy 31 A ‘Shameless’ plug the National Newspaper for Prisoners & Detainees on prison reform spectrum for Bound - a National “Any system that allows “What we want, we take Prison Radio drama - with no thought of the a voice for prisoners 1990 - 2015 us to turn a blind eye to “It tells the story of a hopelessness and despair, damage and suffering that young pregnant prisoner A ‘not for profit’ publication / ISSN 1743-7342 / Issue No. 195 / September 2015 / www.insidetime.org that’s not a justice system, we create in others” fighting to keep her baby An average of 60,000 copies distributed monthly Independently verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations it is an injustice system” Sarah Baker with her inside prison” Transforming lives: Reducing women’s imprisonment Mark Day - Prison Reform Trust Head of Policy and Communications oo many women, many of whom are mothers, are sent to prison every year to serve short sentences for non-violent Tcrimes, often for a first offence, a new Prison Reform Trust (PRT) briefing reveals. The briefing marks the launch of a drive by the Prison Reform Trust, supported by a £1.2 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund, to reduce the number of women who are sent to prison for minor non-violent offences. The three-year UK-wide programme Transforming lives: Reducing women’s imprisonment will promote more effective, early intervention and non-custodial responses to women in trouble, working with national and local gov- ernments, statutory agencies, and voluntary A female prisoner writing a letter, HMP Styal and community sector organisations. © prisonimage.org Two thirds of women sent to prison are mums l Eight in ten (81%) women l More than half (53%) of women l In 2014, women accounted for 26% and over 17,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment every year. entering prison under an immediate in prison report having experienced of all self-harm incidents in prison in Imprisonment has a devastating impact on the custodial sentence had committed emotional, physical or sexual abuse England and Wales despite representing life chances of these children, who as a result non-violent offences. as a child, compared to 27% of men. only 5% of the prison population. are more likely to experience homelessness, disruption to their family and home lives, l Women serving custodial l Women in prison are more than l Fewer than one in ten women leave problems at school and local authority care. sentences are twice as likely as men three times as likely to be identified as custody with a job to go to, most face Women released from custody are more likely (21% v 10%) to have no previous suffering from depression as women in mounting debt and struggle to find safe to reoffend, and reoffend quicker, than convictions or cautions. the general population (65% v 19%). housing. women serving community sentences. Jenny Earle writes page 30 Appeals Crime Prison Law The country’s leading experts in Unhappy with your solicitor? Transfer New Head of Prison Law - Jo Davidson ‹ cm ‹ serious, complex and high your case now. NJGD>D OJMN profile appeals. Legally Aided Services Fixed Fees (from £150.00) We have represented clients on some of the most We are leading defendant solicitors in:- Parole Guittard Application complex and high profile crime and appeals cases in recent years including: - Murder/Manslaughter EMAP Re-call Pre-tariff Review R v Barry George (Jill Dando case), Large scale multi-handed conspiracies including serious fraud, Re-cat Reviews R v Levi Bellfield (Milly Dowler case) murder, drugs, grooming, robbery, people trafficking, Adjudication Specialising in cases before the Court of Appeal Serious sexual offences including historic sexual offences Representation against return to and the CCRC. Sentence Calculation closed conditions Robbery POCA Serious assaults, torture HDC Years of experience in Proceeds of Crime Applications Registered with Gang crime including firearms offences, extortion, kidnap Transfers › › Dedicated prisoner hotline: 0161 833 9253 Manchester Office: 13 St John Street, Manchester, M3 4DQ Website: www.cmsolicitors.co.uk where lients atter Freephone: 0800 1 444 111 London Office: 15 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7EF Video link: Nationwide service If you would like to contribute to Mailbag, please send your letters (including your name, number Insidetime September 2015 2 Mailbag and prison) to ‘Mailbag’, Inside Time, Botley Mills, Botley, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 2GB. www.insidetime.org Religious discrimination Star Letter of the Month ..................................................... insidetime LAURENCE PETCH - a voice for prisoners 1990 - 2015 Congratulations and a £25 cash prize for this month’s Star Letter. the national newspaper for prisoners published by HMP FRANKLAND Inside Time Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The New Bridge Foundation, founded in 1956 to After reading a letter in your pages about create links between the offender and the community. religious discrimination from ‘John’ at HMP Inside Time is wholly responsible for its editorial content. Forest Bank there was a sneaky attempt by Comments or complaints should be directed to the the governor here to bring in religious Managing Editor and not to New Bridge. discrimination by the back door. a © not I have been here for 11 years now and it has profit Board of Directors always been the case that religious items publication4 were exempt from Volumetric Control, but now they have suddenly been included! Trevor Grove - Former Editor Sunday Telegraph, Except for - 2 sets of religious clothing, a Journalist and Writer prayer mat and one religious book. John Carter - Former international healthcare company Vice-President. Geoff Hughes - Former Governor, Belmarsh prison. So let us look a bit more closely at these Eric McGraw - Former Director, New Bridge exemptions. Who wears religious clothing and (1986-2002) and founder of Inside Time in 1990. uses a prayer mat? Oh yes, that’s right, John D Roberts - Former Company Chairman and © Fotolia.com Muslims - so he’s not going to upset them. As Managing Director employing ex-offenders. for one religious book - well that’s the Louise Shorter - Former producer, BBC Rough I am 27 years old and have been in custody Christians sorted, so his own lot are okay. So Justice programme. Justice in this country Alistair aH. E. Smith© B.Sc F.C.A.a - Chartered© for over a decade, in which time I have found the governor has covered his own religion not not myself incarcerated in over 20 prisons, from and made sure he hasn’t upset the Muslims, Accountant,profit Trustee and Treasurer,profit New Bridge seems to be all about the juvenile estate to YOI to Cat A, B and C Foundation.4 publication4 so who does that leave? Well, everybody else. service establishments - all of which seem to the money substitute the definition of rehabilitation He even came and sat in on one of our Pagan .................................................... with the warehousing of offenders. meetings but couldn’t seem to grasp the fact The Editorial Teama © A J REID - HMP SWALESIDE that we do not have clergy to bow and scrape not profit Moreover, throughout my prolonged period to our Gods as we are personally in contact organisation4 Whilst watching one of those ‘Police, Camera of being warehoused by this not-fit-for-pur- with our Gods and Goddesses. He could not Action’ type programmes on the box the pose criminal justice system, I have witnessed understand that if we feel guilt then we deal other night, I witnessed a significant error the transformation of Micky Mouse offenders with it personally, between us and our deity. on the part of the British criminal justice into career criminals! And, as I witness the He also could not understand that we do not system. Following a stop and search, a man same old faces continue to enter the need a confessional box. Pagans were here with a drug addiction was convicted of revolving door of the criminal justice system long before other religions, around two-and- possessing Class A drugs. The drug addicted I can only conclude that this system does not a-half thousand years before Christ followers Rachel Billington OBE Eric McGraw geezer was ordered to pay over £200 as rehabilitate offenders, it creates them! and even longer before Muslims. And we will Novelist and Author and Managing punishment, with an additional £100+ in still be here long after these religions are Journalist Editor court costs.Blavo The Nov offender 2012_Blavo in question Dec 2008 has red a border TheSHADOW.qxd people who 13/11/2012 run our criminal 09:42 justicePage 1 gone. Isn’t church attendance falling? Whilst long history of petty thefts and shoplifting, system have this deluded belief that the ours is rising. which I can only assume to be directly linked rehabilitation of prisoners consists of the to the funding of the offender’s addiction to following simple steps - make prisoners sit So can you ask NOMS or whoever professes Class A drugs. Therefore, the criminal justice level one maths & English, then stick them in to run this failing system whether religious system not only fails to deal with the issue a muggy workshop packing tea packs for a exemption is for all religions or just the in hand, but also provides a counterproduc- wage of peanuts and every now and then chosen few they worship or are terrified of? tive punishment as the imposition of a fine is force them to do so-called offending John Roberts Noel Smith likely to breed further criminal behaviour in behaviour programmes which are com- Editorial note: This letter has been sent to Operations Director and Author, writer and order to pay the fine and continue to fund pletely unproven and do nothing except NOMS for a response.