We’re all paying the price for our rotten prisons
What happens when government policy meets an entirely unfit system? Today’s report on HMP Peterborough by HM Inspector of Prisons…
Drugs are costing the lives of too many prisoners
In prison, drugs kill. HMP Parc, a private prison in Wales managed by G4S, has seen six inmate deaths over…
The catalogue of errors that left Joshua Jacques free to kill
The horror of the crimes of Joshua Jacques, who murdered his girlfriend and three members of her family in south…
Why Britain’s prison guards are losing control
Prisons are terrifying places when guards lose control. The authorities retreat and angry prisoners are left in charge – until…
Why do we send the wrong people to prison?
In prison, I met a lot of men who said they shouldn’t be there. They presented detailed mitigations, and listed…
Police are in a muddle over transgender strip searches
Have you ever been strip searched? I have. The date it happened – 7 September 2020 – is etched on…
How I found the true meaning of Christmas in prison
What do prisoners eat on Christmas Day? Some tabloid reports might lead you to think ‘lags’ are ‘gorging’ themselves on…
No wonder Britain’s prisons are almost full
It’s finally happened. Our prisons are almost full. Last night the Times reported that ‘Lord Justice Edis, the senior presiding…
Overseas prisons will be disastrous for British inmates
Our prisons are overcrowded, dangerous and out of control. The prison population is rising faster than we can build new…
The toxic prison attitude that can cost inmates their lives
David Morgan, a 35 year-old man, told staff he’d taken an overdose. A nurse decided the man seemed drunk and…
Don’t condemn McDonald’s for giving prisoners a day job
In the aftermath of Daniel Khalife’s escape and recapture, prisons are in the headlines. Even the most commonplace events, like…
A Wandsworth prison jailbreak was waiting to happen
As a former inmate of HMP Wandsworth, I can’t say I’m surprised that a prisoner, Daniel Khalife, has escaped. When I was…
Why Britain’s prisons will only get more violent
Prison and probation staffing is approaching dangerously low levels’ said the Ministry of Justice in a document they published by…
The hopeless cycle of addiction – and drug running – behind bars
It’s my seventh night in HMP Wandsworth at the start of my 45-month sentence for fraud. I live on A…
My battle with bureaucracy behind bars
On my first night in prison, I slept well. Perhaps the previous day’s stress and exhaustion played a part. Neither…
What’s it really like on your first night in prison?
Before I went to prison I thought a lot about what it would be like. Almost a year passed after…
How prisons teach inmates that crime pays
John Major is wrong when he suggests only violent offenders should be automatically locked up – and as a non-violent…
Why the Channel smuggling business will never end
‘Have you got a light mate?’ The shout came from the top of the slipway on Deal beach. Bill, who…
