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Prison UK: An Insider's View: January 2015
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Prison UK: An Insider's View. Friday, 30 January 2015. C4 News: Watching the MOJ Train Crash. Illicit photo of knife inside prison. 8221; You really couldn’t make it up. Mike Spurr (NOMS) sitting in the hot seat for Chris Grayling. Michael Howard: faced the music. Paxo famously asked the Home Secretary the same pointed question 12 times in succession without getting a straight answer. I may not be a fan of Mr Howard but he puts ‘Cowardly Chris’ into a completely different category. He...It clearly happen...
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Prison UK: An Insider's View: Prisoners and Books: Back to the Future?
http://prisonuk.blogspot.com/2015/07/prisoners-and-books-back-to-future.html
Prison UK: An Insider's View. Monday, 13 July 2015. Prisoners and Books: Back to the Future? During the past few months of recuperation I’ve had plenty of time to think about prison issues. In some ways being seriously ill is not entirely dissimilar to being in jail. There are many things that you’d like to do and places you’d like to visit, but you can’t. At best you just have to wait. Mr Gove: undoing the damage? Not your average prison cell. The voice of reason. Soon families, friends and external org...
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Prison UK: An Insider's View: Off to Prison? My Packing List
http://prisonuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/off-to-prison-my-packing-list.html
Prison UK: An Insider's View. Thursday, 2 October 2014. In the dock and going down? I was very lucky when I went to jail for two reasons. The first was that back then there were many fewer restrictions on what property you could take in with you. The second was that the young dock officer with whom I’d become friendly during what had been a long trial was a great source of useful information. Throughout my sentence I was still grateful for his help and advice. Some lower security establishments were very...
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Prison UK: An Insider's View: September 2014
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Prison UK: An Insider's View. Monday, 29 September 2014. Prison Pests (3): The Wing Bully. Bullying – whether in general or in a prison environment – is a significant problem that is receiving more attention at the moment. This blog post is the latest in a series about the wide variety of numpties you can encounter in prison and the wing bully definitely deserves his or her place in the list of pests. I think that there is a general expectation that there will be bullying in prisons. After all, it ca...
prisonuk.blogspot.com
Prison UK: An Insider's View: July 2015
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Prison UK: An Insider's View. Wednesday, 22 July 2015. Our Prisons: Dirty, Dispiriting and Dehumanising. Looking for new ideas? Once he has walked through the wings and smelt the stink emanating from a couple of these choice nicks, he might be motivated to starting sorting out the very real problems that have been inherited from his unlamented predecessor ‘Calamity’ Chris Grayling. I’m more than happy to provide him with some practical pointers. Victorian-era prison cell: built for one, houses two. Now t...
prisonuk.blogspot.com
Prison UK: An Insider's View: An Open Letter to Michael Gove
http://prisonuk.blogspot.com/2015/07/an-open-letter-to-michael-gove.html
Prison UK: An Insider's View. Friday, 17 July 2015. An Open Letter to Michael Gove. Rt Hon Michael Gove MP. Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. Dear Mr Gove,. Once recruited, are they being properly trained? I have encountered wing officers who have put their own lives at risk to save prisoners and have shown genuine concern and kindness, but I have also witnessed terrible acts of cruelty and inhumanity, particularly towards elderly, vulnerable prisoners or those living with serious menta...
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Prison UK: An Insider's View: March 2015
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Prison UK: An Insider's View. Tuesday, 31 March 2015. Q and A with a Frontline Prison Officer. As regular readers of this blog know I do aim to make the posts as informative and balanced as possible. Since its launch in July 2014 the blog has acquired a wide readership ranging from the Chief Inspector of Prisons and politicians to ex-prisoners, as well as quite a few people who are facing the prospect of a custodial sentence. Prison officers: staff shortages. On a daily basis I just don’t have the ...
prisonuk.blogspot.com
Prison UK: An Insider's View: April 2015
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Prison UK: An Insider's View. Sunday, 19 April 2015. Maintaining Your Moral Compass in Jail. I’ve posted before on this blog about the perilous position of inmates who are labelled as ‘grasses’ (informers) or ‘screw-boys’ (those eager to suck up to the staff). Both types of con can find themselves ostracised by fellow prisoners and, in many cases, find themselves on the receiving end of threats and violence – sometimes very extreme. Norman Parker – a very old-school con – describes the grim c...For that ...
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Prison UK: An Insider's View: December 2014
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Prison UK: An Insider's View. Wednesday, 31 December 2014. New Year’s Eve… and other Prison Traditions. Waiting for midnight to chime. I suspect that the ritual of banging cell doors to mark the passing of the old year and the beginning of the new is played out in pretty much every closed prison in Britain. It has become a nick tradition, although when it started no-one seems to know. Big Ben gives cons the signal. Goal another reason to bang doors. In many closed nicks, there is a similar door-banging r...