a unique free support magazine for prisoners' families

PUZZLES HOROSCOPES LETTERS PRISONERS’ POEMS

June 2012

SHOCKING!

InsideOutFREELAUNCH ISSUE

Interview with Executive Producer Rebecca de Souza

PRISONERS’ WIVES

ANGOLA 3:40 years in Solitary Confinement

Jailmate Cards

Get your CD today!

FAMILIESFIGHT FOR JUSTICE

JOINT ENTERPRISE:

GET TO KNOW A PRISONER THE WAY Become a

Pen Pal

‘WHEN YOU TRULY LOVE SOMEONE

YOU NEVER GIVE UP’

Supporting you, Supporting themHOW TO: TELL THE KIDS

‘ I LOVED AND LOST MY MAN

IN A YEAR’

GYPSY BRIDE:

3InsideOut

www.insideoutmag.co.uk

Welcome to the very first issue of InsideOut. We’re a brand new magazine supporting those who have a loved one in prison. From the moment they are convicted, we will you support you every step of the way.

We promise every issue will be packed full of real life stories, advice, support and much more.

This month includes the families fighting against Joint Enterprise convictions(p.26), a woman’s plight to help her illiterate husband (p.36) and we look at the support available after prison (p.52).

Enjoy! The InsideOut team

Sophie

Hannah P

Hannah SRoss facebook.com/insideoutmag

twitter.com/insideoutmag

x

Hello!

Laura


19

26

36

This month in On the Cover

What’s Happening

Need a Helping Hand?

Also:

23 Travel Cost Scheme25 Family Holiday Association 48 Legal Support In Prison51 How Do You Cope With Social Stigma?52 Advice60 Help and Support Directory61 Glossary

InsideOut

08 The Big Four Keeping in touch with everything Prison related 13 The Big Debate: Human Rights Should prisoners have the right to vote? You have you say

10 Storybook Dads Keeping the bond strong between child and parent14 Solitary Confinement in the USA International News19 Prisoners’ Wives Interview Behind the looking glass: Exec Producer Rebecca de Souza talks us through the concept26 Joint Enterprise Families fight for Justice32 She Married Her Gypsy Lover Real Life36 The Story of Jailmate Cards Cashing in on beaus banged up40 How To....Tell The Kids This month, we help you to tell them43 Prison Pen Pals

17 Prison Guard Short-Fiction45 Prison Poems Getting creative46 Prison Bullying Real Life and what to do if you know he’s being bullied 55 Fam-mail58 TimeOut62 Horoscopes

8 InsideOut


A man who served more than seven years in jail for a murder he always denied, has had his conviction

quashed.Sam Hallam, now 24, was

jailed in 2005 for a minimum of 12 years over the death of Essayas Kassahun, 21, in Clerkenwell, central London, in 2004.

The Court of Appeal, which had heard photographs on Mr Hallam’s mobile phone could have helped his defence case, ruled his conviction was “unsafe”.

The court’s judges said that for “reasons that escape us”, two telephones in Mr Hallam’s possession at the time of his arrest were not investigated by the police or his then defence team.

There was a failure by police to investigate his alibi, and witnesses who put him at the scene of the murder were unreliable, the court was told.

Fresh material in the case included evidence from an acquitted co-accused who said Mr Hallam was not present at the scene and post-trial

evidence from Mr Hallam’s mobile telephone which showed his true whereabouts on the evening of the crime.

In a statement read outside court by Paul May, who led the campaign to free him, Mr Hallam said: “The identification evidence against me was so unreliable it should have never been put to the jury.

“The Metropolitan Police should have followed up leads which would have proved my innocence of the terrible murder of Essayas Kassahun.

“They should have disclosed all the relevant evidence in their possession to my lawyers and they didn’t.

“I now need time to recover with my family and friends from the nightmare I’ve suffered for the last seven-and-a-half years.

“Justice has long been denied to me but it has now finally prevailed.”

Mr Hallam, who lost a conviction appeal in 2007, also thanked the Criminal Cases Review Commission and Thames Valley Police for the “thorough investigation” they carried out into his case.

He was released on bail by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday after prosecutors said they would not oppose his

appeal.Lady Justice Hallett, who

delivered the court’s judgement, said Mr Hallam’s “inability or unwillingness” to say where he was at the time of the murder had “not exactly helped his case”.

But she added: “Given the attachment of young people and the more mature to their mobile phones, we can’t understand why someone, either from the investigating team or

the defence team, did not think to examine the phones attributable to the appellant.

In light of the new material she said: “In our judgment, the cumulative effect of these facts is enough to undermine the safety of these convictions.”

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the decision to prosecute had been made on the evidence then available, including from eyewitnesses.

Charity Action for Prisoners’ Families has e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n s that welfare

reforms being proposed by the Government for 2013 will impact negatively on prisoners’ families.

A Children’s Society report ‘Fair and Square,’ has highlighted the impact of welfare reforms and a move to universal benefit on qualification for free school meals.

Currently around 800,000 children are entitled to free school meals, though more than 2.2 million children, some of them prisoners’ and offenders’

families, have been identified as living in poverty. Recent Ministry of Justice statistics show that 200,000 children are affected by imprisonment every year.

Action for Prisoners’ Families believes that those welfare reforms could also impact on the ability of prisoners’ families to receive financial support to visit their family members in prison through the Assisted Prisons Visits Scheme (AVP). The current criteria for families to get support are that they need to be on certain benefits or have a low income.

It’s not clear yet how Assisted Prisons Visits support will be delivered under the Universal Credit regime planned for October 2013.

In 2009/10 (the most recent figures available), there were 86,131 applications. 74 per cent of those received financial support, 25,060 of those were prisoners’ mothers.

A survey in 2011 demonstrated how much families value APV support. It also revealed how families were already being affected by benefit changes and cost of living rises. One family said:

“We already try to keep expenses to a minimum by driving. We take our granddaughter to see her father. If we went by rail the cost would be around £150 so we drive and get help of about £42.

“We are grateful but in the last five years the allowance

has been the same 13 pence a mile while rail fares have gone up a lot as well. We cannot visit our son more than once a month as we are on pension credit guarantee and can’t afford to visit more than that”.

Support for visiting family members was introduced following input from prisoners and prisoners’ families to Lord Woolf’s enquiry into prison riots in 1991.

Family ties are difficult to maintain when someone is in prison. The Assisted Prisons Visits Scheme goes some way to helping poorer families to maintain relationships and family ties. That opportunity should not be jeopardised by poorly thought through welfare reforms.

Welfare reforms ‘deepen poverty concerns for prisoners’ families’

Innocent man released after serving seven years for murder

A look at the top news stories of the month

1The Big Four

2

Sam Hallam was just 18 when he was

jailed for life in 2005. He is now 24.

9InsideOut


Catalogue of errors causes blushesfor new £7m super-prison

Top security prisons will host civil partnership c e r e m o n i e s , provided the

inmates fund the nuptials themselves.

The authorisation for the service came after an inmate’s mother wrote a letter to Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners.

The letter read:“My son is currently held as

a Category A prisoner and has expressed a wish to ‘marry’ (in a civil ceremony) another male Category A prisoner who is in the same jail.

“I would like to know whether he would ever get permission for this and, if so, how quickly would he be able to arrange it from the prison? Are same sex civil ceremonies allowed in prison, particularly from Category A prisoners?”

Category A prisoners are those who are considered to be highly dangerous to the public or national security. They are detained in the country’s toughest prisons under the strictest security conditions.

A spokesman for the National Offender Management Service revealed that civil partnership ceremonies were allowed behind prison walls, provided the couple pay for the privilege.

“Prison Service Order 4445 outlines the procedures for all prisoners wishing to enter into a civil partnership and the criteria for having the registration ceremony either inside or outside the prison,” he

said.“This would ultimately be

determined following a risk assessment at the prison.

“However, it should be noted that it is solely for the prisoner and their intended civil partner to make all the arrangements with regards to the registration, which would include satisfying

the authorities that there are no objections to their union.

“They will also be liable for all the costs involved.”

The Prison Service Order reveals that the obstacles to civil ceremonies in prison are minor. They can qualify for a civil partnership provided they are of the same sex, over

16, not related and not already married.

Any prisoner who is likely to be locked up for more than three months, whether convicted or not, must be allowed to register a civil partnership - and the rules also extend to sex-change prisoners who want to marry a fellow inmate.

Tie the knot behind bars - same sex vows can be made in prison

B r i t a i n ’ s n e w e s t prison, HMP Oakwood, is capable of holding up to 2,000 inmates

but problems with plumbing and electrics have meant that only a few dozen are currently housed there.

The series of embarrassing blunders at the prison, run by private firm G4S, means that 200 staff have just 45 inmates to watch over.

Prison sources revealed that showers in cells switch on by themselves in the night and every time lights are switched on in cell blocks, the entire power system is said to shut down.

Because of water and power failures, the £7 million kitchens have remained unused so food for prisoners is brought in from outside contractors.

Showers in empty cells also regularly switch on without warning, spilling scalding water across the floors.

The prison, near Featherstone, West Midlands,

was supposed to house inmates from the region but many have instead been moved nearly 200 miles away to Durham.

Private contractors employed by the Ministry of Justice have now been blamed for the problems.

Mark Leech, editor of prisoners’ newspaper Converse, said: “Staff at the prison have said it’s a shambles.

“G4S have been operating prisons since 1992 so they cannot claim that this is something new for the company. They have had 20 years to get it right.

"It's absolutely ridiculous and is definitely not a good start for a new prison which received its first prisoners four weeks ago.

“We are getting many letters

from prisoners at Ryehill Prison near Rugby, which, like HMP Oakwood, is operated by G4S.

“They have been told they were going to be transferred to Oakwood, but have now been informed the move is off.

“They have been shunted to other prisons around the region because of systems failures at the new prison."

A spokeswoman for G4S said: “As with any new build of this scale there have been snagging issues.

“We have contingencies in place to deal with these issues and we continue to steadily fill the prison.

“The issues have all been rectified and we remain on track to be at full capacity by the autumn.”

4

3

Prisoners in same-sex relationships

have been given the green light to

marry in civil partnership ceremonies

HMP Oakwood

10 InsideOut


By Laura Swire

In the UK, 160,000 children face the trauma of losing a parent to the prison process every year. Over 68 per cent of boys with a dad in prison will end up behind bars themselves. Worryingly, children of prisoners are three times more likely to develop mental health problems than their peers. But Storybook Dads can help maintain healthy development.

Imprisoned fathers often have a tendency to withdraw from the outside world and from their families. The need to project a strong persona on the prison wings makes it difficult to express their feelings. It is as though imprisonment damages the paternal image for both father and child.

This, combined with a lack of privacy, can make contact such as phone calls and visits awkward and stressful.

Danny Taylor, a prisoner at HMP Dartmoor shares his story:

“When I came to prison, all contact with my children was cut off. I’d always been very involved in their lives so I found it really hard. I know it was my own fault and that made it even harder.

My ex-partner didn’t think I deserved to have contact with them so I never received a reply to my letters and I wasn’t allowed to speak to them on the phone.”

Over half of all prisoners lose contact with their families while they’re behind bars. Those that maintain contact are up to six times less likely to re-offend.

Storybook Dads allows imprisoned parents to maintain contact and help to develop their children’s literacy skills by engaging with bedtime stories. Research shows that reading to their child is the single most important thing a parent can do

It’s 8pm - kids’ bed time.

You wrap her up in your arms as soon as she finishes gulping down her milk and you wipe away her milk moustache.

“But I’m not tired mum,” your little one yawns as you carry her up the wooden hills to her blue and yellow bedroom.

She’s not like all the other little girls. She doesn’t like princesses and fairies. She likes football and getting muddy. That’s her dad’s fault. You’re constantly reminded as you lay her down in her small, race car bed, that the one person she looks up to, her hero, is not here to kiss her goodnight and read her a bed time story anymore. You hear her whimper after him in her sleep every night. She’s not like all the other little girls. HER dad is in prison.

Today, HMP Dartmoor has three editing suites where other prisons can send over their recordings for the team to edit. Storybook Dads has helped 18 other prisons set up their own suites so more fathers can engage with their children and the scheme has been copied in prisons in Poland, Australia, Hungary and the USA.

Storybook Dads was set up in 2003 by Sharon Berry who was working as a prison tutor and noticed the damage that parental imprisonment caused for children. She persuaded Dartmoor prison to let her make use of an empty cell to train prisoners in audio editing and production. HMP Dartmoor has even introduced DVDs so the children can actually see their father reading the story.

Storybook Dads helps prisoners to maintain a vital bond between father and child and turn what can seem like a nightmare into a beautiful story

I wasn’t allowed to speak to my kids‘ ’

for a child’s education.Storybook Dads enables imprisoned parents to

record themselves reading a bedtime story for their child. The recording is then edited and sounds and music are added, before the CD is sent home to their family. For many families, the CDs are a lifeline.

InsideOut 11


“My daughter is 15 months old and being able to have a story from her dad is amazing. She listens to it every night before bed and it helps her remember his voice and stops him from becoming a stranger. It also helps me because when I miss him so much and just need to hear his voice, I play it and I feel close to him again. Thank you so much.”

“I wanted to record a story to help broaden my childrens’ imagination and improve their literacy skills. It also put a smile on their faces and in their hearts.”

“I have been really touched by this service and have felt so much happiness to see my three children in complete awe as they listen and read along. Thank you so much.”

“These CDs have been a god-send to my children. Unfortunately, my husband, their dad, passed away while in prison shortly after recording these. It was only after he died that I actually received them. I’m so glad you do what you do as my kids will always have a bedtime story from their dad. Keep up the good work and thank you.”

“My partner says that our son knows all the words already and he hugs and kisses the stereo speakers.”

“I miss my Dad so much. When I feel lonely I listen to my CD and his voice makes me feel better.”

‘ ’I have missed them

growing up. I will never do that again

l

Storybook Dads helps prisoners to maintain a vital bond between father and child and turn what can seem like a nightmare into a beautiful story

“I was really sorry for letting my children down and I needed them to know I loved them and missed them so I recorded a CD at Storybook Dads,” says Danny.”

“I was nervous because my reading isn’t great, but I managed it. The CD was sent out and I waited and waited but I still didn’t hear anything back. I did another CD and then I did a workshop where I wrote a story, typed it up and illustrated it. That was even harder because of my writing skills and also because I’d never used a computer before.”

The editing is done by trained prisoners who can go on to gain an OCN qualification in Sound and Audio Production. They also learn computer skills, improve their literacy and gain experience of working in a busy

environment. They remove background noises and audio

mistakes and add sound effects and music to create a magical personalised gift. So far, Storybook Dads has employed over 400 prisoners on the project.

“I enjoyed the work and it felt good to know I was helping other prisoners and their kids.

Then I did a Storysack workshop where I made props and puppets to go with the book and then recorded a DVD of me reading the story.

“It was good fun but I was pretty nervous about being filmed reading. But my efforts paid off. I phoned my ex on my daughter’s birthday and she let me speak to her and wish her ‘happy birthday’. She told me how much she loved the stories, which was a very special moment. I think I proved to them how much I care and how sorry I was,” said Danny.

“Things have gotten better ever since. I am now in regular contact with my children by phone and letter and I recently sent another story DVD to them.

“I no longer work at Storybook Dads because I have moved to the resettlement unit at HMP Dartmoor, which is the next stage to getting out. I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for what I did at Storybook Dads I wouldn’t have been in contact with my children while I was in prison.

“I am so happy that I am building bridges with them and my ex and I know that when I get out I will be able to have regular contact with my children. I have missed them growing up and I will never do that again.”

13InsideOut


‘ALL HUMANS ARE BORN FREE AND EQUAL IN DIGNITY AND RIGHTS’

What do you think? Get in touch on Facebook www.facebook.com/insideoutmag or Twitter @insideoutmag

InsideOut gets your opinion on prisoners’ voting rights

he European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the

UK is denying prisoners a fundamental human right by refusing to allow them to vote.

Human rights are an essential part of any fair, equal and democratic society.

Article One of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “All Humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Many, including the Prime Minister, David Cameron, have argued that losing certain rights is part of the punishment element of prison punishment.

Mr Cameron has suggested he will fight any plans by the ECHR to force the UK to give prisoners voting rights. He insisted the decision is was one for MPs, not a “foreign court”.

The Prime Minister told MPs he backed their overwhelming vote last year that effectively opposed the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “I have always believed when you are sent to prison you lose certain rights and one of those rights is the right to vote.”

The UK has been given six months to implement this ruling, or face expensive compensation claims from inmates.

Prisoners have certain human rights curbed as a part of their punishment and the right to

vote is one of these. It is argued that prisoners should not have a say in how the country is run because they have shown themselves unable to stick to the laws of this society.

Labour has said it will back the Prime Minister’s stance.

Labour shadow minister Andy Burnham told the BBC’s Daily Politics his party would support the government if it were to challenge the ECHR’s decision.

However Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams, a member of the constitutional reform select committee, said prisoners serving short sentences should be

allowed to vote as part of their rehabilitation. He said the issue wasn’t a “coalition breaker” and the British government should respect the European court’s decision.

Mr Williams has argued that in order to rehabilitate prisoners we must help them to maintain links with society, and the right to vote is an important part of that process. Williams has put a special emphasis on prisoners who have committed non-violent crimes. He has suggested that rather than a blanket ban or extending the right to all

prisoners, there should be a more selective process.

For example, the right to vote should not be extended to anyone serving a long sentence for rape, murder or terrorism.

For many the decision should be an all or nothing one. Some believe that in a democratic society all citizens should have the right to a say in public policy. Others believe inmates are in prison because they have shown themselves to be a harmful member of society, and therefore they should be denied this vote.

The BIG Debate: Human Rights

T

David Cameron will fight the ECHR’s

ruling on prisoners’ rights to vote

“The fundamental basis of ‘human rights’ is that they are supposed to be ‘universal’ and they are supposed to be ‘inalienable’. “A vote is not a ‘right’. It’s a privilege. A democratic society has every right to decide for itself whether people who have broken that society’s laws should be allowed the privilege of voting.”David Ferguson, 34, Stockton-Heath

“Different countries have different rules. We could just allow a small number of prisoners to vote. For example, only people serving sentences of less than 6 months for non violent crimes.”Ken Kerno, 67, Leicester

“These are people who have been unable to fulfil their responsibilities to society. On that basis they should lose all of their rights whilst incarcerated. With rights come responsibility and you should not have one without the other”Robin Goodfellow, 55, Cambridge

“What about the rehabilitation argument that encouraging prisoners to take part in the political process helps them on release to feel part of the community and take an interest in the welfare of all not just of themselves?”Rosemarie Le Clerc, 41, Carlisle

“On entering prison, prisoners lose their liberty not their rights.“All the evidence shows that the best way to reduce re-offending is to integrate offenders back in to society and give them a stake in their communities. By giving prisoners the vote we are keeping them in touch with life outside the prison. “Britain has the highest incarceration rate and highest re-offending rate in Europe, so clearly something is not working with the current system.”Rhiannon Pearson, 44, Bangor

InsideOut asked our readers what they thought

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14 InsideOut


The Facts · 81,000 prisoners are in solitary

confinement in the US · At least 44 states have supermax

prisons, composed of solitary confinement cells

· 52 death row inmates executed in 2009 had spent an average of 14 years

in solitary confinement before their executions

· Solitary confinement induces a psychiatric disorder characterized by hypersensitivity to external stimuli,

hallucinations, panic attacks, cognitive deficits, obsessive thinking, paranoia,

and a litany of other physical and psychological problems.

· In a 2003 report, Human Rights Watch estimated, based on available

state data, that one-third to one-half of inmates in isolation had some form of

mental illness. · According to the Campaign for Youth Justice, data shows that j uveniles are

19 times more likely to kill themselves in isolation than in general population.

· Solitary confinement units cost more to build than the average prison and cost more per inmates per year than

general population inmates.

(Courtesy of Solitary Watch)

Solitude: Confined to a metal box which meas-ures 6 x 9 to 8 x 10 feet

No windows, no lights, no bed, no running

water

STOP. For just one second. Imagine you were cut off from the outside world. How would you cope? Laura Swire investigates

magine being so scared. So confused. So lonely. Imagine for 22, maybe 24, hours a day you have to

live in a cell with virtually no human contact except, maybe being escorted to wash. Imagine counting the tiles on the roof over, and over, and over, and over. It’s your entertainment. If you are creative, make a chess board. Your tools ? Toilet paper. Play against yourself – it will keep you sane. Imagine a torturous light that doesn’t stop buzzing. Imagine. For one second. Imagine not knowing whether it’s morning or midnight, summer or snow, 2012 or 2022. Can you imagine it? Thought not. It’s unimaginable.

In the ‘land of the free,’ Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, part of ‘The Angola Three,’ have been kept in solitary confinement for 40 years EACH in America’s largest prison, in Angola. They allegedly murdered Brent Miller - a prison guard - and were forced into solitary confinement after peacefully protesting their innocence by hunger striking. Robert King, the final part of the trio was released in 2001 following 29 years of fighting to prove his innocence whilst in solitary confinement. He wasn’t even in Angola at the time of Miller’s brutal murder. Today, he is still fighting for Wallace and Woodfox’s freedom, asserting their innocence. The struggle is ongoing and Robert King will not give up to free his friends. But what is solitary confinement? And who else is being kept in solitude?

In the United States, convicted inmates can be segregated from other prisoners as an approach

to ‘control’ them. They can be placed in solitude for days, months, even years. It is not used as a last resort, nor is it used as a comparable punishment to the fresh ‘crime’ committed. As a prisoner displaying a little violence, being labelled a ‘gang member’ by fellow inmates, or testing positive to drugs would earn you a place in such sickening solitude.

It gets worse.Of the 81,000 plus inmates

being held in solitary confinement, there are the untreated mentally ill, those gay and transgender, Muslims, those who have reported rape and those

who have ‘unsavoury’ political views. Shockingly, in Virginia, a group of Rastafarian men were placed in solitary for more than a decade because they refused to cut their hair on religious grounds.

Still, most of society is unaware that solitary confinement exists and worse, that it’s more prevalent than ever in a Western, civilised country. Solitude means isolation. Loneliness. Confined to a metal box which measures 6 x 9 to 8 x 10 feet. If you are lucky there might be bars, if not, you face a solid metal door.

Gordon Davis, is serving time in Pennsylvania’s SCI Somerset. He describes his situation as, “Currently serving 600 days (that’s nearly two years) in the RHU (Restricted Housing Unit)

for an assault on an inmate in general population.” He explains his suffering:

“I sit in solitude alone in my cell, with thoughts of freedom

running wild in my head like a child in a walker, I shiver from the bitter cold that these concrete walls give off, I can’t do nothing but lay in the corner on the cold floor naked the only light enters through the bottom of the steel door—I’m so cold—hunger sets in as the only food I will be eating is some stale bread and if I’m lucky a piece of rotten fruit. I scratch the days into my skin with hopes of being released from these psychological confines of this concrete jungle, with no windows, no lights, no bed, no running water, just a toilet that doesn’t work with the strong smell of years of urine, this is sure to make any man lose his mind. This is the reality of a man in prison with the support of no one, do you think he hurts?” (Voices from Solitary: Solitary Watch)

A prisoner who wishes to remain anonymous, serving at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution at Dallas, expresses his life as inhumane:

“I think that the whole idea of solitary confinement is insane. We are already in prison. This is just a form of inhumane punishment and torture…The administration is obviously indifferent and could care less about the long term affects that this type of confinement has on us as human beings. Obviously

we are not human beings to them, we are merely a number. Most of the inmates in solitary confinement need mental help but are not receiving it.

If they were to use solitary confinement in prisons, it should be limited to extreme cases where it is a last resort. As it stands now it is a first resort. Inmates can come to RHU for something as petty as sleeping through count. It’s totally ridiculous. My first time back here was for using a curse word.” (Voices from Solitary: Solitary Watch) l

INTERNATIONAL NEWS! INTERNATIONAL NEWS! INTERNATI ONAL NEWS!

SHOCKING: SOLI TARY CONFINEMENT I N 2012

I

15InsideOut


NEXT MONTH: Exclusive interview with James Liebman, the professor who uncovered the execution of the WRONG man in Texas

INTERNATIONAL NEWS! INTERNATIONAL NEWS! INTERNATI ONAL NEWS!

SHOCKING: SOLI TARY CONFINEMENT I N 2012

And the UK?The United Kingdom has approximately as many inmates

in total as the United States has in solitary confinement.

While difficult to estimate, here we have no more than 500

inmates in solitary confinement at any given time. There are

two types of isolation units, intensive management units and

longer-term isolation units called Close Supervision Centers.

In the intensive management units, inmates placed for

disciplinary issues may be held no longer than three weeks,

with over a quarter of such inmates in Wandsworth prison

held in isolation no longer than a few hours. The Close

Supervision Centers are similarly rarely used, with a typical

utilisation of approximately thirty cells at any given time.

In a stark difference from practices in the United States,

each prison in the UK has an Independent Monitoring

Board consisting of local volunteers who perform

inspections of the facilities and submit an annual report.

Prisons must notify the IMB of every decision to place

an inmate in isolation within 24 hours and the IMB is

obliged to visit the facility within 72 hours of notification.

In 1842, Charles Dickens toured the United States. During his trip, he

visited Eastern State Penitentiary which was located in Philadelphia.

He wrote about his day-long visit and one of his most famous

passages focused on the effects of solitary confinement at the prison.

“The system here, is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement.

I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong. In its intention,

I am well convinced that it is kind, humane, and meant for

reformation; but I am persuaded that those who devised this

system of Prison Discipline, and those benevolent gentlemen

who carry it into execution, do not know what it is that they

are doing. I believe that very few men are capable of estimating

the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful

punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers; and

in guessing at it myself, and in reasoning from what I have seen

written upon their faces, and what to my certain knowledge they

feel within, I am only the more convinced that there is a depth of

terrible endurance in it which none but the sufferers themselves

can fathom, and which no man has a right to inflict upon his fellow-

creature. I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries

of the brain, to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the

body: and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable

to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because

its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts few cries that

human ears can hear; therefore I the more denounce it, as a secret

punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay.”

‘CRUEL’ 170 years ago

Kept in solitude: The Angola Three

17InsideOut


as they can be in their situation. They get on with life and don’t let things get them down too much.

5pmThe prisoners live for family

visits. The families are always strong for their loved one. Some of the families think we’re being rude when we are being strict but we have to be. Drugs are a problem in every prison and we just can’t take the risk. I’m always polite, but I have a job to do and can’t let anything pass through to the prisoners. I could lose my job.

8.45pm Locking up time. The prisoners

go back to their cells. Most of the time they go back in without any fuss. It’s only when the football is on that we have a problem, but it’s Thursday night so the prisoners comply.

9pmI get to go home and back

to my family, but I hope when I’m at work I keep the morale as high as it can be. I enjoy my job. I’m not there to make the sentence any worse for the inmates. But now that I’m home, I’m a father and a husband, and I leave my work at the prison.

with the prisoner. Storybook Dads operates here though, which I know means so much to the prisoners with children.

7.45amUnlocking time. Prisoners

get to spend 10 hours a day out of their cell and take part in various activities. I’ve seen many prisoners come a long way with their education. One prisoner couldn’t even read or write when he first arrived, now he’s helping teaching other inmates who are in the same position he was in. He makes good use of the library here. That’s always nice to see.

1pmAs I look around watching

everyone eating lunch, I realise there is a community here. The lads really do have solid friendships. It is cliquey, and fights do break out, but you can’t really expect much else when there are people in here with different problems and so much testosterone flying around. Everyone tries to be the big man. This is especially true in the P.E classes which run at 15.00, they can get a bit competitive - but that’s always healthy.

There’s still the stigma attached to our prison, people still associate it with Strangeways, but it’s been transformed and I think it’s a model prison now. Everyone is well looked after and the lads appear to be as happy

Natalie, always makes sure I look smart. I kiss my daughter Annabelle on the head as she sleeps peacefully. I would do anything for her. I often think if I was in the police force, would I want to be in a line of work that would put my family in danger. But maybe working in a prison isn’t the safest place either.

6.45 am I drive my navy blue Renault

Megane to HMP Manchester. I work on the C-block. Prisoners here are sentenced to life. I get on with most of them, some of them can turn nasty, but what’s the point, they just have to spend longer in the cell if they cause us any grief. We have respect for the prisoners, and they have respect for us. It’s just how it works here.

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to spend a lifetime in prison but most of them seem to just get on with it, taking every day as it comes. I am sympathetic to the inmates. I try not to think about what they are here for and just take them for what I see. That’s what I’ve learned from this job, not everyone is evil, these people still have families. What if Annabelle was without a father and Natalie without a husband to look after them. That’s something I often think about; how are these families coping? They are innocent. They’ve not committed a crime, yet they’re the ones serving a life sentence and sharing the pain

hen I grow up, I want to be a policeman.” That’s what I’ve

always said ever since I was a little boy. Now I’m 28. I left John Moore’s University in Liverpool with a 2:2 in a Sports Science degree. I didn’t want to be a physio, nor did I want to be a P.E teacher. If I’m honest, I wanted the Uni Lad life. Out every night, girls, beer, football. Uni was just an excuse for a good time. My career could wait.

After graduating, I got a job at my local Tesco. That’s when I decided to apply for the Merseyside Specials, but there were never any vacancies. All I wanted to do was help people. Not be one of these policemen who had a chip on their shoulder and pick on people because they had power. I wanted to be a detective ultimately. Find missing people. Re-open cold cases. I just was never given that opportunity.

And here I am.

Thursday. 6am Eating a bacon sandwich

and guzzling down a hot mug of black coffee at home.

I’m a prison guard in a category A prison.

I start the day making sure my uniform is looking immaculate. Crisp white shirt, pressed black trousers with the crease in just the right place. My wife,

The Prison Guard

W

l

InsideOut explores the routine of a different prison each issue through the

imaginary tale of a prison guard. This month our prison guard is from HMP Manchester.

Fiction

Next issue: HMP Doncaster

Registered charity number: 219278Company registration number: 356443Registered trading address: Park Place, 12 Lawn Lane, Vauxhall, London, SW8 1UD

19InsideOut


InsideOut spoke to Executive Producer Rebecca de Souza about

the stories behind the drama

’

20 InsideOut


he prison population in England and Wales currently stands at over 86,000. Many of these

inmates have children, partners and friends who are left to cope alone.

Recent Ministry of Justice statistics estimate that 200,000 children experience a parent’s imprisonment every year and the impact on inmates’ families is becoming a hot topic. So it is perhaps unsurprising that the subject has been immortalised in a new television series.

Prisoners’ Wives focuses around the lives of four very different women – Lou, Gemma, Francesca and Harriet, as they cope with life on the outside.

The sensitive storylines have been masterminded for the BBC by UK production company Tiger Aspect and the series has been hailed as the new Mistresses.

“I came up with the idea of making a show about the wives of prisoners a very long time ago,” says Executive Producer Rebecca de Souza.

“I did a lot of research with organisations that work with prisoners’ wives and their families. I met lots of women and cobbled together an idea, originally for a self contained two or three part drama. But we realised that it could probably work as a returning long running series and that’s what we’ve ended up doing.”

The idea came from a meeting at Tiger Aspect. “We often brainstorm what would be an interesting group of people to do an ensemble drama about,” explains Rebecca. “I wondered if there might be something for the wives of prisoners. It just seemed to be a profitable area to look into. Then I did the research and I thought a lot of the stories are inherently passive because they are on the receiving end of what is happening. I thought it would be quite difficult to come up with something that isn’t terribly bleak and passive.”

The project required a lot of research to ensure the sensitive subject matter was dealt with correctly. The team at Tiger Aspect contacted a range of charities and organisations who support prisoners’ families to make sure they had as much information as possible.

Rebecca said: “We searched ‘prisoners’ wives’ on Google and found lots of different organisations, starting with Pact. There was also Action for Prisoners’ Families, POPs, Prison Chat UK and various others.

“POPs was particularly helpful. We would chat to them while we were constructing stories and run ideas past them. We would come up with stories and they provided helpful insight,” says Rebecca.

“We also met dozens of women over the

course of our research.”The team were keen to speak to prisoners

to try and understand how they feel about being separated from their families. They visited several prisons where they had the opportunity to talk to men about their crimes.

The storylines for each episode were written by Julie Geary, who is known for her work as a writer on a number of programmes including Coronation Street and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

“We originally went to a writer with the idea but they couldn’t quite crack the format that it needed,” said Rebecca.

“We then started working with Julie Geary. We’re very familiar with her and her work and we knew she had a good touch understanding how people think and live. We thought that she would be ideal as some writers aren’t quite as worldly.”

Behind the drama lies the stories and experiences of real men and women who have faced the harsh reality of supporting a family member through a prison sentence. The team at Tiger Aspect met with many real prisoners’ families during their research and this helped them to create the characters.

“We met one woman who inspired the journey of Gemma - one of the leads in the first series,” says Rebecca.

“She is a girl who marries somebody but doesn’t really know what she’s married into,

so it’s a huge journey of discovery for her.”

“I thought her story was interesting

because it’s an inherent and dramatic story and there will be secrets to unravel, things for her to discover and she will feel angry that her husband hasn’t told her the truth,” says Rebecca.

“It’s then I knew that we were onto something quite juicy. I concocted a serial idea to give to somebody, which didn’t work out, and then we thought if we could come up with some more characters we could come up with a returning series.

“There wasn’t really one ‘eureka’ moment, it was a step by step process,” she adds.

The remaining characters and storylines were then built up around Gemma, covering a range of struggles faced by prisoners’ families.

“We knew we had landed on the right stories because you start to be able to tell them,” says Rebecca.

“Before we landed on the four that we have, we had another character that we just kept hitting dead ends with and it just wouldn’t work, so in the end we lost her. I think, had she made the show, she would have been the hardest to portray. She didn’t make it because hers was such a difficult story to tell, which is a sure sign that it’s not the right one,” she says.

Choosing which topics to deal with was a difficult task for the team, as they strived to find the right balance between sensitivity and entertainment.

“There were very pressing

issues that we

‘She understands how ordinary people think

and live’

Words: Hannah Summersfield

T

‘We didn’t want to glamorise it or make it

pure entertainment’

‘There wasn’t really one eureka moment’

‘There will be secrets to unravel’

Prisoners’ Wives tells the stories of four wo men as they

come to terms with supporting a loved on e in prison

21InsideOut


touched on from talking to families, such as how do you deal with your child not knowing, how do you keep a relationship going, how do you manage financially, what happens to your sense of worth. The more women you talk to the more the issues come up again and again, a lot of them are dealing with very similar things.

“We dramatised it with a degree of social responsibility, because we didn’t want to glamorise it or make it pure entertainment. We wanted it to be entertaining but we also wanted it to generally provide an insight into a world many people don’t know about,” Rebecca says.

Prisoners’ Wives is set in Sheffield, the Steel City. Although Sheffield does not actually have a prison, the production team liked that it had a gritty northern feel while still remaining visually interesting.

Rebecca says: “The group of us who worked on it all know Sheffield quite well. We knew we didn’t want it to be southern-based and we wanted it to have an unidentifiable feel, so it kind of felt like a community of people were there and there could be connections. Whereas, if it had been Wormwood Scrubs in London for example, that is so massive and has so many people going in and out, that it might not have had the community feel. There was no great scientific thing to it.”

All of the writers and producers spent some time in Sheffield, getting to know the area in order to build up the bigger picture.

“It was really important for us to immerse ourselves in the place,” says Rebecca.

“We looked at the housing, the shopping centres and the market so when it came to writing the storylines the writers would often say ‘actually I’d really like to set this in that market or that particular housing estate’.”

Overall, the show has received an overwhelmingly positive response. More than four million viewers tuned in every week, proving the show was a big success.

“Anyone who has been touched by the subject has been delighted - from people who have helped with the research to people who have just generally written in and said ‘you’ve got it amazingly right, you’ve written my life’.”

Following on from the success of series one, the team have been given the green light for series two.

“There will be some new characters and some old characters in the second series but I can’t say much,” says Rebecca.

“A lot of the stories were left on cliff hangers, so you can imagine they need to be resolved but there are also some stories that are entirely new.”

What did you think of Prisoners’ Wives? Get in touch on Facebook www.facebook.com/insideoutmag or tweet us @insideoutmag.

‘It was really important for us to immerse ourselves

in Sheffield’

Harriet Allison (Pippa Haywood)

l

‘There will be secrets to unravel’

Prisoners’ Wives tells the stories of four wo men as they

come to terms with supporting a loved on e in prison

The Feisty One

Lou hasn’t had it easy. With her partner in prison, she is trying hard to make ends meet.

Lou turns to drug-dealing in the hope of giving her son, Mason (Oliver Hannam) a better life.

She also has to cope with Mason’s erratic behaviour as he struggles with his dad’s absence.

Gemma Roscoe (Emma Rigby)

Lou Bell (Natalie Gavin)

Francesca Miller (Polly Walker)

The Innocent One All Gemma ever wanted was a proper family.

When she met Steve, (Jonas Armstrong) she thought she finally had one. Now Steve has been arrested for murder and she is alone, pregnant and scared.

Faced with a crisis Gemma has no choice but to find an inner strength, surprising even herself with her ability to cope.

The Gangster’s Moll

Francesca lives the high-life. She’s got the big house, wealthy husband and two intelligent children.

Except Francesca’s husband is in prison, the money is running out and her two little darlings are starting to rebel.

Lonely and desperate Francesca is faced with some tough decisions.

The Anxious One

Being a single mother hasn’t been easy for Harriet.

Ever since her husband died she has become quiet and withdrawn.

Now, Harriet is being forced out of her shell. Her son Gavin (Adam Gillen) is in prison, and she is forced to face up to the part she has played in his incarceration.

23InsideOut


In order to be eligible for assistance you must be classed as a close relative of the person you are visiting.

A close relative is defined as wife, husband, civil partner, natural or adoptive mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandparent, step or half brother or sister, step child, step parent or someone who has acted in loco parentis for a significant part of the prisoner’s childhood.

You can also apply for assistance if you meet all other criteria, and you are not a close relative of the prisoner but you are the sole visitor to that prisoner.

You may also be eligible for assistance if you are escorting a qualifying young person or adult to visit someone in prison.

Who qualifies for help?To qualify for assistance under the

scheme, you must be in receipt of Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (formerly Incapacity Benefit), Income Based (not contribution based) Job Seeker’s Allowance, Tax Credit or Pension Credit.

You may be eligible for help under the scheme if you are not in receipt of any of the above benefits but are on a low income and hold a Health Certificate 2 or 3. Application forms for a Health Certificate 2 or 3 are available from the Helpline.

Which prisons can you visit?The scheme will provide a financial

contribution to the cost of making a prison

visit to all prison establishments in England, Wales and Scotland (including Young Offender Institutions). Qualifying visitors living in England Wales or Scotland can also claim assistance with the cost of visiting a prison in Northern Ireland.

Qualifying visitors living in England, Wales or Scotland can also claim assistance towards the cost of visiting a prison in Guernsey or Jersey, although this is restricted to one visit every six months.

How often can you visit?Help is normally provided with the cost

of two visits every 28 days and up to a maximum of 26 visits in a year. This limit is applicable whether the prisoner is on remand or has been sentenced or convicted.

What does the scheme cover?The scheme will contribute towards the

cost of travel to the prison by rail, bus, private motor vehicle, ferry, car hire, taxi and air travel. The reimbursement of taxi fares is restricted to certain circumstances therefore it is better to check with the APVU prior to making any journey by taxi.

It is important to retain all tickets and receipts relating to the journey as these will need to be provided to the APVU for reimbursement. You do not need to obtain receipts for petrol when travelling by private motor vehicle as the cost of making the journey will be paid on a per mile basis based on the total distance between the visitor’s home and the prison.

If the journey is particularly difficult, significantly long or there is limited public transport you may be eligible to claim for some assistance towards the cost of an overnight stay. Other factors will be taken into account when claiming so it is important to check eligibility with the APVU prior to arranging any accommodation.

The cost of a registered child-minder or breakfast or after school club or similar may be considered if you do not wish to take a qualifying child under the age of 16 to the prison.

How do you apply?All qualifying visitors should complete an

application form. In addition, a ‘confirmation of a visit’

slip will need to be stamped on arrival to the prison in order to validate the claim. The completed application form should be posted to the Assisted Prison Visits Unit within 28 days of making the visit along with proof of expenditure. You can also submit your claim in advance but please allow sufficient time for the APVU to process your claim.

The Low Down: Travel Costs

The Assisted Prison Visit Unit

Visiting a family member in prison can be a traumatic experience.As well as the emotional turmoil, many families have to face expensive travel costs in order to visit their loved ones. Prisoners are usually placed locally, but on some occasions the local prison is full, or the situation of the prisoner may require that they be sent to a specific institution further away. The Assisted Prison Visit Unit (APVU) is part of the National Offender Management Service. The unit aims to promote family ties by contributing to the cost of prison visits by close relatives and partners who are in receipt of a low income.

For more information visit www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/contacts/noms/assisted-prison-visits/assisted-prison-visits.pdf or call 0300 063 2100 (Monday to Friday between 9.00am-5.00pm Closed bank Holidays)

Who can apply?

25InsideOut


t’s tough enough planning a holiday when you’ve got a partner to help pack, find the passports and

answer at least half of the children’s ‘are we there yet?’ questions. But if your other half is in prison this becomes even tougher. If your income has been halved by your partner’s imprisonment, you may think that treating yourself and your family to a holiday is not a realistic option. But the Family Holiday Association can help families like yours enjoy a well earned break.

The Family Holiday Association (FHA) has helped over 15,000 people enjoy a family holiday. It works to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged children and their families, believing a holiday can improve the health and well-being of everyone involved. This is especially important when a loved one is in prison. Enjoying quality time together will strengthen the bond between you and your children at a time when the family need each other at difficult times.

The FHA wants to make it possible for every family to enjoy a holiday. Their ethos is that everyone should have access to quality family time, regardless of their situation, whether they are struggling financially, subjected to violence and abuse, or have inadequate housing available.

The holiday experience remains the same for families using assisted funding. No family is singled out to be made to feel different and are involved in planning the holiday from the beginning. The cost is covered by a grant from the charity and includes accommodation,

travel and food for one week. It is made possible by the discount arrangements FHA have with holiday centres across the UK, which are normally booked at a UK seaside resort or caravan park such as Butlins or Haven. FHA does rely heavily on donations from individuals, trusts and companies, as well by fund raising events, so holidays can be made available to families in need of a break.

To be considered for a holiday grant, all families must meet the following criteria:

• The family is on a low income• The family has not been on holiday for the past four years• The family has at least one child between the age of three and 18 • The family has been referred by a referral agent e.g. a health visitor, social worker, housing association or school support worker

The FHA only accepts applications from referral agents – not directly from families. If you would like to make an application, you need to ask someone who works with your family to refer you.

The FHA does not accept calls directly from families and all communication and payments for the family’s application are made through the referral agent.

For more information go to www.insideoutmag.co.uk/familyhols

I

V i s i t

for more information and to

The Family Holiday Association

The charity that gives families a break

ADVERTORIAL

How do I apply?

26 InsideOut


know it’s a cliché, but Tom really was in the wrong place, at the wrong

time. Tom was at a friend’s house

party one Friday night when it happened.

There were a lot of people there that he didn’t know..

A fight broke out which Tom was involved in, but he didn’t really know the other lads that well.

I’ve never heard him mention them and wouldn’t know who they were if I passed them in the street.

After the fight, all the lads apart from one returned to the party. Tom is a good lad. He’d never have done that if he believed anything was wrong. He wasn’t there when the lad died. If he had been then he would have called an ambulance.

Tom was arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning.

I found out on the Saturday

afternoon, but it didn’t strike me until the Monday. I was sat in the Magistrates court and it didn’t really sink in until I saw the press and television crews outside.

It blew my mind when I was told he was being charged with murder. I didn’t know what to ask the solicitors. I was in shock and it really upset me because I believe he didn’t kill anyone.

Tom had been in trouble with the police once before for getting into a fight. It was an unrelated incident, but added three years to his sentence. His tariff means he will have to serve at least 18 years before he is eligible for parole.

I

Tom is mortified, when I visit him he always says; “mum, I’m not a murderer”. He begs me, ‘mum get me out of here’.

It’s really hard because I have always been there for him, to help him to sort things out. I’ve always been a really strong person and believed that there is no such word as ‘can’t,’ but this is out of my control.

As far as I am concerned Tom doesn’t belong in prison. He can be a nightmare, but he’s certainly no Peter Sutcliffe.

Seven years ago I suffered a Stroke. I now have to use an electric wheelchair and have been on anti-depressants in the past.

Tom is really close to me and I know he worries about me.

I am waiting on some news from the doctor at the moment which I am very worried about.

Of all my children I am dreading telling Tom the most, as it’s especially hard for him not being able to be with me.

At the end of the day, I understand that someone died, but Tom didn’t strike the blow. He’s no angel, but he’s not a murderer.

The lad who did commit the murder has admitted he was guilty, which makes it even harder for me to understand why my son is in prison.

Joint Enterprise has a big impact on the families of those who are convicted. We are constantly asking, “why are they in prison? They’ve not killed anyone.”

Our family has always been a nice, respectable family. We have been devastated by Tom’s conviction and have been made to feel very ashamed.

When he was arrested posters were put up around the village with ‘murderer’ written on them.

I was even accused of putting paint stripper on the grieving family’s car, which was funny as I can’t walk, let alone run away, from the scene of a crime!

Joint Enterprise really blows your world apart. The police sent a safety officer around to my

‘He’s certainly no Peter Sutcliffe’

‘He won’t even be able to piss on the street’

*names have been changed to protect the identity of the individuals involved.

‘He’s no ange l, but he’s not a mu rderer’

Julie*, 44, doesn’t understand why her son Tom*, 22, is in prison.

He hasn’t killed anyone, so why is he servi ng a life sentence for murder?

Julie’s son Tom was sentenced to life in prison under the Joint Enterprise Law for a murder he did not commit

27InsideOut


house to make it safe. They came around in an unmarked van to fit alarms and seal up my letter box. I remember thinking: “I’m probably going to get bombed, but at least there is a smoke detector.” Eventually I had to move house to feel safe.

Tom has got his head around prison. He has got into a routine which helps but he has changed a lot. I find it really hard to see my polite, hard working boy starting to use words such as ‘screws’. I tell him it is disrespectful, but I know he just wants to fit in.

It helps that we make sure he has regular visits. It is a logistical nightmare but I try to make sure someone visits him

every week. We try to organise different people visiting each week so that he has something to look forward to.

I visit Tom twice a month, and I always find it hard to leave him.

Travel wise, it is really difficult too. I can use the assisted prison visit scheme, but I can only claim back train fare. Visits cost me a lot in taxis because of issues with my wheelchair. I can only claim around £11 but it can cost me up to £30.

I do have a lot of ‘why me’ days, but I have learnt that you just have to pick yourself up and get on with it.

I find a lot of solace on the internet, through online forums and support groups. On some of the Joint Enterprise Facebook groups there are over 300 people. We all support each other which is great, but I still think that’s 300 people too many!

The law is a grey area. It’s like being there when someone else shoplifts and getting sent down too. People say it is right for people like Tom to be in prison, but I think they would feel differently if it was their son or daughter.

Tom is a good lad with a big

heart. He is funny, easy going, chilled out and a complete mummy’s boy. He is a qualified builder and loves to be outside working. Everyone liked him, and no one can believe he is in prison. His friends visit him and he gets a lot of support.

Joint enterprise has ruined Tom’s life. He will never get a job and will be on licence for the rest of his life. He won’t even be able to piss on the street without getting recalled back to prison.

For now I am working on a five year plan. I have decided to find a nice property by the coast so I can make a home for Tom when he finally gets released. Until then I just have to take each day as it comes.l

‘Joint Enterprise has ruined Tom’s life’

‘He’s no ange l, but he’s not a mu rderer’

The Joint Enterprise Law is a 300-year-old English common law. It means a group that is involved in a crime can all be convicted, even if the crime is committed by just one of its members. The law says that presence at the scene of a crime does not give rise to Joint Enterprise, but it has to be proven that individuals have taken part and played a role when the law is used for murder. This means that it’s not just the person who uses the knife or gun that could be charged with murder. It could be anyone who was with them, or knew or did something which led to it happening. If you weren’t charged with murder, you could be charged with other offences, such as aiding and abetting.

There are many groups and professionals that campaign for innocent people that have

been found guilty by this law. Professionals agree that there have been many cases where innocent people have been found guilty under it. Recently in the media, Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted for the murder of Stephen Lawrence under Joint Enterprise. People within a group who are convicted under the joint enterprise law will often receive similar sentences.

Campaign groups, such as JENGbA have been set up to highlight cases where Joint Enterprise Law has been used and those convicted say they are not guilty. JENGbA are campaigning to ‘reform Joint Enterprise Law,’ highlighting cases when Joint Enterprise Law has been applied and those convicted say they are not guilty of the index offence.

o If someone in your group com-mits a murder with a weapon or by some other means (this also includes attacks where the victim is punched, kicked etc) you could be guilty of Joint Enterprise o If you suddenly realised that the person was going to use violence, or you knew that they were carrying a weapon. Even though you didn’t agree or have any part in the attack, but you still remained as part of that group

o To avoid liability under joint enterprise you would need to tell all the other members of the group that you were no longer part of the group or stop the attack by physical in-tervention or by calling the police. However, it is difficult to prove

that you had communicated your withdrawal from the group and the only effective means of avoiding liability would to not be part of the group in the first placeo Joint Enterprise allows the police to prosecute someone if that person knew that an associate might kill or inflict serious harm on another person.

o Committing any crime as part of a group or gang may lead to a longer prison sentence when a case goes to court

o Think about who you are with and what they are planning to do. The ad-vice is simple: Don’t carry weapons, know who your friends are and make positive decisions

JOINT ENTERPRISE JOINT ENTERPRISE

JOINT ENTERPRISE JOINT ENTERPRISEJulie*, 44, doesn’t understand why her son Tom*, 22, is in prison.

He hasn’t killed anyone, so why is he servi ng a life sentence for murder?

WHAT IS JOINT ENTERPRISE? FACTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW

28 InsideOut


A SISTER FIGHTS FOR HE R BROTHER’S FREEDOM‘HE GOT SEN TENCED TO LIFE FOR BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME’

Jordan Towers was convicted for mu rder under the Joint Enterprise Law . Ashleigh, his sister, talks abou t how it affected her life

thought it was a sick joke at first. I was at work when I saw my

partner waiting for me in the car park. I knew instantly that something was wrong, but never thought for one second it would be something like this. “Jordan has been arrested on suspicion of murder,” my partner said, his voice shaking. I felt sick.

The police arrived at mum’s house looking for my little brother, he wasn’t there at the time but he later handed himself over to the police. He thought he was there to help with their inquiries but was immediately arrested and charged with murder. We were all confused why Jordan had been arrested. Our only hope was the police telling us, “Jordan was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Distraught, all I knew was that he wasn’t a murderer. He didn’t harm the victim. Surely that should have been enough to stand up in court? Joint Enterprise? I had never heard of it.

On the 19th May 2007,

Jordan Towers was walking along a Sunderland street with two friends. A fight was started between his friends and a man, Jamie Thompson who had come out of his house threatening the boys. Jordan stood back and watched what he thought were just punches being thrown. He saw everyone walk away. But unknown to Jordan at the time, Jamie - a father, had been fatally stabbed.

My brother, a typical teenager, cheeky but with a heart of gold had a couple of run-ins with the police but not for anything major. They were for petty offences like criminal damage on a light bulb, and he got caught stealing a screw from a garden strimmer that was on a shop display. He had a college course lined up and an apprenticeship in plastering. He

had plans. Plans to open his own business. He was trying to make something of his life.

Jordan got sentenced to life in prison. Life, for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time with the wrong people. He was guilty under the Joint Enterprise Law. Guilty by association. Sometimes, I even think Jordan’s trial was a trial by the media, people assumed what was written in the papers was fact. I remember opening the morning paper over breakfast and seeing Jordan’s face plastered across the pages. “Teen killer.” “Murderer.” But my brother isn’t a monster.

I remember exactly how I felt when the words, “a minimum sentence of thirteen years” were said by the Judge. I was lost for words. I didn’t even get a chance to speak to him. Mum did, and he kept repeating to her that “he wasn’t responsible.” We all believed him, even now. That day, I thought to myself he will probably spend a lot longer in prison than the two who actually committed the murder, I still stand by that.

We blamed ourselves at first, and then started blaming each other. Mum was put on medication as she was severely

depressed. We don’t spend any Christmases or birthdays together anymore. Jordan’s empty place at the table hurts too much for us to see. I feel like I’ve been falling at 2000 miles per hour for the last five years, but haven’t hit the floor yet.

What’s worse is that we have no idea when Jordan will be released. He will serve anywhere between 13 and 99 years for a crime he didn’t commit. He is also being classed as in denial of murder. He is being told that he is a ‘non-progressive lifer’ who won’t admit his guilt and so has very little chance of securing parole. Jordan has asked them, “How can I admit to something even the judge said I didn’t do?” But rules are rules.

For the last 5 years we’ve been

Ashleigh Towers

I

‘ Sometimes, I even think Jordan’s trial was

a trial by the media, people assumed what

was written in the papers was fact’

‘We don’t spend any Christmases or birthdays together anymore. Jordan’s empty place at the

table hurts too much for us to see’

29InsideOut


A SISTER FIGHTS FOR HE R BROTHER’S FREEDOM‘HE GOT SEN TENCED TO LIFE FOR BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME’

Jordan Towers was convicted for mu rder under the Joint Enterprise Law . Ashleigh, his sister, talks abou t how it affected her life

fighting to get him a full appeal without success. He was knocked back for an appeal by a judge in 2008, then by the full court. He was refused by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2010, and now he’s just lost another court case this year, which was a judicial review. He has never been able to appeal because the courts will not grant him leave so he can appeal his case. I still haven’t lost faith that Jordan’s conviction will be overturned. But all we can do for Jordan is tell him to think of the worst and hope for the best. He can’t lose anything else; he lost everything the day he was convicted.

Jordan is allowed to call us and he used to get upset knowing we couldn’t be there to give him a cuddle. Nowadays, I speak with Jordan everyday on the phone which is great. I worry about him a lot. He was just 16 when he was convicted, now he’s 21 and being held at one of the worst prisons in the country - HMP Frankland, a ‘Category A’ adult prison.

Jordan has come a long way since then and takes everything that has been thrown at him well. He has passed exams in Maths and English and won

a Duke of Edinburgh award. He has also passed courses in interior decorating and brick laying. He has been a model prisoner the whole time he has been in there we are really proud of him.

The Joint Enterprise Law sets the standard of proof way too low. It results in lazy investigations and easy prosecutions. They can convict on the basis of foresight. How can someone foresee a spontaneous situation arising, unless they are psychic?

What’s wrong with the law is that basically Jordan, myself and probably the whole of Britain were brought up being told that you are responsible for your own actions and that you must take responsibility for your own actions. As soon as children reach an age of criminal liability they are being told that they are actually responsible for someone else’s actions. I really do not think you should be held responsible for someone else’s actions, especially if you didn’t know what that person was going to do. Jordan was convicted on the basis that he shared the intent to kill, yet there was never any plan, agreement or encouragement

from him.The campaign was started

soon after Jordan was convicted, it started off as a Facebook campaign. Through that, I met the admin from Wrongly Accused Person, Sandra Lean & Billy Middleton - after researching Jordan’s case they offered to host Jordan’s case on the case blog website, his official website was built and hosted from March 2010.

Really the campaign is to raise awareness to Jordan’s case to show how easily miscarriages of justice can occur and how easy it is to be convicted under them. Its main purpose is to show the public that Jordan isn’t a murderer, that is why I put all of the information on the website that we are fighting to clear Jordan’s name and also to gain support for him. Jordan loves the messages he gets from supporters which are printed out and sent to him, it gives him a

bit of a boost to know that people do believe him.We have also recently launched a petition for a fair trial for Jordan. There are nearly a two hundred signatures on there already which is great but we do need more to secure justice for Jordan.

Despite what happened to my brother, I don’t think the law should be abolished. It does convict guilty people but it needs to be amended so that people like Jordan can’t wrongly be sent to prison. The standard of proof should be set higher than it is now, but again none of this will help Jordan. We’ve been told that you can’t appeal just because a law has been amended or scrapped, so Jordan would still be in the same situation he is in now and fighting to get his freedom back.

I’ve given up on my own life to help save Jordan’s and I quit my job to campaign for him. I think everyone would to the same in my position. I’ve been working on his case for nearly five years now and I won’t stop until his name is cleared.

To find out more about Jordan’s story visit Ashleigh’s website: http://caseblog.wronglyaccusedperson.org.uk/justice4jordan

Jordan, 21, and his Mum

Judge this case yourself...

COMING UP...

‘Despite what happened to my

brother, I don’t think the law should be

abolished’

30 InsideOut


YOU’RE THE JUDGE!

IS THIS JUSTICE?Trial started: 8th of October 2007Sunderland Crown Court

The Court Report

YOUDECIDE!

Chelsea was only nine-years-old when Jordan was convicted. These extracts are from the letter that Chelsea wrote to the Queen when she was 12.

n Monday 21st of May 2007, Jordan Towers, Dean Curtis

and Tony Hawkes were jointly charged with the murder of Kevin Johnson. Tony Hawkes was charged with serious wounding with intent, in relation to the stabbing of Jamie Thompson later that night. On Tuesday 22nd of May, the three were remanded to the same young offender’s institute.They were all sentenced to life in prison. The case was presented by the prosecution on the basis of joint enterprise.Judge David Hodson gave the following verdict:“It is not possible to decide which one of you, Hawkes or Curtis, actually stabbed Mr Johnson. During the trial you blamed each other.” “It is, however common ground that you, Towers, did not do the stabbing, although it is perfectly clear that you threw a piece of concrete pavement at Mr Johnson. In light of the jury’s verdicts you were all part of a joint enterprise.” “It is clear from your admissions, Hawkes, that you were the one who actually inflicted the wound on Mr Thompson. It is clear to me that you, Towers, were to provide the distraction so as to make the attack easier, and your part Curtis was to encourage and egg on Hawkes to do the stabbing.”“On the evening of the 18th of May Kevin Johnson and his fiancée, AB*, had spent their evening together in Grindon.

AB went up to their bedroom first, Kevin followed. It was then you three appeared in the street below. You three were all carrying knives. You appeared outside Mr Johnson’s house, you were noisy, raucous, belligerent, drunken, making a thorough nuisance of yourselves and carrying knives.”“Mr Johnson was perfectly entitled to remonstrate with you, which he did, but you would not move on. One or more of you sought to entice him out of his house to fight. Perhaps unwisely he did go outside, he said he was prepared to fight one-to-one but not three on him. You were not having any of that and all three of you went to engage with him. It would seem that you Hawkes and you Curtis, were the closest to him, and it was at those close quarters that one of you stabbed him. You, Towers, threw the piece of concrete at him. Mr Johnson sustained the fatal stab wound to the heart and sustained the other wounds and further injuries, and sadly he was dead very soon.”“You then ran off and within a very few minutes you encountered Mr Thompson. You, Towers, sought to distract him by asking for a cigarette, and you, Hawkes, stabbed him in the chest. Fortunately his wound was not as serious as it very well might have been, but nonetheless, this was a serious, frightening, motiveless and totally unprovoked attack on an innocent man walking along the

street at night.”“The intention here was to cause serious harm rather than to kill and was not premeditated. In fixing these terms I have to have regard to your ages,

CHELSEA TOWERS’PLEA TO THE QUEEN

and to the necessity of avoiding too great a disparity in the minimum terms because of the different starting points.”

*can’t be named for legal reasons

lO

You’ve read Jordan’s story, now read the Court Report

32 InsideOut


When her husband was sent to prison, Myvanwy O’Hara, 27, didn’t know how their relationship would survive

n the morning of her wedding, Myvanwy Edwards woke up from a nightmare in a sticky sweat. It

was four in the morning and she’d had a dream about his family - they had never approved of her. She’d dreamt of the glares as she manoeuvred the aisle in her duchess silk dress, feeling hatred from the right, constantly feeling the burning colours of his family’s garish outfits.

“Not a lot’s changed really,” Myvanwy O’Hara, 27, told me, recalling a time when life had felt moderately normal.

“They’d always disliked me because of my background. I was a ‘gorger’ to them - a non-gypsy. And educated”.

A banker’s daughter, she’d always had high hopes but, after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a 1st in English Literature, what happened next was the talk of the little town she came from.

At first, she didn’t see the convoy of caravans entering Bishop Burton, as an ominous sign.

“I was in the pub with some old school friends when I saw Lee. He came in and I couldn’t stop looking over. I’d always been attracted to rough guys.

“It took me a couple more pints to pluck up the courage to go over. My mates weren’t impressed,” she told me, a smirk spreading across her lips.

“I remember weeks later telling my dad I’d got myself a ‘gypo-boyfriend’. Well, he hit the roof, but after meeting

Lee he agreed that he made me happy.” It seemed nothing could come between Lee

and Myvanwy. His family had never accepted her, but Lee had never listened to them. And she was willing to take on their way of life, along with his two kids.

The ring was presented. The date was set. Myvanwy had never been so happy.

“The morning of the wedding, I was a nervous wreck. I’d thrown up over mum’s dress, I was that scared. I wasn’t just taking on a husband, I was taking on a family.”

Lee’s ex-wife had died a year before, leaving him to raise their two teenage children, Callum and Kim, alone.

“The family wouldn’t really let me near them, they thought I’d influence them with my ‘gorger ways’”.

Myvanwy’s worries were ill-founded. The wedding was perfect and she began to settle down to her new travelling lifestyle.

“It was about a month after the wedding that Lee started going out late and coming back in the early hours of the morning. Once, he came back bleeding.

“I confronted him about it, but he’d always just shake it off.”

It was at a barbeque with his family when Myvanwy noticed something wasn’t right with her new hubby.

She’d seen him taking a small parcel from his brother, Rory.

“I didn’t say anything at the time. I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d seen. I thought I’d have known if he was into drugs.”

Time passed, but there was nothing to suggest Lee had any involvement in drugs. Eventually, they settled in a house near Leeds.

“I missed living in the same place and knowing I had a home to go back to. The travelling lifestyle was hard.”

Lee started drinking heavily and when Myvanwy confronted him he just shook her off as usual.

“He had this ability to just turn everything around on me, making me feel bad for questioning him.”

It was a Sunday, early morning, when

Myvanwy was woken by a loud banging at the front door.

“Lee was out drinking still, it was two in the morning.”

She approached the door, asking timidly ‘who is it?’

No one replied. She heard footsteps disappear down the garden path.

“I was terrified. I went back to bed, but couldn’t sleep.”

The next day, she told Lee. This time she knew something was wrong. He didn’t meet her gaze when he said “It was probably the wrong house love.”

This time, she couldn’t let it go. “What’s going on Lee? How can it be

nothing?,” she said. “I remember him telling me to f**k off,

that he’d had enough.” Myvanwy told me. He packed his bags that night and left.

“He was back the next day, on my doorstep, telling me how sorry he was. I knew it was down to the drink. I told him he had to stop. And he did,” she said, cracking a grin.

They were blissfully happy again. She’d got her man back.

Two weeks later, Myvanwy’s life was turned upside down.

There was a knock on the door, she could see the flashing red and blue lights through the living room window.

“I opened the front door to two coppers and they asked if Lee was in. I called him. He came down the stairs and they cuffed him.”

Lee was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm. But how?

As far as Myvanwy knew, he hadn’t been in any fights.

Myvanwy knew he’d have never come out of a fight unscathed - not after drinking the way he used too. But, there had been a time when he’d come home with a battered face. The time when he’d been bleeding.

“I remember going down there, realising Rory had been arrested too. I just needed to know what was going on.”

Both brothers were questioned for nearly beating a 38-year-old man to death.

“I remember the day of the committal hearing, he was standing in the box looking pathetic.”

Lee was committed to Leeds Crown Court

She married her gypsy lover

OA turn for the worse?

‘I was a gorger to them and well educated’

‘I’d loved and lost my man within a year’

Lee and his kids - as they

used to be

Now he’s banged up and she’s all alone

33InsideOut


for trial and was held in custody.“I was devastated that he’d kept something

like this from me. And I still didn’t know the whole story. I’d loved and lost my man within a year.”

She found out later, from Lee’s mum, that Rory had been dealing cocaine and had asked Lee to get involved as a brotherly favour.

The guy they’d beaten up had owed Rory money.

Lee’s trial had been set for two weeks later, he was pleading guilty.

“I couldn’t face the trial, I tried to go. I remember driving straight past the court.”

Lee was sent down, three years inside. HMP Leeds became his new home. Rory was convicted too.

“I couldn’t believe it, he really was gone. I was completely on my own.

“I remember just going home and crying.”It was a week after Lee had been

sentenced that Myvanwy began writing. “I couldn’t face going to see him straight

away and he never rang. I thought he’d be using his calls to talk to his family.”

She wrote letter after letter, but there was never a reply from her banged up beau.

“After two weeks I had to go and see him, I didn’t get why he hadn’t replied to any of my letters.

“He looked so pathetic in his uniform I burst into tears. Angry tears. I confronted him. Asked him why he hadn’t contacted me.”

He just looked at me like I was thick, “You’ve been writing me letters. You know I can’t read or write,” he said.

She didn’t know. It seemed so obvious, she felt stupid for not realising sooner. He never read the paper and always struggled with road signs when they travelled around the country.

“I felt like I didn’t know him. We’d only been married for six months and he’d kept so many things from me.”

Over the next month, Myvanwy visited Lee once a week. She took books and began teaching him basic reading and writing.

“I remember thinking I had a knack for this. I enjoyed teaching but I didn’t like kids”

It seemed like the perfect balance. And what she discovered next changed her life completely.

During a weekly visit to hubby Lee, Myvanwy noticed a young woman staring at her across the opposite table, obviously visiting her man. She was gazing at the books in between Myvanwy and Lee. She caught her eye and swiftly looked away.

“I was walking across the car park when she collared me. She asked me how much I charged. I thought she meant sex.”

In fact Caroline was enquiring about tutoring. She told Myvanwy how her boyfriend and brother were both inside and couldn’t read or write, like Lee.

“I told her I didn’t charge, it was just something I was doing for my hubby. She looked put out. I saw her a few times after that, and always felt a pang of guilt. Why shouldn’t I teach them? She was in the same situation as me.”

Myvanwy later caught up with her in the car park and they arranged a day a week.

“The next thing I knew I was getting loads of requests to tutor people’s families. I couldn’t believe how many people were in Lee’s situation. I decided I had to do something.”

Mervanwy decided to return to university and a year later she graduated with a PGCE (a teaching qualification) in English Literature.

“I was really passionate about it. Everyone deserves to read and write.”

“I sent my CV to the federal career office at HMP Leeds and two weeks later I was asked to go for an interview.

I got the job.When asked whether she enjoys teaching,

Myvanwy’s face splits into an enormous grin.“I love it, I feel like I’m really helping

people. I get to see Lee the majority of days too so it’s perfect actually.”

Myvanwy’s story is an inspirational one.Her dedication to help illiterate prisoners

highlights the need for the teaching of basic vocational and practical skills within prison walls.

These skills are vital for prisoners when they return to life on the outside, helping families stay together and stop re-offending.

Completely alone

Myvanwy avoided the case at Leeds Crown Court

HMP Leeds: Lee

is still serving

his sentence

Myvanwy and Lee on their wedding day

l

‘I love it, I feel like I’m really helping people’

36 InsideOut


hen Dee-Dee Cruize’s partner was sentenced to seven years in prison

in 2006 she didn’t know how she’d cope.“It is difficult to understand if you have

never had a loved one in prison,” says Dee-Dee.

“It is very hard to put into words. All I can say is that it’s like a rollercoaster of emotions. Every single day is different - you have your good days, but you also have your very down days. It’s heartbreaking.”

For Dee-Dee the hardest part was not knowing what her partner was thinking and feeling each day.

“It’s easy to get upset but you have to find the strength to remain positive and supportive for your loved one because they need you more than ever. Having to support someone behind bars is a real test of your love, patience and strength.”

Dee-Dee and her partner had been together for several years before he was sent to prison. He was ordered to serve a minimum of five and half years before being eligible for parole last year.

“The first feeling you get is shock,” says Dee-Dee, “and the first thought is ‘how will I cope without him for such a long time?’”

She says adjusting to such a big change in their relationship was a tough hurdle to overcome. There were a lot of ups and downs –“it can get very lonely and depressing at times” - but Dee-Dee was determined to remain strong.

“When you truly love someone you never give up.”

“You have to push aside the strain and pressure it puts on

your relationship and just get on with it.”

Dee-Dee knows the frustrations and heartache prison life puts on

the family and relationships. She realised early on the importance of staying in touch with her partner while he was inside.

As well as visiting her partner in prison, Dee-Dee would write to him regularly.

“Sending cards helped me stay

connected with my partner and the right words can really make a difference.”

“I sent up to two cards a week for many years,” she says, “but I never found that perfect card with the perfect words fitting the situation that my family and I faced.

“I searched the high street, the back streets and online for the perfect card for a number of years but there is nothing out there for prisoners and their families.

“Ordinary cards on the market just don’t have anything relevant for us and, if I couldn’t find the right card, I knew other families would be in the same situation.”

Dee-Dee realised there were thousands of other families, friends and partners in the same position.

She has since used her experience to help others by starting a unique business providing a greeting card service for prisoners.

Jailmate Cards provides a unique and original range of designs and poetry created for families and friends to send to their loved ones.

“Before Jailmate Cards I had two completely different jobs,” says Dee-Dee.

“I was a nightclub manageress and before that I was a personal trainer and aerobics instructor, so setting up my own business was completely new for me.”

Dee-Dee has always had a keen eye for writing and design. She relished the challenge of creating a business plan and designing the cards that would feature on her website.

“Once I had everything down on paper, I contacted a few graphic designers and when I found one I thought could bring my idea to

life, we began work on the project.” She says.Dee-Dee started her initial research in

2010 and in January this year Jailmate Cards was launched. She now works full-time with a small team of people who have all helped her to make Jailmate Cards possible.

The business has been a great success, pulling in customers from as far away as America.

“The feedback I’ve received has been so overwhelming,” says Dee-Dee.

W

‘Having to support someone behind bars is a real test

of your love, patience and strength’

‘It can get very lonely and depressing at times’

‘Ordinary cards on the market just don’t have anything relevant

for us’

Dee-Dee with the first Jailmate Card she ever made

‘When you truly love someone you never give up’

After waiting years for her partner to be released from prison, Dee-Dee Cruize set up her own

greeting cards business to help families going through the same struggle

What you think

Jailmate Cards

37InsideOut


“The comments have all been very positive.“I am very happy that I am able to bring a

little light to others that are going through what I’ve been through.”

Things are looking so bright for the future. Jailmate Cards is continuing to grow with new cards and rhymes every month.

The most popular cards are the ‘Love You’, ‘Missing You’ and the ‘Naughty But Nice’ range.

Sending cards to show your love and support is one of the main sources of keeping in contact, so Jailmate Cards strives to deliver your card within 24 hours of ordering.

Dee-Dee also has plans to extend the business to include gifts that can be sent into prisons like vests, socks, boxers, t-shirts, bookmarks and mugs.

“It wasn’t easy and I truly understand the struggle of being on the other side of the wall

from the one you love.”Dee-Dee’s story shows that good things

can come out of bad situations. She hopes that Jailmate Cards can help to make the experience a little less painful.l

‘When you truly love someone you never give up’

After waiting years for her partner to be released from prison, Dee-Dee Cruize set up her own

greeting cards business to help families going through the same struggle

Words: Hannah Pearson

We’ve received all our cards and we love them! I will be ordering

again. Thank you.

– Laurie, USA

What a fantastic idea. Just want to say a big ‘thank you’ and tell you what a wonderful service you provide. My son

loved the card I sent him and I will be ordering again.

– Sue, London

The cards made me laugh out loud. It is good to see humour during difficult times. I can’t wait for my man to receive

them, he will crack up! Keep up the good work.

– Jade, Doncaster

What you think

For every card sold a

donation is made to

Prison Chat UK, an online

forum for families with a

loved one behind bars.

Jailmate Cards

40


Tell the KidsNot my crime, still my sentence: the

issues of having a parent imprisoned

hen asked to identify the most important issues prisoners’ families had to face, they said:

“the children and what to tell them”. As parents, we may often alter the truth or

hide it from our children completely. When they’re small we encourage beliefs in fairies and Father Christmas - cooing over their scribble drawings that actually resemble nothing of there intention.

When grandparents pass away, we may reassure our children with the notion Nanny and Grandad are safe in heaven.

Some adoptive parents may hide the truth that they little angels were not born into the family.

The point here, is we can often try to protect our children by telling them what we think will protect them and make them happy.

How to tell the children that a parent is in prison and what that actually means, is much tougher. With 160,000 children every year, faced with the imprisonment of a par-ent, thousands are

Children always ask questions that you will have to deal with, and it is usually better to tell them the truth.

It is any parent’s right to decide how and when to tell the children, but there is no guarantee way to protect them from finding out the truth in some other way.

The question to ask yourself is not, ‘Shall I tell the children?’ but ‘When and what shall I tell the children?’. It is vital that when tell-ing them, your attention is devoted to them, to answer any questions, and comfort them if neccessary.

Making up a storyThough some parents keep up the

pretence that a parent is working away for a while it is difficult to main-tain this.

A small child may accept that the prison is a hospital or a factory - but the older they grow the more difficult the story can be to maintain. You can’t protect your child from the truth all the time, they may learn it in the playground.

It will be more hurtful coming from them than it would from you.

Where to Start? A useful starting point is

to think about what a young child already knows. Adults can be careless about what they say in the hear-ing of children, wrongly assuming children will not understand and it’s alright to talk.

Older children are usually wiser than their parents give them credit for. They may have guessed what has happened, or seen something on the 6 o’clock news. Older children and teenagers may need to know more facts to be able to face their peers at school.

What could be the outcome?

It is likely your children will ask you a lot of questions about prison. All children will take the news differently. Some may even be proud, others embarrassed and some may feel ashamed.

Changes in their behaviour will come as no surprise as they come to terms with their parent’s absence from home.

Every child and every family will cope in different ways. It can be helpful to seek support groups.

It may help to talk to other parents who have faced similar issues with their children, to see how they coped.

If your partner is housed in a prison with a staffed visitor’ centre or staffed children’s play area there should be someone willing to talk with you there.

If you are not sure who to talk to, call the Prisoners’ Families Freephone Helpline on 0808 808 2003.

European Prisoners’ Children WeekTo celebrate the 3rd annual European Prisoners’ Childrens week this month, EUROCHIPS (European Network for Children with Imprisoned Parents) are rallying up support for a petition to spread international awareness about the challenges prisoners’ children face.

Signing the petition will help ensure that children with imprisoned parents gain a role in the conversation surrounding international children’s rights within European Parliament – ideally leading towards policy-reform initiatives and national watchdog agencies focused on gathering data and monitoring support services for this vulnerable group.

One in 100 children in the EU have a parent in prison.They frequently confront stigma and social isolation and can experience developmental difficulties as a result of being separated from their parents.

The petition aims to gain the attention of Italian MP, Roberta Angelilli in her role as the EU’s Alliance for Children.

Sign the petition at petitionbuzz.com/petitions/notmycrime

HOW TO...

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41InsideOut


Not my crime, still my sentence: the

issues of having a parent imprisoned

You’re not alone:

At first I tried to pretend I was at college. But one day

my daughter said she wanted the TV on during her visit,

I told her we weren’t allowed.

She said, “Can’t you ask the officers?”

I’d always called them teachers and she looked really

ashamed of letting it out and I realised she knew this

really was a prison. I was amazed how she’d picked it up

- she was only 5. Because I lied to her, she’d felt like she had to hide the

fact she knew her mummy was in jail. I felt even worse

than if I’d told her the truth.

I am 28 and have two kids with my girlfriend - aged 7 and 5. I think I’m a good dad and family wise we do OK. At the end of last year I got into trouble with the law and am now looking at a couple of years in prison. I have my sentencing coming up next month and I’m worried about it. Over the past few months we’ve managed to keep all this from the kids although they know things aren’t normal. I want to sit down and tell them what’s happening but have no idea what to say, how much to say, and how they will react. I want them to hear it from me and not someone else. I don’t want them to think I’m bad - they think bad men go to prison. I am worried about them being at school and getting a hard time over this.

When I first visited Robert with my 8-year-old son

Shane, I used to tell him that prison was ‘Daddy’s work

because it was easier, but I don’t think that lasted long.

Now we’ve explained it briefly, but not in detail. We

told him that the policeman said Dad was in a fight and

somebody got hurt, so that’s why he’s in there.

His best friend at school knows, but I don’t think

many of the other kids know, and so far he’s not had

any problems.

This woman invented a good cover story,

which might have worked for a time. But, it is

better, as their mother or father, that you can

decide who tells what, when and how, in the

best possible way.

Meaning a decision should be made as soon as

possible, even as soon as when your partner is

arrested. Most parents think it is their responsibility and

their right to tell their children eventually. The

hardest thing is when, how and how much to

tell.

When it was all on the news, I used to run in the room and shut off the TV before they could see anything. For ages I told them he was working away. It was only when the youngest girl wrote a letter to Father Christmas asking for him back that I felt I had to tell them the truth. The girls cried. I cried, but in the end it was all right.

When their father was sentenced, I told the children he was sick and in hospital in part of the jail, because he couldn’t stop drinking. I had to tell them he was in jail, in case their friends said something.

43InsideOut


The pen pal scheme is a part of the Bridging the Gap organisation, which allows people to interact with prisoners by writing letters to them.Lea Anne, can you tell our readers a bit about the pen pal scheme?

The pen pal scheme has been running since the 70s and over 1,000 prisoners have received pen pals in the time I have been co-ordinator, including in the USA and Australia. Word has even reached Bangkok too now.

Actually, in the past I wrote an article for Inside Time. I had hundreds of letters coming in with my name on, some even from Japan. I was like, ‘how do they even know who I am?’ Haha.

How would one of our readers go about becoming a pen pal?

The applications are on our website for the pen pals. The prisoners get sent an application pack. This is done by James the CEO in London. I get the email applications sent direct to me. I have total control of the pen pal scheme and I work on it most days. I inform James of any details given out but it is just me who runs the scheme along with the Brighten Up Your Day scheme too.

That is such a brilliant achievement! I’m guessing that prisoners really appreciate having someone to write to?

I know first-hand that some prisoners have no one else and they get a huge benefit from our service. Some realise that people are going out of their way to offer friendship and they want to turn their life around in return.

Why is it that people decide to write to prisoners?

People join the scheme for various reasons. Some are involved in the Miscarriage of Justice system, some just have family and friends in prison, a few people join who are studying criminology courses and use it for research. Quite a lot of romances begin this way too, although we do state it’s not a dating site.

Personally, I think there is a strange, curious side to it, people get intrigued, especially with death row.

Oh wow! So pen pals can write to people on death row?

Yes, in fact I have a friend that deals mainly with writing to prisoners in America.

So, romance wise, do you know of any relationships that have started between the pen pal and the prisoner?

Well, me actually haha! I wrote to a guy for a little while, he sent pictures and so did I. After a while, he mentioned a visit. I received the visiting order on Tuesday, booked straight away and went on the Wednesday.

Was that when you started to fall for him?

I was attracted to him, he was very open, funny and a Scouser! We just got on straight away.

We told each other everything in our letters. He would ring up and do a silly voice and totally change my day like nothing else!

I used to see him four times a week, spending all Saturday and Sunday on visits. I met his family and got close to them, I even stayed there for Christmas. It was like a normal relationship apart from where he was. He

had someone to care, listen to him and visit.

But it later ended. He was in a Category A prison and he had to keep going into segregation after seeing someone getting slashed. It followed him around and he tried to hang himself in prison. It eventually took its toll and I wrote to him saying I couldn’t do it anymore. Let’s just say his reply wasn’t good.

How is it that so many pen pals begin a relationship with a prisoner?

It’s hard to describe. It’s a strange bond but there’s a one-to-one closeness.

It’s like going back to your childhood really and getting to know people by writing to them.

You put things in letters you don’t normally have time to say in your busy day.

For me, I don’t know, romance is always there.

Do many pen pals and prisoners stay in contact after they have been released from prison?

I like hearing about the strong friendships that develop and there have been many. I once paired up a big hairy rocker with a vicar’s wife because I didn’t know...and they have been friends for years believe it or not!

Some prisoners do keep in touch with their pen pals after release and they often welcome the updates and good news along the way.

Sophie Lark speaks to Lea Anne, the organiser of Bridging the Gap’s pen pal scheme, about what it’s like to be a pen pal and how she found love through picking up a pen

“I was attracted to him, he was very open, funny and a Scouser”

What do you think prisoners look for when writing to a pen pal?

I think they look for someone friendly, open minded and non judgemental.

How does it affect the prisoner having someone to write to?

It gives inmates a connection, a lifeline to the outside world, and support when they feel low.

Would you recommend the experience to anyone?

Yes, I would recommend the experience to anyone who is open minded and non judgemental.

How many people do you write to?

At the moment I’m writing to about nine people. We have the ping pong effect and a letter has about a two week turn around.

How true a friendship can you establish with a prisoner just through letters?

I believe friendship builds over time as trust is gained.

Have you ever encountered a hostile situation with a pen pal?

I have never encountered a hostile situation. Quite the opposite, the inmates and patients I write to are very grateful that I take the time to write and our letters are very relaxed.

What was the nicest thing someone included in a letter?

Some have written poetry to me to express their thoughts and feelings and some prisoners have even drawn me pictures.

Has a prisoner ever inspired you in anyway?

I think their hope and positive attitude is very inspiring. The fact that they earn little money but still send most of it home for children and loved ones is very positive.

How long have you been a pen pal for?

I have been writing to prisoners and patients in secure hospitals through Bridging the Gap for almost three years.

Pen pal profile

Dos and Don’ts

•Getting to know an inmate takes time and a bit of

patience. It’s best to begin with a basic friendship and

build relationships from that point

•Do write a bit about yourself: hobbies/music/

interests/books/food/favourite TV shows

•Ask about them, not the situation

•Write jokes, poems, cartoon humour, articles on

current events, puzzles

Dos•Remember to put your return address on the upper left hand corner of the envelope. If you don’t want the prisoner to know your home address, get a P.O. Box•You might want to include a photograph of yourself so the prisoner has a ‘face’ to put with the name •Include gifts, postcards and greeting cards

•Write anything inappropriate, offensive, hostile etc. •Do not disclose anything too personal

Don’ts

44 InsideOut


To find out more about Sophie’s pen pal journey, including her original letter and long awaited reply, go to our website: www.insideoutmag.co.uk

45InsideOut


By Terry Burchell - HMP Exeter

The comforting bang of the bolted doorAnd I am safe inside my cell once more Back in the box that I am secure inAway from the stench of the landing vermin

Away from the scabs, away from the poncesAway from the threat of theundercover noncesAway from the braggin’ and talk of past gloriesAway from the bullshit and fucking war stories

Time for a smoke and a cup of teaTo think about the gitl who means the world to meTo reflect on the fact that I could not do betterAnd to send her my love in the form of a letter

Attempting to make my writing an artBy sculptingthe words to the shape of my heartA sculpture of words that are plain to seeShowing her how much she means to me

I hope that she hears what I’m trying to say

That even though I am locked away My heart and my soul are flying free All all because of her love for me

Prisoners’ Poems

By Simon Benstock - HMP Lindholme

I see ghosts clearly, even though most don’t hear

me They still want to get near me, fear me, so I’m

hereKinda eerie what I’m feeling, from the floor, to

the ceilingStraight through the roof, want the truth

I kinda miss robbing and stealingBecause it’s kept me a rude boy hungry, only

eating when I starvedI was ugly, so I robbed, no one loved me, shit

was hard Went to God once in a while when it got a little

hectic He was the only one I knew that I respected

Didn’t know why, didn’t know what I was living

was a lieIf I ain’t shit then, why should try?

Though I did what I could, but I guess it wasn’t

enoughthe devil told me it would happen but I kept

calling his bluffWhen it rains it pours, now my pains are yours

As yours were once mine DivineRevolving doors

Anonymous - HMP Warren HillWhat keeps me going is wonderingbut not knowingwhat my future has set out for me

I have ambitions for when i get out but things are holding me backincluding doubtDon’t listen to doubt doubt is a liartwelve years of pain is like a burning fire

what life has for me is hard to admireThings that get me throughare my family and belief - my life is like a painful currentpulling me underneath

I come across ignorant and impolite - you would also if you knew the throught going through my mind at nightthe frightor not being able to succeesare thoughts I don’t need that can misleadme into negative situationsfrustrations that I can’t be with loved ones and family relations.

Why we DieBy Pauline Butler - HMP Low

Newton

Although the world is a stage

According to our greatest sage.

Life is a game with no rules.

We are but players cast as fools.

Mosttaught “believe in right”

But wrong manipulates through might.

Churches try to give us hope

But our youth seek refuge in dope.

Leaders commit major crime

Whilst we serve our time.

Justice a dwindling ember

From a fire ever few remember.

With all around swept aside

All that remains inside.

Only there can we discover

The point of the game was eachother.

Playing the Game

CC - HMP Dovegate

You turn on the news and see ‘Boy Shot Dead’‘hew as only fourteen,’ and his mother said A fight broke out between rival gangsEveryone heard two loud bangs It soon becomes clear as they all turn and runSomeone has just fried a loaded gunA small sole figure lay flat on his faceHow unlucky was he, wrong time, wrong placeThis will tear his family apartThey’ll never rebuild their broken heartHe wasn’t the first and won’t be the lastGun crime is a culture that’s growing so fastWhat will it take for this to end?Your mother, your brother, sister of friend

Gun Crime

What keeps me going

By Hugh Kunz - HMP Whatton

Shut the door Close the blindIs that a shadow?What’s that sound?Turn over the pictureLook under the bed Its eyes were watching Was that a leg?My hands are shakingCan’t catch my breathAre they talking?Behind my back Don’t trust no oneThe knives are outGoing to hideI’m paranoid.

Paranoid

Love is the key

With Special Thanks to Inside Time

If you want to know more about submitting a prisoner’s poem go to www.insideoutmag.co.uk/poems

Know a good poem?

Prisoners not only express themselves through the words in

their letters, they also show their creativity by writing poetry.

Below are some extracts of poems written by current inmates:

46 InsideOut


When I first came in I gave out tobacco

and Rizlas to people who asked me.

I found I was short at the end of the

week. This last week I refused and

my life has been made hell. I’ve been

continually harassed for my canteen

day and night, usually by the hardcore

people I shared the dormitory with. If

not them they have been getting other

people to ask me on their behalf and

when I refuse, abuse me verbally and

lie about me. When in the dormitory

I made the mistake of saying I was

gay and have been ostracised by the

very couple who have been sleeping

together in bed. I have come off my

medication to get out of here and I’m

not getting much sleep; around three

hours per night. I just want to be left

alone to serve my time and leave

prison never to return. I can not relate well to people. I am going through hell, but I have tried very hard to fit in and appear normal. I don’t want to cause trouble but it’s very difficult not to retaliate verbally and I feel like I’m near to cracking up.

isiting a jailed loved one is a nerve-racking. The uniformed guards and sheer volume of

people can be intimidating, but imagine being locked inside.

After picking out your hubby, brother or sister from the crowd, imagine shuffling over only to catch sight of their beaten and broken face. Your anxiety levels reach breaking point. The kind of anxiety that will have you lying awake all night, worrying what hubby is facing - threats, assault and in some cases sexual harassment.

Bullying has always been a way of life. From the playground to the office battleground. There is always that one person who starts a fight for no reason, nudging you hard in the chest, shouting you down or making you feel insignificant.

Our freedom and capability to escape threatening situations means we can usually avoid a tragic aftermath. However, the confinement of prison can cause heightened emotions, and this can lead to less rational actions.

Bullying in prisons is rife. A recent poll by the PPO (Prisons and Probation Ombudsman) found 53% per cent of prisoners had been bullied whilst in custody, while 20% of all self-inflicted deaths between 2007 and 2009 had evidence of bullying and intimidation.

Experts believe prison bullying is outside the control of prison guards, and bullying is down to such things as overcrowding and the existence of prisoner gangs, creating high rivalry between inmates.

The importance of looking at prison bullying should not lie in the causes of it, but the effect it has on the victim and their family.

In a recent study into bullying in prisons, prison psychiatrist Dr Jane Ireland said doing nothing to stop threatening behaviour in prisons will reduce the ability for inmates to confront their past behaviour, increasing the risk of re-offending and pulling families apart time after time.

Dr Ireland said if bullying is given room to flourish, it can impact on the prison itself, causing disruption, creating no-go areas and allowing criminal gangs to gain power, threatening the safety of inmates. So who is in control?

“Bullies are often given status by prisoners

and guards, but stigmas are reserved for the bullying victims.

“They are seen as weak, called ‘whingers’, ‘fraggles’ and ‘muppets’,” Ireland said.

The impact of bullying inmates can result in catastrohpic consequences. As the PPO survey has found, a great deal of deaths in prison relate to prison bullying or intimidation.

Ireland believes the key lies in increasing supervision where bullying takes place.

She also advocates supporting the victim by providing all prisoners with a named officer who they have increased contact with.

“There is a need to recognise that prisoners can be both bullies and victims in order to not outrule anyone in investigations after an incident. And we must recognise the need to avoid stereotyping bullies and victims.”

PRISON BULLY INGJust playground tactics or something more sinister?

Gemma’s account:

What the experts say:

I’m a prisoner’s partner and my husband is serving time for a serious offence. We have a daughter together and since his jailing, my daughter is getting severely bullied. Kids are shouting things such as: “did your mum hide your dad’s gun as well!” and more things I would rather not repeat because it is too upsetting. Our daughter is 12 so is at high school and is getting bullied from older kids as well. I told her I will see the head teacher but she is now scared that if I do, she will be called a grass. I have no idea what to do, my daughter’s welfare is very important during a difficult time. From where I stand as a prisoners partner, this experience has brought me and my daughter nothing but grief.

From the outside:

RealIs your relative

being bullied? re you worried about a relative inside? The best advice is sometimes the simpliest:

TALK - many prisoners dare not tell a prison guard about their abuse, fearing they’ll be dubbed a ‘grasser’ and face further persecution. Offer an ear, persuade them to talk to you. Talking is the first step to accepting and tackling the problem.

PERSUADE - The prison Governor can put in place procedures to ensure the safety of your relative. Pushing your relation to tell them, could ensure a safer environment when serving time. ASSESS THE RISK - If you think you family member is at risk of harming themselves, you can contact the Head of Healthcare by speaking to the staff at the visitors’ centre. They are obligated to assess anyone thought to be at risk to themselves and devise an action plan for their safety.

TAKE A STAND - If you’re worried that your relative is being subjected to bullying, you can contact the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO). They investigate complaints made against a prison. You can contact them on 020 7035 2876 or visit their website: ppo.gov.uk.

What should be done?

V

A


InsideOut 47

Debbie had been behind bars for over 12 years,

she was working towards parole. Whilst inside, Debs began a relationship with

Elaine. Prisoners and Guards commented on how

volative their relationship was. Debbie told a guard how Elaine had punched her,

no action was taken. Three months later, Debbie was moved to Elaine’s

wing. Guards on her old ward had spoken of their

concern with Debbie’s transfer. But, no evidence of a previous assault had been

recorded. A week later, Debbie was found hanged in her cell.

In her police statement, Elaine had confessed to

beating her the night before her suicide.

From Poland, Ben was already an outsider when

he arrived.

He’d been shipped between Youth Offenders

Insititutes and two adult prisons. Already a ‘risk

factor’, Ben had been involved in fights with other

inmates and had a history of self-harming.

Banged up for six years, he was bothered about

the state of his relationship with his girl, Cath.

He’d managed to get his hands on a mobile, using

it to chat to her.

A week later it was stolen. Ben was under distress.

He’d found out fellow inmates were using it to call

and abuse Cath.

Ben cornered the guy he thought responsible and

beat the shit out of him.

The next day, he was moved.

In his cell, Ben asked the guards for a phone call.

He needed Cath.

Two hours later, Ben was hanging.

Category C:

Charged with sexually attacking a woman from

down the road, Dave* had landed himself back in

the shitter. Unlucky for him his new housemates subscribed

to the local rag, which had run details on his

arrest. He was dreading his move from the first night

centre. Inmates always hated sexual offenders.

Six days into his stay, about 6pm he moved into his

permanent home in one of the normal wings.

Sexual offenders were usually “branded” with

VP (vulnerable prisoner) status, allowing them

separate living quarters. Dave had refused. Within 30 minutes, the other prisoners had

identified him. Trapped in his cell, Dave was kicked, punched and

slashed with a razor blade. Guards intervened and he was frog-marched to

safety, as other prisoners gathered to scream

insults. Dave told the guard: “I knew this would happen,

but I thought I would give it a go - coming to a

normal location.”Examined by a nurse, Dave was dismissed. At 1am the next morning, Dave was found hanging

in his cell. He died two days later in hospital.

Local Prison:

Women’s Prison:

PRISON BULLY ING

Gemma’s account:

Life

48 InsideOut


risons are split into four categories – A, B, C and D – based on the severity

of the crime committed and the risk to the public should an inmate escape.

A prison law solicitor can make a representation on behalf of a prisoner that they should be allowed to be moved to a less secure prison.

“A lot of cases are representations for a prisoner to be moved to a Category D prison, which is an open prison,” said Sarah.

Category D inmates are

usually given leave to do voluntary work in their community.

“If a prisoner is released on temporary licence they can be recalled back to prison if they commit another crime or break the terms of their licence.

“If they are recalled, prisoners have the opportunity to make representations to the Parole Board,” she said.

A prison law solicitor will help a prisoner who has been recalled to make a case that they should be released back on licence.

A Shoulder To Lean On

PCategories

ife and IPP prisoners with learning difficulties or mental illness are

required to complete the same courses to reduce their risk to the public.

“The Equality Act 2010 sets out adjustments that should be made to courses so that prisoners with learning difficulties can complete them. But many people think that the Prison Service isn’t doing enough to help prisoners overcome these challenges,” said Sarah.

“The result is that people are ‘left behind’ in the prison system and they are stuck in a situation where they cannot progress.”

Solicitors will work in these cases to make sure that people with mental health problems

or learning difficulties are not disadvantaged. They are often involved with a prisoner’s sentence plan to ensure that their client understands how they can progress through the system.

Solicitors in prison law can assist prisoners with mental health problems so that they aren’t left for years without progress being made.

Reasonable adjustments should be in place so that they are able to complete courses and they can ask the Prison Service to consider the following factors in their risk assessment: has he/she been assessed for a course?; does he/she know how to apply for a course?; and is he/she mentally able to complete the course?

Progression and mental illness Courseshe educational courses that are available vary depending on the prison

and the offence committed.The Thinking Skills

Programme suits people who act on impulse without considering the consequences of their actions. It teaches how to stop and think before reacting.

Toe by Toe is a reading and writing scheme where highly literate prisoners mentor other inmates. The mentor scheme provides support so that more prisoners are able to complete courses, which will help with their progression.

The Prison Addressing Substance Related Offending (PASRO) course and the Short Duration Programme (SDP) are two of the main substance misuse programmes. They are intense courses that deal with

drug and alcohol dependency.“Places on most courses

are rationed due to limited resources. High-priority prisoners are more likely to get a place than those who are a medium-risk to the public,” said Sarah.

“This is a national problem. With over 80,000 prisoners in the UK, there are often long waiting lists for courses.”

A solicitor working on this sort of case will look into what courses are available for their client. They will ensure that they understand exactly how to progress and how to access courses.

They can also make a representation to the Prison Service on their client’s behalf that they should be allowed to complete a course that is oversubscribed.

Prisoners on the literacy scheme

T

With a loved one in prison it is normal to feel cut-off from their everyday life and worry about their progress. InsideOut spoke to Sarah Hayn es, a senior case worker in prison law, who explained what support is available b ehind bars

L

49InsideOut


A Shoulder To Lean On

Life and IPP prisonersrisoners serving a life sentence or Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection (IPP) cannot

be released until they have shown that they have reduced their risk to the public.

Courses are available in prison that improve skills so prisoners can reduce their risk to the public and be more likely to be considered for release.

“An IPP sentence has two parts. The first part – ‘the tariff’ – is the amount of time the judge orders you to stay in prison and it is the minimum amount of time before you can be considered for release by the Parole Board,” said Sarah.

“When your tariff ends, the Parole Board reviews the case to decide whether you can be released. If you stay in prison, this second part of your sentence is indeterminate, which means you do not have a release date.”

A solicitor will represent a prisoner

who feels they have not been given fair access to courses that help them progress.

A prisoner on a life or IPP sentence can’t be considered for release until they have proven that they have reduced their risk, which is why access to educational courses is crucial.

“I visited HMP Doncaster a few years ago to give a seminar to life and IPP prisoners on progressing through the prison system,” said Sarah.

“A lot of prisoners don’t know what is expected of them and are not fully aware of what courses are available to help them reduce their risk to the public. If they are not actively trying to progress through their sentence then they are ‘stuck’ within the system.”

Inmates are regularly risk-assessed by the Parole Board, which is why it is important to show a willingness to progress through the system and meet targets.

lot of cases in prison law revolve around adjudications – commonly called ‘nickings’.

This is when a prisoner is charged with breaking a prison rule. Having a mobile phone in prison, for example, would be cause for adjudication.

The charge needs to be proven beyond reasonable doubt and the defendant is entitled to advice from a solicitor. A prison law solicitor can, in some cases, represent a prisoner to the Prison Service or Independent Adjudicator.

“The most serious cases are heard by an Independent Adjudicator who will be a district judge,” said Sarah.

“The charge will be dealt with inside the prison and inmates are entitled to legal representation from a solicitor.

An Independent Adjudicator can increase a prisoner’s sentence by up to 42 days.

Less serious charges are dealt with by the Prison Governor, who can order up to 42 days loss of all privileges.

Adjudications

With a loved one in prison it is normal to feel cut-off from their everyday life and worry about their progress. InsideOut spoke to Sarah Hayn es, a senior case worker in prison law, who explained what support is available b ehind bars

A

P

Places on educational

courses are limited

50 InsideOut


Like what you see?

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Post: InsideOut Magazine, Minalloy House, 18-22 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 3NJ

Next month in InsideOut

The real Prisoners’ Wife: I went from riches to rags when my hubby was caged

The Innocence Issue!

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EXCLUSIVE! Interview with James Liebman, the professor who uncovered the execution of the WRONG man in Texas

Available 6 July

51InsideOut


I am really lucky that everyone I know has been very supportive. You just have to learn to ignore

those who aren’t.– Allyce Swift

I have suffered social stigma but I think the best way to cope is just to

ignore people who treat you badly. – Kelly Thomas

There is a saying that comes to mind - ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone’ - and

that’s how I deal with it.- Helen Smith

People don’t really understand and

sometimes I think they are right. But at the end of the day, I love him and that’s

what get me through. – Sharon Linacre

Get in touch via our Facebook page www.facebook.com/insideoutmag or Twitter @insideoutmag. You can email us at [email protected] or write to us at InsideOut Magazine, Minalloy House, 18-22 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 3NJ.

There is not a person out there who hasn’t made

an ill-informed or wrong decision. I don’t need to be with people who don’t need to be

with me. -Carol Clarke

Next month’s big issue: How do you make ends meet?

How do you

deal with social

stigma?

Some people who I thought were friends

have distanced themelves, now I know who my real

friends are.- Anonymous

I also work for a prison charity - that

brings its own stigma, I ignore anyone who is negative, I’ve not done

anything wrong.- Sarah Paddock

Join us and have your say.

facebook.com/insideoutmag


They don’t know him like I do. They don’t have the right to judge.-Sandra PhillipsLife is about

forgiveness. People shouldlearn to exercise that.-Ken Brown

Sod them!-Courtney Johnson

It upsets me when people stare at me in the shops. It’s so uncomfortable. - Lisa Neil

52 InsideOut


So you’ve just left prison and feeling great – but what next? Entering back into society can be a daunting experience especially if you have

to find a new job, a home and become financially secure. Inside Out understands the stress that comes with release. Every issue we aim to

provide you with the best advice from top charities and programmes, so we ca n help you to help yourself.

RECENTLY RELEA SED?

If you have been studying whilst in prison, there is no reason why your education has to stop after your release. If you want continue your studies and enter further education, you may be eligible for a scholarship through the Longford Trust. If you want to study law you may be able to apply for the trust’s Patrick Pakenham Educational Award.

The Longford Trust offers 20-30 scholarships a year to ex-prisoners to aid in rehabilitation. The scholarship could fund your studies of up to £5,000 a year for up to three years. The funding will cover your tuition fees, living expenses and course materials. Each ex-offender also receives a mentor to help emotionally rehabilitate them and offer practical advice.

Scholarship manager for the Longford Trust, Magdalen Evans, 45, says: “It is an opportunity for a lot of people who have not considered full-time education before to realistically think there is a chance it could work for them. It can also bridge a gap between what they may have already

been doing with the OU (Open University) and long-distance learning in a real-life college environment.”

But higher education may not be for everyone.“We acknowledge that further education and apprenticeships are very important too. Higher education only suits some people wishing to study and we always ask referees to give us feedback about whether they think candidates have chosen a realistic course that is going to be achievable, as well as genuinely helping get them the right kind of job eventually. What we do realise is that a course can provide the kind of structure that some people so desperately need when they come out of a highly organised institution and can provide a bridge back to stability of a sort.”

To check if you are eligible and to apply for a scholarship or you would like more information, visit the website www.longfordtrust.org/scholarships

Drug and Alcohol Abuse

The charity Addaction helps not only with rehabilitation, if you have a drug or alcohol addiction, but supports your family too. This includes one-to-one counselling, group sessions, advice and information about drugs and alcohol and harm reduction services such as needle exchange. The charity help 26,000 people a year who have

alcohol and drug problems. The Criminal Justice System, as part of Addaction, meet ex-prisoners at the prison gate upon release to provide you

with advice on where to access services and provide tailored plans to cover prescriptions, housing and employment. After a consultation, you decide what treatment best suits you. You will then be assigned a key worker who will remain with you throughout

the course of your treatment. To find out how Addaction can help you, visit www.addaction.org.uk

Health

Education

53InsideOut


So you’ve just left prison and feeling great – but what next? Entering back into society can be a daunting experience especially if you have

to find a new job, a home and become financially secure. Inside Out understands the stress that comes with release. Every issue we aim to

provide you with the best advice from top charities and programmes, so we ca n help you to help yourself.

RECENTLY RELEA SED?



Join us and have your say

They can provide training, skills and qualifications, advice and guidance, pathways to help you gain skills in a specific industry, work placements, job search support, help with job applications and interview preparation. You will receive your own personal consultant who will continue to support you even after you have found a job.

Visit the website for more information www.workinglinks.co.uk

Working Links help ex-offenders into employment.

Since 2000, they have helped 220,000 people to change their lives through sustainable employment. If you are currently on probation, serving a community sentence or looking for work upon your release, Working Links can help you. They run a range of programmes across the UK specifically designed to help you into employment.

Careers

FINANCEHow to manage

debt

HEALTHLiving with a mental health

problem

FAMILYRe-building

relationships

CAREERSFind the

NEXT MONTH

PRIVATE-RENTED ACCOMMODATION

This could be a room in a house, a bedsit or a flat. Most landlords require references from past tenant’s landlords, which as an ex-prisoner you may not be able to provide. In addition, most landlords require a deposit which coming out of prison, you may not have. If you do have some savings, private-rented accommodation could suit you. Keep your eyes open for advertisements for rooms in houses which can go quickly.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

The most used housing support is that of family and friends. Most people leaving prison usually return to their family or friend’s houses, but sometimes families are unwilling to take their family member back after their sentence. This may because they are hurt, do not agree with what they did and can’t forgive or there may be alcohol or drugs problems. With the help of support groups it is possible to bridge gaps and return home.

Email [email protected].

Nacro says there are four possible housing options once you are

released from prison:

GENERAL NEEDS HOUSING

Council or housing association houses that are unfurnished and mainly for couples and families. It is difficult for single people to gain a house because there is a shortage of social housing, unless you have special needs. However, some councils do offer houses to single people that are difficult to let. Contact your local council to be put on the waiting list.

HOSTELS AND SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION

These can be direct access accommodation, emergency provision and providing single, homeless people for several weeks or months. Some centres are specialist and cater for people with mental health problems, for example. There are provisions for ex-offenders of which some are required as a condition to stay in premises such as probation hostels. This is easier to gain than general needs housing. For more information and to find a hostel, log onto www.rsfinder.info

Housing

Sponsored by the Longford Trust and Addaction

55InsideOut


To Inside Out,

Hello Inside Out,

I think I can speak for so many others

when I say that I think this magazine is

a brilliant idea. There’s no magazine out

there that caters for us at the minute

and I can’t wait to see what you have

in store!

Julie, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Inside Out, Just wanted to say that I would really love to read something on financial issues as I feel this is a topic a lot of people would benefit from. Great idea guys!

Susan, Hockley, Essex

We hear you!Fam-Mail

Join us and have your



Dear Inside Out,

Can you wish my beautiful wife Shannon an

amazing 25th birthday. I love her so much

and I’m always thinking of her.

Jamie, HMP Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Hi Inside Out, I think it would be a really good idea if you could feature some kind of travel vouchers. I have to travel two hours to see my fiancé in prison and it gets quite costly.

June, Buckley, North Wales

Inside Out,

What a marvellous idea! I would love to be

involved if possible. I am so pleased some-

thing has been produced for us families.

It’s brilliant.

Daisy, Preston, Lancashire

Hope to see a lot of light hearted articles,

horoscopes and puzzles. It’s good to have a

sense of humour during dark times.Lydia, Widnes, Merseyside

Inside Out MagazineMinalloy House18-22 Regent StreetSheffield S1 3NJ

Write to us!

57InsideOut


n the box

Over the moon

he Vic’s lovable landlady is back behind the bar, but rather than return to a harmonious marriage with Alfie, she soon

feels like the spark has fizzled out of their relationship. Kat tries her best to get some quality time alone with Mr Moon, but

he doesn’t seem to realise that Kat wants the passion back in their relationship. When Kat doesn’t get the attention at home, she finds it hard to resist the temptation to play away when someone else showers her with affection. Kat knows that she has a made a huge own-goal and is ridden with guilt, but even though she desparately tries to call off her affair, she finds her mystery lover impossible to resist.

This long-running storyline will start on screen next month and will leave the audience guessing who Kat’s lover could be. There are at least five names in the frame, including a hat-trick of Branning brothers! Viewers will be left guessing who Kat’s mystery man is, as will the cast and crew. To make sure that the secret is not leaked before the mystery man’s identity is revealed, all scenes with Kat’s mysterious lover are being filmed with an extra.

Lorraine Newman, Executive Producer revealed, “The consequences are not only great for Kat and Alfie, but also for each individual suspect. The audience will join the cast and crew guessing across the summer and autumn as we eliminate the suspects one at a time, leading to one almighty explosion.”

T

Kat is back and she is about to embark on one of the biggest storylines of the summer.

Eastenders

Top of the telly

1

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Geordie shore: Chaos in CancunNewscastle’s finest are back with more hook-ups, boozy sessions and screaming rows. But this time they are 5,000 miles away in Mexican party town Cancun. Will the feisty Geordies be able to take the heat?Starts 26 June, 10pm, MTV

PrimevalThe dinosaur drama has been rescued from extinction, after ITV said it would not be recommissioning the programme.The tension is about to be ramped up as relationships are tested, anomalies become more dangerous, and secrets are revealed. Who will survive the apocalypse about to befall the world? Starts 16 June, 6pm, ITV1

True LoveCreated and directed by Bafta winning Dominic Savage, True Love stars David Tennant, Ashley Walters, Billie Piper, Jane Horrocks and David Morrissey. BBC One’s first improvised series, it explores five powerful and overlapping love stories set in the same town. Starts 17 June, 10.25pm, BBC One

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TimeOut Take

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The objective of Sudoku is to enter a digit from 1 to 9 in each cell

•Each horizontal row must contain each digit exactly once•Each vertical column must contain each digit exactly once•Each subgrid or region must contain each digit exactly once

The object of Word Arrow is to fill in all of the blank white boxes

•Each box contains a simple clue directed to various empty white boxes•The amount of white boxes that are directed after the clue hints how many letters the word has

Knock knock!Who’s there?Madame.Madame who?Madame foot’s caught in the door!

Knock knock!Who’s there?Wendy.Wendy who?Wendy wind blows de cradle will rock.

Knock knock!Who’s there?Little old lady?Little old lady who?Wow! I didn’t know you could yodel!

Knock Knock Jokes!

Take a break and have a brew!

Suduko

Word Arrow

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Help and Support Directory

Action for Prisoners’ Families www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk

AFFECT provides services for the families of offenders and offers support groups to families in the south of England. www.affect.org.uk

E-mail a Prisoner enables families to send messages to prisoners in many UK prisons. Check online to see if the prison your family member is at has this service. www.emailaprisoner.com

First time in Prison written by lawyers for individuals and families who are facing their first prison sentence. www.firsttimeinprison.co.uk

Nacro Resettlement Service Finder provides information about housing, employment, education and training and other services in England and Wales for resettling ex-prisoners and supporting offenders in the community. www.rsfinder.info

Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) provides useful information on visiting and how visitors’ centres can help families. www.prisonadvice.org.uk

Prison Chat UK is an online community giving support to those who have a loved one inside the British prison system. www.prisonchatuk.com

Prisoners’ Families and Friends Service (PFFS) offers a helpline (0808 808 3444), befriending, and support at court. www.pffs.org.uk

Prisoners’ Family Voices is a web-based community which gives family members the opportunity to talk to each other. www.prisonersfamiliesvoices.blogspot.com

Prison Service has a website where you can find out the location and visiting details about a prison and information about the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme, amongst other things www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk

Offenders’ Families Helpline 0808 808 2003 [email protected]

Support Help and Advice for Relatives of Prisoners (SHARP) 01743 245365 for free help, advice and support

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Adjudications A mini-trial. The prison governor is the judge and jury, and hears allegations of breaches of prison discipline by prisoners.

Assisted Prison Visits Unit (APVU) You may be able to get help with the cost of travel when visiting a close relative or partner through the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme. This is administered by the APVU.

Categorisation All prisoners are assessed by their security risk and placed into one of four basic categories: A, B, C & D. ‘A’ being in need of highest security and ‘D’ the least.

Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) The Criminal Cases Review Commission is the independent public body set up to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Commission assesses whether convictions or sentences should be referred to a court of appeal.

District Judge These sit alone and have the authority to sit in any Magistrates’ Court. District Judges have tended to be appointed from the ranks of legal advisors to the magistrate’s court and are normally qualified solicitors or barristers.

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) A court which hears complaints from people who believe their human rights have been violated.

Home Detection Curfew An early release scheme whereby a person is released and has to remain in their accommodation during certain hours. An electronic device is usually used to ensure compliance.

IPP sentence IPP is an indeterminate sentence for people whose offences are not serious enough for life imprisonment but are considered by the court to be potentially dangerous. IPP prisoners can only be released when the Parole Board is satisfied they no longer pose a risk to the public.

Joint Enterprise Participation by two or more persons to conspire and/or commit an offence.

Legal Services Commission (LSC) The Legal Services Commission look after legal aid in England and Wales which is supposed to safeguard society’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

Legal aid Ensures access to justice by providing high quality advice, information and representation to people who would not otherwise be able to afford it.

Parole Board The Board’s role is to make risk assessments to decide which prisoners may safely be released into the community.

Prison service order These are additional instructions, rules and regulations published by the Prison Service. Many contain ‘mandatory instructions’ i.e. instructions which governors have to obey.

Solitary confinement The isolation of a prisoner in a separate cell as punishment.

Tariff (Also called minimum term.) The minimum period that a person serving an indefinite sentence must serve before that person becomes eligible for parole.

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Blue Sky Development & Regeneration is a not-for-profit company established by the charity Groundwork Thames Valley. It was set up to give paid work to people coming out of prison, to enable them to move successfully into long-term employment.

Over the 5 years since it was set up, Blue Sky has employed nearly 500 ex-offenders - that's greater than the entire inmate population of some of Britain's prisons. And of these, less than 15% have re-offended - that's a quarter of the national average.

Blue Sky’s mission is to help break the cycle of re-offending and achieve long-term benefits for society.

a unique free support magazine for prisoners' families

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