A Green candidate’s call to abolish prisons in Scotland has been dismissed as “bonkers” and “crackpot” — but one Emeritus Professor of criminal and community justice argues the idea deserves serious consideration, not ridicule. Scotland imprisons too many people, prisons deteriorate under austerity, and the political right reflexively shouts down any rational debate about alternatives. […]
Capital funding for an expansion of HMP La Moye to cope with rising prisoner numbers is “essential to supporting the criminal justice system”, the States of Jersey Prison Service has said in its latest annual report. La Moye is the Island of Jersey’s only prison and is equipped to accommodate up to 200 prisoners. The […]
The government has announced that the system for managing sex offenders and those that pose a risk of sexual harm, described as ‘a crucial part of preventing sexual violence and delivering our mission to halve violence against women and girls’ is to be changed. Jess Phillips The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department […]
Victims and families of most heinous crimes to get longer to challenge sentences Reforms mean no victim be left in the dark about right to challenge Crown Court sentences Move will help deliver justice for all victims and restore faith in the justice system as part of the Plan for Change Victims and bereaved families […]
A police officer who crashed and killed a woman while responding to an emergency call to help a choking baby has been jailed for two years and three months. Mark Roberts, 57, drove through a red light at speed and struck Ronald and Muriel Pinkney’s motorbike near the Metrocentre in Gateshead in July 2022, Teesside […]
The inmates at Guernsey Prison have hand-crafted four beach toy boxes, which have been installed at Cobo, Grandes Rocques, Petit Bot, and Pembroke, ready to be filled with donated beach toys, buckets, and spades. The endeavour was run by Creative Learning in Prison – a charity dedicated to providing access to education, employment and other […]
The board conducted 209 visits with a complement that should have been 16 but started the year at four. Four people monitoring a local prison holding over a thousand men. The report identifies real progress — a “bus to bed” reception initiative that works, a well-run Care and Separation Unit, improved healthcare delivery by Oxleas, […]
The Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor has approved the appointment of Wendy Sinclair-Gieben as Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody for a period of 3 years from 1 May 2026. Established in 2009, the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) forms part of the Ministerial Council on Deaths […]
A prison officer who slept on his shift instead of looking after vulnerable inmates faked records when one killed himself in his cell. James Smith was working a night shift at Norwich Prison where he was tasked with carrying out regular checks on at-risk prisoners. One of those in his care was Alistair McKenzie, a […]
The policy framework governing the management of foreign national prisoners was substantially restructured effective from 13 April 2026. A new Policy Framework — Foreign nationals in prison, Home Office referrals, repatriation, immigration, deportation and consular access — came into force on that date, cancelling PSI 52/2011 (Immigration, Repatriation and Removal Services) in its entirety. PSI […]
A forensic psychologist is helping manage some of the UK’s most high-risk offenders. Keely Perham, 34, works at HMP Manchester and is the clinical lead for the Close Supervision Centre (CSC), a facility designed for prisoners whose behaviour is so dangerous that they cannot be managed elsewhere. Ms Perham’s interest in criminal psychology began at […]
Plans to increase the capacity of Leyhill Prison by more than half have been approved, despite fears about more prisoners absconding. South Gloucestershire Council has given the Ministry of Justice planning permission to build two new houseblocks at the Category D open jail near Thornbury. The ministry says each one will have capacity to house […]