Frances Crook’s blog
Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, provides informal comments on the issues of the day.
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Attending a funeral
Before Christmas, I wrote about a lad whose mother died whilst he was in custody. He had not been allowed to see his dying mother in hospital. Howard League lawyers were then trying to get the prison to agree to him attending his mother’s funeral. Four days before the funeral it was confirmed that he would … Read more
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Yesterday was a bad day, but there is some hope on the horizon
Yesterday was a bad day. The Ministry of Justice admitted that 119 people had died by suicide in prisons over the last year. The figures of self-injury and assaults also published yesterday revealed the chaos in the system. It happens that I had a meeting with the Secretary of State, Liz Truss, on Wednesday to discuss … Read more
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Missed opportunity to provide real employment for prisoners
The ‘super prison’ for over 2,000 men in Wrexham is due to start taking prisoners next month. It will include a bizarre model of keeping men occupied in the prison that will serve the private sector running the ‘workshops’ very well but is not a proper model of employment. It is disappointing that the opportunity … Read more
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Radical overhaul of the magistracy is urgently needed
The High Court has ruled that magistrates unlawfully jailed a women for 81 days because she was unable to pay her council tax. Sam Genen and the law firm Ahmed Rahman Carr took the case. About 100 people are imprisoned by magistrates for failing to pay council tax debts and the Centre for Criminal Appeals has … Read more
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What Christmas is really like for people behind bars
Regular as clockwork the stories about 'convicts' enjoying 'belly-busting' feasts at Christmas appear. The clichéd stories always conjure up the poverty-stricken Dickensian pension as an emotional ploy to make everyone hate these nasty prisoners dining out in luxury. So what is the truth? The daily budget for an adult man in prison is around £2 and this … Read more
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The answer to the prison crisis is simple: less is better
Yesterday, Liz Truss made a statement and answered questions in Parliament following the riot in Birmingham prison. She reiterated her plan to recruit more staff, although this will only replace a quarter of those who were got rid of by her predecessor-but-one. Other plans involve curtailing the use of mobile phones and testing for drugs. I … Read more
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Secure schools are not the answer
I applaud the aims of Liz Truss. If we have to incarcerate children, they should be safe, be educated and be able to thrive. But I do not think secure schools will be the answer. There are around 875 children in custody at any one time, only 30 of whom are girls. We should have far … Read more
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We should support Liz Truss
There have been some rather nasty personal social media attacks against the new Secretary of State. My view is that it is legitimate to critique what ministers do and their leadership, but not to make it personal. Liz Truss has only been in post a few months and has had a steep learning curve, as most … Read more
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A young person being held in a state of limbo over a decision to allow him to attend his mother’s funeral
Two weeks ago I wrote about the efforts of our legal team to persuade a prison to escort a young person to see his dying mother. The prison had told the lad it was too short-staffed to take him. His mother died before he got the opportunity to visit her. I am pleased to report that … Read more
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Dangerous driving
On Sunday, the government announced plans to increase to life imprisonment the sentence for dangerous driving when someone has been killed. I understand, and sympathise with, public concern when people have been killed or seriously injured by drivers who are then apparently not given a serious penalty. However, governments too readily reach for the simple tool … Read more
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