tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post5917424373358642898..comments2024-03-02T02:56:21.007+00:00Comments on ......SHOT BY BOTH SIDES: From safety to where...?Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-44282671001700511162008-08-21T12:30:00.000+01:002008-08-21T12:30:00.000+01:00If we're going to talk about "serious, violent off...If we're going to talk about "serious, violent offences" then lets talk about the biggest perpetrator here, which is by far the institution and, by extension, the state.<BR/><BR/>With 10 women dead over the last ten years and self harm incidents running at around 5 a week, the sheer level and consistency of violence against the person in Eastwood Park is nothing short of systematic criminal neglect at the very best.<BR/><BR/>The fact that Governor Anne Owers remains in post while nothing whatsoever changes tells its own story too. <BR/><BR/>It seems that petty acts of violence by some of the most vulnerable individuals in the country must be viciously punished while systematic, institutional violence perpetrated by bureaucrats that consistently leads to death and serious injury is dealt with by the commisioning of a few reports and a yearly press release assuring us things are about to improve.<BR/><BR/>The late <A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/16/prisonsandprobation1" REL="nofollow"> Pauline Campbell</A> - about whom we all, no doubt, have an opinion (although it wasn't our daughter who was abandoned to die alone by the state was it?) - regularly protested outside Eastwood Park trying to stop prison vans bringing in prisoners on the basis that it was "not a safe place for women to be held".<BR/><BR/>Her methods may have been slightly potty but the analysis was perfectly correct.<BR/><BR/>Who's there to stand up for Eastwood Park's victims now?The Bristol Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05776065164023718096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-38852879406135588532008-08-20T19:44:00.000+01:002008-08-20T19:44:00.000+01:00I don't think I gave a list of local prisons, did ...I don't think I gave a list of local prisons, did I? I mentioned Ashfield in the context of Serco.<BR/><BR/>I've been to Eastwood Park. The girls are completely separate from the women, so it's not as if they're in an adult prison. It's the equivalent of 15-18 year old boys being held in Ashfield. And from what I recall, most of the girls I met there were in for serious, often violent, offences. The alternative would be to send them many, many miles away from home to one of the few female YOIs. The Director of Ashfield, by the way, refers to her lads as children - because they are.<BR/><BR/>However, I have said publicly before - in fact I think I said it on the Simon Mayo show - that I believe there are many people in prison/ YOIs who shouldn't be there (80%-plus of prisoners have mental health problems; many women are serving sentences for minor crimes; short sentences serve little rehabilitative purpose but can destroy someone's life back in 'the real world'; and some of the children have horrendous 'back stories' - which in part explains the high incidence of self-harming). <BR/><BR/>And I accept that we haven't done anywhere near as much as we should have done to address this issue - in fact the increase in the prison population has exacerbated some of the problems. We did, however, commission the Corston report on women in prison last year and the Government is implementing some of its recommendations. And there are plans to put more people into drug treatment programmes as an alternative to custody; in fact, I think I've blogged about that before.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-12127512023746359922008-08-20T18:46:00.000+01:002008-08-20T18:46:00.000+01:00I notice you've left Eastwood Park off your list o...I notice you've left <A HREF="http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/hmp-eastwood-park-challenges" REL="nofollow">Eastwood Park</A> off your list of local prisons. Possibly because what is going on in there and the type of women being held there is nothing short of a national disgrace and an embarrassment to a civilised country in the 21st Century?<BR/><BR/>And don't say it's getting better. It isn't. This is from the WDP from May this year:<BR/> <BR/><I>" The number of cases where girls being held in a much-criticised prison have harmed themselves has rocketed. There were 212 self-harm incidents involving 15 to 17-year-olds at Eastwood Park, near Bristol, last year, an 85 per cent rise on 2006."</I><BR/><BR/>15 years old girls? In prison? Seriously harming themselves? They're children Kerry ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-57269815497063584192008-08-20T00:20:00.000+01:002008-08-20T00:20:00.000+01:00Yarl's Wood is run by Serco, a private company. He...Yarl's Wood is run by Serco, a private company. Hence the use of the word 'Director' not Governor. And it's not a prison. <BR/><BR/>The Director, and the Director of Ashfield - also run by Serco - have both told me that they have much more freedom to run their institutions in the way they see fit than their counterparts in the public sector. From what I've seen, it seems to be paying off.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-77636469611759867992008-08-19T23:54:00.000+01:002008-08-19T23:54:00.000+01:00I stopped reading after you started praising priso...I stopped reading after you started praising prison governors for being "friendly".<BR/><BR/>Have you not noticed yet Kerry that public sector managers' only skills lie in their ability to suck up to politicians?<BR/><BR/>Our prison system is a national disgrace and a large part of the responsibility lies with these "friendly" people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-60673159309430799982008-08-19T22:51:00.000+01:002008-08-19T22:51:00.000+01:00I so knew this was the only response I was going t...I so knew this was the only response I was going to get.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377996092374137641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7647685282789008730.post-776021428329015792008-08-19T15:26:00.000+01:002008-08-19T15:26:00.000+01:00Quite frankly Kerry, I don't care what the liberal...Quite frankly Kerry, I don't care what the liberals think. The children may have my sympathy, but the adults have none. They came here with malice of forethought with the intention of criminally breaking out immigration rules. I would guess that many of these people were picked up after they had committed further criminal offences. Why these people can get away with appeals and the relative luxury of the camp is a slap in the face to many people who are hard working and hard pressed pensioners. Why these people, once they have been discovered, are not immediately deported on the first plane back is beyond me. If you want due process of law I would give them all a suspended 2 year jail sentence, so if they decide to return they can do it there.<BR/><BR/>I am sick to death of soft touch Britain.DaveAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249090980650806030noreply@blogger.com