UK: End-of Term Report
01 March 2005
At the end of New Labour's second term in office, the prison population stood at a record high of 75,550. According to a recent Howard League report, Leicester is the most overcrowded jail, with 90% more inmates than it has places for, followed by Preston, which has 80%, and Shrewsbury, with 73%. Seventy six of the 139 prisons in England and Wales were overcrowded in January 2005. In 2003-4 the average rate of "doubling" - putting two to a cell built to accommodate one prisoner - was 21.7%
The pressure from both overcrowding generally, and the specific effects of prison on the most vulnerable, continues to manifest in riots in local jails - invariably the most overcrowded - and in the growth of a culture of self-harm and suicide within the jails. Five prisoners involved in a riot at HMP Exeter were jailed in March for a total of 12 years. Peter Turner was jailed for 3 and a half years, Richard Bilsborough for 27 months. As they were being sentenced, 40 inmates rioted at Doncaster after refusing to return to their cells. Press and prosecutors invariably seek to blame minor incidents and drink for the riots, but the ultimate cause can be found in the conditions generated by overcrowding in local jails.
A report by the Liberal Democrats, "Mothers Behind Bars", found that more than 17,000 children are separated from their mothers each year, through their mothers being sent to prison. Almost half of those jailed lose all contact with their families, and a third lose their homes and possessions. Only 5% of children with mothers in prison remain in their family homes. A third of children with mothers in jail develop serious mental health problems. Family contact is made more difficult by jails failing to facilitate visits outside school hours.
The extent to which the Home Office has sought to improve prison conditions by intervention and ministerial pressure can be seen by a recent report by Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, following an inspection at HMP Holloway. Nearly a decade ago, the then Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham, walked out of Holloway in disgust at the conditions observed there. Following Anne Owers' recent visit, it was found that 4 out of 7 key recommendations from an inspection 4 years ago had not been met. The inspection team found serious infestations of mice, pigeons and insects, and prisoners having to use sanitary towels to improvise toilet seats. None of the staff working with children and young adults had received enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks. No action had been taken on a key recommendation that the jail cease to hold under-18s.
Prison reformers remain concerned at the level of drug abuse, self-harm and suicide at Holloway, and in women's prisons generally. A recent inquest into the death from overdose of Julie Walsh at HMP Styal in August 2003 found staff to be responsible for her death. Julie died after drinking 500ml of the anti-depressant Dothiapan to help her sleep through heroin withdrawal. There was no drugs detoxification unit at Styal in 2003. The anti-depressant had been left unattended on a hospital trolley. Julie's was one of six deaths at Styal in 2003. The coroner condemned the peremptory treatment of Julie's family by the prison authorities, who failed to notify the family of a memorial service until it was already underway, and handed them Julie's possessions in a black bin bag.
A recent report by the Prisons Ombudsman Stephen Shaw into the deaths at Styal describes the current use of imprisonment for mentally ill and drug dependent women to be "disproportionate, ineffective and unkind." Deborah Cole, for INQUEST, said:
Since Julie's death, another 25 women have died in prisons around the country. There needs to be a wide-ranging public inquiry that examines the wider issues-sentencing, allocation and whether prison can ever be an appropriate place for vulnerable women.
On 28 April 2005, Mr Justice Munby ordered a publ