Thank you Daily Mail Online for sharing our story: Pupils at special school 'tortured' by staff, BBC probe claims dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1… via Daily Mail Online Noel Titheradge

This is an appalling story. Such important work by Annabel and the team at File on Four

This is brilliant news - JSTOR will now be available for free in prisons in England and Wales.

That means access to 12 million academic articles, 100,000 books, and millions of images and primary source materials. Great work from DWRM & Bard Prison Initiative 👏 ow.ly/VKVG50Ro3iG

NEW: Latest crime figures from Office for National Statistics (ONS)…

Some deeply disturbing stats in the police recorded data:

Shoplifting up 37% to a record high

Gun crime up 9%

Knife crime up 7%

Robbery up 13%

All figures for 2023 in England and Wales compared with 2022.

serious “end of the kingdom” symbolism

I think this is true. After Wandsworth I transferred to Hollesley Bay. Walking outside one day I stopped and looked around. No one within sight. No jangle of keys or clang of doors or slam of heavy boots. Just bare trees and silence. That’s when I began to heal.

.Nick Hardwick: “You’ve got prisoners spending most of their time locked in their cells, 20 hours-plus a day...I was in Wandsworth a bit before the ­escape and it was obvious that it was going to happen. They just didn’t have the staff to run it.'

thetimes.co.uk/article/crime-…

Let's debate the real issue. What county was St. George from? You have until midnight tonight to vote. Choose well.

Good piece from the Times Crime Commission on what’s wrong with the prison system thetimes.co.uk/article/crime-…

There's been a sharp increase over the last 3 years in the number of abandoned criminal trials because no judge is available.

This includes 21 rape trials in 2023.

Judges can be made available for political priority policies, it seems.
Maybe tackling crime isn't a priority.

Paid work for a woman artist who's been in prison

Our researchers are conducting a survey at HMP Wandsworth, at the start of a full inspection. If you have information about the prison, please email: [email protected]

Read about full inspections: justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/abo

Everywhere we see the signs of a justice system strained beyond its capacity

Powerful piece here by Ian Acheson 🇬🇧🇮🇪 - we now don't even have stats on the levels of drug taking in our prisons.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

Springtime

It was an honour to be asked to speak at this event and I left feeling encouraged by how many people gave up their Wednesday evening to hear about conditions in the local prison.

Change is possible. If enough voters care, politicians will care.

It was wonderful to share trauma-responsive yoga and meditation with prisoners in HMP Exeter last week. We are now getting set for the start of a 1-year contract to deliver regular classes, equipping people with practical tools to support their rehabilitation.