Social distancing isn’t an option – all inmates who pose no threat should be released now with money, free phones and wifi
So you’re locked down and you’re a bit scared, but you’re safe. George is 70 years old and he’s locked up. He has served two years of an eight-year sentence and is expecting to be released by 2022. If he lives that long. He had no idea when they put him inside that fraud could carry the death penalty but that’s what he’s facing now. Because George is one of the 2,000 prisoners already identified by justice secretary Robert Buckland as having an underlying health issue that, were they in the wider community, would require shielding.
But in jail his safety is outside his control. Any prison officer – many of whom are still pleading for PPE – can come in and out of his cell, and there’s nothing he can do about it. His wing has been designated the isolation wing for prisoners with Covid-19, so he knows he’s in close contact with the virus: in fact, prisoners who have tested positive are frequently sharing cells with those who have not. Try observing social distancing in a cell that was only ever built for one person.
To say that George is terrified every time the door opens is an understatement. He’s now in his cell for more than 23 hours a day, with less than an hour to walk around the yard, and there’s no education, no library, no gym, no recreation and no access to information. That leaves only fear. He’s one of the forgotten. Detained by the state, which has a duty to keep him safe. Instead, it threatens his life because jail, even more so than its upmarket cousin the cruise ship, is a petri dish for infection.
Latest ministry of justice figures show three deaths, and a 20% increase in cases of the virus in three days (from Thursday to Sunday) to 107 prisoners across 38 prisons and 19 staff across 12 prisons, and that’s with patchy testing. There could be 800 avoidable deaths in prison, University College London’s department of epidemiology has estimated, unless vulnerable inmates are effectively cocooned: a conservative figure compared with the justice minister’s own estimate of 2,000.
The government has shown no concern for the acute distress caused by the fact that the greatest number of prisoners ever are guarded by the fewest staff ever. It has been indifferent to the record number of assaults, self-harm, ambulance call-outs, suicides and other deaths in custody. By whatever measure you like, the government, led by the media venom towards a small group of terrorist offenders, has spent a decade making things worse.
There’s only one right thing to do with George and that’s release him. He’s 70 and he’s not a danger. There are many thousands of prisoners like George and it’s time for them to be let out.
And now, thanks to Covid-19, the government has bowed to universal pressure. Pregnant prisoners are out and those with weeks of their sentence to go will soon be leaving. And last week ministers announced that 4,000 offenders in England and Wales could be “temporarily released” .
But these measures will not be enough to halt the spread of coronavirus in a prison estate of 83,000. What’s needed is a massive reduction in the prison population. And when prison numbers are finally down, let’s keep them down. If prisons are kept for the most dangerous, it would result in jails that are actually less dangerous and better managed, and that means, yes, less reoffending.
George has two years left, so his release isn’t even on the cards yet. Surely the 1,700 prisoners over 70 years old must be the next to leave? Although he doesn’t have anywhere to go, which used to mean sleeping rough or going to a shelter. Now, thanks to the pandemic, local authorities are housing the homeless, providing hotels and university halls to stop them spreading viruses on the streets.
However it’s not that straightforward. A lot of people think that all you have to do for the homeless is give them a bed. This doesn’t recognise the mixture of addiction, mental health issues and poverty that lie behind homelessness – and a lot of prison sentences too. If you’re releasing prisoners into the community, you need a solid support network. It’s unfortunate, then, that these prisoners, with their complex needs, will be released at a time when those support services are contracting dramatically.
For this sector, support has always been face to face. Now, the drop-in centres where food and help was once available aren’t there. Offender management is no longer about two people in a room. The internet and call centres are a means of communication incompatible with poverty, where there’s no access to phones, data or sim cards. You’re on a probation order and you don’t know where or how or when you should be reporting. You live in fear of a breach, but you have no way of communicating. What about the addicted who are trying to get clean and live the 12-step programme? They can’t join online meetings if they don’t have the tech.
There’s only one solution: money, free phones and wifi. After all, the government has been quick enough to hand it out to businesses and airlines, so let’s have it for the unheard poor.
Why must it take Covid-19 for the government to stop pursuing its relentless, uncaring, punitive policies and do the right thing? We won’t forget.
Source: theguardian.com, Mark Johnson, April 7, 2020. Mark Johnson is founder and chief executive of User Voice, a charity that works in prisons and the community.
Leeds prison fifth worst for overcrowding as campaigners warn of disease risk
Overcrowded prisons like HMP Leeds could “become like 18th-century breeding grounds of disease” unless the Government takes action, a campaign group has warned.
The early release of elderly, sick and vulnerable prisoners, where safe, is just one of a host of suggested measures put forward by the Howard League for Penal Reform in a letter to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland.
Chief Executive Frances Crook said: “This is important for staff at a time when many prisons are grossly crowded and unsanitary. We already know that some officers and prisoners have been diagnosed with coronavirus and the very last thing we want is for prisons to become like 18th-century breeding grounds of disease.”
More than half of prisons and England and Wales are overcrowded, leading to fears that the coronavirus could easily spread among inmates and staff.
The prison population includes about 1,800 inmates aged 70 or over (four per cent), putting them at higher risk of developing life-threatening complications if infected.
According to the latest statistics, HMP Leeds is the fifth most overcrowded prison in England and Wales and is running at more than 1.5 times its uncrowded capacity.
Uncrowded capacity - or Certified Normal Accommodation - is the Prison Service's own measure of the good, decent standard of accommodation it aspires to provide all prisoners.
HMP Leeds in Armley has an uncrowded capacity of 667 but was running at 1,090 last month, the equivalent of 163 per cent of its desirable capacity.
The Prison Officers’ Association said while “obviously staff are concerned” about disease, it was working with the Government on systems which would keep its members and the prisoners safe.
Assistant General Secretary Mick Pimblett said: “Overcrowding is a concern, due to the contingencies we have in place for prisoners who are showing symptoms of coronavirus.”
He said the current procedure was to isolate such prisoners on their own in a single cell, “but with overcrowding that will be a problem”.
He said one measure being considered was placing two prisoners showing symptoms into a cell together.
Across the world, leaders have been taking a variety of approaches to try to keep prison staff and inmates safe amid the global outbreak. Earlier this month, 12 prisoners died in Italy after rioting broke out at jails in response to restrictions imposed on family visits.
Here, the Government has announced a plan to release more prisoners fitted with electronic tags, but said the move was not linked to the current pandemic.
Prisons minister Lucy Frazer has said the safety of prisoners, staff and visitors is paramount.
In a statement earlier this month, she said: “Prisons have existing, well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases. This means prisons are well prepared to take immediate action whenever cases or suspected cases are identified, including isolating individuals where necessary.”
She said good hygiene was being promoted on posters throughout the prison system and handwashing facilities were available for staff, prisoners and visitors.
She said: “We have procedures agreed with our public health colleagues for protecting staff in the workplace but, like any member of the community, some prison staff may need to self-isolate in line with public health advice, or may become infected.
"We are taking steps to boost staff availability and so enable us to look after prisoners properly and minimise the impacts on prison regimes of staff absences.”
Prison visits have yet to be suspended, despite a confirmed case at HMP Manchester - known as Strangeways - and one at HMP High Down.
Visitors are being asked to follow the usual guidance around self-isolating if they are displaying coronavirus symptoms and are being reminded about other methods of staying in touch with inmates such as the Prison Voicemail Service.
Meanwhile, the Parole Board has announced it is suspending all face to face hearings with immediate effect in response to Government guidance around the importance of social distancing and not going out.
It said: "The health and wellbeing of our members, staff and participants in the parole system must come first. Whilst Parole Board current face to face hearings are paused, the board will progress cases through a combination of remote hearings and a new intensive paper review process, combined where necessary with case management hearing."
How full are the prisons in West Yorkshire?
According to the latest statistics, three of the county's five prisons are currently overcrowded.
HMP Leeds - 423 prisoners or 63% above capacity
HMP New Hall - 27 prisoners or 7% above capacity
HMP Wealstun - 13 prisoners or 2% above capacity
HMP Wakefield - 19 prisoners or 3% below capacity
HMP Wetherby - 89 prisoners or 26% below capacity
Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, Georgina Morris, March 23, 2020
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde