Prisoner 'trapped' in jail for 11 years to be released and updates on events I attended:The Centre for Social Justice and Parrie lecture.

 

what happened to the rehabilition revolution  Centre for Social Justice 14 September 2017

Jonathan Aitken and John Samuels answer the question many prisoners, practitioners and politicians have been asking: what happened to the Rehabilitation. With remarks from Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP.  lord Ramsbotham and questions from Katherine Gleeson, Church of England, Leroy postdate  IPP Prisoner who served  11 years, no fault of his own.

discussions on the  challenges facing our criminal justice system today and hear their proposals to ease the prison crisis and solve the problems of IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) and inappropriately recalled prisoners swelling our prison population.

• Addressed the possibility of a secondary legalisation to shift the burden of proof.

• Recalls to have traditional support from a judge or other rather than being automatically taken back to prison.

• Mention was the lack in staff to bring about rehabilitation 

• They want IPP prisoners monitored by the same officer, at all times and not with different ones.

• They are asking for the sentence to be adjusted, If the government new the courses was not available for a judge to adjust the sentence to reflect this.

•  Offender managers who make it impossible for IPP prisoners by opposing conditions and excluding and making it impossible for them to work thereafter this is then settled by the parole board.

• They are considering those who have convictions over 4 years to have those convictions sealed as spent, so they can get a job.

• The judge mentioned those looking at having their case looked that it would not be the IBM OR PAROLE  to go to a named judge. There was a mention of a Roy Genkings or the spelling Genkans however it was said that any judge, that if the judge who sentence you knew, he would look at this again.

Parrie lectures prison services college 11september 2017

looked at Segregation and what are the triggers for prisoners ending up on the seg? how they are treated? can the experience ever be considered rehabilitative?  Research has suggested that segregation can negatively impact on mental health and increase the risk of self-harm.  The Perrie Lecture 2017looked at  how prisons can best meet these significant challenges, what outcomes can be expected from segregating prisoners and whether better outcomes may be achieved using different approaches which may not include segregation. 

• There will be Autism awareness courses for officers, one  does not fits all.
• They have a contract with disability trust (CSC) staff training FOR 2018
• Employed progression support officers.
• More training for officers in segregation zones
• Focus on personality disorders
• More trained psychologist working with family’s and the individual
• Segregation has a 35% drop
• I brought up  IPP prisoner issues. I requested  figures on how many IPP prisoners death,s, came about in segregation, how long they stayed in Seg at the time but figures was not available so said they said they would look into this.

The  Lecture was is an opportunity for anyone and those working within the criminal justice system to share good practice, experience and understanding of the challenges of working in and with prisoners in the segregation unit.  It is also a chance for those who support staff and prisoners both on and off the segregation units to engage with these debates. The event is aimed at those working in the criminal justice sector but also those from different sectors including mental health, psychology and the voluntary sector.  The lecture also enable researchers and students to understand the current issues faced by practitioners and professionals.   bringing together current practitioners, academic researchers family and people who have experienced the needs and challenges of prison segregation units. The  Chair for the day: Dr Peter Bennett.Presentations will be heard from:

David Lammy MP (TBC) Russ Trent - Governor Berwyn Richard Vince - Executive Director, HM Prison & Probation Service Kimmett Edgar - Prison Reform Trust Sharon Shalev - University of Oxford

 Centre for Social Justice (the Think Tank created by Iain Duncan Smith in 2004) launched a new, and possibly very significant, report:

What happened to the rehabilitation revolution? with two straplines:

• How sentencers can revive it
• How it can be helped by a hung Parliament

The report may be significant because the CSJ is, obviously, very close to the conservative party and may reflect discussions going on in the Ministry of Justice. Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah had tweeted his approval of the report before it was even published:

Sensible and sound @csjthinktank report on rebooting rehabilitation revolution. Lots of good ideas for us to consider seriously. https://t.co/wqmTmEBiQ2

— Sam Gyimah MP (@SamGyimah) September 14, 2017

Disappointing progress

The report, authored by former Cabinet Minister and person with convictions Jonathan Aitken and retired judge John Samuels, starts by analysing the failure so far of the rehabilitation revolution which it attributes to the “myopic and almost exclusionary” focus on prison safety and the widespread erosion of morale across all areas of the criminal justice system as prison and probation staff struggle to do a proper job in under-funded services and judges and magistrates feel unappreciated by government and the general public.

A 10-point plan

The report announces a 10-point plan which the CSJ boldly promises will not only resuscitate the Rehabilitation Revolution but will potentially save £246 million per year. Here are the ten points:

1. Defining in law the statutory purposes of imprisonment.
2. Introducing a requirement for judicial monitoring by the sentencing court to review whether the custodial sentence might require
   modification in the interests of the public.
3. Addressing the problem of the 3,200 or so tariff-expired IPP prisoners.
4.  The introduction of Problem Solving Courts.
5. Judicial supervision of recalls to prison.
6. Application for early release or executive release.
7. Enabling the judiciary to deem previous convictions as spent, facilitating sustainable employment for those successful in their rehabilitation.
8. Improving the numbers, training, status, pay and conditions of prison officers focusing their work on rehabilitation “on both sides of the wall”.
9. Only joint working between Probation and sentencers will achieve the intended transformation and deliver effective supervision.
10. Enabling sentencers to play a full role in enabling desistance.

Discussion

As you can see, many of these points are focused on reducing the prison population — accelerating the release of IPPs, reducing the number of recalls to prison, application for early release.

Other points were either favoured and ditched by recent Justice Secretaries (defining in law the purpose of prison, problem solving courts), are current policy (improving prison officer training and developing their rehabilitative role) or are starting to gain common support (declaring previous convictions spent, similar to the Lammy Review recommendation of sealing criminal records).

A newer theme which runs through the report and which, in my opinion, is both much more ambitious and much harder to implement is the involvement of sentencers much more in the long-term consequences of their decisions in a way that is much more common in the USA with its drug courts.

The report also makes two recommendations around increased sentencer involvement:

1. That 21st century judges should sooner or later be required to play a modest supervisory role in the sentence plans of those they have sent to prison. This seems to be about involving the sentencer in the creation of the sentence plan and for them to maintain a “light touch” supervisory role — presumably to ensure that plans are carried out promptly — and to have the power to reduce prison terms and replace them with non-custodial penalties or supervision where progress is good.
2. Enabling those sentencers who are interested in promoting desistance of those they sentence. This is a rather vague proposal with CSJ spending more time pointing out the difficulties than spelling out this initiative in detail which appears to be expanding the role of sentencers reviewing offenders’ progress in mainstream courts in the same way as they do in problem solving courts.

Conclusion

The report authors argue that a hung parliament can be a good context to achieve progress on criminal justice, especially since most of the key issues receive cross-party report.

However, there is no mention of how parliamentary time can be found for justice with the focus on Brexit and the Prisons and Courts Bill already abandoned.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how many of these 10 points make it into David Lidington’s speech to the upcoming Conservative Party conference or are included in official announcements from the Ministry of Justice

• Leroy talked about his exsperience being given an IPP Sentance.
  
  
  
  

  14 September

  James ward s to be released.

  A man who has served 11 years in prison for what was a 10-month sentence is to be released, the Parole Board has said.

  James Ward was sentenced under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), after he set fire to his bed while in jail for actual bodily harm.

  The 33-year-old has mental health problems and has regularly self-harmed while serving his indefinite sentence.

  The Probation Service is working to find Mr Ward a hostel and mental health support in the coming weeks.

  Mr Ward's sister April said: "We are over the moon, my dad can't stop grinning.

  "My dad hasn't grinned for years. I can't stop crying or smiling.

  "James is not a risk to the public, he's only ever been a risk to himself, and with the right support we can get him there."

  • Prisoner 'suicidal' 11 years into 10-month jail term
  • Man 'trapped' in jail for 10 years
  • 'I thought about ending my life
  • 'Get a grip' on IPP prisoners

  Ms Ward told Radio 4's Today programme she had yet to speak to her brother about his release and was unsure of whether he even knew that he was to be freed.

  "He's got no hope. He will be very surprised of the release today because it's taken over 10 years for this result to happen."

  Mr Ward, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, in Nottinghamshire, was serving a sentence in 2006 after getting into a fight with his father Bill.

  But unable to cope with prison life, he set fire to the mattress in his cell, leading a judge to give him an IPP, which has no release date.

  
  
  
  

  

  Image caption James' parents Christine and Bill Ward and his sister April have campaigned for his release 

   

  
  

  Mr Ward, who has a low IQ, has regularly self-harmed while behind bars.

  He has also set light to his cell, barricaded himself in and has staged dirty protests.

  He wrote to BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2016, and said: "Prison is not fit to accommodate people like me with mental health problems. It's made me worse. 

  How can I change in a place like this? I wake up every morning scared of what the day may hold."

  The Parole Board has confirmed his release, but the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not commented on the case.

  Ms Ward said she was "very confident" her brother will be able to get the help he needs once he is freed - including support from mental health services as well as the stability and love of his family.

  
  

  She added: "I hope that IPP prisoners who are way over tariff can now also be released. I don't like to think about what would have happened if they'd decided against letting [James] out. He had given up."

  
  

  The sentence was abolished in 2012, but more than 3,000 people in England and Wales are still serving IPPs.

  Previously an MoJ spokesperson said: "We are determined to address the challenge of making sure all IPP prisoners have the support they need to show they are no longer a threat to public safety.

  
  

  "This work is continuing to achieve results, with 576 IPP releases in 2016; the highest number of annual releases since the sentence became available in 2005."
  
  
  SKYNEWS
  
  

   A letter from James Ward to his parents from prison

  
  
  
  

  Source: http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/arsonist-on-10-month-jail-term-freed-after-11-years/ar-AArW8lK

  
  

  Comments 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Chris ward Hi Katherine, I hope that you have see the news today my son is coming home soon xxx

  Reply  I found out when I got back from my London  I am  delited to see James is finaly going home and i which him and you lots of happiness.

  
  

  Jez  Fantastic news, how he has managed all these years to cope with the never ending trauma is surely a credit to this young mans character. I wish him and his family all the best as they now go through the next stage of this sentence. He will need their continuing support but hopefully family life can finally move forward again. 😊 This sentence degrades our society. Keeping people locked up because a piece of software says they might be a danger is a total nonsense. Inexcusable persistent persecution. How can someone move forward with their life, how can a family move forward. This sentence needs eradicating retrospectively. It only creates more victims.

  
  

  Its a nightmare that never seems to end. But for the prisoner it never ends until they have been out long enough and had the supervision removed. That's why they are helpless and at the mercy of the government. That's why we should always remember that we are fighting a just cause and we must not stop until this unjust sentence is removed retrospectively. It's as close to torture in law as you can get and I believe in this current prison crisis it has now crossed the legal threshold for being a sentence that causes extreme distress and a feeling of hopelessness which leads to trauma. We need some brave human right barristers to push this mess onto the desk of the government to act and remove it. I feel we are closer now than we ever have been.

  
  

  
  

  
  

   Kingham Hello did he have a hearing or did the Board release him on the papers?

  
  

   Ward He had a hearing last week dean

  
  

   Picton So pleased for you all best wishes for the future and thankyou to all your family for all the surport you have given to the IPP prisoners xxx

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

   Seymour My son's still in & it'll be 12 years next month. However congratulations hope

  
  

   Happe Nice too see a fellow ipp released into the community the hard work starts now for him he will need as much love and support as possible cause in there doing a ipp is easy but out here it's really hard no1 helps us we have too make all the moves ourselves and are constantly walking on egg shells I've been out almost six years now and I've had no help at all but I won't complain I'll just keep doing what I do and wishing you and your family all the best and too James well done mucker congratulations on your release now enjoy your family and your freedom -Freedom.

  
  

  Toner Absolutely fantastic news. Wishing you all the luck in the world. Gives all of us with IPP family members still in some hope. My son is into his 13th year as an IPP. Enjoy being a complete family again. It will be a rollercoaster ride at times for you all but so worth the fight. Congratulations to you all.
• Hailstone listen to Jeremy vine talking about IPP  Skip to about 30mins .
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0940l10

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Boden The programme includes an excellent contribution form Lord Faulkner who is in favour of IPPs over tariff having release. Well worth writing to: 
Lord Faulkner of Worcester
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW

Pe Nathan two an half years 29 November 10 years to the day his brother died two years ago October 13 2015 need him home am heartbroken. these sentences barbaric disgusting disgraceful just horrible I want my son back I gave birth not home office Angela Nathan Wilson's mum.

Morris Mine was 18. Got max 3.5 now on 8th year done all courses etc possible and still no sign of parole release etc n kept head down. It's cruel and heart breaking


Rose Just thought I'd share some stuff about how I'm getting on since my release 4weeks ago, I'm finding it tuff cannot sleep at all its draining me, still cannot handle town and the shops gives me proper anxiety and the  job centre is another level. it may sound hard to believe but I hate it out here not that I want to go back by I'm isolating myself staying in my room not going to the gym that pretty much it. Just thought I'd let people know it’s not that easy when you’ve been in for years and don't know anything else.

Kelly So sad Michael Presley had to go to this exsteam to be listened to no more punishment he's already served it as all other IPPs
good luck James Ward
""Please justice minister use common sense put enough money in the pot to support them far cheaper then sending back to prison real lifelines needed to help them cope .
Good luck to all

Petitions
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/free-the-remaining-ipp-prisoners?source=facebook-share-button&time=1457618246

 https://www.change.org/p/free-ipp-prisoner-ian-hartley/nftexp/ex1/control/10282401?recruiter=10282401&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=triggered&utm_content=ex1%3Acontrol