Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- Mon, 13 Oct 2025 09:55:24 +0000: Education cuts in prisons ultimately endanger the public, watchdog says - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Charlie Taylor hits out at risk of real-terms spending cuts in prisons in England and Wales derailing work to break cycle of reoffending
Cuts to education in prisons are derailing offenders’ work and training and ultimately endangering the public, the prisons watchdog has warned.
Repeat offenders “cause mayhem” in their communities because of the failure of prisons to provide education, training and work that could help to break the cycle of offending, the chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, said.
Continue reading... - Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:25:55 +0000: Bad Lads review – brutality, shame and fear as horrors of youth detention centre are laid bare - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Live theatre, Newcastle
Based on real-life testimonies, this harrowing tale follows a 17-year-old subject to relentless cruelty at Medomsley Detention CentreThere is a warning on the screen above the stage: “This play is short, sharp and shocking.” It’s a reference to the promise of Margaret Thatcher’s government to give young offenders a “short, sharp shock” at detention centres, supposedly deterring them from crime. As Mike Kenny’s new play demonstrates, the experience was certainly sharp and shocking, but its impact on those detained was far from short.
Bad Lads is created from a story by Jimmy Coffey and the testimonies of the Medomsley men held at the youth detention centre, channelling the brutal ordeals of countless young men into a single fictitious character in the 1980s. After taking a joyride on a milk float, 17-year-old Jackie is sentenced to three months at Medomsley, where he is soon subject to horrifying cruelty at the hands of the staff, enduring a relentless pattern of violence, humiliation and sexual abuse.
Continue reading... - Thu, 09 Oct 2025 04:00:14 +0000: The armed robber who went straight: John McAvoy was born into the criminal life. Here’s how he escaped it - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
His stepfather was a serious criminal. His uncle was one of the Brink’s-Mat heist gang. McAvoy followed them into crime – and into prison. Then one day in the gym he discovered the talent, drive, support and friendship that changed everything …
John McAvoy sat in a holding cell in Belmarsh prison, waiting to be processed, plotting his escape. It was 2007, he was 24, and he had been arrested for firearms offences and conspiracy to commit robbery. He knew he was facing a long stretch inside, having previously served three years for possession of a firearm. He also knew his only chance of running was through the hospital wing, so had spent the day lying to guards, pretending that he had sustained a concussion during his arrest. When the holding cell doors opened, he figured that’s where he was going. Instead, he was cuffed and led away to a high-security unit (HSU).
When McAvoy laid eyes on the unit, the magnitude of his situation hit home. “I thought: ‘I’m not going to see daylight for a long, long time.’”
Continue reading... - Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:25:48 +0000: Guardian prison columnist Erwin James drowned in Devon marina, inquest finds - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Journalist who wrote column A Life Inside while jailed for murder fell into the sea in January 2024
A journalist and author who wrote much-admired columns from prison drowned in a Devon marina after spending an evening in a harbourside pub, an inquest has concluded.
Erwin James Monahan, who used the pen name Erwin James and wrote a regular column for the Guardian – the first of its kind in British journalism – fell into the sea at Brixham in Devon, close to where the boat he was staying in was moored, the inquest in Exeter heard.
Continue reading... - Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:36:44 +0000: Stephen Lawrence’s father says killer should name others before parole considered - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Neville Lawrence, 83, is preparing for David Norris, now 49, to appear for first time to plead for his freedom
The family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence have urged parole staff not to release one of his killers.
A gang chased, surrounded and stabbed Stephen, who was 18, near a south-east London bus stop in April 1993 and two men – David Norris and Gary Dobson – were convicted of his murder in 2012, but at least three members of the gang remain free.
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