Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- Wed, 28 Jan 2026 12:06:05 +0000: Criminal Cases Review Commission refers indefinite sentences of five men for appeal - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Referrals all relate to controversial imprisonment for public protection scheme or its equivalent for children
Five men have had their indefinite sentences under the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme, or its equivalent for children, referred for appeal.
The decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was made in light of the court of appeal quashing three prisoners’ indeterminate sentences on the basis that their young age and level of maturity was not properly taken into account when they were sentenced.
Benjamin Hibbert, who was convicted of three counts of sexual assault in 2009 and sentenced to a minimum tariff of two years. He was 15 or 16 at the time of the offences.
Stuart O’Neill was 20 when sentenced to a minimum term of three years and six months for rape in 2009.
Jay Davis was convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence in 2006 and sentenced to a minimum term of nine months. He was 19 at the time of the offence.
Luke Ings was convicted of two counts of robbery and two counts of battery in 2006 and sentenced to a minimum term of one year nine months minus 81 days on remand. He was 17 at the time of the offence.
James Ward was convicted of arson and criminal damage in 2006 and sentenced to one year minus 63 days on remand. He was 20 at the time of the offence.
Continue reading... - Sun, 25 Jan 2026 12:00:07 +0000: Dining across the divide: ‘I think certain people need to be locked up’ - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Can a prison officer turned tram driver and a retired medical tech operations manager agree on incarceration, antisemitism and Trump?
Ian, 60, Manchester
Occupation Retired, used to be an operations manager for medical tech
Continue reading... - Tue, 20 Jan 2026 09:00:10 +0000: Between the bars: theatrical gig about life after prison reveals hard truths of homecoming - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
A Giant on the Bridge, performed by a ‘Scottish indie folk supergroup’, draws on dozens of interviews about the confines former prisoners experience on the outside
When we talk about crime and punishment, the notion of homecoming is often absent but decarceration and re-entry are critical aspects of the justice system. These subjects are at the heart of A Giant on the Bridge, the singer-songwriter Jo Mango and the theatre-maker Liam Hurley’s urgent piece of gig-theatre, which premiered in 2024 and heads out on tour across Scotland next month.
It was born from a research project, Distant Voices: Coming Home, that revealed dire statistics for the number of people who come out of prison and then go back in again, says Mango. “Research showed that the process is often less about the individuals and more about societal and structural issues – whether they can get a job when they come out, whether they have any family left who are there to support them.” A Giant on the Bridge emerged as “a kind of way of writing an essay about what we learned”, Mango says, but using songs co-written by people who have lived experience of the prison system.
Continue reading... - Mon, 19 Jan 2026 17:57:45 +0000: The inside track on curbing UK prison violence | Letters - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Readers respond to an article by a former prison officer on how the system perpetuates violence and share their own stories
Alex South’s harrowing account of violence in prisons (Death on the inside: as a prison officer, I saw how the system perpetuates violence, 13 January) deserves more than our sympathy – it demands we recognise these murders and assaults not as symptoms of a broken system, but as a foghorn blaring warnings about fundamental failures.
I work in prisoner rehabilitation. I see what South describes from the other side: men whose “scaffolding” is indeed flimsy, who have accumulated trauma before and during incarceration. But I also see what happens when that changes. Our service users work in cafes, bakeries and bike shops, not because we believe in the redemptive power of bread or bicycles, but because meaningful work and purposeful activity are the foundations of desistance.
Continue reading... - Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:07:57 +0000: Pepper spray use at young offender institutions in England ruled legal - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Howard League charity fails in battle to halt government’s decision to make Pava available to prison staff
An attempt to halt the use of pepper spray on children held in young offender institutions (YOIs) has failed after the high court ruled on Monday that the weapon’s rollout was lawful.
The Howard League for Penal Reform challenged the Labour government’s decision to authorise the use of Pava, a synthetic form of pepper spray, in three prisons in England holding boys as young as 15.
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