Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- 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.
Continue reading... - Sat, 17 Jan 2026 06:00:22 +0000: Six great reads: Mondrian’s hidden inspiration, the friendship secret and heat for Heated Rivalry - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days
Continue reading... - Fri, 16 Jan 2026 13:34:13 +0000: ‘Name and shame’ plans for community sentences in England and Wales ditched - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Latest Labour U-turn follows concerns publicising of details could negatively impact children of offenders
Ministers have dropped plans to photograph, name and shame offenders ordered to complete unpaid community work in England and Wales in the latest U-turn by Labour.
The plans, first disclosed by the Guardian, would have meant people convicted of minor criminal offences having details of their cases and their community work publicised on government websites and promoted through local media.
Continue reading...