Prisons & Probation – Latest News:
- Wed, 15 Oct 2025 23:01:49 +0000: Ministry of Justice ‘has failed to file spending receipts of nearly £11bn’ - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Analyst firm Tussell says department is more than two years behind on publishing receipts, weakening scrutiny around public money
The Ministry of Justice, the Whitehall department in charge of a £13bn annual budget for prisons, probation and courts across England and Wales, has failed to file spending receipts of nearly £11bn, a report has said.
Tussell, the public spending analyst firm, said the government department was more than two years behind on publishing receipts for multimillion pound contracts, weakening scrutiny around public money.
Continue reading... - Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:40:25 +0000: Lifers review – an inside look at the ageing prison population - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Southwark Playhouse Borough, London
A young officer becomes the de facto carer of a vulnerable inmate in Evan Placey’s well-observed play about a stretched Prison ServiceA decade ago, playwright Evan Placey explored the labyrinthine pressures on young women in Girls Like That. While that scorching drama stress-tested a secondary school’s sisterhood, Lifers concerns a similarly precarious brotherhood of older men navigating the corridors of their own institution. Lenny (Peter Wight), Baxter (Ricky Fearon) and Norton (Sam Cox) are long-term prisoners who we first meet playing cards. As their game progresses, it becomes clear that beneath the repartee each has their own strategy for survival and Lenny’s failing memory leaves him vulnerable to the other two.
They form an intriguing trio, and are convincingly performed, although the play could dig deeper into Baxter and Norton’s contradictory behaviour to their friend as Lenny is exploited and ultimately betrayed. More compelling is the relationship between Lenny and a young prison officer, Mark (James Backway), who adopts the role of his carer. That’s not in his job description, warns his colleague Sonya (Mona Goodwin), who draws a distinction between “duty of care” and “duty to care”. Prisons are there to protect the public but how, the play asks, can their inmates and staff be better protected?
Continue reading... - 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.’”
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