Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Have had major problems with computer have had it repaired hopefully will be able to get back to updating we are going to try for monthly updates. But we are having problems getting the updates we are having people try to prevent the information getting to me to be published.

Monday, 12 November 2012

The above is a picture of my dad and brother on the very first time they met my brother was 66 years young when he traced his dad and met up with him.

Back to more serious thingshopefully will be back to full steam in next 48 hours

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Still struggling with technical problems but hoping it will not be too long before we get it sorted out.

Saturday, 3 November 2012

Sorry for not updating but due to technical problems we have been unable to put anything up, hopefully it will not be too long before we are up and running again.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

In the throe's of editing some material for ex. in one breath David Cameron is saying we need to rehabilitate all prisoners in another he is saying prisoner do not have the right to vote UK government are scared to sign up to EU we should all stick together and get petition up and running to sign up to EU.
By end of this week we will be putting paper clipping up to see how confused the goverment are.

Click the link to watch short video
http://bcove.me/ct5gwi5a

David Cameron: We must make prisons work for offenders

Comments (1218)

David Cameron: "Just being tough isn't a successful strategy in itself"

There is no alternative to making "prisons work", David Cameron has said, insisting criminals can be punished and rehabilitated at the same time.

In a speech in London, he said the debate on crime and punishment had become too "black or white".
Serious offenders must be imprisoned, but jails must have a "positive impact" on inmates, he argued.
The PM has had a difficult few days, with Andrew Mitchell quitting as chief whip and confusion over energy policy.
In a long-planned speech to the Centre for Social Justice, Mr Cameron sought to regain the initiative by insisting crime was an issue that "matters to all of us" and rejected characterisations of his views from both the left and right of the political spectrum.
'Hoodie history' He referred to comments he made while opposition leader in 2005, following which he was accused of wanting to "hug a hoodie".
Mr Cameron said: "For many people, I am associated with those three words, two of which begin with 'h' and one of which is hoodie... even though I never actually said it.

“Start Quote

With the crime debate, people seem to want it black or white, 'lock 'em up or let 'em out, blame the criminal or blame society, 'be tough' or 'act soft”

End Quote David Cameron

"For others, I am the politician who has argued for tough punishment. So do I take a tough line on crime or a touchy-feely one?

"In no other debate do the issues get polarised like this... with the crime debate, people seem to want it black or white, 'lock 'em up' or 'let 'em out', blame the criminal or blame society, 'be tough' or 'act soft'."
Personal responsibility was at the heart of the criminal justice system, he stressed, meaning long prison sentences were the only "thinkable" punishment for certain serious offenders.
"This is what victims and society deserve... And the society bit matters. Retribution is not a dirty word; it is important to society that revulsion against crime is properly recognised, and acted on by the state on our behalf," he argued.
But echoing comments made by Tony Blair in the 1990s, Mr Cameron said the government must "think hard about dealing with the causes of crime" not just the results of crime.
This, he stressed, meant more emphasis on crime prevention and, at a time when budgets were being cut and prison numbers stretched, priority being given to reducing re-offending.
Critics have warned that Ken Clarke's replacement by Chris Grayling as justice secretary last month signalled a hardening of the approach on sentencing, but the prime minister said he was still as committed to a "rehabilitation revolution" for prisoners.
Rehabilitation revolution Private firms and charities must be given an expanded role to work with all prisoners, not just those in prison for a year or more, he said, while the model of payments by results for such firms had to be accelerated.
"I say let's use that time we have got these people inside to have a proper positive impact on them... it is not a case of 'prison works' or 'prison does not work' - we need to make prison work better.
"And once people are on the outside, let's stick with them, and give then proper support."
Mr Grayling told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have to do this differently. We have got people coming back out onto the streets after prison who are as likely to reoffend again as not to reoffend.
"The benefit of a payment-by-results system is it forces the organisations working with you to look for what really does work because they don't get paid unless they do."
Plans were announced on Sunday to introduce a new offence of possessing firearms with an intention to supply them to others, carrying a maximum life sentence, designed to target "middle men" who import and traffic weapons for gangs.
Labour said the coalition had cut police numbers and budgets, circumscribed judges and "let victims down".
"If the government's going to make a serious announcement this week he (David Cameron) should explain why he's done nothing for the last 29 months and he's got to explain how these policies are going to be paid for," said shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan.
Rhodri Davies, policy manager of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: "The prime minister is right that payment-by-results contracts have potential to help charities use their expertise to tackle intractable social problems such as reoffending.
"But ministers need to improve the way these contracts are designed so charities are not simply squeezed out in favour of large private sector providers."

Wednesday 23 May 2012UK

UK must allow prisoners to vote, European court rules

Britain must give prisoners voting rights but the UK can limit that right to certain types of prisoners, the European Court of Human Rights rules in a decision causing fury among MPs.

Britain has refused to let any prisoner vote for 142 years and the ECHR decision means the UK must lift its blanket ban and have a bill in place by November to allow prisoners to participate in elections.
"The public will be demanding that the Prime Minister now stands up for British interests and refuses to give convicted prisoners the right to vote," Conservate backbencher Priti Patel said.
Britain doesn't have to let every prisoner vote, however. The Strasbourg judges accepted that UK politicians - who have refused to follow the ECHR orders on voting rights for seven years - have wide discretion to decide which type of prisoner can vote or whether a judge should decide in individual cases.
"The judgement does not require that all prisoners be given the vote and the ECHR has never made that suggestion," said Ian Loveland, a professor of law at City University London. "It is quite likely that a very modest change to the law would ensure that the UK is not in breach of its international law obligations."
Cameron: One prisoner is one too many
The problem with UK law is that it disenfranchises all prisoners, so a mass-murderer serving life and a first-time shoplifter are treated the same, said Mr Loveland.
Still, Prime Minister David Cameron has already told MPs that the thought of allowing even one prisoner to vote is distasteful: "It makes me physically ill to even contemplate having to give the vote to anyone who is in prison."
The ECHR ruling on Tuesday - in a case called Scoppola v Italy - upholds a ruling in which judges decided in favour of convicted British killer John Hirst, who sued Britain and won in 2005 after claiming his human rights were breached. Hirst celebrated by posting a YouTube video of himself singing "I shot the sheriff", drinking champagne and smoking what he described as a "joint" supplied by the local drug dealer.
Blanket ban unlawful
Tuesday's decision is certain to reignite Britain's debate over its right to control its own sovereignty. The fury reached new heights in February when ECHR judges decided UK terrorist suspect Abu Qatada should be released on bail and held under house arrest - at a cost of millions to UK taxpayers - rather than deported to Jordan because his human rights might be breached. (The extremist cleric's second bail application will be heard 28 May.)
The UK's blanket ban on voting by convicted prisoners was supported in a free vote in the House of Commons by 234 votes to 22 and, in his ECHR submission, Mr Grieve called on judges to return powers to politicians over "the culture of their own particular state".
"Many members of the public as well as MPs are opposed both to prisoners being allowed to vote and to 'interference' by the Strasbourg's court in domestic matters," said Susan Easton, a barrister and senior tutor at Brunel University Law School.
"However, defenders of prisoners' voting rights would argue that there are no security risks involved," Ms Easton said. "Voting rights are fundamental rights rather than privileges to be earned, and treating prisoners as citizens may be an important element in their rehabilitation."

MPs vote to keep ban on prisoners voting

Why shunning former prisoners drives them back to crime

On the day the prime minister insists that "prison must work", Channel 4 News producer Matthew Moore asks a recently released life-term prisoner about re offending and adjusting to society.

In many respects Ben Gunn is a success story of the prison system. He committed a crime. He went to prison. He was educated while in prison. He is no longer a danger to society. He has no intention of re-offending. And he is now in part-time employment.
In 1980, at the age of 14, Ben killed his friend after an argument. He handed himself in to the police and pleaded guilty and a judge sentenced him to life in prison. The prison population then was 37,000. It's now 87,000 and growing.
Prison moulded Gunn into a campaigner for penal reform, at first writing in the prison magazine before taking his writing to a wider and bigger audience through his blog. Some months he gets up to 25,000 hits on his website.
In August, after serving 32 years, he left prison. The transition for Gunn has not been easy.

Family support

On Sunday it was reported that the government may cut the prisoner release grant. A small sum of money given to prisoners upon release.
"Officially, £46 is all I've had to rely on in two months. Without family I would have starved to death. Literally."
Mr Gunn has been signed on for weeks but has still not received any benefits.
"There are a lot of people who come out who will have far fewer friends and family around than when they went in. You don't know where your next meal will come from. It's an invitation to re offend."
"I have no form of ID, I can't get a national insurance card. If I was a burglar I would be eyeing up windows."
He was welcomed home by a brother, with whom he's restored his relationship, and his partner, whom he met whilst inside. Without them, he says, he would be struggling.

Hostile world

He published a blog post recently about his first job interview. It was for a policy role at the Howard League, one of the prison system's reform groups. Getting a job during a recession is hard enough without having a murder conviction.
To illustrate just how rarely interviews come along, he describes asking the interviewer, pointedly, if his interview was just a courtesy.
"Given the opportunity to ask a question of my own, I had the temerity to ask: 'Are you giving me an interview just to get me off your backs, or is this a genuine opportunity?' That was, I thought, a ballsy move if not a daft one!"
He was assured they were serious about him. And though they didn't offer him that job, he has just recently signed up to be a consultant policy adviser for them.
"Any prisoner, with the best will in the world, can want to change - but then he walks out into a world that's hostile to him," he says.
Recidivism rates vary from 25 per cent to 75 per cent across the prison estate. A huge range that is natural given the factors involved: age, socio-economic background, nature of crime, the prison and the length of the punishment.
But Mr Gunn said that apart from ineffective rehabilitation programmes, culturally there is an ingrained sense that convicts should be punished eternally.

Re offending rates

That, he says, is counter-productive. By shunning convicts you drive them to crime.
"How is any prisoner supposed to find his way back in [to society]? It constantly rejects us. In that respect we get the re offending rate that society deserves. It's partly self-inflicted."
In addition, the provision of assistance for those who re-enter society after many years locked away is inadequate.
"I'm stuck in a loop," Gunn went on, "where I can't get an ID because I don't have the right ID to get a driving licence. It's absurd.
"No-one is in any rush to join the dots. These things will work out for me. But for other people in less favourable circumstances, it's a terrible prospect. "

Ben Gunn enjoying his first cooked breakfast after his release

Nowhere to go

And there are thousands who leave British prisons each year who face that prospect. There are those who have nowhere to go when they leave.
"If you're homeless on release, you get a grant of £96 which is to last you four weeks until your benefits kick in," said Mr Gunn.
Of those who leave prison each year, 30 per cent report to be homeless. And recent figures show that they are almost twice as likely to re offend than those who are not. Almost all of them will re-offend within one year of being released.
Mr Gunn does not claim to have spent his time inside embroidering a rehabilitation programme that would kill recidivism rates dead, but he has one proposal that would obviously reduce prison numbers.
"The biggest change that could be made is to save imprisonment for those that are truly causing significant harm. As it is, most prisoners are not in for crimes of violence or sexual crimes. The majority of prisoners are people who commit crimes against property or drug addicts – non violent crime.
"Prison as a response to these crimes isn't right. The damage that imprisonment does is greater than the damage of the original crime. He is stripped of all his social capital, his job. From an economic point of view, society is writing off 30 to 40 years of taxes if you render him unemployed."

Potential for corruption

David Cameron championed the role of private enterprise in his "prison reform revolution", offering "more choice, more competition, more openness" and inviting charities and companies to "come and help us rehabilitate our prisoners".
Yet Mr Gunn, who has served time in both public and private prisons, describes a noticeable difference in the two.
"In public prisons, even though staff may join up because they want the pension there is a public service ethos that exists."
In private prisons, he says of the staff, "there is less between them and us". Human attachments are formed and the potential for corruption is much greater.
"In private prison you're taking people from supermarket check-outs. You put them through a couple of months of training and bring them into a prison. They have no historical background in prisons."

Cherry-picking

As for payment by results schemes, the pilots have produced promising results but prison reform groups such as the Howard League has raised concerns with the strategy way back in 2011.
The organisation's assistant director of public affairs and policy Andrew Neilson asked what exactly is a "result"? How can you avoid private companies simply reaping the rewards of others hard work?
"We fear that payment by results will lead to cherry-picking by providers, as the inevitable focus will be on those individuals who are most likely to deliver a result," said Mr Neilson.
The pilot in Peterborough calculated re offending within one year rather than the traditional two years used by statistics in the criminal justice system.
Re offending rates measure re-convictions, which is why two years is allowed to allow a reasonable length time for trials. So the successful payment by results pilot in Peterborough may not have been a fair comparison.

Channel 4 News, Politics, UK

Prisoners' right to vote behind bars 'should be restricted', say ministers

Ministers and think-tanks push for strict limits on concessions to the European ruling that prisoners should be allowed to vote, suggesting that it should only apply to convicts serving short sentences.

By Andrew Porter and Peter Hutchison

9:50AM GMT 02 Nov 2010

34 Comments

Serious offenders such as murderers should continue to be banned from voting, Civitas, the think-tank, said.

David Green, director of the group, suggested: "The Government should make only the smallest possible concession – perhaps by giving the vote to prisoners sentenced to six months or less. The ban should remain for all the others."

It came after The Daily Telegraph disclosed that prisoners will be given the vote in general elections for the first time in 140 years after David Cameron conceded there was nothing he could do to halt a European court ruling demanding the change.

Ministers are understood to be seeking to restrict the number of prisoners that will be allowed to take part in ballots.

They will push for strict conditions, including a ban on "lifers" and murderers from voting.

In an attempt to limit the political fallout, there is likely to be a push to implement a threshold that would see those serving sentences longer than four years being excluded from voting.
It is believed that judges may be given responsibility for eventually deciding which criminals are allowed to vote when they are sentenced.
However, prison reform groups welcome the the proposed law change.
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "A historic decision to enfranchise serving prisoners would mark the end of the archaic punishment of civic death dating back to the Forfeiture Act of 1870," she said.
"In a modern prison system you would expect prisoners to have rights and responsibilities and politicians to take an active interest in their constituency prisons.
Jon Collins, campaign director for the Criminal Justice Alliance which represents almost 50 organisations, said the decision was "long overdue".
"The UK's ban on prisoners voting serves no useful purpose, while damaging efforts to rehabilitate prisoners and reduce reoffending.
"Voting is a right, not a privilege, and the Government is doing the right thing by acting now to overturn this outdated and illegal ban."
Former justice secretary Lord Falconer said he disagreed with the European Court of Human Rights ruling but accepted that the Government had to comply with it.
He said countries should be able to say that convicted prisoners cannot vote.
"But in relation to the blanket ban right across convicted prisoners, the European Court of Human Rights said that's not in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"I disagree with that conclusion but it's what their view is and we have ultimately got to comply with it."
John Hirst, a convicted kilelr, who took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, said: "The whole thing about this is that in this system where you've got a democracy, that people can put pressure and lobby in Parliament for changes in the law and improved conditions, but you can't do that if you haven't got the vote.
"All prisoners can do is riot, if they've got a complaint, so you've got to give them this legitimate channel to bring their issue in."
For months, the Government’s lawyers have tried to find a way to avoid allowing 70,000 British inmates the right to take part in ballots.
But on Wednesday a representative for the Coalition will tell the Court of Appeal that the law will be changed following legal advice that the taxpayer could have to pay tens of millions of pounds in compensation.
The decision, which brings to an end six years of government attempts to avoid the issue, opens the possibility that even those facing life sentences for very serious crimes could in future shape Britain’s elections.
Senior government sources said Mr Cameron was “exasperated” and “furious” at having to agree to votes for prisoners, but the threat of costly litigation had forced his hand.
He was told that the Government faced a series of compensation claims from prisoners and potential legal action from the European Union if it did not agree to a change.
“This is the last thing we wanted to do, but we have looked at this from every conceivable angle and had lawyers poring over the issue,” a senior government source said.
“But there is no way out and if we continued to delay then it could start costing the taxpayers hundreds of millions in litigation.”
The Prime Minister is likely to face criticism from some in his own party for allowing Europe to dictate the law on such a sensitive issue. Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, has previously said it would be “ludicrous” to give inmates the right to vote.
Critics of the move have long argued that those who are guilty of preying on society should lose one of the most basic rights of a citizen.
But the decision will please the Liberal Democrats, who have campaigned for the law to be changed.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is understood to have taken a personal interest in examining how the system could be altered.
Laws prohibiting the right of prisoners to vote were formalised in the 14th century, when the concept of “civic death” was established.
After the 1867 Reform Act gave working men the right to vote, the Forfeiture Act established the practice that those who were guilty of felonies could not vote.
In 2004, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the blanket ban imposed by Britain on its prisoners’ right to vote was discriminatory following a legal challenge by John Hirst, who was jailed for killing his landlady with an axe.
The Strasbourg-based court said each country could decide which offences should carry restrictions on voting rights. Most other European nations allow some prisoners to take part in elections. But despite two separate public consultations, Jack Straw, Labour’s justice secretary, failed to implement any changes.
Legal experts have suggested that the bill for compensation could rise to more than £50 million if prisoners are not given the vote. In May Lord Pannick, a cross-bencher, said there were 70,000 prisoners who could sue, with each in line for damages “in the region of £750”.
Earlier this year the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe warned the Government that its failure to act could lead to a string of compensation claims.
It raised the prospect that Britain could be the first country to fall foul of new powers which came into effect earlier this month. Potential sanctions include suspension or expulsion from the Council of Europe — a separate body from the EU.
Last year, Peter Chester, who raped and murdered his niece, launched a legal challenge claiming his human rights were being breached by the refusal to allow him to vote.
The case was thrown out but Chester’s appeal will be heard tomorrow and that is when the Government will make its statement. Its lawyers will acknowledge that Britain is in breach of the European court’s judgment and a legal amendment is needed.
Further details about the limits ministers want to see in place are likely to follow before Christmas. One proposal would see inmates being given a vote based on their last postal address to prevent an entire prison voting in one constituency.
The Prison Governors Association has warned that the ban hampers inmates’ rehabilitation.
Other groups that cannot vote include peers, the Royal family, the criminally insane and people convicted of election-related corruption.

Will get some more news over next few days so all going well Tuesday or Wednesday will have some more news for you.

Sunday, 21 October 2012

Lots of aggro on wing today unanble to get any proper phone conversation office keep cutting me off. Will update as I can please show your support.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

Stressed out today my turn to cook for everyone will update Monday hope to have some news soon from my legal yeam re prison stopping me with info to and from my blog

Friday, 19 October 2012

Been in prison 22 years never understand why prison rules are so hard in some prisons, never understand why there is so much discrimination, victimisation and bullying. Been in 1 prison over 6 years went to Bullingdon on AV's (which stand for accumulated visits) got a wing cleaner job straight away. Came back after 2 months a year later went to Whitemoor for DSPD assessment got wing painter job straight away, came back to Frankland applied for wing painter job turned down by security, what a load of bullshit. Intellegenct information.
Will update more tomorrow.

PS Happy birthday mum on your 69th birthday.

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

In the middle of trying to customize the blog site as we are trying to get support for Lifers past Tariff up and running We need over 10,000 hits befor we can be discussed in Parliment keep locked to this sight.

Saturday, 13 October 2012

If any of you have any friends in different countries please ask them to hot my blog and give their opinion. As you know I will be looking for support for Lifers Past Tariff as we are in a very similar situation as the IPP's and the EU courts are looking closely at this.

Friday, 12 October 2012

System failing women

By Eric McGraw, from insidetime issue October 2012

Prison reform groups slam penal policy on female offenders

The Criminal Justice System is failing to meet the needs of women of all ages who are at risk of offending. This is the conclusion that emerges from evidence compiled by two major prison reform groups and presented this September to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee.

In fact this failing had already been identified as far back as 2007 in the Corston Report – whose findings had received cross-party support.
Five years on, many of the damaging effects noted in the Corston Report still prevail. Most notably, these include the harmful impact of prison on mothers and their children. Following the imprisonment of their mother only five per cent. of children remain in the family home. And the imprisonment of the mother often increases the chances that, later in life, her children will become offenders themselves.

The evidence presented to M.P.s indicated that, more often than not, prison is seen by the Court as the only option for women who have offended [for men too, for that matter! Ed.]. Yet according to a National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Report issued this year, no more than 3·2 per cent. of women in prison are assessed as posing a “very high”, or just “high”, risk of harm to others. What’s more, the re-offending rate for women serving a sentences of less than twelve months is 60 per cent., and for those women who have served more than ten previous
custodial sentences the re-offending rate rises to a staggering 88 per cent..

In the same week The Independent reported that the U.K. has the highest rate of female imprisonment in the European Union, with the number of women in British prisons having more than doubled over the past fifteen years.

Two-thirds of the 10,181 women sent to prison in 2011 served sentences of six months or - often significantly - less. More than a third were jailed for low-level “nuisance” offending, and a quarter had no previous convictions.

The average cost of keeping a woman in prison is £56,415 a year. Punishment in the community costs less than a quarter of that. The taxpayer can but repeat the question asked by The Independent: “Isn’t there a better way?”

The evidence to the Select Committee was presented jointly, on September 10th 2012, by CLINKS and the Reducing Re-offending
Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3). www.clinks.org/publications/responses

The nightmare continues

By Mark Banner , from insidetime issue October 2012

As one of 6,000 or more IPP prisoners, Mark Banner wants answers and advice on how to get out of the IPP black hole

I am an IPP prisoner with a 2½ year ‘tariff’. I have been in prison for five years and eight months. I’ve always accepted that I deserved a prison sentence but what I and other IPPs and their families don’t deserve is continuing mental torture and a life where the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ moves two steps away for every one that I take towards it.
A brief history of my sentence then: I went to my first Parole Hearing after three years with a completed sentence plan and with a recommendation for release by OMU, external probation and psychology. I received the maximum two year knockback! I recently went to my second Parole hearing after five years and seven months inside. I was recommended for release by OMU, external probation, psychology and an independent psychologist with a CV the size of war and peace. My solicitor was confident that I would get, at the very least, open conditions. Another knockback! I’m still awaiting the length. By the way, all through my sentence my prison reports have been glowing. I have been a Listener, an Insider, Wing Rep, Canteen Rep, I induct new prisoners, I’m a classroom assistant and I’m doing a degree. I had also, on legal advice, appealed the severity of my sentence. My barrister, who undertook the costs, believed that the length of my sentence was ‘manifestly excessive’ and that I shouldn’t have received an IPP. Despite similar and more serious cases not receiving IPPs my appeal failed. My grandmother recently died and my father has a serious illness. In the last year one IPP on my landing committed suicide and I found one (an otherwise fit forty year old) dead in his cell of a heart attack. I suffer from hypertension and have been getting stress attacks for the last month or so.
As the House of Lords ‘bottled it’ by not changing the release criteria for IPPs I, and other IPPs, face the almost impossible task of convincing a negative focused Parole board that I’m ready for release or open conditions.
Can anyone tell me how I’m supposed to remain ‘focused’ and ‘positive’ about the future? Parole Boards only listen to OMU, probation and psychology when they are being negative, positives are virtually ignored. There is always a reason to say no, there is always a course that a prisoner would ‘benefit from’. If the Government suddenly banned guns because they are dangerous would they allow those that already had them to keep them? No. So why, when they are allegedly scrapping the IPP sentence are we still subjected to its inhumane unfairness?
We have all (or most of us) committed offences and I’m genuinely loathed to paint myself as a ‘victim’. If I hadn’t committed the crime I wouldn’t have been imprisoned in the first place, obviously we all accept that. But, unfortunately, very few of the 6000+ IPPs deserved this inhumane and soul destroying, unfair sentence.
Does anyone, anywhere, have any answers or advice that doesn’t include the words: ‘keep your chin up’?
The Parole Board are keen to stress that they act in the public interest (more specifically the press). Fine, that is commendable, if obvious, but it is only part of the story. However, by using this as the default answer for constant knockbacks all they are achieving is to create a large portion of the prison population that are little more than burned out basket cases. The longer anyone stays in prison the harder it becomes to function as a ‘normal’ human being. It is the worst kind of Catch 22.
After months of debate in the Lords nothing tangible has been done to give IPPs any hope of re-entering society. Facilitating even more courses is largely ineffective because even if you’ve done them the Parole Board still won’t let you out. There’s always another course around the corner. Never mind that someone might have lived 95% of their lives decently and offence free they are pretty much given up on as a lost cause. Logic and reason are foreign concepts.
I spent 1½ years on bail whilst admitting my guilt. The police, a magistrate and a Crown Court judge all felt that I was not too ‘dangerous’ to be in the community, yet the sentencing judge did.
I know that I’ve dwelled a fair bit on my own situation and I make no apologies for that. But there are 6000+ of us in the same black hole. I’ll end with these points:
1. Sentencing is widely and widely inconsistent. A huge amount of prisoners have received IPPs while a huge amount committing the same, similar or more serious offences have received lesser, determinate sentences (it helps if you are a civil servant).
2. Even though all the agencies dealing with a prisoner now and in the future confidently agree that you can be safely ‘managed’ in the community, three negatively focused strangers say no virtually every time.
3. There is a well established ‘obsession’ with courses. And because we can never know if a prisoner will re-offend or not without courses, it is logically impossible to claim that courses work. Indeed there is evidence that they don’t. If I gave a friend a biscuit and told him it was a cure for cancer and he died at 96 of natural causes, what would people say if I said to them ‘See, I told you it would work!’
4. Finally, prisoners/criminal/offenders are HUMAN BEINGS (contrary to popular and press belief). The IPP sentence treats prisoners and their families with contempt and serves no genuinely rehabilitative purpose. It should be consigned, totally, to the dustbin of history …. . for all our sakes.
Mark Banner is currently resident at HMP Stafford

Back from convalescence struggling with the readies at moment will top up phone credit on Monday
will update then please be patient.

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Family back from convalencing will be back to normal updates Friday all going well, have to see if I can get on phone or not.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Parents will be back home on Tuesday evening give them a day to unpack so hopefully on Thursday will be able to carry on as usual. I wish I was with them where they are I went with them when I was a young boy, did we have a good holiday then. See you all Thursday don't give up on us. Thanks

Thursday, 27 September 2012

We are changing the name to Lifers Past Tariff

25/9 No info lock down due to flooding also 26th flooding

27th been told that voice for cons is not allowed a blog, even though his legal team are aware of it so will have to get info as and when I can to type it up for him and the others.

Will keep you posted every day of any other outcomes they have told him he will be put back on basic and may be shipped out elsewhere so we will have to wait and see what happens.

Monday, 24 September 2012

Why is it the whole of the UK is miserable, the weather is , it has been raining since the early hours of this morning.
Had a visit today from my probation officer (told you I would keep you updated} My parole is due in March 2013 and my probation and offender management says they will not be recommending anything even though I have agreed to do courses which the paroles recommended two years ago and the prison has failed to get me on the groups, my probation and offending officer are very grumpy, my probation officer came all the way from London she was over an hour late. If this was my situation on licence over an hour late I would have been recalled. For probation to be an hour late it is ok. One rule for them one for us.

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Just wanna say thanks to everyone who looks at my blog, prison life is very hard. I am building my nephew a model lorry and he came to the phone and asked me how long will his lorry be, I replied I have to finish building it , and when I come down South (600-800 miles away from home and family) I will give you the lorry, he replies uncle can I ask you a question when are you getting out of prison because I miss you and love you, he is only 7 years old it put a lump in my throat. I've got a niece who is 14 years old who is madly in love with Justin Beiber and one direction what is wrong with the girls theses days, they need to go to the opticians and get their eyes sorted out.
All my family are doing very well my long lost brother has contacted us for the first in his life he is 66 years old, so instead of having 12 nieces and nephews and 16 great nieces and nephews, I now have 14 nieces and nephews and 23 great nieces and nephews, so the family is getting bigger just like my blog.

If you want to ask any questions about prison life feel free at voiceforcons@gmail.com

Saturday, 22 September 2012

Feeling a bit low today prison life getting to me after all this time, got a legal visit on 24th am and pm outside probation will up date you on the outcome as my jamroll comes up on March 2013. If you want to ask any questions please feel free to contact us at voiceforcons@gmail.com

Friday, 21 September 2012

Hoping to update this afternoon or evening internet problems

Wednesday, 19 September 2012

DEATH PENALTY

I wanna talk about the 2 coppers who got shot yesterday in Manchester. They are crying out for the death penalty to be brought back for killers of police officers. Why should it be brought back just for murderers of police officers, I am not against the death penalty but at the end of the day murder is murder, manslaughter is murder so why not call for the death penalty for all murders not just police murderers. Sentences should be in black and white eg: Robbery should be 10 years Armed Robbery 20 years Rape 15-20 years etc etc. So why is it so different in the UK. compared to the rest of the world and prisoners do not have human rights in the UK and the EU should take over the UK justice system. The life sentence should be abolished and we should all have fixed sentences or a maximum for life sentence eg: 15-25 years.

Running a bit late today due to someone smashing their cell up please give me some feedback on what else you would like to hear.

Saturday, 15 September 2012

Family still not A1 but this is from the Inside Times:

Ref. Fantastic Frankland D.Hennesey
You must be a sick man you should really go and see a mental health team, you are deluded Frankland is not fantastic, it is a load of shit, what you are saying, in total I have been in Frankland 6 years, been in Prison 21 years, so don't tell me Frankland is fantastic, because it is not. You must be 1 of 4 things, a screw, management,working for home office or a little grass on A wing. This article has made me very angry, what about the murder that happened on C wing, what about the stabbing of the officers what about prisoners being attacked by officers. Officers not doing their jobs by not observing prisoners on ACT. I feel your article D. Hennesey is full of bullshit and you are only doing this to gain something, what I do not know, you probably want to gain your enhancement LOL.

Hope to be back to normal by middle of next week.

Friday, 14 September 2012

Sorry there was no blog yesterday family who type this up for me was ill with angina and high blood pressure.
Hopefully will be able to type somethink up when The Voice phones shortly.

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

Short on cash today due to checking up on my dad hope to have more cash tomorrow or Friday,
Dontforget any help with the links will be welcome. Thanks

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME IF SO PLEASE CONTACT ME AT voiceforcons@gmail.com

I want to know how I can add a photo to my existing blog, also how I can link with other groups and people please contact us with any info. Thanks

The Public think prison life is cushy but let me tell you from experience 20years plus behind bars prison life is anything but easy. My family live over 600 miles away from me I do not see them everything is done by phone and the attitude from the screws they treat you like shit, Prison is not like it was years ago. I wrote to Lord Ramsbottom about two months ago along with a photo of my dad wearing all his medals from World War 11 explaining he is very ill, do you believe it I have not received even an acknowledgement.

Monday, 10 September 2012

Been in Prison 20 odd years got a firm who has said they will take my appeal on against my sentence, So lets see if it is just talk or if they really can.

If it is just talk I will do what I did before Name and shame.

Will come back tomorrow with more updates.

Sunday, 9 September 2012

Bit short on cash due to phoning mobiles regarding my dad when he had his accident and longer than usual phone calls with family getting the blog typed up normal routine this morning will try and update tomorrow if not Tuesday

Saturday, 8 September 2012

7/9/12 Lock up at 4.25pm till 8.45am on Friday Saturday & Sunday it is early lockdown 4.25pm it is now 7.20pm and am watching ice road trackers before football comes on (Come on England) England v Moldovan 10.30 pm England won 5-0 Well done boys. Now 11.15pm just had tv on mute and have radio on not much on tv so off to bed.

8/9/12 8.45am just got up morning routine, only thing different having shower in morning instead of night. 9am door just opened going to get my meds and have a shower, 9.30 having coffee and chilling. 11.45 am just getting my dinner playing table tennis for the last half hour 12.pm lock up till 2pm when I will phone family so they can do my blog, cooking pizza,chips and bread and butter pudding for six of us. Don't want to say I have a big head but I am a better cook than the others they have all told me this. Now almost 3pm end of six days of prison life, Can you Please give me some feedback on what you think. Please contact us at voiceforcons@gmail.com

PS Good lick to England on Tuesday lets kick more Arse

Friday, 7 September 2012

5/9/12 - 6/9/12 -7/9/12

7pm lock up till 8.30am feeling a bit low over 600-700 miles away from family and with my dad having that fall yesterday I am unable to help him. I have not seen my dad for over 6 years now that is what the UK home office is like, they do not give a shit about your human rights.
11.10pm just been chilling out got tv on having a coffee been watching rude tube sorry for not updating yesterday ran out of phone credit due to my dads accident on Tuesday had to phone mobiles to be updated. 11.45pm to bed.

7.30a.m doing my normal routine bog was dress and coffee, 8.20 am going for my meds. 8.30am lock up till 8.45am have a call up in education. 8.45 they came and told me I did not have a call up showed the officers reply from application from 24/8/12 they still said no, so am back in my cell chilling out with a coffee, I'll come back if anything changes.

HA HA HA 9.10 just been told by screws when head count is correct I WILL BE GOING TO EDUCATION this could be in 5 minutes or 2 hours, 9.27 am went to education 11.15 back on wing in cell for head count, 11.45 going for lunch 12 noon lock up now 12.30 having my little sleep now 4pm had no work so slept through till 4pm when I picked up my meds, lock up till head count is right something is going down 5pm and still not out 5.10pm cell door opens going down for tea cant phone family today still out of phone credit, 7pm lockup, words out 6 inmates were planning to take a kangaroo out 9 pm bored getting into bed. 7.30am just got up doing morning routine, not boring you with details as previous, not working today so will be listening to my radio on smooth, to listen to a program called my tune by Simon Bates at 8.45am it is now 8.25am going for my meds, 8.33 back in cell waiting for my tunes to come on, 8.50 am It was a very sa one today about a mothers nightmare her son drowned in a Quarry and they play Michael Jackson You're not alone her son was only 14 years old there is now a charity being run for Dhillon 11.45 going down for dinner bang up till 1.45 when I get my canteen.2.30 on phone getting this typed up. Will update tomorrow.

Thursday, 6 September 2012

There was an incident late yesterday evening and there has been lockdown all day so I have had no contact with the author so I am sorry to say will have to wait tilly I hear from him. Will keep you all posted.

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

4/9/12 & 5/9/12

7pm lock up again till 8.30am saying that the words up that there is a lockdown tomorrow morning so don't know what is going on till tomorrow morning.
It is now 11.50pm been watching tv now have the radio on cup of coffee, feeling a bit low today want to help my family but cant, they sometimes feel like they are not listening to me. Where I have been in prison so long my entire adult life 22 years my family seem different to me, I tell my bro in law how to get legal money by wheeling and dealing all he says is ye ye ye. of to bed now.

7.30am just got up have to do my morning routine, wash dress clean teeth have a coffee waiting to go down to collect my meds, it should be 8.15 am it is now 8.50a, this tells me it is a lockdown, 9.15 went down to pick up my meds, 9.30 back to education, 11.40 am back on the wing, locked up for head count. 11.50am went to get my dinner, it was chicken, It is 12.15pm locked up going to have my little sleep after dinner. 1.20 need to have a wash and coffee off to education 1.45pm. back on wing at 4.10. Get called into SO office, get told my dad who is 92 has hurt himself in a fall last night mum had been trying to phone prison for sometime now 4.45pm. what a load of shit. Now 5.10pm dictating this to family to publish for all.

Does anyone know who is looking at my blog now how to do links, if so please contact us at voiceforcons @hotmail.co.uk.

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

3/9/12 - 4/9/12 It is now 7pm it is now lockup locked up till about 8.15am In the morning I have a telemed appointment for those of you who do not know what a telemed is it is like a web cam to a doctor. It is now 11.45pm watching tv what a load of trash so of to bed,
7.30am up doing my normal routine like boys do, toilet, wash clean my teeth cup of coffee (hahahaha) Just been informed staff who was going to do telemed with me has phoned in sick so off to education was given a job to look after tropical fish and look after them it has taken me all morning now 11.26am back on wing locked up till 11.45 when we go down for dinner mince and mushroom pie tasted awful now 12 noon locked up till 1.45pm back to education will have a nap till 1.20. Then coffee and wash before education. Off to education.
Back on the wing 4.20 locked up for head count till 4.30-45. Now 5.30 translating to my people to publish this on my blog.

Anyone wishing to contact us can do so by emailing us at
voiceforcons@hotmail.co.uk

Monday, 3 September 2012

Prison Life I said I would write about Prison Life for the next week. Prison life is not all that easy like the majority of the public think. Monday 3rd September 2012 was told In had doctors appointment only been waiting 3-4 weeks for this I told them I had pains in my lower back without examining me he said take some pain killers. Went to health care at 8.45am see doctor at 9.50.am went back to wing at 10.25am. put radio on had a coffee. 11.45 going down for dinner 11.50 what a load of shit ham and branston pickle and dry roll went to sleep till 1.30pm go to education for numeracy back on wing at 4.20pm had to have medication saw nurse for it. 4.30 went down for tea thinking it would be a good tea must of been kidding myself cheese salad (Don't eat salads) on phone now at 5.30 on phone now publishing will be banged up at 7pm till 8.15am tomorrow. That is one day of prison life for you. To be continued tomorrow.

Sunday, 2 September 2012

Really down in the dumps today Cant think straight or nothing getting my head down now 4pm hopefully will feel better tomorrow.

Saturday, 1 September 2012

We have changed the blog to UNFAIR JUSTICE FOR CONS please let all your friends know , hope to be able to get some more info printed tomorrow we only had an hour out today waited over 40 minutes for the phone, sorry for letting you down.pwww.facebook.com/frankie.desmondwww.facebook.com/frankie.desmond

Friday, 31 August 2012

Ithought it was going to kick off on Wednesday,about 10 of the inmates go marching to the govenors office they were told to return to their landings, when they did, tv's went flying. We were all locked up i prisoner moved to another wing and another prisoner to another wing one of my pals who is a serious self harmer was jumped on by about 8 prison officers he was kneed and punched then twisted up and dragged down the block. This is what I am on about officers and management behaving like criminals.

Thursday, 30 August 2012

Blogs mum typing Internet keeps going down, one excuse after the other and blog unable to phone due to whatever problems that there are there. Hopefully will be able to type some interesting info for you all by about 4pm tomorrow.

Wednesday, 29 August 2012

Because it is lockdown today cant do much as I rely on my family to do my blog hopefully all back to normal tomorrow. Dont forget tom spread the word about my blog.

I am going to be looking for a lot of support soon as I am a discretionary lifer with a eight year tarrif and have just hit my 21st year. Where is the justice in that. The rest uf the EU only do 15-20 years out of a life sentence then they are released, so why dont we sign up to the EU fully (is it because the goverment are scared of loosing power and control)

Cant beleive it we are on lock down today because he officers are going to a funeral as one of their collegues has passed away. When one of our family friends passed away I still had to go to work and was not allowed to the funeral because we were not blood related.
I think it a bit of a farce.

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Lets talk about Self Harm in prison.

There is no understanding what so ever about self harming in prison. When you tell a screw you feel like self harming (and) do a good job. Even though they are aware that you feel like self harming they still give you a razor. The health care team dont really support you nor does the mental health team.
As far as they are all concerned self harmers are all attention seekers, but at the end of the day this is why there are so many suicides in prison. You put an application in to the safer custody team you dont get no reply just that alone says something. Some prisoners are barred from the listeners service and samaritans so they are left with no support what so ever. When you do self harm you go on your review board in front of the SO and he sdays to you stop Fucking about because you will never get out. I dont give a Fing dam. At the end of the day I go home.
A lot of the public think prison life is easy let me tell you something it is not easy at all. On 3rd September till the 7th I will put a blog up every day about my prison life and thoughts every night.

Dont forget to tell your friends about this blog.

Monday, 27 August 2012

Just got website up and running , had funeral Friday everything up and running properly Tuesday.

Saturday, 25 August 2012

Sorry for not updating Thursday internet went down, Friday was my mates funeral
need weekend to get over it all but will be back Monday or Tuesday which ever day I get the
info to type up.
Dont forget any questions or comments please ask , will do best to answer them.

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

OMBUDSMAN

When prisoners make a complaint 99 percent of the time you will be given some bullshit by the scoobydoos you as a prisoner knows about PSO and PSI PSI and PSO are always 100% right but still you complaint will come back with some old spill. So by rights when yuou go to the third stage which is the ombudsman it should be a open and shut case according to the PSO and PSI who should the ombudsman agree with if the PSo and PSI are for guidance of running the prisons. In my 20 plus years I have made quiet a few complaints I always check with the PSO and PSI if I cannot find anything I always phone my legal team for advice, but yet you always get a letter back from the Ombudsman saying Dear Mr Smith your complaint has not been upheld,however you can go to the parliamentary and health service Ombudsman (HOLD ON A MINUTE I THOUGHT THEY WERE THE OMBUDSMAN) so do we really need the prison ombudsman whenthey always tell us to go to the PHSO (I DONT THINK WE DO)
Take when there is a death in prison. Now the case is over I will use this case as an example.
1st October 2011, 2 sick prisoners saw another prisoner who was known as Mitchell Harrison to their cell they murdered and disembowled him. This brutal murder only happened 20-40 foot away from the office where staff were having breakfast and watching tv with the door shut. So is the ombudsman going to talk to all the prisoners who were on C wing when this murder was committed.
Lets see what bullshit the ombudsman comes back with, as always agree with the scoobydoos and cover things up.

Friday, 17 August 2012

wwwemailaprisoner.com

ABBREVIATIONS

1   S O   SENIOR OFFICER
2   P O   PRINCIPLE OFFICER
3   SCOOBY DOOS/SCREWS PRISON OFFICERS
4   PSO   PRISON SERVICE ORDERS
5   PSI     PRISON SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS
6   HMIP HM INSPECTORS OF PRISONS
7   O.A.D OFFENCES AGAINST DISCIPLINE
8 HMP HER MAJESTY PLEASURE
9 PAS   PRISONERS ADVICE SERVICE
10 JAM ROLL PAROLE
11 ACCT   ASSESSMENT AND CARE IN CUSTODY TEAM WORK

MANAGEMENT AND OFFICERS BEHAVING LIKE CRIMINALS

I want to talk about prison bullying under offences against discipline it is also covered by prison rule (20) using threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour is an offence against discipline according to the PSI 47/2011 paragraph 1.74.

So can someone tell me why I was never charged with an offence but put straight onto basics for allegations of threatening an officer I was on basics for over six weeks.

For those who do not know what basics is basic is a bottom level band of earned privleges not as a punishment. They use the IEP scheme as a punishment at HMP Frankland, I should have went in front of a govenor and had my rights because they are in black and white they think they are the law, I have seen the scoobydoo, in previous prisons myself and experienced management and scoobydoos,bullying prisoners. When I went on my review for my basic management said I dont give a fuck if you are on basics for the rest of your sentence, at the end of the day I go home, This will also be in the Inside Times newspaper at www.insidetimes.org.

Thursday, 16 August 2012

BEN'S PRISON BLOG: Release!

Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Have arranged for things to be typed tomorrow have had to give myself one day of thinking about my mate 61 years old no age and his life is over R.I.P. TERRY old mate miss you.

Will definately type proper tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Have just come off 6 weeks of basic phone the family to tell them the news and what happens
they tell me my mate died last night what a bummer way of coming off of basic. Sorry people am
gutted at moment about my mate will try to be more positive tomorrow

Monday, 13 August 2012

Still waiting for Basic Tribunal once off then can really start to give the info that I want to.

Sunday, 12 August 2012

Unable to write what I wanted today due to circumstances, have got basic review tomorrow so hopefully start printing properly tomorrow. Dont forget comments and questions always welcomed.

Saturday, 11 August 2012

Have had a knock back re my basic have to wait another week, see what happens then,so far have had basics for five weeks. Hope to be able to post a lot more tomorrow keep you all posted. Feel free to leave any comments or advice you want to give. Catch you all tomorrow.

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

I was arrested in 1992 sentenced in 1993 to 2 discretionary life sentences a 3 & 5 years with a tarriff of 8 years.

My father is housebound and virtually bedridden I have not seen him for 5-6 years my mother uses a wheelchair and can only visit when she does not have to travel too far, they live in London, I am in Durham how the hell can I expect to see my family. I will be updating this hopefully nearly every day so please check back for updates.

GOVERMENT BAN ON PRISONERS VOTE ILLEGAL

E C H R in Strassburg has deemed that britain removes the blanket ban on prisoners voting by November 2012.

The E C H R accepted that it was up to the national goverment to decide which prisoners can vote
it was however concluded that denying the rights to all inmates is illegal.
According to to the Inside Times.

RELEASED SEX OFFENDERS FACE POLYGRAPH TESTING

Currently awaiting copy from Inside Times