THE SCARIEST PRISONER IS AN INNOCENT ONE……
Maintaining your
innocence is a human right. I did this throughout my sentence, and there
was only one reason for this……. yep, I am innocent.
Now, many
people say to me “Isn’t everyone in prison innocent?”. Well, actually,
no! I would say at least 95% of the girls I met admitted their crime and
many pleaded guilty. Admittedly many had stories around their crime,
and, if these are to be believed, many of the ladies should never have
been convicted or imprisoned. Many were led astray by men, or bullied
into committing the crime. Upbringing and lifestyle choices also led to
convictions for many women. Addictions of course also play a major part
in offending behavour.
Prison life is all about addressing your
offending behaviours. If you have none, due to not committing the crime,
then the authorities do not know what to do with you, and that is scary
for them. It is very difficult, for most people who are unacquainted
with the legal
system, to realise just how easy it is to fall victim to wrongful
convictions. Before my court case (my first experience of the judicial
system) I assumed that you tell the truth in court and so does everyone
else….. how wrong was I!!
Look at the recent case of Stacey Hyde? http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/jun/11/stacey-hyde-there-are-many-more-who-need-their-cases-re-examined
Stacey
maintained her innocence throughout her sentence, and had to go through
the harrowing ordeal of a retrial after six years in prison. She had
very obvious mental health problems, she was a very young and vulnerable
girl and I am so happy to see her free, with her conviction quashed.
However, her time as an innocent in prison will affect her for the rest
of her life. Her phyical self-harm scars will fade, but the mental and
emotional ones will be harder to lose. I feel priviliged to have known
Stacey, a brave survivor, and I wish her all the best for her future.
I
was quite fortunate in jail. Once staff saw the facts and evidence
around my case they were pretty supportive on the whole. I found they
were like this with most of the women maintaining innocence. Common
sense usually prevailed once the information was read and taken in.
Which makes you question the judicial system yet again.
Sadly, the
new PSI on the IEP system, issued in Novemeber 2013 has included the
need to take responsiblity for your crime and address offending
behaviour in order to achieve Enhancement. Despite this, those who
maintain their innocence continue to do so, which surely shows that
they, at least, truly believe they are innocent. Women who, after 17 or
so years, still maintain innocence despite it knocking back their
parole…… well, what do you think? Would you have this strength of mind?
Sunday, 12 July 2015
Diversity, equality and inclusion…. ignored
I met a lovely lady last year. She is an IPP prisoner; this means she
has a minimum tariff, but in reality could be kept incarcerated for as
long as the authorities want. This practice was abolished in 2012, but
currently over 5000 IPP prisoners remain in prison, with over two thirds
over tariff. More on this later…
This lady had a tragic start to life. One of 14 children she was a Vietnamese boat person. Those of you my age will remember Blue Peter campaigning about this situation and raising money to help this displaced generation, fleeing a conflict in which 65,000 were executed and a million sent to prison camps where about 165,000 died. Leaving the country was illegal so many escaped in makeshift boats. It is estimated that 1.5 million vietnamese escaped this way and around 10 percent of these drowned.
This lady spends most of her time on BASIC (28 days with little association and no tv)…and yet I never saw any behaviour that I would consider to be disruptive, aggressive, or of an offending nature. She didn’t bully anyone, kick off, fight or argue. She speaks very poor English, but on top of this has very obvious cognitive difficulties. This has actually been documented in her records (after a fight from other prisoners to get it recognised, yes that’s right… other prisoners!). However, it never seems to be taken into account (equality, diversity, inclusion…) when she is being punished or victimised.
This lady mainly gets in trouble for …. hoarding food in her room or taking her food out of the dining hall to eat later. Bearing in mind she spent her entire childhood starving and without knowing where the next meal is coming from, I fully understand this. So should the authorities, but they don’t. In fact, one officer even regularly stole from her room when he wanted sugar, milk or crisps for his office (a safer custody officer which is ironic) and would threaten her with an adjudication for storing food if she dared to complain!
One of her adjudications was for having vegetables from the garden in her room. They were being thrown away despite being perfectly edible. She cannot handle the idea of wasting food. Do you blame her?
She is the kindest and most giving person I met in jail. She takes note of all the other prisoners on her wing and what kind of food they like, and she redistributes the prison issue food to the right people. For example, I would give her my sugar, flavours of crisps I don’t like, sometimes things that came with my salad like crab sticks, noodles and so on. She would then give me hot chocolates as I don’t drink coffee and plain flavoured crisps.
She could appear argumentative, but actually she just has a very strong idea of fairness, always likes to know the rules and keep to them, and also has the aforementioned cognitive disability which means she will often question and question in order to understand.
I saw her bullied by officers, and I tried my best to stand up for and support her in any way I could. I smiled last week when I received a letter from her stating she had been taken off BASIC, as her most recent IEP had been revoked….. the one I appealed on her behalf before I left. :-). I just pray there is someone else to take over her care and support…..
This lady had a tragic start to life. One of 14 children she was a Vietnamese boat person. Those of you my age will remember Blue Peter campaigning about this situation and raising money to help this displaced generation, fleeing a conflict in which 65,000 were executed and a million sent to prison camps where about 165,000 died. Leaving the country was illegal so many escaped in makeshift boats. It is estimated that 1.5 million vietnamese escaped this way and around 10 percent of these drowned.
This lady spends most of her time on BASIC (28 days with little association and no tv)…and yet I never saw any behaviour that I would consider to be disruptive, aggressive, or of an offending nature. She didn’t bully anyone, kick off, fight or argue. She speaks very poor English, but on top of this has very obvious cognitive difficulties. This has actually been documented in her records (after a fight from other prisoners to get it recognised, yes that’s right… other prisoners!). However, it never seems to be taken into account (equality, diversity, inclusion…) when she is being punished or victimised.
This lady mainly gets in trouble for …. hoarding food in her room or taking her food out of the dining hall to eat later. Bearing in mind she spent her entire childhood starving and without knowing where the next meal is coming from, I fully understand this. So should the authorities, but they don’t. In fact, one officer even regularly stole from her room when he wanted sugar, milk or crisps for his office (a safer custody officer which is ironic) and would threaten her with an adjudication for storing food if she dared to complain!
One of her adjudications was for having vegetables from the garden in her room. They were being thrown away despite being perfectly edible. She cannot handle the idea of wasting food. Do you blame her?
She is the kindest and most giving person I met in jail. She takes note of all the other prisoners on her wing and what kind of food they like, and she redistributes the prison issue food to the right people. For example, I would give her my sugar, flavours of crisps I don’t like, sometimes things that came with my salad like crab sticks, noodles and so on. She would then give me hot chocolates as I don’t drink coffee and plain flavoured crisps.
She could appear argumentative, but actually she just has a very strong idea of fairness, always likes to know the rules and keep to them, and also has the aforementioned cognitive disability which means she will often question and question in order to understand.
I saw her bullied by officers, and I tried my best to stand up for and support her in any way I could. I smiled last week when I received a letter from her stating she had been taken off BASIC, as her most recent IEP had been revoked….. the one I appealed on her behalf before I left. :-). I just pray there is someone else to take over her care and support…..
Is it Working?
Women’s prisons in England are boarding school styled communities,
where girls laugh, support each other, help and look after each other.
The three southern jails I have had the joy of residing in are as
disimilar to their media and political portrayal as chalk and cheese!
The female estate is not working, prison in general is not working and women in particular are being let down by the judicial system.
During my two year stint I kept my ears and eyes open to the disarray and chaos within the female estate and I did what I could to help those incarcerated within it.
My aim now is to work with agencies, charities, politicians, journalists, young people at risk of offending, and the unknowledgeable and often judgemental public to CHANGE an outdated, unworkable and often vindictive, dishonest and corrupt system.
Not a day went by without me noticing dishonest or deceitful behaviour from prison staff, whether officers, Governors or civilian staff. Surely in this last chance saloon for female offenders there should be an exemplar behavioural pattern from those responsible for the rehabilitation and care of women?
This blog will try to introduce you to the reality, the facts, of prison and the judicial system. It is about time it all came out and the system changes.
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/why%20focus%20on%20reducing%20womens%20imprisonment.pdf
The female estate is not working, prison in general is not working and women in particular are being let down by the judicial system.
During my two year stint I kept my ears and eyes open to the disarray and chaos within the female estate and I did what I could to help those incarcerated within it.
My aim now is to work with agencies, charities, politicians, journalists, young people at risk of offending, and the unknowledgeable and often judgemental public to CHANGE an outdated, unworkable and often vindictive, dishonest and corrupt system.
Not a day went by without me noticing dishonest or deceitful behaviour from prison staff, whether officers, Governors or civilian staff. Surely in this last chance saloon for female offenders there should be an exemplar behavioural pattern from those responsible for the rehabilitation and care of women?
This blog will try to introduce you to the reality, the facts, of prison and the judicial system. It is about time it all came out and the system changes.
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/why%20focus%20on%20reducing%20womens%20imprisonment.pdf
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Being a Parent
When I was a child I assumed that I too would know everything when I became an adult, as if one day a magic switch would impart me with all the knowledge and answers necessary for life as a parent....
I am still waiting......
Due to growing up in the care system, with a very mixed up, volatile and difficult childhood, I have no good parental experiences to call upon when bringing up my own children.So I make it up, guess, weigh up my options, take other people's experiences, wing it....... and make a multitude of mistakes!
But surely I am not alone? Is it my own childhood insecurities that make me judge myself; make me feel like less of a parent as I have no scale to mark myself by? Or are we all the same? Are all parents waiting for somebody else to tell them they are doing OK?
To those who introduce me as "that woman who has 8 children" or " doesn't your television work?", I have started my own family, my own family traditions and family memories, to make up for what I never had.
I hope one day my children accept that I have done the best I could and that ultimately I have loved them totally and completely, and surely that is the most important part of being a parent.
I am still waiting......
Due to growing up in the care system, with a very mixed up, volatile and difficult childhood, I have no good parental experiences to call upon when bringing up my own children.So I make it up, guess, weigh up my options, take other people's experiences, wing it....... and make a multitude of mistakes!
But surely I am not alone? Is it my own childhood insecurities that make me judge myself; make me feel like less of a parent as I have no scale to mark myself by? Or are we all the same? Are all parents waiting for somebody else to tell them they are doing OK?
To those who introduce me as "that woman who has 8 children" or " doesn't your television work?", I have started my own family, my own family traditions and family memories, to make up for what I never had.
I hope one day my children accept that I have done the best I could and that ultimately I have loved them totally and completely, and surely that is the most important part of being a parent.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Christmas 2010
Christmas 2010 is now over.....
It's been a strange year, so many changes.
If you had asked me last January where my life would be today then I would have given you some very different answers.
So many ups and downs, changes and surprises. Learning who my friends really are, making new friends and losing old ones, but ultimately ending the year much happier than I started it.
So thank you to those who have stuck by me, and thank you to the lovely people I have met along the way, and to those who are now a big part of my life and my future.
2011 hopes and dreams:
Beau will eat more than crisps!!
Eden will learn to love another musical... (Titanic is fab Eden but really......)
Harris will find a way to conquer her ME and will regain her self-confidence and love of life
Brogan will find a place in life where he is happy
Chay will just carry in being her wonderful bossy self
Raefn will find a niche for that energy and inquisitiveness
Perry will find peace and happiness and security and know that she is loved totally
Jordan will remember that I have always loved her and will never stop even though she is all grown up
And as for me..... I have a future, a place where I belong and I have people who have helped me feel secure, self-confident and loved xxx Long may it continue xx
It's been a strange year, so many changes.
If you had asked me last January where my life would be today then I would have given you some very different answers.
So many ups and downs, changes and surprises. Learning who my friends really are, making new friends and losing old ones, but ultimately ending the year much happier than I started it.
So thank you to those who have stuck by me, and thank you to the lovely people I have met along the way, and to those who are now a big part of my life and my future.
2011 hopes and dreams:
Beau will eat more than crisps!!
Eden will learn to love another musical... (Titanic is fab Eden but really......)
Harris will find a way to conquer her ME and will regain her self-confidence and love of life
Brogan will find a place in life where he is happy
Chay will just carry in being her wonderful bossy self
Raefn will find a niche for that energy and inquisitiveness
Perry will find peace and happiness and security and know that she is loved totally
Jordan will remember that I have always loved her and will never stop even though she is all grown up
And as for me..... I have a future, a place where I belong and I have people who have helped me feel secure, self-confident and loved xxx Long may it continue xx
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