The cell parent (a senior prisoner who is given some mediation tasks) and one of the high-ranking guards give the order. Of the inmates sitting on the floor, 11 lie down, with heads resting alongside feet. This is how 60 human beings manage to fit into the meager 376 square feet available in one of the cells at Kumasi Central Prison, in Ghana.
What I can tell you is that under the last government, for quite some time, there were, on average, 17 wrong releases. Under this government that has risen. It's 22 that is completely unacceptable. It was unacceptable before, it's unacceptable now. Even one is too many, and the justice secretary is gripping this by appointing Dame Lynne Owens, who is the former director of the National Crime Agency, to make sure that we really grip this
Despite a high-profile escape from the south London jail only months earlier, conditions were so chaotic at the time of the inspection that most staff could not reliably say where all prisoners were during the day, Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, reported with obvious near disbelief. There was no reliable roll that could assure leaders that all prisoners were accounted for, he wrote.
A fraudster mistakenly released from prison this week has handed himself back into HMP Wandsworth, in southwest London, Surrey police said. William Smith, 35, usually known as Billy Smith, was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences by video link from Croydon crown court on Monday, but was then released in error by the prison. A clerical mistake by the court led to the prison being told it was a suspended sentence, which meant he no longer had to be detained.
Serious violent crime in England and Wales should be expected to rise unless urgent steps are taken to boost the probation service. That is the alarming warning from Martin Jones, HM chief inspector of probation. He estimates that 100,000 offenders on probation are currently not being properly managed. This overstretched service cannot be expected to manage the increased workload that will follow from sentencing reforms.
The report lays bare the reasons why prisons have become so consistently overcrowded over so many years to the point of frequent near-collapse.
