Report on Isle of Man Prison

[Bosley]

18 minutes ago, Fred the shred said:

The weird thing is draconian sentencing seems to be aimed solely at drug offenders there are people who have over claimed benefits and screwed the tax payers every week practically in the press and they get a tenner a week taken out of their benefits.    In fact the tenner a week out of benefits seems to be the popular result for most crimes these days.   

It’s a natural effect though of this current Chief Constable finding all those drug dealers that Gary Roberts had spent 20 years looking for. 

[Gladys]

Just now, Bosley said:

It’s a natural effect though of this current Chief Constable finding all those drug dealers that Gary Roberts had spent 20 years looking for. 

But are they the ones who need to be removed or are they just inconsequential cogs way down the line? 

[Dirty Buggane]

As said they are just cog's in a very lucrative machine, it's the supliers that need targeting but as they are outside our jurisdiction and most likely abilities to get to the next best thing is local drug barons. But if they catch them, if they have no roots on the island (and i mean family not just a girlfriend) get shut off the island pass some draconian law. Which will enable us to rid ourselves of people that should be back on the mainland serving their sentence, but due to overcrowding they get to stay in our holiday camp of a prison when compared to many UK prison's.

Edited July 18 by Dirty Buggane

[Derek Flint]

There's a need for a reset as to the way we do this. Prison as a pure punishment has probably had its day. For the protection of the public, and for rehabilitation of the most difficult then it still has its place. But in many cases, sentencing into the community, where offenders are seen to 'pay down' their criminal debt, is potentially a more effective approach. On an island, this is something worth investigating and I understand some work is underway.

[Gladys]

19 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

There's a need for a reset as to the way we do this. Prison as a pure punishment has probably had its day. For the protection of the public, and for rehabilitation of the most difficult then it still has its place. But in many cases, sentencing into the community, where offenders are seen to 'pay down' their criminal debt, is potentially a more effective approach. On an island, this is something worth investigating and I understand some work is underway.

Not sure that there is much rehabilitation actually achieved but generally, I agree.  Prison might satisfy a general desire for retribution, but does very little to address criminal behaviour either as a deterrent or as a means of rehabilitation, despite being used for centuries. 

[finlo]

37 minutes ago, Gladys said:

Not sure that there is much rehabilitation actually achieved but generally, I agree.  Prison might satisfy a general desire for retribution, but does very little to address criminal behaviour either as a deterrent or as a means of rehabilitation, despite being used for centuries.

 

Birch them!

[Gladys]

29 minutes ago, finlo said:

 

Birch them!

And that didn't work either. 

[Harry Lamb]

13 minutes ago, Gladys said:

And that didn't work either. 

Fun, though

[Non-Believer]

2 hours ago, finlo said:

 

Birch them!

Or hang them. They don't offend again.

[joebean]

The inquest into the death in custody makes pretty poor reading. Any death in prison is a regretful occurrence but the testimony in court paints a pretty pathetic picture all round and reinforces a view that the place lacks any real purpose and is poorly managed. If a prison loses a “huge” amount of staff, according to the rather feeble testimony of the Deputy Governor, as a result of 3 suicides in as many years, it suggests that the managerial response to these incidents has been wanting. There should have been adequate support for those directly impacted and a more robust approach to the whole area of self-harm. I have long regarded the formulation of “suicidal prevention” policies as totally inappropriate as it suggests that “preventing” suicide is possible and the decision by someone to take their life is necessarily the fault of someone else. Appropriate measures should be in place to counsel, support and identify those at risk and, of course, the means of ending your life should be restricted. However, vulnerable and depressed people have always made decisions in the moment to end their lives and always will. It’s not always a fault situation. I  sense an over-emotional response by staff and managers and a lack of leadership in the prison. All the reports I read suggest a lack of resolve, purpose and robustness about the place and I wonder what the point of it really is and if the staff know that either. 

[TheTeapot]

It took the suicide of three prisoners to stop giving them the plastic bags to suffocate themselves with, so while lessons have been learnt, it took a while to sink in!

[Derek Flint]

There was some good people up there in my day. I think it may have gone a bit insular?

[finlo]

3 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

There was some good people up there in my day. I think it may have gone a bit insular?

 

[Maugholdmafia]

Does anyone ever wonder what prison officers or police for that matter do when they resign? 

 

Are they all working at tesco? 

[Fred the shred]

At £80,000 per prisoner per annum and the prison is full no wonder we are skint. If one is sentenced to 10 years that would be £800,000 if they do not get early release.    The total amount must be staggering.    There has to be a better way.