This is quite an interesting series.
All the prisoners naturally want to say the right things at their interview, as they all obviously want to get out.
I am not sure I would have agreed with the probation officers on every case.
One guy was in for accidentally biting off another guys ear in a fight.
He claimed to have learnt his lesson.
A lesson he hadnt learnt after previously serving a three and a half year sentence for manslaughter, after killing someone else in another fight.
He has a very scary looking girlfriend.
Unfortunately his hearing was postponed for 6 months, as his probation officer was too busy to have done the preparation.
In a number of cases, despite the probation service recommending their release, the prisoner had been recalled to prison in a fairly short space of time.
A very difficult job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-P3SeVsjQYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRsIK00iU8A
Comments
We try to guess who would or wouldn't get parole at the end and we've not had many right so far.
Every prisoner wants to get out.
Every parole officer wants to avoid an ar5e kicking for each time one of them is recalled.
This makes the whole process difficult.
Drink and drugs seemed to play a big part in many of their lives, both inside and outside prison.
You would think it would be fairly easy to set up a system where prisoners are unable to access alcohol and drugs.
On the ear biting guy.
I would find it difficult to believe in his good intentions.
He has already had a massive result in only having to serve three and a half years for manslaughter.
Yet after getting out he goes on to bite a guys ear off.
Hard to say any lessons were learnt.
People who commit crimes under the influence of drink or drugs seem to be more likely to reoffend unless they can stay off them.
They manage to solve that 1 about 3 years after Brexit is resolved
Even without the dramatic falls in spending in these areas, there is no way of solving this problem. It might be possible to stop 1 drug-but it would just be replaced with another.
Just take alcohol, as an example. You could spend a lot of money ensuring ex-offenders do not go to licensed premises. But supermarkets? Friends/family buying for them? Going round other's houses? Probation Officers are so underfunded they cannot cope now. Never mind a whole load of new rules. Which would only change where the problems arose-not resolve them.
Not a popular opinion I know but as someone who spent 30+ years dealing with the mayhem caused by people off their nuts on drink and drugs, one that should be considered.
This is a very old article. But it remains true.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-31871602
Then there is the fun of drone deliveries/throwing stuff over the wall.
Can you tell a reformed criminal when you see one? This fascinating series shows the tricky questions faced by those who must decide the fate of a serial fraudster and a man who kicked a West Ham fan to death
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/feb/20/parole-review-how-do-you-decide-when-it-is-safe-to-let-a-murderer-back-on-the-streets
In the first of five episodes of the excellent new BBC Two series, we meet two of the prisoners looking to go straight, and quite the characters they are, too
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/parole-bbc-two-david-coombs-b2285797.html
https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/parole-bbc2-review-board-true-crime-wasted-opportunity-2161837?ico=most_popular
If we really want people to get rehabilitated in prison, and not turn to reoffending, then surely it cant make any sense for them to be able to easily access drink and drugs inside.
One of the guys in the programme was caught with 20 litres of hooch.
How can that happen?
Is there any control?
That is simply not true. In the US there are limited occasions where that may happen (like here). But the general rule is exactly the same as the UK. Even in places known for their harsh rules, like Texas.
Except on TV, of course.
In relation to drones. Airports are generally in their own grounds, well away from towns. Rather easier to police. Unlike a lot of prisons-for example HMP Chelmsford is right in the middle of the City.
Drones can apparently be disabled, or you could use nets.
Surely you are not suggesting we are unable in 2023 to put a stop to to drug deliveries via drones.
As I said earlier one the guys was caught with 20 litres of hooch.
I dont think that was delivered by drone, or secreted about the person of a visitor.
Any that fail would have their sentence increased.
You may wish to offer a discount for revealing the source.
Sorry to have to break it to you, but there are only 2 options:-
1. The finest specialist minds have collectively all failed to grasp for decades how simple a problem is; or
2. You do not grasp the complexities