International Law

Location, location, location

By John Hirst

In my experience of prison there are desirable and less desirable cells. A cell with a view is like gold dust. I have had one on the "Threes" in Lewes Prison which had a view over the Sussex Downs, and another in Winchester Prison, in the Segregation Unit, which only looked out to a small yard. On one occasion, I arrived at one prison and had only time to eat 2 may be 3 mouthfuls of lunch before an escort arrived and I was handcuffed and bundled out of the cell and into a waiting van enroute to another prison.

Drug dealer refuses to leave his 'comfy' cell

This report describes a judge hopping mad because a prisoner preferred to stay in his cell rather than appear before him. I suspect that his appearance would entail his going to Lewes Prison perhaps a week early to attend the hearing and having done so wait in Lewes Prison afterwards until his transfer back was organised by some private contractor. Meanwhile it is unlikely the cell would have been kept vacant for him, so not only would he lose whatever by the court imposed confiscation order but his most precious cell as well.

The judge displayed his ignorance of the law firstly by not knowing that a person does not have to appear before him, and secondly by claiming incorrectly that it is as a result of human rights rules that the prisoner refused to appear. Whilst a production order may compel a prisoner to attend the court confines it does not extend to forcing him to appear before the court. The prisoner chose to exercise his right and let his legal representative deal with the court appearance.

Whilst I found the news report amusing, I was sickened by many of the comments attached to the article in Have Your Say.

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on May 06, 2008 (boomark / email).