International Law

Dead Man Walking

Posted on November 23, 2008
Dead Man WalkingOn Thursday I went down with either the common cold or influenza and by Sunday I have no energy or strength for almost anything. Last night I struggled to carry a 10kg bag of coal from Nissa, just around the corner. I was stopping every few yards to catch my breath...

Bush's Guantánamo policy falls apart

Posted on November 22, 2008
Bush's Guantánamo policy falls apartYesterday's court-ordered release of Guantánamo detainees has far-reaching implications for the future of the prisonThe Bush administration's Guantánamo policy is collapsing all around them as they pack their offices and prepare to leave Washington...

Burma jails comedian for 45 years

Posted on November 22, 2008
Burma jails comedian for 45 yearsRap star also imprisoned as ruling junta cracks down on popular dissidentsSecret courts in Burma have sentenced a popular comedian and a hip-hop star to hefty jail terms as the military regime cracks down on its dissidents, from monks to celebrities...

Prison governor says stuff prisoners turkey this Christmas

Posted on November 22, 2008
Prison governor says stuff prisoners turkey this ChristmasIt did not take long for the fall out from this case to spread from a maximum security prison to a low category resettlement prison. Ebenezer Scrooge, the governor of Blantyre House, has decided to take turkey and Christmas pudding off the prisoners Christmas Day menu, because he does not believe that this once a year treat is publicly acceptable...

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Jack Straw's stand-up comedy routine?

Posted on November 21, 2008
Jack Straw's stand-up comedy routine?I do question why a stand-up comedy course for 18 prisoners costs £8,000 for 8 days. It does seem a tad expensive. Therefore, it does appear to lack justification to burden the taxpayers with this bill. I don't see anything wrong with prisoners engaging in such a course, and as this article points out it has been running for 10 years...

Picture of the day

Posted on November 21, 2008
Picture of the dayA dramatic sunset acts as a backdrop to Stonehenge Picture: GETTY

Hello hello what have we got ear then?

Posted on November 20, 2008
Hello hello what have we got ear then?Police in '£87m ear damage claim' Police in NI will have to pay out £87m because officers were not offered ear protection during firearms training, a member of the Policing Board has said.

Escape prompts mother's jail call

Posted on November 20, 2008
Escape prompts mother's jail callA man who escaped from a psychiatric hospital while awaiting trial for murder should have been in prison, his alleged victim's mother has said.It does appear that Springfield Hospital in Wandsworth, south London, has an appalling record of allowing prisoners to escape or abscond.

An Act of Innocence?

Posted on November 20, 2008
An Act of Innocence?Michael Naughton questions whether the appointment of Richard Foster as the new chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) can be justified, and whether we need a Innocence Act which will enable cases to be redecided in the Court of Appeal...

Prison could be good for you

Posted on November 20, 2008
Prison could be good for youBy Ann WiddecombeMaking prisoners do a full day's work every weekday, for real wages, would impart skills and reduce re-offendingThe question: What good is prison?The link above is for the Guardian series, and the link below for this article"In my view, prison serves two purposes, one well and one badly...

Girl diagnoses herself with Asperger's after reading book

Posted on November 20, 2008
Girl diagnoses herself with Asperger's after reading bookA 10-year-old girl diagnosed herself with Asperger's syndrome after reading a book about the condition. Rosie King realised she had difficulty in identifying facial expressions and making friends like the character she was studying...

Dick Cheney charged over abuse in private prisons

Posted on November 20, 2008
Dick Cheney charged over abuse in private prisons US vice president Dick Cheney has been charged with "organised criminal activity" over allegations about abuse in privately-run prisons. A grand jury in south Texas indicted Mr Cheney and Alberto Gonzales, the former Attorney General, on state charges that they blocked an investigation into the mistreatment of prisoners...

How a Home Secretary was hoodwinked

Posted on November 20, 2008
How a Home Secretary was hoodwinkedTwo drug barons have been convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. They have been jailed for a total of 42 years but how did they manage to hoodwink HM Customs, a High Court judge and the then home secretary Michael Howard?There's a sucker born every minute...

'Urgent' changes needed at prison

Posted on November 19, 2008
'Urgent' changes needed at prisonThe prisons inspector has called for "urgent" changes to be made at a jail in west London.Anne Owers said conditions at Wormwood Scrubs in Hammersmith had deteriorated since her last inspection.Her report said 20% of prisoners given mandatory drugs tests failed them, which had led to gang activity...

Weaning America off prison

Posted on November 19, 2008
Weaning America off prisonIn the United States, a country addicted to jail, there are now more people behind bars than there are farmersThe question: What good is prison?The above link begins Prison Week asking the age old question. And, the link below is one writer's view of the answer, at least as far as our American cousins are concerned...

Rejecting youth crime to build a better future

Posted on November 19, 2008
Rejecting youth crime to build a better futureToni Elkington, 16, was taken into care after problems at home in Wakefield and repeated clashes with the law. In the third of a series of blogs to mark National Youth Week, Toni talks about why young people like her get into crime, and what support they need to get out of it

The morning after the night before...

Posted on November 19, 2008
The morning after the night before...Well my dinner engagement proved to be a good night out. Double JD, ice and ginger ale for starters. The main course was Sirloin steak and chips, with another JD for side dressing. There was a jazz band and they asked for requests and one of our party asked them to play Happy Birthday for me...

Houses of Parliament 'infested with vermin'

Posted on November 19, 2008
Houses of Parliament 'infested with vermin'The Houses of Parliament, Downing Street and other parts of Whitehall are infested with vermin, according to official reports.I don't think we need to waste public money compiling a report to tell us what we already know...

Britney Spears compares her life to a prison sentence

Posted on November 18, 2008
Britney Spears compares her life to a prison sentenceTroubled pop singer Britney Spears has compared her life to living in prison.I am sure that there are millions of prisoners throughout the world who would willingly swap their lives and prison cell for Britney Spears life...

Jailhouselawyer's 58th birthday

Posted on November 18, 2008
Jailhouselawyer's 58th birthdayIt's a bright and sunny and relatively warm morning so far. A great start to my 58th birthday. The full English, 2 x sausage, 2 x bacon and 2 x eggs are in the frying pan and I am just going down to make 2 x toast and the coffee...

Better late than never...

Posted on November 18, 2008
Better late than never...

Hold the front page I'm just about to crash my car

Posted on November 18, 2008
Hold the front page I'm just about to crash my carLabour peer Lord Ahmed to face court accused of dangerous drivingLabour peer Lord Ahmed is to face a court accused of dangerous driving after a six car Christmas Day car smash that killed a 28-year-old...

Meet the doziest burglar in Hull

Posted on November 17, 2008
Meet the doziest burglar in HullA BURGLAR was caught red-handed after he fell asleep in a house he had broken into.Carlos Delgardo, 26, only woke as he was placed in handcuffs by police.Now, he has been jailed for two years after he broke into Kathleen Fleming's home in Cambridge Street, west Hull...

Prison's mental health 'scandal'

Posted on November 16, 2008
Prison's mental health 'scandal'Inadequate mental health care provision at a young offenders' institution has been criticised as scandalous by Wales' children's commissioner and an MP.It seems that Securicor is quite happy to make a profit, however, when it comes to providing the required services it falls far short...

Name change for school next door to Britain's most notorious criminals

Posted on November 16, 2008
Name change for school next door to Britain's most notorious criminalsDespite good results and praise from Ofsted, a school has struggled to attract applicants -- and the staff think they know why. Now, Broadmoor Primary School is to change its name in an effort to break the association with the high-security hospital next door, which is home to some of Britain's most notorious criminals including Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper...

Energy firms 'profit from poor'

Posted on November 15, 2008
Energy firms 'profit from poor'Energy suppliers make some of their biggest profits from their poorest customers, a watchdog has said.Firms make about half a billion pounds a year in extra charges from prepayment meters, Consumer Focus estimates.About 1,000 prepayment meters a day are being installed in households where people have got into debt over their energy bills, it says...

Shannon Matthews kidnap accused has been attacked in prison

Posted on November 15, 2008
Shannon Matthews kidnap accused has been attacked in prisonMichael Donovan, 40, was assaulted by an inmate after returning from court to Armley Jail, Leeds, where he is being held on remand.He was punched twice in the face twice and appeared in the dock yesterday (fri) with a red mark below his nose...

Police officers stay in jobs despite serious convictions

Posted on November 15, 2008
Police officers stay in jobs despite serious convictionsPolice officers convicted of serious violent offences are continuing to serve, it has emerged. Dozens of officers at a single force are patrolling the streets despite convictions for gun crimes, actual bodily harm, theft and other offences...

Is Guido into kiddie porn?

Posted on November 15, 2008
Is Guido into kiddie porn?I suspect that Paul Staines author of Guido's blog, and to a lesser extent, Phil Hendren author of Dizzy Thinks, will not be best chuffed that The Times is suggesting that the likes of them get their jollies from the virtual-reality, battered-infant graphic of Baby P...

No early release for dying Lockerbie bomber

Posted on November 14, 2008
No early release for dying Lockerbie bomberLibyan man Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi fails to gain early release from prison because he is terminally ill with late-stage cancer"Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan man jailed for the Lockerbie bombing, today lost an attempt to secure early release from prison because he is terminally ill with cancer...

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