PRISON BREAKS23
Chef Domini cooks up fresh start for inmates in TV show
PRISONERS are set to be put to the test to see if their criminal minds can be turned into business brains.
Chef Domini Kemp will go behind bars at Wheatfield Prison in Dublin for a new TV show to work with six inmates – but only four of them will last the course.
The celebrity self-starter tries to show prisoners how they can change their path as the spiralling cost of reoffending is “the definition of insanity”.
There are more than 4,000 people in custody in Ireland at a cost of €70,000 a year, with 45% ending up back in jail shortly after their release.
Cameras follow Domini as she runs her entrepreneurship rehabilitation programme.
And the health food expert told how she “always felt safe” – despite being left alone with prisoners in the classroom.
She said: “They [inmates] needed to know from the get-go that I was taking it very seriously and I expected everyone else to take it seriously.
“Therefore there was never a requirement to have a prison officer in the classroom. We are in the school, it’s very safe, the teachers are there.
“You also have to trust the resources here in that they are not going to put me in a room with people who are going to cause difficulties.
“People have this stereotypical impression of prison because they watch too many of these American films which show people getting stabbed just for walking along a corridor and it’s just not like that.”
Domini explained that the course normally lasts around 16 weeks – and two hours every week – so there is the best part of 30 to 40 hours of actual class time.
She added: “There are a lot of people who need to be kept away from society and society needs to be kept safe, but there are a lot of people who need to be doing these things – and when you see the workshops, that is the true meaning of rehabilitation.”
And Domini has told how she has had former convicts working in her kitchens.
She said: “Some of the crimes can be quite notorious and the media attention they might get upon release can be very concerning in terms of getting a job, so getting a job in a kitchen where they are not meeting customers is an option.”
Wheatfield governor Pat Murphy praised the chef and author for her work and emphasised that rehabilitation is key.
He added: “We have prisoners here at all stages of sentences. Some have done a few years and there are a couple at 30-plus years.
“When people come in we view it as an opportunity to work with the lads to figure out what led them into prison and how we can help them stop and stay out.
“Sometimes it’s simple fundamental things like reconnecting with family.”
■ Prison Breaks is on Virgin Media One on Wednesday at 10pm.
People have stereotype notions of prisoners from US TV, it’s not that
DOMINI KEMP YESTERDAY