Prisoners allowed sex and drink
PRISONERS can get away with brewing their own booze, having sex with cell mates and taking drugs under new guidelines issued to jails across Britain.
They can even escape punishment for absconding – if they are back under lock and key within 48 hours – the new set of Prison Service rules state.
Governors are tacitly warned they face a raft of red tape should they choose to put a disciplinary charge before the authorities.
The guidelines suggest inmates who have drunk homemade alcohol, known as “hooch”, should not be penalised if they are “exuberant but still manageable”.
They go on to advise prisons to record the illicit alcohol as “a fermenting liquid” in case inmates dispute the nature of the brew, which has to be verified using expensive scientific tests.
The rules go on to say a charge may be appropriate if sexual acts between prisoners offend others.
“But if two prisoners sharing a cell are in a relationship and engage in sexual activity during the night when they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, a disciplinary charge may not be appropriate.”
Rather than record inmates as being found with illegal drugs they should be catalogued as “an unauthorised article”, unless enough is seized to be sent for lab testing. And in the case of inmates escaping or absconding from jail for more than 48 hours, “the prison authorities must assess whether the prisoner really meant to escape or merely forgot when they needed to be back in jail”. The latest rules follow an investigation carried out by the Daily Express that revealed prisoners could pay less than the public to call loved ones under a controversial £10million telephone deal with BT.
Tory MP Sir William Cash said: “Prison is about justice and punishment. This is a step too far. This is an invitation to criminals to believe the prison service has gone soft.” A Prison Service spokesman said: “We do not tolerate indiscipline in prison and punish those who break the rules, ranging from removal of privileges to prosecution and additional time behind bars.” in-cell