CHEW WANT SOME?
Prisoners are given free cake and pop for not starting fights
A JAIL has shown that tackling violence is a piece of cake – when cons are handed sweet treats for good behaviour.
Staff have been giving out slices of cake and soft drinks to lags who go 50 days without starting a fight.
Since the start of the scheme, the rate of prison attacks has plunged by almost two thirds against the national average.
Last night, a source said: “It has proved to be a very cost-effective solution to tackling a very expensive problem. It is amazing what people will do for a little luxury when they are banged up.”
Victoria sponges and carrot, ginger and chocolate cakes are thought to be on offer to sweet-toothed prisoners at HMP Rye Hill, near Rugby, Warks.
Lags can normally only get hold of a limited selection of cakes from the jail’s canteen list, and must pay for them with money from their meagre wages.
The calorific reward scheme has been hailed by jail inspector, the Independent Monitoring Board.
A report said: “Initiatives for violence reduction include a prisonerled violence elimination team and a campaign where the number of violence-free days is published, weekly, for each residential unit.
“There is a celebratory award of cake and soft drinks made to units achieving important milestones, such as 50 or 100 days violence-free.
“This promotes a culture where all benefit from eliminating violence.” The report added: “During 2019, there were 110 recorded assaults, which equates to 165 per 1,000 prisoners, when the national picture across all classes of prison was 412 per 1,000 prisoners.”
A separate morale-boosting scheme at the jail gives lags access to therapy dogs. Prisoners in all nicks already get privileges – such as more family visits – if they obey the rules.
But some institutions have tried bizarre ways to keep jailbirds on the straight and narrow.
Last year HMP Nottingham trialled a scheme to reward well-behaved cons with 10-minute fantasy getaways using virtual reality headsets.