Inmates will get less porridge and other favourites after prison menu overhaul
Lags will get less porridge after a shake up of prison menus.
New guidance says catering teams should avoid cooking the same dish more than once a month – so there'll likely be less gruel on offer. Bosses hope expanding inmates' culinary horizons will boost mental health and improve behaviour.
The plans, part of the Food in Prisons Policy Framework, recommend staff sample meals each day to ensure quality is top notch. And protected groups like transgender prisoners and different religious communities must be given special provisions. It comes after a man called 999 for 'his own protection' - then ended up jailed himself.
A government document said the changes are backed by scientific evidence and academic studies, and will 'protect the physical and mental health and wellbeing of people in prison.' It adds: 'The policy aims to contribute to lowering internal tension within the prison environment, so as to maintain the levels of overall safety and security.'
Cons regularly moan of poor jail nosh. One wrote in a column for prison paper Inside Time: 'It is absolutely disgusting with no protein whatsoever – all we get is a small sausage roll or a scruffy piece of processed meat which is wafer thin. Where is your balanced diet that grown men like me are supposed to get?
'No five-a-day fruit or veg, just 220ml milk. It's not enough. Battersea Dogs Home gets more of an allowance than we do. 'Schools get more than we do. We who don't have family to send in money to support us have to suffer. We can't possibly buy any food items on the few pounds we are paid. Government rules state prisoners must be given three meals a day, including at least one 'substantial hot' option. Porridge was the title of the seminal 1970s jail sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale.
The move comes as bosses look for innovative ways to cut re-offending. In a pioneering scheme at HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Herts, inmates act as in-house assistant chaplains. Jailbirds who successfully make the leap of faith will bag a level 4 higher education certificate in theology from Westminster Theological College.
Another project sees young offenders encouraged to try their hand at angling on the banks of a lake in the grounds of HMP Wetherby in West Yorkshire. Inmates and staff have helped to 'landscape' the lake, which is said to be fully stocked with fish. And at category C HMP Isis in Thamesmead, south east London, inmates can train as barbers. If followed elsewhere, it could see thousands of lags handed scissors, razors and brushes. Cons are even getting lessons on how to make small talk with customers, pick the correct hair dye and treat scalps.
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Daily Mirror
09-08-2025
- Daily Mirror
Inmates will get less porridge and other favourites after prison menu overhaul
New guidance published as part of the Prisons Policy Framework says catering teams should avoid cooking the same dish more than once a month – so there'll likely be less gruel on offer Lags will get less porridge after a shake up of prison menus. New guidance says catering teams should avoid cooking the same dish more than once a month – so there'll likely be less gruel on offer. Bosses hope expanding inmates' culinary horizons will boost mental health and improve behaviour. The plans, part of the Food in Prisons Policy Framework, recommend staff sample meals each day to ensure quality is top notch. And protected groups like transgender prisoners and different religious communities must be given special provisions. It comes after a man called 999 for 'his own protection' - then ended up jailed himself. A government document said the changes are backed by scientific evidence and academic studies, and will 'protect the physical and mental health and wellbeing of people in prison.' It adds: 'The policy aims to contribute to lowering internal tension within the prison environment, so as to maintain the levels of overall safety and security.' Cons regularly moan of poor jail nosh. One wrote in a column for prison paper Inside Time: 'It is absolutely disgusting with no protein whatsoever – all we get is a small sausage roll or a scruffy piece of processed meat which is wafer thin. Where is your balanced diet that grown men like me are supposed to get? 'No five-a-day fruit or veg, just 220ml milk. It's not enough. Battersea Dogs Home gets more of an allowance than we do. 'Schools get more than we do. We who don't have family to send in money to support us have to suffer. We can't possibly buy any food items on the few pounds we are paid. Government rules state prisoners must be given three meals a day, including at least one 'substantial hot' option. Porridge was the title of the seminal 1970s jail sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. The move comes as bosses look for innovative ways to cut re-offending. In a pioneering scheme at HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Herts, inmates act as in-house assistant chaplains. Jailbirds who successfully make the leap of faith will bag a level 4 higher education certificate in theology from Westminster Theological College. Another project sees young offenders encouraged to try their hand at angling on the banks of a lake in the grounds of HMP Wetherby in West Yorkshire. Inmates and staff have helped to 'landscape' the lake, which is said to be fully stocked with fish. And at category C HMP Isis in Thamesmead, south east London, inmates can train as barbers. If followed elsewhere, it could see thousands of lags handed scissors, razors and brushes. Cons are even getting lessons on how to make small talk with customers, pick the correct hair dye and treat scalps.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
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Paedophile jailed for 25 years complains prison guards have lost his teddy bear
A convicted paedophile has complained from behind bars that prison guards have 'lost' his teddy bear. Shane Medhurst was jailed for 25 years last June after being found guilty of 14 counts of child sex abuse. Among the charges included two counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13. Medhurst, 58, was jailed at Reading Crown Court, and is currently serving his sentence at the 1,100-capacity HMP High Down jail in Surrey. The jail has two dedicated wings sex offenders, with around 400 inmates convicted of sex offences. Writing in the latest edition of prisoner publication Inside Time, Medhurst said he was really 'into arts and crafts' and had started making his own teddy bears. One in particular, which he called Mr Bear - a bright yellow bear with a blue and white striped outfit and a hat - was his 'favourite' and had taken him three weeks to make. He said other teddies that he made had been sent to family and friends, and had loaned Mr Bear to the library inside the prison - but three weeks later he'd vanished. Medhurst said it was a scandal his bear had been stolen. The teddy was described as having a black pen in its pocket, a copy of The Shawshank Redemption in one paw, and a clock in the other. Medhurst's bear also had a bed with a blue cup and plate lying on the top of it, a mini copy of Inside Time on the pillow, and a plaque saying 'Reading helps your time fly'.' The convicted prisoner said he had presented the bear to a 'delighted' library staff member seven weeks prior, but despite promises it would be displayed, Medhurst noticed it was still not on show weeks later. He wrote: 'I found the member of staff who I gave the model to and asked him if there was a problem, only to be told that Mr Bear had been stolen from the store room about a week after I had presented him. 'My question is - how the hell can a bloody great big yellow and blue bear measuring 9' x6' x4' go missing in a supposedly-secure prison? 'Did he do a Shawshank and sneak out through the sewer pipe?' Medhurst said he was upset that the prison guards 'knew nothing' about the alleged theft. The paedophile was found guilty last year at Reading Crown Court of multiple counts involving children under the age of 13. His charges included five counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity and two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13. He was also convicted of one count of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration. HMP High Down in Surrey declined to comment.
Spectator
14-05-2025
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The good and the bad of the sentencing reforms
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