Latest news with #HMPrisonandProbationService
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Prison governor jailed for nine years over affair with drug lord
A prison governor has been jailed for nine years over an affair with a drug gang boss. Kerri Pegg, 42, swapped her Honda Jazz for a £12,000 Mercedes C-Class car, paid for by 34kg of amphetamines by Anthony Saunderson, a major organised crime figure who is now serving 35 years behind bars. Saunderson was known to criminal associates as 'Jesse Pinkman', the drug dealer in the show Breaking Bad, or 'James Gandolfini', the actor who played mafia boss Tony Soprano in the eponymous TV series. Members of his gang complained their boss was spending too much time with Pegg, neglecting his wife and 'work', a court heard. Pegg, described in court as 'petite, blonde and bubbly', signed off on a temporary release for Saunderson, though she did not have the authority to do so. During her trial at Preston Crown Court, it emerged Saunderson had developed and delivered a programme titled Beating Alcohol and Drug Dependency (BADD) for inmates at several jails while at the time being a major drug dealer, running an amphetamines factory. Pegg claimed her contact with Saunderson was because of his involvement in the BADD programme. Pegg was convicted of two counts of misconduct in a public office and one count of possession of criminal property, following a three-week trial last month. Phil Copple, chief executive of HM Prison and Probation Service, said: 'The criminal misconduct in this case lets down the public we serve, as well as the vast majority of honest and hard-working prison staff. But it also demonstrates our determination to take robust action against those who fail to achieve proper professional standards.' The court heard Pegg joined the Prison Service in 2012 as a graduate entrant, working at prisons including Risley, Liverpool and Styal, and by April 2018 she was a governor at HMP Kirkham, where Saunderson was reaching the end of a 10-year sentence for drugs offences. He had been one of Merseyside's most wanted fugitives for his part in importing £19 million of cocaine in shipments of corned beef from Argentina. There were concerns about Pegg being inappropriately close to Saunderson, with the two often in her office with the door closed. She told jurors there were 'cultural issues' at the jail, and clashed with bosses over her 'progressive' and 'hands-on' open-door policy with prisoners. Saunderson was released from Kirkham in May 2019 and within two months, while still on licence, was involved in another massive drug conspiracy. Saunderson and his gang were producing and supplying drugs on an industrial scale from a lab on the border between England and Wales and a storage unit in Aintree, Merseyside. He was jailed for 35 years at Liverpool Crown Court in August 2022 after law enforcement agencies cracked the EncroChat system – a phone network used by serious organised criminals. It revealed Saunderson's drug dealing – and his relationship with Pegg. When police raided her Wigan apartment in November 2020, the Mercedes paid for by Saunderson in drugs was parked outside. They discovered designer clothes, handbags and jewellery, and found Pegg living beyond her means. Detectives discovered that despite her £3,000 a month income, Pegg was deep in undeclared debt, which amounted to misconduct as debts make officials vulnerable to corruption. Her four credit cards were maxed out and she had 6p in her savings account. Andrew Alty, defending, in his closing speech to the jury, claimed Pegg had been 'green and stupid', a naive and gullible person who was manipulated by Saunderson. Pegg tearfully told jurors she had been 'incredibly stupid' but did not think she had done anything wrong. Barbara-Louise Webster, prosecuting, said Pegg had a promising future, but added: 'Anthony Saunderson was her downfall.' After her arrest and resignation from the Prison Service, Pegg became the operations manager for The Brick, a poverty and homelessness charity. The charity was aware of her being under investigation, but she kept her job with 'substantial restrictions'. Tarryn McCaffrey, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Pegg's actions in becoming involved with a prisoner who had committed serious drug offences portrayed a total lack of integrity or judgment. 'She displayed a shocking lack of professionalism in her role, overriding rules around Saunderson's temporary release and ignoring her obligations to declare personal debts.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
18-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Probation Service problems in England and Wales leaving public at risk, watchdog finds
The Probation Service in England and Wales 'has too few staff' with 'too little experience and training' and leaves members of the public at risk, an official watchdog has found. Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation, said in his annual report that attempts by under-pressure staff to 'keep others safe' is 'consistently insufficient across all our inspections'. The findings come as the number of prisoners in England and Wales has reached a six-month high, despite thousands of inmates being released early to tackle overcrowding. A government-commissioned review of sentencing, which is due to report back in late spring, will explore ways of monitoring greater numbers of offenders in the community, increasing the workload for the Probation Service. Jones's report, his first as chief inspector, paints a bleak picture despite praising the 'dedication and hard work' of many 'heroic' probation officers. 'The Probation Service currently has too few staff, with too little experience and training, managing too many cases,' he said. 'While it has been positive to see that recruitment efforts by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) are gradually closing the gap … vacancies are still too high – especially at probation officer grade. 'My main area of concern is the work to manage risk of harm and keep others safe. We have found this to be consistently insufficient across all our inspections, where work undertaken to protect actual or potential victims needs to improve considerably.' The prison population stood at 87,556 as of Monday, according to new data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). This is the highest weekly figure since the population climbed to a record 88,521 on 6 September last year, just days ahead of the first wave of early releases. The government began freeing thousands of inmates early in September to curb jail overcrowding, by temporarily reducing the proportion of sentences that some prisoners must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%. The sentencing review by the former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke is expected to call for more criminals to serve their sentences in the community while being monitored by the Probation Service. Jones's report has concluded that there is currently 'limited monitoring' of many ex-offenders on licence even when there is a possibility of domestic abuse or child safeguarding concerns. 'Across our [probation office] inspections, we found that work undertaken to protect actual and potential victims needed to improve considerably. In many cases where domestic abuse and child safeguarding concerns were evident, we found limited monitoring of developing or existing relationships to keep people safe,' the report said. In a further development, inspectors at a women's prison in Cheshire found that there were 14 incidents of self-harm reported every day amid a general deterioration of safety. The report into HMP Styal by HM Inspectorate of Prisons said that the rate of self-harm had nearly doubled since the last inspection, with positive drug tests the highest among England and Wales' 12 women's jails. Day-to-day frustrations have affected prisoners' ability to cope and led to self-harm, the report said. 'This included an inability to resolve basic requests through the applications system, long periods of lock up and anxiety caused by a lack of contact with their children,' it read. An MoJ spokesperson said the new government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a prison system on the verge of collapse and the Probation Service under strain. 'Last month, the lord chancellor announced her plans for the future of the Probation Service. The government will hire 1,300 new probation officers, invest in technology to cut back on burdensome admin, and increase focus on those offenders who pose the greatest risk to the public. This will ease pressure on the service, help cut reoffending and keep our streets safe.' Regarding the new prison figures, a statement said: 'We introduced emergency measures last summer, but we were always clear that longer term action was required. That is why we are building 14,000 prison places by 2031, and will reform sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.'
The Independent
14-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Prisons set to run out of spaces again within a year despite early release scheme, MPs warn
Overcrowded prisons will face 'total gridlock in a matter of months' and run out of space in 2026 despite emergency measures to release prisoners early, MPs have warned. A damning report from the Public Accounts Committee found a 'system in crisis' was leaving many prisoners living in 'inhumane conditions', adding the previous government's plans to create 20,000 more prison places by the mid 2020s were 'completely unrealistic'. Thousands of outstanding spaces are expected to be delivered five years late with costs spiralling to £4.2 billion – 80 per cent more than originally planned. MPs also said the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is operating "hand to mouth", which is detrimental to rehabilitation efforts to cut reoffending. Chairman of the committee Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: "Lives are being put at increasing risk by the government's historic failures to increase capacity. 'Despite the recent emergency release of thousands of prisoners, the system still faces total gridlock in a matter of months." He added that the inquiry found severely overcrowded prisons are in danger of becoming "pressure cookers" and that vital rehabilitative work is being sidelined as staff are forced to focus on controlling unsafe environments. "Many prisoners themselves are living in simply inhumane conditions, with their health needs often overlooked,' Sir Geoffrey said. "It is now for the government to act on the recommendations in our report if disaster is to be averted.' The report said the adult male prison estate was at 98 to 99.7 per cent occupancy between October 2022 and August 2024, and remains "alarmingly full". It found a quarter of prisons are doubled up in cells meant for one person and overcrowding is linked to higher rates of violence and self-harm which "increased significantly" in the year to September 2024. The committee said fights between prisoners were up 14 per cent and attacks on staff jumped by 19 per cent in that period. The committee also warned HMPPS was "entirely reliant" on uncertain future measures which it hopes will come from the independent sentencing review, led by David Gauke, which is expected to be published in the spring. The MPs made similar findings of the approach taken in tackling the courts backlog earlier this month, warning the Ministry of Justice is "over-reliant" on the upcoming findings from the Leveson Review also expected in late spring. Sir Geoffrey added: "As with our recent inquiry into court backlogs, we find a department grappling with the fallout of problems it should have predicted while awaiting the judgment of an external review before taking any truly radical corrective action." The report said one of reasons for the shortfall of new places was that the MoJ and HMPPS assumed they could gain planning permission for new prisons in 26 weeks. Plans to deliver the remaining 14,000 places by 2031 are "still fraught with risk and uncertainty", the committee warned. They also said current maintenance funding of £520 million was a fraction of the £2.8 billion needed to bring the prison estate into fair condition. Reacting to the report, prison experts warned the government cannot build its way out of the crisis. Andrea Coomber KC from the Howard League for Penal Reform said: 'It is no coincidence that violence and self-harm are at endemic levels. "The Government has acknowledged that it cannot build our way out of this crisis. Ultimately, they must reduce demand on a system that has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long." She added that billions of pounds earmarked for building new prisons would be better spent on securing an "effective and responsive" probation service, working to cut crime in the community. Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said successive governments have tried – and failed – to build their way out of the prison capacity crisis. 'Rather than repeating all the mistakes of the past, the government should develop a long-term plan to contain and then reduce the prison population,' he added. 'This would allow it to close the gap between the money allocated and the costs of building, running and maintaining prisons.' Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson said: 'This report exposes the catalogue of failures we inherited which almost collapsed our entire prison system. This not only risked public safety but added billions in extra costs to taxpayers. 'We have already taken immediate action to end the overcrowding chaos engulfing our jails and are now delivering on our Plan for Change to ensure prisons work, cut crime and make streets safer. 'This includes delivering 14,000 new, modern prison places by 2031 and reviewing sentencing so we never run out of space again. We'll carefully consider the Committee's recommendations as part of this work.'
The Guardian
10-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Alarm at plan for less-qualified probation staff to deal with sex offenders in England and Wales
Domestic abusers and sex offenders in England and Wales will be rehabilitated by less-experienced staff with fewer qualifications from June, prompting warnings from a watchdog that the plans must be closely monitored to ensure public safety. Proposals approved by ministers will roll out behaviour programmes for offenders to be delivered by 'band 3' staff who are not fully qualified probation officers. The work is currently carried out by highly skilled 'band 4' probation officers who have extensive experience dealing with rapists, paedophiles, violent partners and online abusers. There are also plans to cut the number of low- and medium-risk offenders required to sit through the twice-weekly rehabilitation courses. Probation officers will instead be expected to manage these offenders through 'toolkits' at weekly meetings rather than completing the specially designed programmes. Officials will also scrap some intervention programmes for sex offenders such as Horizon, Kaizen and iHorizon. They are expected to be replaced with a single scheme called Building Choices. Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation, said the government must closely monitor the new courses to ensure public safety. 'HM Prison and Probation Service needs to ensure that it is certain and keeps under review the effectiveness of those programmes to ensure that they don't end up in a position in a number of years' time when they've spent a lot of public money, and those programmes have not delivered the sort of changes that we would want.' Jones said he was aware that staff had been concerned about the changes for months. 'It has caused a lot of disquiet amongst probation officers,' he said. Whitehall sources are worried that far from slashing the burden of probation officers, the changes could increase their workload. It is likely to fuel concerns about the effectiveness of probation work after damning reports into five murders and two sexual offences committed by two men who were under supervision. Two weeks ago, the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced that rehabilitation courses for 13,000 convicted criminals would be cancelled because of probation officers' 'impossible' workloads. One probation source said: 'The MoJ [Ministry of Justice] has been told by its own staff that there are real reputational risks for the probation service. 'There are also huge concerns over the way the rehabilitation courses have been redesigned. To make sure these courses work, there must be qualified staff on hand to deal with those in denial. 'If you have a man who is expressing denial about his offence, people in that group will challenge him, and peer challenge is part of the reason that those groups are so effective. 'Peer-to-peer challenges are more likely to happen in groups with high- and medium-risk offenders.' Mahmood said in mid-February that courses where criminals are forced to confront their behaviour would be ditched for many 'low-risk' offenders as probation officers target more serious criminals. They will still receive supervision from a probation officer and any breaches of a licence condition could put them back in prison, she said. 'We will ensure those offenders who pose a higher risk and who need to receive these courses will do so,' Mahmood added. 'This isn't a decision I take lightly, but it is a decision to confront the reality of the challenges facing the probation service.' Asked by reporters how low-risk offenders would be assessed to have their courses cancelled, the justice secretary said it would be decided on risk of harm and risk of reoffending rather than offences committed. Mahmood also plans to recruit 1,300 probation officers by March 2026 and introduce technology to stop staff 'drowning' in paperwork when more time could be spent supervising offenders. The staff will be in addition to 1,000 officers to be recruited by this March. An MoJ spokesperson said: 'Our first priority is keeping the public safe, which is why the probation service is focusing resources on those offenders that pose the greatest risk. 'Probation staff are only able to deliver accredited programmes if they have been fully trained do so. This will not change as part of the proposal being developed.'
