News
Serco took down prisoner-made artwork from court custody suites, monitors report
Independent monitors say Serco ordered the removal of artworks made by prisoners at HMP Doncaster, which had been put up to brighten court cells.
Courts & sentencing
News
Man jailed over Christmas Day fire attack on staff cars at HMP Grampian
A man who set fire to prison officers’ cars at HMP Grampian after running up drug debts has received a sentence of five years and three months.
News
Court custody failures put vulnerable people at risk, Lay Observers warn
The monitors’ annual report finds long journeys for brief hearings, women transported alongside men accused or convicted of sexual offences, and lengthy waits in bare cells.
News
Three wrongly convicted men tell MPs of their fight for compensation
A parliamentary group on miscarriages of justice heard from three men who spent a combined 77 years in prison. Two have been told they cannot receive payouts.
News
For Women Scotland takes Scottish Government to court over trans prisoner guidance
The campaign group wants guidance on placing trans women in prison overturned, while ministers will argue that a blanket ban on placing them in women’s jails would breach their human rights.
News
High Court rules PAVA spray lawful for use in young offender institutions
The Howard League for Penal Reform has lost its challenge to the decision to let prison officers use synthetic pepper spray on children in young offender institutions.
News
Five more female prison staff jailed over relationships with prisoners
Courts have jailed five women who worked at English prisons for misconduct involving male prisoners, in separate cases that led to sentences totalling more than 11 years.
News
CCRC refers 2002 murder conviction to Court of Appeal over manslaughter verdict
The Criminal Cases Review Commission says a 2006 House of Lords ruling on alternative verdicts raises a real possibility that the murder conviction is unsafe.