The Sentencing Council is examining whether pregnancy should be a stronger reason not to send a female offender to jail.
It launched a consultation last month which will examine the potential impact of being pregnant and giving birth as a prisoner, and it’s due to publish its decision in November.
Current guidance only suggests that judges “may consider” pregnancy when sentencing.
Campaigners say there is no statutory duty to consider it, and judges often don’t – and that unborn babies are put at risk in prison and shouldn’t be punished for their mother’s crimes.
Others argue pregnancy shouldn’t be used as an excuse to dodge punishment.
Sky News has spoken to three women who’ve experienced pregnancy in jail and describe a frightening, isolating and humiliating experience.
One we will call ‘Olivia’ said being sent to jail pregnant was “traumatic beyond words, terrifying, lonely and deeply unsettling”.
She said: “There aren’t the midwives, there’s not the 24/7 support. If someone has a medical emergency, how many sets of keys does it take to unlock all the doors to get through? And that’s before you can even get into the prison to get the paramedics or the midwife to the woman.”
‘Laying in a bed of blood’
Another, ‘Susie’, said she had no one to turn to when she thought she had miscarried her baby in her cell.
Image: ‘Susie’ said she had no one to turn to
She said: “They didn’t realise that I was still laying in a bed of blood,” and added she had “a horrifying wait” all weekend to get her situation checked with a scan.
Susie says prison life is unsuitable for a pregnant woman: “I got a lot hungrier, and they told me that they wouldn’t provide me with more food, and I didn’t have a pregnancy mattress.
“I feel like as you gain more weight, your body’s pressing into the bed and you spend an awful lot of time in your room.”
A handcuffed birth
A third women ‘Anna’, who also wants to remain anonymous, describes her experience as “humiliating” and says she gave birth while handcuffed to a prison officer.
More on Prisons
Related Topics:
Image: ‘Nobody came’ says ‘Anna’
She says the officer “told me to be grateful that she was putting me on long cuffs and not short cuffs”. These are cuffs with a longer chain.
Anna says that only when she had a second pregnancy outside of prison, did she realise how substandard the care is for women behind bars.
She said while in prison “I had appointments that had been missed. I had a scan that was coming up. I ended up missing that a couple of times because they never had the staff to take me.
“Eventually I went and was taken through the front of the hospital in handcuffs. That’s very degrading and humiliating.”
She added: “When I went into labour it was early hours in the morning at 5.30am. I pressed my cell bell. An officer told me that somebody would be with me soon. But nobody came.
“I pressed it another three, four times. Nobody came. They only then unlocked me at the same time they unlocked the rest of the landing.”
Anna added: “I didn’t see the nurse till about 9.30 in the morning. I wasn’t sitting in an ambulance to go to the hospital until around 10.30am. I had been told that the ambulance was there, but it was waiting outside of the gates because it had to be security cleared to come into the prison.”
Ministry of Justice figures show that three births took place in prison or on transit to hospital in 2021-22.
Advertisement
The case of Aisha Cleary
In July this year, an inquest found “serious operational and systemic failings” contributed to the chances of survival of baby Aisha Cleary, born to an inmate in HMP Bronzefield in Surrey.
Her 18-year-old mother, Rianna Cleary, gave birth alone in her cell on the night of 26 September 2019. She called for help, but nobody came. Aisha was found dead in the cell the following morning.
Image: Rianna Cleary gave birth alone at HMP Bronzefield
An ombudsman report into Aisha’s death published in September 2022, not only criticised the care of Rianna, but made a wider conclusion that “all pregnancies in prison should be treated as high risk by virtue of the fact that the woman is locked behind a door for a significant amount of time”.
Campaigners say it therefore follows that any prison sentence to a pregnant woman is also a sentence to a high-risk pregnancy – and a threat to their baby. But the women we spoke to say their pregnancy wasn’t taken into consideration during their sentencing.
Image: Protesters have campaigned against pregnant women going to jail
Speaking at a vigil which was held outside the Ministry of Justice to remember the anniversary of the birth and death of Aisha, Janey Starling, from campaign group Level Up, said: “It is so evident that prison will never be a safe place to be pregnant.
“Pregnant women in prison are seven times more likely to suffer a still birth, twice as likely to give birth to a premature child that needs special intensive care and ultimately the long-lasting trauma on a mother and a child is devastating.”
Image: Janey Starling: ‘Prison will never be a safe place to be pregnant’
These arguments are supported by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and will inform the Sentencing Council’s decision on whether pregnancy should be a greater mitigating factor in deciding whether someone goes to jail – set against the need to punish people who commit crimes.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Custody is always the last resort for women and independent judges already consider mitigating factors, like pregnancy, when making sentencing decisions.
“We have made significant improvements to the support available for pregnant women in custody in recent years. This includes employing specialist mother and baby liaison officers in every women’s prison, conducting additional welfare checks and stepping up screening and social services support so that pregnant prisoners get the care they need.”
The consultation is currently open for submissions, and they are due to publish their findings on 30 November this year.
Any new guidance for judges would come into practise next April.
Two traders jailed for rigging benchmark interest rates have had their convictions overturned by the Supreme Court.
Tom Hayes, 45, was handed a 14-year jail sentence – cut to 11 years on appeal – in 2015, which was one of the toughest ever to be imposed for white-collar crime in UK history.
The former Citigroup and UBS trader, along with Carlo Palombo, 46, who was jailed for four years in 2019 over rigging the Euribor interest rates, took their cases to the country’s highest court after the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals last year.
The Supreme Court unanimously allowed Mr Hayes’ appeal, overturning his 2015 conviction of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud by manipulating Libor, a now-defunct benchmark interest rate.
Image: Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo celebrate after their convictions were overturned. Pic: Reuters
Ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank Mr Palombo’s conviction for conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euribor submissions between 2005 and 2009 was also quashed.
Mr Hayes, who served five and a half years in prison before being released on licence in 2021, described the “incredible feeling” after the ruling.
“My faith in the criminal justice system at times was likely destroyed and it has been restored by the justices from the Supreme Court today and I think it’s only right that more criminal appeals should be heard at this level,” he said.
More from UK
Image: Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo outside the Supreme Court. Pic: Reuters
Both he and Mr Palombo have been described as “scapegoats” for the 2008 financial crisis, but Mr Hayes said: “We literally had nothing to do with it.”
A spokesperson for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which opposed the appeals, said it would not be seeking a retrial.
In 2012, the SFO began criminal investigations into traders it suspected of manipulating the Libor and Euribor benchmark interest rates.
Image: Former trader Tom Hayes. Pic: PA
Mr Hayes was the first person to be prosecuted by the SFO, which brought prosecutions against 20 people between 2013 and 2019, seven of whom were convicted at trial, two pleaded guilty and 11 were acquitted.
He had also been facing criminal charges in the US but these were dismissed after two other men involved in a similar case had their convictions reversed in 2022.
Mr Hayes, a gifted mathematician who is autistic, was described at his Southwark Crown Court trial as the “ringmaster” at the centre of an enormous fraud to manipulate benchmark interest rates and boost his own six-figure earnings.
He has always maintained that the Libor rates he requested fell within a permissible range and that his conduct was common at the time and condoned by bosses.
Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo argued their convictions depended on a definition of Libor and Euribor which assumes there is an absolute legal bar on a bank’s commercial interests being taken into account when setting rates.
The panel of five Supreme Court justices found there was “ample evidence” for a jury to convict the two men if it had been properly directed.
But in an 82-page judgment, Lord Leggatt said jury direction errors made both convictions unsafe, adding: “That misdirection undermined the fairness of the trial.”
Lawyers representing Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo said the ruling could open the door for the seven others found guilty to have their convictions overturned and that there were grounds for a public inquiry.
Two people have died and two are seriously injured after a shooting in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
Police have cordoned off the scene in the village of Maguiresbridge, about 75 miles (120km) southwest of Belfast.
“We can advise there is no ongoing risk to the public,” a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesperson said.
There was no mention of a motive behind the shooting, but Jemma Dolan, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from the area, called it “a domestic incident” in a post on social media.
Emergency services were called to the shooting in the Drummeer Road area of the village at 8.21am on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said.
They confirmed that two people have been injured.
“Following assessment and initial treatment at scene, one patient has been taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, by air ambulance and another to South West Acute Hospital by ambulance,” the spokesperson added.
More on Northern Ireland
Related Topics:
Drummeer Road is currently closed, police said, warning that this could lead to delays on alternative roads.
Sinn Fein MP Pat Cullen has expressed her deep shock over the shooting, saying: “Firstly, my thoughts are with the victims and their families at this tragic time.
“I am in contact with the police around this ongoing situation. Police are currently at the scene of an incident outside Maguiresbridge and there are a number of road closures while they carry out their investigations.”
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP asked people “not to speculate on the details of this tragic and shocking incident”.
DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who represents the area in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said that the community was “stunned” by the shooting in “a rural, quiet area.”
“Everyone is deeply affected by what has happened this morning,” she said.
His death came just weeks after he reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates – Tony Iommi, Terence “Geezer” Butler and Bill Ward – and performed a huge farewell concert for fans.
The band paid tribute to him on Instagram by sharing an image of Osbourne on stage at the farewell gig in Birmingham and writing “Ozzy Forever”.
Instagram
This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Instagram cookies for this session only.
Iommi, the band’s lead guitarist, said he was in disbelief at the news.
“It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words, there won’t ever be another like him. Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother.”
More on Ozzy Osbourne
Related Topics:
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:17
Watch: Ozzy’s last concert
Butler, Black Sabbath’s bassist and primary lyricist, thanked Osbourne for “all those years – we had some great fun”.
He said: “Four kids from Aston – who’d have thought, eh? So glad we got to do it one last time, back in Aston. Love you.”
The original drummer for Black Sabbath, Bill Ward, posted a picture of him and Osbourne on Facebook saying: “Where will I find you now? In the memories, our unspoken embraces, our missed phone calls, no, you’re forever in my heart.”
Image: Osbourne with his wife Sharon during the 46th Annual Grammy Awards. Pic: AP
Sir Elton John described Osbourne as his “dear friend” and a “huge trailblazer” who “secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods”.
“He was also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” the singer wrote on Instagram.
Ronnie Wood, of The Rolling Stones, wrote: “I am so very sad to hear of the death of Ozzy Osbourne. What a lovely goodbye concert he had at Back To The Beginning in Birmingham.”
Born John Michael Osbourne on 3 December 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, he became known as the godfather of heavy metal.
The self-styled Prince of Darkness pioneered the music genre with Black Sabbath before going on to have huge success in his own right.
He was famous for hits including Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, Crazy Train and Changes, both with the band and as a solo star.
Legendary American heavy metal band Metallica shared an image of them with Osbourne from 1986 along with an emoji of a broken heart.
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
Posting on Instagram, Sir Rod Stewart said: “Sleep well, my friend. I’ll see you up there – later rather than sooner.”
Queen guitarist Sir Brian May said he was “grateful I was able to have a few quiet words” with Osbourne after his farewell show at Villa Park three weeks ago.
He said the world will miss the singer’s “unique presence and fearless talent”.
Foo Fighters said in a social media post: “Rock and Roll would not be as loud or as fun” without Osbourne, while Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant wrote he had “truly changed the planet of rock”.