Should some women offenders be spared jail? Female inmates reveal impact of prison

Published

2 months ago

May 6, 2025

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“Good luck, because it’s a shithole here,” a prisoner shouts as we walk around the grounds at HMP Foston Hall.

Other inmates described this women’s prison in Derbyshire as a “holiday camp”, even “rehab”.

There was no one homogenous view, but there is also not one type of prisoner here – it is home to both murderers and shoplifters.

We’ve come to talk to people ahead of the publication of the sentencing review in the coming days. It’s likely to recommend the scrapping of short sentences for some lower-level crimes, and suggest prison isn’t the best place to punish certain “vulnerable” groups of offenders, including women.

“My kind of theft, I nick chocolate from shops,” inmate Connie Parsons told us as we gathered in her cell.

She’s been convicted of shoplifting nine times and says she’s been in and out of prison since she was 15 years old.

“I normally only get four weeks, three weeks, two weeks. It’s a constant cycle of going out, committing crime,” she said.

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At points, Parsons has been homeless and addicted to drugs.

“I used to just come to prison before to have a little lie down and get myself well… to keep myself safe,” she said. “But this prison, you’re not safe… I never self-harmed before I came to this prison. And now I self-harm quite a lot.”

She has a young teenage son on the outside. “I know this might sound harsh, but I think it’s got to the point now I don’t know what to miss about him. But I think about him every single day,” she said.

‘For lots of women, prison is the right place to be’

We put Parsons’ case to the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, who said it was “really sad to hear”, adding he sees “lots of people like Connie” in the prison system.

Pressed on how some will view Parsons as a repeat offender, perhaps deserving of prison, Lord Timpson said: “For lots of women, prison is the right place to be, but where there are certain circumstances, for example non-violent offences for women… you need to work out what is the right path to make sure they don’t commit further crime.”

Lord Timpson said for someone like Parsons, he’d like to see the use of an intensive supervision court or as he called it “problem-solving court”. These work by judges monitoring the progress of offenders on community sentences, offering “wraparound” support, including housing, help for addiction issues and mental health.

Prisoner leaves with jail on her CV

“I had a job, I ain’t got a job now,” said Tilat Ajmal.

Before she went to prison, Ajmal worked for the NHS as a cleaner for 18 years.

As we filmed, she was leaving jail after serving less than three months for smuggling an item into prison while visiting someone. It was her first offence.

Her bags were packed, and in them was a CV she’d prepared. But she didn’t seem hopeful.

“I think it’s a bit bad having a conviction, I’ve been working all my life,” she said.

“As soon as coming out of them gates, I think you just have hundreds and thousands of things going through your head.”

‘Just enough time to rip their lives apart’

After we filmed at the prison, Sky News joined a support session at a women’s centre in Nottingham. It offers mandatory services to people serving sentences in the community, and also those on probation or licence periods.

I asked a case worker to explain why certain women offenders should be considered unique in the criminal justice system.

“I think what happens when a man goes to prison is that there is usually a woman holding everything together,” said Rachel Strong.

“He will be released from prison, his home will still be there, his family. He may have lost his job but there will be someone there. He will come out to his support network in place.

“That woman is that support network – so when she goes to prison, there’s nobody holding that together. People will lose their homes, sometimes their children are taken into care.

“Usually when women are sent to prison it’s for short sentences. Not enough time for anything productive, just enough time to rip their lives apart.”

‘It’s like rehab’

“I don’t mind prison, it’s like rehab,” said Donna Pritchards, who has been to HMP Foston Hall three times.

“I know you get clean when you’re here, and I needed it.”

Drugs are ‘main issue’ in prison

Others told us it was “easy” to get hold of drugs inside jail, with one prisoner describing some leading a “life of luxury”, with jail being like a “holiday camp”.

Amanda Brewer, drug strategy lead, told us: “Illicit drugs are our main issue day to day in everything that we do.

“They’re the main drivers for violence, they can cause self-harm issues, they cause vulnerability.”

Prisoners are also “trading” prescription drugs between one another.

‘Prison is not a nice place to be’

As the government explores greater use of alternatives to custody and scrapping certain short prison sentences, I asked the prisons minister whether criminals might see their approach as a “soft touch”.

“Prison is not a nice place to be,” said Lord Timpson, “but they need to turn their lives around there.”

The government commissioned the sentencing review alongside the creation of the Women’s Justice Board because they have an overcrowding crisis across the prison estate. But they also fundamentally believe prison isn’t the best form of punishment for certain types of offenders.

Women offenders in England and Wales are likely to be disproportionately impacted by the recommendations made in the review.

That’s because we expect it to suggest the scrapping of certain short sentences. In 2022, the Prison Reform Trust found over half (58%) of terms given to women were for less than six months.

Women are also considered by ministers to be a “vulnerable” group, with prison having a knock-on impact on their lives and potential for reoffending. Many report being a victim of crimes like domestic abuse, and 55% of female prisoners are mothers.

After two days of rare and unique access to different parts of the criminal justice system, it’s clear many feel prison isn’t working for female offenders. But what exactly a greater use of alternatives to custody looks like will take some time to figure out.

UK

Post Office scandal: Daughter has had ‘panic attacks’ since mum was accused of stealing

Published

5 hours ago

July 8, 2025

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Post Office scandal: Daughter has had 'panic attacks' since mum was accused of stealing

The daughter of a Post Office victim has told Sky News she suffered “dark thoughts of suicide” in the years after her mother was accused of stealing.

Kate Burrows was 14 years old when her mother, Elaine Hood, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted in 2003.

The first public inquiry report on the Post Office – examining redress and the “human impact” of the scandal – is due to be published today.

“I’ve suffered with panic attacks from about 14, 15 years old, and I still have them to this day,” Kate said.

“I’ve been in and out of therapy for what feels like most of my adult life and it absolutely categorically goes back to [what happened].”

Kate, along with others, helped set up the charity Lost Chances, supporting the children of Post Office victims. She hopes the inquiry will recognise their suffering.

“It’s important that our voices are heard,” she said. “Not only within the report, but in law actually.

“And then maybe that would be a deterrent for any future cover-ups, that it’s not just the one person it’s the whole family [affected].”

Her sister, Rebecca Richards, who was 18 when their mother was accused, described how an eating disorder “escalated” after what happened.

“When my mum was going through everything, my only control of that situation was what food I put in my body,” she said.

She also said that seeing her mother at court when she was convicted, would “stay with me forever”.

“The two investigators were sat in front of my dad and I, sniggering and saying ‘we’ve got this one’.

“To watch my mum in the docks handcuffed to a guard… not knowing if she was going to be coming home… that is the most standout memory for me.”

The sisters are hoping the inquiry findings will push Fujitsu into fulfilling a promise they made nearly a year ago – to try and help the children of victims.

Last summer, Kate met with the European boss of the company, Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways they could support Lost Chances.

Despite appearing at the inquiry in November last year and saying he would not “stay silent” on the issue, Kate said there has been little movement in terms of support.

“It’s very much a line of ‘we’re going to wait until the end of the inquiry report to decide’,” she said.

“But Mr Patterson met us in person, looked us in the eye, and we shared the most deeply personal stories and he said we will do something… they need to make a difference.”

Fujitsu, who developed the faulty Horizon software, has said it is in discussions with the government regarding a contribution to compensation.

The inquiry will delve in detail into redress schemes, of which four exist, three controlled by the government and one by the Post Office.

Victims of the scandal say they are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the inquiry, will recommend that the government and the Post Office are removed from the redress schemes as thousands still wait for full and fair redress.

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were “grateful” for the inquiry’s work, describing “the immeasurable suffering” victims endured and saying the government has “quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters”, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

UK

Drones are sending ‘overwhelming amounts’ of drugs into prisons – and could help inmates escape, report warns

Published

11 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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Drones are sending 'overwhelming amounts' of drugs into prisons - and could help inmates escape, report warns

Sophisticated drones sending “overwhelming amounts” of drugs and weapons into prisons represent a threat to national security, according to an annual inspection report by the prisons watchdog.

HMP chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned criminal gangs are targeting jails and making huge profits selling contraband to a “vulnerable and bored” prison population.

The watchdog boss reiterated his concerns about drones making regular deliveries to two Category A jails, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Manchester, which hold “the most dangerous men in the country”, including terrorists.

Mr Taylor said “the police and prison service have in effect ceded the airspace” above these two high-security prisons, which he said was compromising the “safety of staff, prisoners, and ultimately that of the public”.

“The possibility now whereby we’re seeing packages of up to 10kg brought in by serious organised crime means that in some prisons there is now a menu of drugs available,” he said. “Anything from steroids to cannabis, to things like spice and cocaine.”

“Drone technology is moving fast… there is a level of risk that’s posed by drones that I think is different from what we’ve seen in the past,” warned the chief inspector – who also said there’s a “theoretical risk” that a prisoner could escape by being carried out of a jail by a drone.

He urged the prison service to “get a grip” of the issue, stating: “We’d like to see the government, security services, coming together, using technology, using intelligence, so that this risk doesn’t materialise.”

The report makes clear that physical security – such as netting, windows and CCTV – is “inadequate” in some jails, including Manchester, with “inexperienced staff” being “manipulated”.

Mr Taylor said there are “basic” measures which could help prevent the use of drones, such as mowing the lawn, “so we don’t get packages disguised as things like astro turf”.

Responding to the report, the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) said: “The ready access to drugs is deeply worrying and is undermining efforts to create places of rehabilitation.”

Mr Taylor’s report found that overcrowding continues to be what he described as a “major issue”, with increasing levels of violence against staff and between prisoners, combined with a lack of purposeful activity.

Some 20% of adult men responding to prisoner surveys said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, increasing to 30% in the high security estate.

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This report is a checklist for all the reasons the government must prioritise reducing prison numbers, urgently.

“Sentencing reform is essential, and sensible steps to reduce the prison population would save lives.”

The report comes after the government pledged to accept most of the recommendations proposed in the independent review of sentencing policy, with the aim of freeing up around 9,500 spaces.

Those measures won’t come into effect until spring 2026.

Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said Mr Taylor’s findings show “the scale of the crisis” the government “inherited”, with “prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence”.

He said: “After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we’re building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.

“We’re also investing £40m to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.”