Prevention is better than the cure!

Having lived experience of the criminal justice system is one thing, having organisations around like Revolving Doors who provide a platform for me to tap into my lived experience is priceless. You see, for me, the campaign work I do is not just a passion, it is also part of my recovery and rehabilitation. It …

Wrong answer.

Once again we have an announcement from the UK government, over a weekend or bank holiday, with regards to our prisons. This heading and sub-heading coming from Bloomberg politics. 'U.K.’s Johnson Unveils $3 Billion Jail Plan to Ease Overcrowding' U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he plans to spend as much as 2.5 billion pounds …

Positive Perceptions

In my previous blog, Change the record to challenge the perception!!, I talked about changing the narrative, from a negative stance to one of looking at things in a better light. Therefore, I am so grateful to Dr. Lewis Owens for the opportunity to share positive and inspiring stories from around the UK. Stories, from parts …

SEEN & HEARD

As you can see by the image I have included below, I am still, eagerly I must say, awaiting delivery of my copy of this excellent collection of poems and drawings by parents and children affected by imprisonment in the UK and abroad which has been edited by Lucy Baldwin & Ben Raikes. I'm fortunate, …

Gary Kasparov the learner driver!

Allow your mind to visualise prison, if you can - even if for only the briefest of moments - as a chess board. You have two opposing sides, made up of many: labels? titles? names and so on, or even pieces? Within one arena, all going in different directions. Some more restricted than others, confined …

Facts, fears and fables: Silent Battles

At midnight tomorrow night - with no pomp and circumstance, no fan-fare, no appointment to be met, no paperwork to sign, not even a "see ya later" -  my time as a service user, after many decades, of our criminal justice system comes to an end, as my time on licence from prison expires. One …

Lost Inside!

I am not aware of how other, former, prisoners who were also once listeners, or even prisoners now, feel in respect of talking to someone else themselves. I always found it an awkward position to be in, especially as I was involved in the training of listeners as well. It never felt right to get …

RIKERS – An American Jail

For four decades, the U.S. has been engaged in a globally unprecedented experiment to make every part of its criminal justice system more expansive and more punitive. As a result, incarceration has become the nation’s default response to crime, with, for example, 70 percent of convictions resulting in confinement — far more than other developed nations with comparable …

Prison!

The process begins.   The laws of this upside-down kingdom reveal the arena. Predator?   Prey?   Violence rules!   Okay?

Welcome to Londoncrime.co.uk

On March 31st this year (sounds better than a few days ago) I made my debut as a writer/contributor to an excellent website, owned and managed by someone that has become a close friend, Jim. Jim, is bringing together, in one place, definitive information from the city of London which has some incredible crime history. …