Corporate manslaughter Act but prison service delayed 3 years

Councils and other public and private bodies whose negligence leads to the death of individuals will face prosecution under a new law due to come into force next April. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act was passed last week and something many of us have been pushing for a long while.

Photo: A friend who works in the prison service let me photograph her marmalade from one of her colleagues!

The Act now includes deaths in custody but only after a three-year delay. This is apparently to allow consultation with the Prison Service and the police - if the last years are anything to go by then they will need to pull their socks up fast. Lord David Ramsbotham, former chief inspector of prisons, who led the parliamentary campaign to include deaths in custody in the legislation, was “disappointed” by the delay, and challenged the rationale for it, saying: “The prison population is increasing day by day and I cannot see that in three years time we will be any better off than we are now. The problem will still be there.”

Indeed yesterdays Citizen had an article about violence on the rise in Gloucestershires' prisons again - see article here and Green party news release from June this year that also says more about what we should be doing. It is really quite shocking - how can we teach offenders respect if we show so little ourselves - of course prison has it's place but it is no wonder reoffending rates are so bad - highest prison pops in Europe - and who are we sending there:

- Naked rambler Richard Gough, 47, seven months after a court ruled that, during his efforts to promote naturism, he had committed a breach of the peace and exposed himself in public.
- The depressed mother Angela Schumann, 28, was jailed for 18 months in November after trying to kill her daughter by jumping from the Humber bridge with the two-year-old.
- Climate change demonstrator Irene Willis, 61, a Green party activist from Suffolk, was sentenced to 21 days' in prison two years ago after refusing to pay a fine for demonstrating against climate change and nuclear weapons at USAF Lakenheath.
- RAF man said war was illegal - Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 38, an RAF flight lieutenant, was jailed for eight months for failing to obey a lawful order in relation to service in Iraq. He had argued that the war in Iraq was illegal.
- Homeless hostel couple Ruth Wyner and John Brock were sentenced to four and five years' jail for allowing drugs to be sold at their hostel for the homeless in Cambridge. Their sentences were reduced by the Court of Appeal.
- Teenager who took her own life - Sarah Campbell, 18, from Cheshire, committed suicide in prison in 2003 after she became the first person to be convicted of manslaughter by harassment after stealing credit cards from a stranger.
- Stole a mobile phone - Joseph Scholes, 16, was sentenced to two years in 2002 a week after the Lord Chief Justice declared that mobile phone thieves should be jailed. He hanged himself in his cell.

The record prison population is largely due to the large number of offenders who do not pose a threat to the public but are being dragged back into overcrowded, overstretched jails at great expense to the taxpayer. Prisons exist to protect the public and detain serious, persistent criminals rather than warehouse people who have done their time and need support in the community to rebuild their lives.

We are failing by not having restorative justice (see excellent blog entry on this topic from another blogger here) and failing people to provide the help that is needed - many prisoners should be being treated for mental health problems - some 300 in Gloucester prison last year alone - and a staggering 52% of prisoners have been found to have limited literacy skills, which will seriously hamper their learning and work opportunities - and 20% of the total prison population were found to have a hidden disability. Infact I saw one quote a while back say early recognition of hidden disabilities could keep 15,000 individuals out of prison each year and save tax payers £410 million!!!

Anyhow this Act will hopefully sharpen up not just the penal service but much more - since the Health and Safety at Work Act came into force in 1974, 10,000 people have died at work - but only 11 directors have been convicted of manslaughter and only 5 of those were jailed.

Last year eleven people were killed at work every week. According to the Health and Safety Executive almost 75% of these "accidents" were caused by managers cutting corners to maximise profits - take for example the inquest into the death of steel fixer Kieron Deeney - a verdict of “unlawful killing” was passed after he fell 40 feet to his death through a hatch covered by a piece of plywood. Also nothing is as cheap as casual labour - with accidents much more likely to be suffered by agency workers - see Simon Jones campaign.

Anyhow there is lots more that could also be done to reduce workplace deaths and injuries. Unions in the past have called on the Government to introduce a system of roving health and safety reps in the UK to allow unions to bring safer working to workplaces where there is no union presence. The experience of other countries like Italy, Norway and Australia suggests that roving reps can have a significant impact on improving workplace safety records. Giving union safety reps more rights in more workplaces is the ultimate win-win. It provides skilled, trained on-the-ground union safety advisers at absolutely no cost to the Government, complementing the work of the Health and Safety Executive and saving lives in the process.

But enough on all this for now - am still suffering flu effects so will need to go for a sleep now.

Mobile Police Station visits

Hey and while we are on law and order the Mobile Police Station is due in Whiteshill the first Tuesday and third Friday in the month and in Randwick on the first Sunday and third Saturday in the month.