SCHOTTLAND

mehr als die hälfte der schottischen gefangenen nahmen,lt einer umfrage, während ihrer knastzeit drogen.........

Majority of prisoners take drugs in jail

MORE than half of Scotland’s prisoners have taken drugs while they were in jail, a survey said yesterday. Three-quarters also claimed mandatory drug testing had made no difference to their use. The figures were disclosed in the annual survey of prisoners’ views published by the Scottish Prison Service. The findings were immediately seized on by the Tories, who claimed the Scottish Executive was failing to get to grips with the problem of drugs in prison.

Annabel Goldie, the Tory deputy leader, called for a "zero tolerance" stance on the issue: "It is time for this Executive to stop wallowing in its complacency, adopt a zero tolerance policy on drugs and make prisons entirely drugs-free areas," she said. The survey suggests that four out of five prisoners had used drugs in the 12-month period before they were sent to jail. This, said the survey, is in line with statistics which show more than 75 per cent of all people entering custody are found with drugs in their system at the point of reception. Some 55 per cent of prisoners said they had used illegal drugs in prison at some point, but most had changed their drug use during their current spell in prison - 73 per cent said they were taking less drugs, 17 per cent had increased their drugs use, and 10 per cent reported no change.

Half of all prisoners had taken drugs in the month leading up to the survey, with 78 per cent of these taking cannabis and 63 per cent heroin. Mandatory testing was introduced in Scottish prisons in 1994 to identify drug-users and offer them help. But 76 per cent said its use had not affected them, the survey said. The report also found that 80 per cent of all prisoners smoke, while 27 per cent would support a "no-smoking" policy across Scottish prisons.

Under the Executive’s proposed ban on smoking in public places, smoking in prisons would be banned in all areas except in cells. The survey also found that 94 per cent of prisoners rated their relationships with prison officers positively. Food was also rated positively, but there was criticism of the choice and the portions. The Executive described the Tory criticism as "risible", adding: "The Scottish Prison Service, which is responsible for delivering drug testing and treatment in prison, is committed to dealing effectively with the problem."

USA

INMATES claim spider bites in jail led to infections

Fourteen Anderson County inmates say they will sue the county jail because they were refused medical treatment for spider bites. In court papers, inmates say they suffered skin loss and some needed skin grafts to close gaping wounds. One inmate says he pulled back his covers and saw thousands of small spiders crawling on his mattress.

Jail director Bob Daly and state environmental officials deny claims that the jail is infested with spiders or that the inmates were not properly treated. Daly says a pest control company treats the jail once a month. There is no indication when the lawsuit will be filed. Court papers say each of the 14 inmates will ask for $300,000 for their suffering.

PAKISTAN

INMATE switches IDs, skips out of jail Authorities say an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Centre here was able to spend Thanksgiving as a free man after he pulled a switch on jail officials. Adam Wayne Isler, 21, partnered with another inmate, who was awaiting release after posting bond Wednesday, to switch identities so he could be released, Bernalillo County Undersheriff Sal Baragiola said. Isler and fellow inmate Ryan William Webb look “strikingly similar,” Baragiola said. “We’re still investigating whether there was intimidation involved,” Baragiola said.

Webb could face additional charges of assisting an escape and conspiracy depending on investigation results, Baragiola said. Jail Director Harry Tipton said officials noticed the gaffe when Webb tried to get out Thursday. Isler was awaiting a court appearance after being transferred recently from the New Mexico Penitentiary in Santa Fe where he was being held for unspecified charges, Baragiola said. “We have a few leads we’re following,” Baragiola said. "Odds are he’ll be caught and back in jail soon." ap

SÜDAFRIKA

REAL-LIFE 'Get Out of Jail Free' Cards Awaiting-trial prisoners at Pollsmoor Prison regularly swop identities, leading to the mistaken release of dozens of inmates facing serious charges including murder. Awaiting-trial prisoners carry cards bearing their full names, cell numbers and thumbprints, but not their photographs. Suspects arrested for serious crimes, such as murder, force inmates facing petty crimes to swop cards so that they can be released on bail instead. A police source said seven awaiting-trial prisoners had escaped from Pollsmoor Prison this way in the past four weeks. "It's easy. You become me and I become you."

The practice came under the spotlight this week after queries by the Cape Argus about the investigation into the death of a local businessman. Two of the men accused of killing Paul Knight, 22, reportedly used the card-swop trick to escape from prison. Knight was gunned down after leaving a Wynberg bank in August. He was in a coma for five days and died on August 22. After checking fingerprints Captain Freddie le Roux, the former head of police detectives in Diep River, established that two of the suspects were in prison in connection with other hijackings perpetrated earlier this year. One of the suspects had escaped from Pollsmoor Prison four times, by apparently using the card-swop trick.

He nearly escaped a fifth time last month when he appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court. It is believed he wanted to ask the State prosecutor for bail by convincing the court that it was his first appearance. However, Knight's girlfriend, a lawyer who was spending time with the prosecutor as a work shadow, recognised the suspect's name on the court roll. The young woman, who can't be named, informed the prosecutor that the man was one of three men wanted for Knight's murder. The prosecutor opposed bail, and the man was kept in custody. The case was postponed to January 7. A second suspect linked to Knight's murder had already escaped from Pollsmoor Prison three times by swopping cards and is still on the run.

A third man, believed to be the driver of the getaway car, has not been arrested. Golden Miles Bhudu, the national chairman of the SA Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights said: "Card-swopping is a tactic as old as the mountains. "It is an indictment of the Department of Correctional Services. "By now the card system should have been upgraded." He said a new electronic monitoring system was in place at the Westville Prison in Durban. A tag - with a person's full details - is placed on the prisoner's wrists, and everybody is monitored by a computer screen in a control room. Bheki Manzini, the national Correctional Services' director of Communication, said: "As a department we are looking at all avenues to curb such incidents. "We are going to evaluate the current card system and the new pilot system." Meanwhile, Knight's parents, Grant and Gail, his brother, Matthew, 18, and his girlfriend are still severely traumatised by his death.

His parents are upset that three-and-a-half months after the murder, investigators have still not interviewed them. Grant Knight said he understood the heavy workload of serious violent crimes unit detectives, but none of them had visited him yet, "not even offering us counselling or to report back on the progress of the case".

SCHOTTLAND

der scottish prison services rechnet damit daß die zahl der inhaftierten menschen im nächsten jahrzehnt auf über 10.000 steigt................

JAIL population could near 10,000 in the next decade

SCOTLAND’S prison population could rise to nearly 10,000 in a decade’s time. The figure is almost 4,000 more than the current prison population but represents a slight decrease on previous long-range estimates. Figures issued yesterday by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) suggest that the prison population in ten years’ time could be as low as 7,000 or as high as 9,500. Last year a similar estimate put the highest ten-year figure at 10,000. The present prison population in Scotland is around 6,600, although numbers reached an all-time high in March this year when there were 7,000 prisoners.

The prison service insisted that the 10-year figures are not predictions or forecasts, but simply projections based on past trends and sentencing behaviour. Even before the figures were issued, Tories launched a pre-emptive attack on the Executive’s law and order policy. Deputy Tory leader Annabel Goldie said that while the number of Scotland’s prisoners was high in relation to Scotland’s population, it was low in relation to the number of crimes committed. And countries where the reverse applied had lower crime levels, she said.

"Basically the figures highlight that if there is a greater likelihood of getting caught and going to prison, this acts as a deterrent and the crime rate is lower as a consequence," she added.

USA

die familie eines mannes der im knast spokane county von 2 gefangenen gefoltert und getötet wurde, verklagen den knast auf $5 millionen.........

FAMILY seeks $5 million in jail inmate's death

The family of a man tortured and killed by two Spokane County Jail cellmates last month has filed a nearly $5 million claim. Christopher Rentz, 21, of Spokane, being held after his arrest for allegedly stealing $23 worth of gasoline, was beaten and strangled Oct. 2 in one of the jail's four-man cells. In the dormitory cell were two "extremely violent" men, Michael L. West, 28, and Brandon W. Martin, 20, the claim says. In their claim, family members allege jail officials were repeatedly warned before Rentz's death that Rentz was being threatened by someone in his cell.

If the claim is denied by the county's risk management office, Jeffry Finer, a lawyer representing Rentz's estate, said he will file a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court. "His death was avoidable and is a bitter reminder that budgets and shortages and cutbacks can take a real toll," Finer said. Calls yesterday to the county's risk management were referred to attorney Terry Lackie, who did not immediately return a call for comment.

SCHOTTLAND

der vorschlag, in einem hochsicherheitsknast den insassen sex mit ihren ehefrauen oder partnerinnen zu erlauben,stößt auf widerstände in der bevölkerung.................

Outcry over plans to let prisoners have sex with partners

PLANS to allow prisoners to be allowed to have sex with their partners behind bars have sparked fury.

Politicians and justice campaigners have slammed a suggestion from Audrey Park, the head of the maximum security Shotts Prison, in Lanarkshire, that contact between prisoners and their families or partners formed a vital part of their rehabilitation. Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said people who wanted to keep access to their families should not commit offences. "Prisons are supposed to be institutions of punishment and rehabilitation, not holiday camps," he said. "There must be an element of withdrawing normal rights and privileges of liberty which law-abiding citizens enjoy. "It is about time those in authority paid more attention to the devastation caused to victims."

Annabel Goldie, justice spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: "The public is sick and tired of this mollycoddling of prisoners, who one day are asking for compensation and the next are demanding conjugal rights. "Obviously we believe in rehabilitation, but there is a punishment aspect to a prison sentence which this Executive seems to blithely disregard." There has been speculation that the Scottish Prison Service was considering the radical move to help tackle the growing drugs menace threatening to swamp Scotland’s jails. However, a spokesman insisted that this was not currently an option. Kenny MacAskill, justice spokesman for the SNP, said: "I’m not averse to this. If someone is in for a long period of time and this can help keep their marriage or relationship together, and benefit the family, I would not oppose it."

NIEDERLANDE

CRIMINALS paying others to serve jail time Criminals in the Netherlands who are too busy to go to jail regularly pay accomplices to serve out their sentences for them, according to a new investigation. Current affairs television programme Nova said on Friday that criminals are getting away with using proxies because staff are lax about checking the identity of individuals who report to prison. The problem is focused on half-open jails which deal with inmates serving sentences ranging from a few days to 18 months for fraud, drug dealing or lesser offences. After being convicted defendants are allowed to go home and are notified by post of the date they have to go to the prison. Sometimes convicts reaching the end of a lengthy sentence are assigned to a half-open prison in anticipation of release.

Nova said it has uncovered numerous reports of the deception involving the use of false passports to allow substitutes — who are paid well for their time — to take the place of the intended convict. People are fingerprinted when they report to a jail to begin a sentence but often, Nova claimed, the results are not compared to copies of the defendant's fingerprints held on file. It is unclear just how widespread the problem is, but several lawyers and 10 sources within the justice department confirmed it occurs regularly.

Defence lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers told Nova: "I have occasionally had the experience that a particular person will say to me that he didn't have the time to serve a sentence so he had asked a buddy to kindly fill in for him — and that's what happened." Another lawyer, Gerard Hamer, agreed. "Years ago a client said to to me: I want to know the exact date on which I have to report to the prison so I can get one of my boys with a [false] passport to sit out the time for me." Hamer said he told the man to find another lawyer as he did not want to involve himself in the deception. Several members of the Dutch Parliament has called on the the Justice Ministry to respond to the claims.