Open Prisons Are Crap

Oh, for fuck's sake. What on earth was this man doing in an open prison in the first place? Especially considering he'd already escaped once before. In light of this blog being entitled "Looks Like Satire", I present you with a few choice quotes from the above articles:

"The court heard Foye had promised not to abscond again [well, that's alright then] and had tested positive for drugs before absconding for a second time." An untrustworthy prisoner! Who'd have thought?

"[MacAskill] again warned that any prisoners absconding in future were likely to be sent back to a normal jail." Now it might just be me, but I am reminded of being caught skipping lessons at school and being threatened with detention "next time". It reminds me of that because we all knew our school didn't actually do detentions. Ever.

No prisoner is going to be sent back to a regular jail because a) it's too much hassle and b) there's no damn room in the regular jails! Remember this? Followed by his imprisonment when he "forgot" or "wasn't told" to sign the sex offenders' register? Until they find some way to sort this prison shortage out - and God knows I don't have any ideas - no prisoner is going to be put off by the threat of regular jail because there's nowhere to put them. They can meet the criteria for transfer to an open prison even if they're classified as "high risk" and likely to re-offend.

I'm not sure I understand the last linked story at all. The investigation says they couldn't have predicted the rape because Foye wasn't in jail for rape in the first place. He had a history of "dishonesty and car crime". Right, but he was in jail for attempted murder, not a parking ticket. He'd absconded before, had a history of drug use and was supposed to be going to Alcoholics Anonymous when he absconded this time. Surely these factors put together resemble some sort of warning signal? It's not as though nobody knew he was violent.

Meanwhile, a young girl's life has been fucked up, and the government can only apologise.