Wakefield Prison
"a day of audible gasps ... and a change of perception."
Bradford Law School students made up a "captive" audience on Friday 24th January 2003, when a group of students visited Wakefield Prison, the largest top security prison in Europe.
As a Category A prison, Wakefield accommodates some of the most dangerous and notorious criminals in the British penal system, including murderers, rapists and serious sexual offenders. Our visit was about to change perceptions. Step inside with us and hear what we discovered.
Wakefield Prison employs 640 staff and is capable of holding 750 prisoners, although when we visited only had 566 residents due to a wing being closed for refurbishment as part of a security upgrade. Of these 420 were serving at least one life sentence, although many had been sentenced to serve 2 or 3. The oldest resident was 74, but it was considered that his risk of re-offending was so great that he could not be released. The most dangerous inmate could only be unlocked from his cell with a senior officer, 6 officers and a dog-handler in attendance. All Category A prisoners can only be moved around the jail with an escort of 2 officers, a dog patrol and security clearance. The average cost of keeping an individual in prison is £27,000, although for Category A offenders it would be much more.
The unimagined level of security impressed all the students as they were shown the high tech wizardry in the command suite, the control room, and in the visitors' areas. It was useful for students to relate the measures to prevent drugs being smuggled in by visitors to those discussed by Keith Hellawell on his visit to Bradford Law School, and be informed that in Wakefield less than 1 % of prisoners tested positive for drugs.
Preconceptions and shock - our students speak out.
We entered the prison with various preconceptions, ranging from harsh conditions to televisions and a comfortable life. The first revelation for students was when the prison training staff showed them a gallery of photos of prisoners and outlined typical crimes that had led to their incarceration, prior to their four and a half hour tour of the facilities. The descriptions of what unnamed prisoners had done to be imprisoned at Wakefield drew audible gasps and expressions of revulsion from the students. Andrew Bailey, who is in the second year of his LLB (Hons) Bachelor of Law degree, felt "sickened to hear what they had done." He was particularly affected to be in the same place as one notorious childkiller, as he remembered the terrible murder very clearly.
"This feeling was coupled with surprise that many of these men looked so commonplace. I found this aspect particularly chilling as I'd always had a certain image of violent criminals and these appeared so ordinary. Hearing that every profession was represented in the prison was another unexpected disclosure.
Helen Robinson (final year LLB (Hons))
"I wasn't shocked - but then I was formerly a policeman and am now aspiring to be a barrister. I'm already cynical about people."
Richard Le Seelleur (Second year LLB (Hons))
"It was an interesting experience which gave me an insight to what life in prison entails. This was different to what media portrayal of prison life is like, for instance, Bad Girls."
Farzana Kauser (Second Year LLB (Hons)).
Interview rooms - a glimpse into our futures
Many of these students will opt to do further professional training: of last year's Bradford Law School LLB graduates, 71% went on to do the Legal Practice Course to become solicitors and 6% opted for the Bar Vocational Course to train as barristers. So they were relieved to have this opportunity to enter the rooms where, as solicitors they may one day be interviewing clients to discuss their case among a group of fellow students, rather than if they had to do this for the first time as a solicitor.
"At least we knew about all the cameras and security procedures. A solicitor going in alone would not know and it would be terrifying telling some of these prisoners bad news about an appeal."
Helen Robinson
"I felt a little scared at the time, but encouraged afterwards. I think the experience has given my ambitions a boost."
Sadya Javed, a first year LLB student who plans to become a solicitor
"I had interviewed prisoners in these rooms during the course of my police work, but had never seen the rest of the prison. I rate it as very interesting".
Richard Le Seelleur
A new dimension to our studies
Jan Atkinson and Helen Robinson both hope to join the Crown Prosecution Service following graduation and the tour added a new dimension to their academic studies.
"We are studying Evidence at the moment, which is a rather dry subject of rules, where we find offenders getting off on procedural technicalities. Learning first hand about the sort of people in Wakefield brings home to you how important it is to get these things right."
Jan
Gratitude to the staff at Wakefield
Many students expressed gratitude that these dangerous men were kept so securely away from the public and so professionally dealt with. Ralph Richardson praised the staff he had met for their caring attitude and ability to deal dispassionately with those who had committed the most heinous crimes.
Prison Officers - dealing with violence
We were told that violence was rare in Wakefield prison as it was very settled; although when violence erupted it was likely to be of an extreme nature. For instance, a prisoner had his face slashed recently and another prisoner was knifed in the back repeatedly in a dispute about sprouts that broke out in the kitchens.
Andrew Bailey is still considering his options regarding his future career and was glad to have this insight into the work of prison officers, although he would not contemplate it having seen the potential for danger in Wakefield.
Richard Le Seelleur also believed that a very violent atmosphere pervaded prisons and was evident from the level of adjudications for misbehaviour.
Shelley Thompson would not rule out the idea of a prison service career at this stage, although whilst female officers do all the tasks their male colleagues do, she would prefer to work in a female prison.
Farzana Kauser reckoned "Meeting some of the individuals who worked alongside the prisoners also helped me to understand the issues they are faced with, and perhaps an admiration of the work they do"