downsmail.co.uk
‘Daily drug-testing and forced labour in prison’
FORMERMaidstoneMPAnnWid- decombe says prisoners in Britain’s drug-riddled jails should be made to work all week and be subject to daily drug-testing. The former shadow prisons min-
ister said if her suggestion for a regime of compulsory weekday labourwas adopted in the late 1990s prisons “might be presenting a rather different picture” today. Earlier this year, Downs Mail re-
vealed how Maidstone Prison was harbouring a worrying drug prob- lem, where vulnerable inmateswere used to test smuggled “legal highs” to see if theywere safe. The use of drones to deliver drugs
was also noted in an independent monitor’s report. Miss Widdecombe says idleness
takes up too much of the day and is behind the recent outbreak of disor- der in some jails in theUKaswell as the continued threat of industrial ac- tion by prison officers. She argues that education and re- habilitation can go a long way to preventing reoffending, ultimately saving the tax-payer money.
In an article for a daily newspaper,
MissWiddecombe said: “Rehabilita- tion is prisons is not…a manifesta- tion of a soft, wet, ultra-liberal approach…if themanwholeave the prison gates is no better prepared to live a law-abiding life.” She adds: “A prisoner found with
drugs in his or her system should automatically lose remission rather than just privileges, but they have to believe they’ll be caught and that means vastly expanding the pro- grammes of random testing and, if necessary, testing every day.”
Former Maidstone MP Ann
Widdecombe and left, Maidstone Prison
Ukip councillor Eddie Powell
agreed with MissWiddecombe’s as- sessment and called for a far tougher regime in prisons. Cllr Powell added: “We need to
hire another 10,000 prison officers. “We need to be tougher on drugs.
I’d like to see single cells for prison- ers and a regime of work and activi- ties, aswell as education. “You hear stories of people with mobile phones, Facebook accounts and computer games. That can’t be right. Prison should mean prison and the sentence served in full.”
News Festive gifts
MAIDSTONE Council is once again supporting the town’s SalvationArmy branch by helping to play Santa this Christmastoneedyandtroubled fami- lies.
Lastyear, around 300 families across
theboroughreceivedgiftsthankstothe generosityofMaidstoneresidents,busi- nesses, schools, nursesandother agen- cies who supported the Light up a life Christmas appeal. This year the council asked Maid-
stone residents to take their new and unwrappedpresentstothereceptionat MaidstoneHousein King Street ahead of distribution locally. The gifts will be distributed, along
with Christmas food parcels, through social services, children’s centres and health visitors.
Mixer thief
A 42-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed after stealing two kitchen mix- ers from a shop. Anthony Bashford, of Ewell Av-
enue, stole the goods valued at £900 from a store in Kingstanding Way, Tunbridge Wells, Medway magis- trateswere told. The West Malling man was sen-
tenced to 30 days in prison, and be- cause he was subject to a suspended sentence, the overall jail termwas 120 days.
Bashford has also been ordered to pay £900 compensation.
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Maidstone Christmas 2016 29
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