Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2014 | Page 19

INTERVIEW
probably has three or four cases a
month to deal with, and we refer
a number of cases each year to
the police. We have had cases in
the last year of prisoners getting
further prison sentences.”
He continued: “We do everything
we can to make it to the prisoner’s
benefit to behave as he should
behave, and to work positively
towards his release. If he does, then
prison is a less difficult experience.
It’s never easy, but you can make
the best of it. But if you break the
rules or are a security risk then we
will clamp down on that behaviour.
“We have to deal with people who
may have drug or mental health
problems; personality disorder,
often as result of difficulties they
have had in their lives. It is about
recognising they are human beings,
challenging them but also meeting
legitimate needs that helps them
towards resettlement as law abiding
citizens. This is a significant task for
my staff but they do a fantastic and
professional job in sometimes very
difficult circumstances.
“Over the years prisons have got
much better at targeting effective
sentence plans that give the best
chance of a tailored individual

approach to each offender to
reduce their chance of coming
back to prison.”
The closure of Camp Hill was
unforeseen and came as a shock
even to the Governor. There were
job losses, but they were managed
on a voluntary basis. As a result
of Camp Hill closing the prison
population on the Island was
slashed from 1,700 to 1,100.
Andy added: “We are a big
employer on the Island and
a user of Island services. And
we are growing in terms of our
partnership with working with the
voluntary sector, which is welcome.
We have a fantastic culture of
volunteering on the Island and I
welcome and want to develop more
of that work.
“ For example people can come
to visit prisoners whose families
may live a long way away, and
never visit them, help run our
Visitors' Centre or be a member
of our Independent Monitoring
Board reporting on the prison to
Ministers. There is a selection and
training programme for these
schemes so that subject to suitable
vetting checks volunteers can come
in to visit prisoners.”

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