prison reform

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It is a move endorsed by Ian Acheson, a former prison governor whose 2016 review of Islamist extremism led to the introduction of SCs. He believes Abedi should be kept in total isolation, even if it 'turns him mad'. Speaking to the Mail last night, he said: 'We have to be blunt here. Some people cannot be redeemed and they will not stop as a threat to staff until they are physically incapable. Instead of pandering to the human rights of such offenders we must reorientate our approach to containment, isolation and control for the 'spectacular few'. 'Abedi is one of those. He made a free choice to murder dozens of innocent people. His rights must always be subordinate to those looking after him.'

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April 18, 2025
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The threat of violence has never been far away from crowded jails but the problem is now endemic. The rehabilitation of offenders cannot happen within an unstable system. As the former prison governor Ian Acheson says: “Broken staff cannot help fix broken people.” A key factor in the crisis of authority in UK jails has been the rise of Islamist gangs after the jailing of radicals for terrorist attacks and plots. Almost 16,000 inmates in England and Wales now ­identify themselves as Muslim after a 190 per cent rise in their numbers in 22 years due to sentencing and religious conversions behind bars. Almost a decade ago, Mr Acheson warned the Commons justice committee that “all the ingredients for radicalisation” in jails were present. Islamist gang culture, sometimes expressed in loyalty to the Muslim Brotherhood, mixes with ordinary criminality. Conversion to Islam behind bars is driven partly by the protection offered by gang membership in increasingly anarchic settings.

Date
April 14, 2025
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The threat of violence has never been far away from crowded jails but the problem is now endemic. The rehabilitation of offenders cannot happen within an unstable system. As the former prison governor Ian Acheson says: “Broken staff cannot help fix broken people.” A key factor in the crisis of authority in UK jails has been the rise of Islamist gangs after the jailing of radicals for terrorist attacks and plots. Almost 16,000 inmates in England and Wales now ­identify themselves as Muslim after a 190 per cent rise in their numbers in 22 years due to sentencing and religious conversions behind bars. Almost a decade ago, Mr Acheson warned the Commons justice committee that “all the ingredients for radicalisation” in jails were present. Islamist gang culture, sometimes expressed in loyalty to the Muslim Brotherhood, mixes with ordinary criminality. Conversion to Islam behind bars is driven partly by the protection offered by gang membership in increasingly anarchic settings.

Date
April 14, 2025
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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: How do you break the rule of law inside our jails? You could do worse than try to murder a prison officer on duty, which by all accounts nearly came to pass yesterday. The terrorist Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, reportedly came within seconds of doing so in a frenzied attack on prison officers in the separation unit of HMP Frankland. Three were sent to hospital, seriously injured by a combination of stab wounds and burns from hot oil. I know a thing or two about separation units. I called for their creation when I did an independent review of Islamist extremism in our prisons, as ordered by the editor of this magazine, who was then Justice Secretary. I made almost 70 recommendations to fix serious and systemic failings in the prison service when it came to dealing with the cancer of violent extremism.

Date
April 13, 2025
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CEP Senior Director Ian Acheson quoted: Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who also served in the Home Office as the director of community safety, warned that a failure to tackle this issue represented a “national security threat” and could lead to race riots in prisons.

Acheson blamed “weak leadership at the top distracted by progressive fads” and those who are “scared by allegations of racism”.

Date
April 3, 2025
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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson quoted: "Back in 2016 the former prison governor Ian Acheson produced an official review of the threat of Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice, and the capability of the National Offender Management Service to control it."

Date
April 3, 2025
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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "All is not well inside the last Hermit kingdom in public service. I’m referring to His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), a closed and secretive fiefdom that has acquired a reputation for security scandals and managerial incompetence that even high walls, literal and figurative, can’t contain. Behind the austere perimeters of the prison side of business, another disgrace looms – corruption."
Date
March 31, 2025
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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "At the end of last week, the Ministry of Justice — so often a stranger to public scrutiny — released a glossy, self-congratulatory 20-minute video celebrating the construction and delivery of HMP Millsike, a new 1468-place male resettlement prison in East Yorkshire. It was built ahead of schedule and on budget, and Britain is desperately short on prison spaces for those who should be incarcerated, but larger challenges remain than what Millsike can fix."
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March 31, 2025
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In accordance with the severity of his crimes, Clifford will be held in one of the maximum-security Category A prisons designed for the most dangerous offenders, at least initially. “There are only a limited number of prisons that can house those who have committed crimes of such gravity it must be impossible for them to escape,” says Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project. 

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March 12, 2025
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Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

Fact:

On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility. 

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