Ian Watkins murdered in jail

[Daphnedot]

I can't say im sad about it

@Bigpinksweater what is the difference in the legal system that makes England & Wales safer to work as a prison officer than Scotland and NI?

I would have preferred him to be alive and suffering horribly everyday

I haven’t a clue, but referencing a completely separate country to show how our prison system is unacceptably unsafe seems bizarre.

Was just about to say that.
He's been given the easy way out today. Not much justice for the victims or their families.

All this “he got out of his sentence” and “I wish he’d been alive to continue to suffer” sentiment is understandable but misplaced.

I used to (within the last 6 years) work in a notorious men’s prison. I won’t say the name here, but it’s one you’ll have heard of.

The protection prisoners (paedophiles, rapists, grasses) are all lumped together but they are completely separate from your everyday criminal. They never, ever come into any sort of contact - ever. The protection blocks are quiet (expected as a fair portion of the punters are convicted of historic crimes and are now in their 70s), very little trouble, almost non-existent violence. They get everything a standard prisoner gets, just lots more protection and no expectation of work etc.

There’s no suffering, they’re socialising with people of the same ilk as them. They’re all pals, speak to each other like friends in a pub would.

Unfortunately, you’re kidding yourself if you think they are in some hellish nightmare. They’re not.

There was a thread on here not long ago calling for the worst offenders (child murderers etc) to have games consoles and hobbies because ‘it’s not about punishment it’s about keeping them manageable’. So 🤷‍♀️

@Kibble19 is it possible things have deteriorated in prisons since you left? News suggests so. I've no idea whether he was living the life of Riley or not. We know a gangster had procured him a phone that he was using to speak to female fans. But we also know he was taken hostage and stabbed a few years ago. So that wasn't such a good day.

How on earth do you propose keeping violent men who are locked up with other violent men, all safe? The only way Ian Watkins could have been kept completely safe would have been in permanent solitary confinement. Which would also, presumably, been a terrible abuse of his human rights.

He tried to rape a baby. He got killed by another violent man- who, given the background of many prisoners, could easily have been abused as a child himself.

If this is something that upsets you, I think you need to try to think about what this man put his victims through, and stop prioritising men who rape children.

How do you suggest that is achieved?

In my experience, the violence that does happen with the protection prisoners happens because some protection prisoners aren’t sex offenders or child killers.

A portion of them are forced into protection because they’ve grassed on someone who has guys on the inside who’ll murder them. There are also guys who owe drug debts and face the same fate. Go to protection with the nonces or have your throat cut in the shower.

If you owe a large drug debt and someone offers to forgive it if you go into protection and beat the shit out of a rapist or take a paedophile hostage, you’ll do it.

I said " suffer" not " continue to suffer".

It is not a good day for our society when our prisons are places people can be murdered. Especially our high security ones.

He should be seeing out a long, miserable sentence. This is not something to celebrate

Indeed. He would have been released while still young enough to rape many more children and babies. And I'm sure he would have done, given the chance. The utter naivity of some posters on Mumsnet is truly unbelievable.

They somehow manage to reach adulthood existing in a lovely world where if you're just nice enough to a man like Watkins, he'll decide that actually, raping children is bad, and he'll spend the rest of his life rescuing kittens and helping old ladies cross the street.

I know. And the duality of hoping somebody has a ‘long miserable sentence’ while also calling for prisoner entertainment and luxuries. No consistency at all.

Correct. I’m sure there’s a way to spin it so that he is actually also a victim. Mental health? Impulsivity issues? Dad worked away a lot when he was young?

The world is a much better place without him (and the people like him) in it.

Nah, a nonce getting stabbed in the neck is an excellent day for society.

Oh, was that where they got him?

So he’ll have known he was a goner, but had enough time to realise it and wait for it?

Aww.

His behaviour in prison was arrogant and provocative on a good day. I know that for a fact. On a personal level, I’m so glad he’s dead. Chuffed. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it up, dogooders.

Not sad.

💅

Poor prison staff that had to deal with the aftermath but I'm surprised it took so long to happen

Strong disagree.

@JudgeBread no, it really isn't. I've worked in prisons. Inmate murders make the whole environment so much more dangerous for everyone, including staff. Imagine the trauma of everyone who has had to pick up the pieces of this. Sick to think this is some kind of positive.

Imagine the trauma those babies had to go through while that man and their mother's sexually tortured them.

Him being killed is a fucking joyous day.

Many people work in jobs seeing traumatic things every day. I'm sure it was very unpleasant dealing with the aftermath of Watkins murder, but hopefully any long term trauma will be prevented by the knowledge of what he was and what he had done to small children.

As to not a positive? Well, the alternative was him being released in a decade or so to rape more children. So I think that being avoided is a positive, yes. Child rapists aren't a priority for me, tbh.