What do people on remand in prison do?

[girlfriend44]

Just wondered as its says they don't have to work, what else would there be to do then?
Also says they can wear their own clothes?
How would that work then?

[TwoLeftSocksWithHoles]

I would guess that they just put on their own clothes in the morning. And then take them off when they go to bed.

[Ifailed]

In many ways a remand prisoner's life in prison is worse than a convicts, as they legally innocent. They live under the same regime, so will be locked in their cells for most of the day, eat the same food, the same rationing of access to showers, gyms etc.
As for wearing their own clothes, that's down to the individual prison.

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

I would guess that they just put on their own clothes in the morning. And then take them off when they go to bed.

I presume the OP is asking about laundry arrangements.

[60andsomething]

They dont have the same restrictions on money being sent to them from outside. Apart from that, they are in prison. And they have not been found guilty, so its pretty awful for them. Some are on remand for months

[MuchTooTired]

They’re allowed slightly more spending money a week as they’re not convicted I believe so can buy more phone cards to call out, can wear their own clothes, but otherwise are locked up the same amount as regular inmates.

[Arlanymor]

Totally depends on the reason why you are on remand and where you are incarcerated. Often if you are on remand you have some rights and privileges that are different to those of a sentenced prisoner… but not necessarily if you have been put on remand because it is believed that you cannot be in the community (e.g. flight risk, previous instances of breaking bail conditions, etc) or if you are on remand awaiting sentencing. Entirely depends on the situation of the individual to be honest.

[girlfriend44]

@EmmaGrundyForPM

I presume the OP is asking about laundry arrangements.

Exactly thanks what an idiotic answer I got, why do some people bother to answer.🙄

[OlympicProcrastinator]

@EmmaGrundyForPM

I presume the OP is asking about laundry arrangements.

The laundry is the same in any estate. It’s run internally by the prisoners and the job is rotated by the people who run activities.

Remand prisons have activities organised for all the prisoners during the day.

[girlfriend44]

@60andsomething

They dont have the same restrictions on money being sent to them from outside. Apart from that, they are in prison. And they have not been found guilty, so its pretty awful for them. Some are on remand for months

It said they don't need to work, wondered what they did then?

[60andsomething]

@girlfriend44

It said they don't need to work, wondered what they did then?

read, watch TV, play board games, talk, go to the gym, all the normal things

[ImVanillaBaby]

Have you got someone who has just gone in op?

[CranfordScones]

What happens is: you lose your connection to the world outside. Often you lose your job, your home, your social network, contact with your children, your friends and your pets.

Crown Court bail applications are usually held in private (without the defendant), so you don't even get to see the legal arguments that result in you being locked up. Which is just as well because most of them last for a only a couple of minutes.

If you're convicted, time on remand counts towards your time served. But what happens when the charges against you are discontinued or you're acquitted? Obviously you're released. But you don't get compensation. You don't even get an apology. Your life falling apart is just collateral damage - a price worth paying but not worth compensating. Surely that affects only a tiny number of people. Except, it doesn't - that scenario is exactly what happens to almost 10,000 people a year.

Why isn't there more public outcry about this? Because they're not seen as 'deserving' and the implied assumption on the part of most voters is 'it won't be me' stuck in a remand prison for months (or years) while my life on the outside slowly crumbles and people forget who I am, and I can do nothing about it.

That's what happens.

[ImVanillaBaby]

Anyone can find themselves in prison...it's for everyone

[Blue79]

Remand or convicted. Get treated exactly the same in prison except remand can choose not to work. However, due to being kicked up 22 hours a day most can’t wait to work a mind numbing my boring job for £2.50 a day! To be fair though I’d probably pay £2.50 a day rather than share a bedroom, toilet and dining room with any other inmate in a room smaller than my bathroom. I feel sorry for the genuinely innocent people being held on remand but would guess that figure to be less than 1%

[KreedKafer]

Also says they can wear their own clothes?
How would that work then?

It varies from prison to prison.

In some prisons you get issued with a mesh laundry bag, which is labelled, and you put your dirty clothes into it and hand it over to be washed. It gets washed and dried, still in the bag, and then handed back to you. The prison laundry is usually staffed by other prisoners.

Some more 'open' prisons might have facilities where you can do your own laundry in your own time, but I don't know how common that is.

In practice, it's also very common for prisoners to try to wash things like socks and underwear in the washbasin in their cell and drape them over a chair or bed frame to dry.

Wearing your own clothes, however, isn't something that's unique to remand prisoners. Loads of prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes. They usually have a set number of specific items they're allowed to have. It depends what category of prisoner they are, what kind of wing they're on, how well they behave etc. The main restriction on clothing is that you aren't allowed to wear sports team tops or t-shirts with political or offensive slogans/images on them.

In terms of what people do, they fill their time one way or another. Reading, watching TV, playing cards or board games, going to the prison gym, writing letters home etc. There are also things like support groups etc and sometimes organised activities like art/drama groups.

Before anyone says 'Oh, that sounds all right' I can tell you now that it absolutely isn't, whether you're on remand or a convicted prisoner. I've visited some prisons (in a work context - I don't have a family of criminals or anything!) and they're grim as fuck.

[PhuckyNell]

@girlfriend44

Exactly thanks what an idiotic answer I got, why do some people bother to answer.🙄

Ah come on it was funny!!

[firstpregnancy1]

If you are on remand but totally innocent , you must have done something or acted a particular way at some point in order for the remand application to be approved. Often these are dangerous individuals with no regard for the justice system and I would imagine that all the posters stating what a travesty it is that they are on remand when potentially innocent, would soon change their tune if they had all the facts and knowledge as to why the person was remanded in the first place.

People are not remanded without good reason.

[Locutus2000]

@ImVanillaBaby

Anyone can find themselves in prison...it's for everyone

Not committing crime is a good start though.

[cerisepanther73]

@girlfriend44
Interesting question 🤔

[ImVanillaBaby]

They can buy clothes in prison from approved source....Nike,north face etc

Have their own sent in as a one off parcel

They can buy themselves an Xbox, cd's, dvd player from approved source too

It all hinges on if they have money sent in/work to save for it

Oh, and canteen of course!

[KreedKafer]

@Blue79

Remand or convicted. Get treated exactly the same in prison except remand can choose not to work. However, due to being kicked up 22 hours a day most can’t wait to work a mind numbing my boring job for £2.50 a day! To be fair though I’d probably pay £2.50 a day rather than share a bedroom, toilet and dining room with any other inmate in a room smaller than my bathroom. I feel sorry for the genuinely innocent people being held on remand but would guess that figure to be less than 1%

Keeping people on remand is expensive, so it's usually reserved for people who:

• Are considered a risk to others if bailed
• Are considered a flight risk (eg, someone who is known to have the means and contacts to leave the country easily, or has a history of going missing or changing their identity)
• Have broken bail conditions in the past
• Already have a criminal record

[Neverpostagain]

@firstpregnancy1

If you are on remand but totally innocent , you must have done something or acted a particular way at some point in order for the remand application to be approved. Often these are dangerous individuals with no regard for the justice system and I would imagine that all the posters stating what a travesty it is that they are on remand when potentially innocent, would soon change their tune if they had all the facts and knowledge as to why the person was remanded in the first place.

People are not remanded without good reason.

Bollocks. About 30% of people on remand are released either because the allegations are withdrawn, or they are found not guilty at trial, or they are found guilty of something that does not incur a custodial sentence. Some of the sub postmasters were held on remand -dangerous beasts.

[LlynTegid]

@CranfordScones

What happens is: you lose your connection to the world outside. Often you lose your job, your home, your social network, contact with your children, your friends and your pets.

Crown Court bail applications are usually held in private (without the defendant), so you don't even get to see the legal arguments that result in you being locked up. Which is just as well because most of them last for a only a couple of minutes.

If you're convicted, time on remand counts towards your time served. But what happens when the charges against you are discontinued or you're acquitted? Obviously you're released. But you don't get compensation. You don't even get an apology. Your life falling apart is just collateral damage - a price worth paying but not worth compensating. Surely that affects only a tiny number of people. Except, it doesn't - that scenario is exactly what happens to almost 10,000 people a year.

Why isn't there more public outcry about this? Because they're not seen as 'deserving' and the implied assumption on the part of most voters is 'it won't be me' stuck in a remand prison for months (or years) while my life on the outside slowly crumbles and people forget who I am, and I can do nothing about it.

That's what happens.

Justice delayed is justice denied in a way. Not just for the accused. The justice system has been at times managed by Chris Grayling, Liz Truss and Dominic Raab among others, so you know who I hold largely responsible for the numbers being almost 10,000 people a year.

[dimllaishebiaith]

@Neverpostagain

Bollocks. About 30% of people on remand are released either because the allegations are withdrawn, or they are found not guilty at trial, or they are found guilty of something that does not incur a custodial sentence. Some of the sub postmasters were held on remand -dangerous beasts.

In additon to this, black people, and people of other ethnic minorities are more likely to be held on remand, are statistically on remand for longer and are more likely to be released or aquitted at trial than white people

Aka its a racist system that disproportionately punishes black people and other minorities when they are innocent

[Flandango]

@Blue79

Remand or convicted. Get treated exactly the same in prison except remand can choose not to work. However, due to being kicked up 22 hours a day most can’t wait to work a mind numbing my boring job for £2.50 a day! To be fair though I’d probably pay £2.50 a day rather than share a bedroom, toilet and dining room with any other inmate in a room smaller than my bathroom. I feel sorry for the genuinely innocent people being held on remand but would guess that figure to be less than 1%

I was intrigued by your 1% number as I had no idea, so went and looked it up. This is from the Prison Reform Trust........

• In 2009, 55,207 people were remanded into custody to await trial.

• In 2009, an estimated 39% of people remanded into custody did not go on to receive a custodial sentence.

• Just under two-thirds of people received into prison on remand awaiting trial are accused of non-violent offences. In 2009, 12% were remanded into custody for theft and handling stolen goods.

• Last year, three-quarters of children remanded by the magistrates’ court, and one-third by the Crown court, were subsequently acquitted or given a community sentence. 

• Children were remanded for a week or less on more than 1,100 occasions.

• In the year up to March 2011, 4,421 women were remanded in custody to await trial.

• Women on remand make up 18% of the female prison population.

• Remand prisoners, 15% of the prison population, accounted for 50% of self-inflicted deaths in 2010.