This is what you get, when you don't have the death penalty.

[PassingStranger]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14967585/Serial-killer-Levi-Bellfield-Xbox-games-fry-prison-mansion.html

I'm sure the families of his victims don't really want to read this?

What's this all about. People on whole life sentences are meant to have the bare minimum

🙄😫😢

I do agree it would be better for families if newspapers didn’t publicise these things, esp in an incredibly sensationalist way, as of course it sounds bad when written up that way.

He can buy his own refurbed Xbox. Many of them do. It’s nothing unusual in prison

thats part of the issue in society one part winding up other parts etc

There should be no XBoxes in prisons. Or playstation or any other gaming device. Prisoners should have to work for their keep. And they should only be given bread and water. And gruel.

I can only assume this is satire.

You want category A prisoners, many if not most of them who are mentally ill, to live in utter misery and boredom for decades as punishment for their crimes.

For what?

Who benefits?

Certainly not the staff who work in these places.

As long as we can be sure that people like this are only coming out in a wooden box I really don’t care one way or the other what their life is like inside.

I’d be happy to offer voluntary euthanasia those who want “out” though.

You may change your tune in they murdered one of yours.
Alot of them aren't mentally ill.in prison.
If they were they'd be in Broadmoor etc.

Bring back the treadmill or hemp picking, eh, @PassingStranger. How about the rack or the scourge?

Being deprived of their liberty, never getting to make any real decisions about their lives - where to ‘live’, when to eat, what to wear, even whether to nip to the corner shop, being locked into a tiny room at night probably with other prisoners - that IS the punishment.

I can’t imagine having so little control over my life - not even being able to go out for a walk - and knowing it would be like that for years - and I am sure that this is sufficiently unpleasant to count as punishment for criminals.

However, I do think sentences should be longer, and more serious, violent crimes should earn a whole-life tariff. I would shed not one tear over someone like Bellfield dying behind bars.

Unfortunately it isn't. She still hasn't told us how many prisons she's been in.

100% agree. His main punishment is deprivation of liberty and his sentence is such that he will never ever walk the streets. He also can’t get married or have a civil partnership - unlike Death Row in most American states. I couldn’t care less if he has an Xbox, what difference does it make? He’s going to rot in jail. His life expectancy will be greatly reduced by virtue of imprisonment, he is not having what anyone could remotely term a good life.

I would imagine if the loved ones of his victims had any sense they wouldn’t actively seek to forget his name and the fact that he even exists. Reading stories about him - and in notoriously unreliable The Daily Fail of all places - is surely not something any of them would be doing.

The death penalty has been proven not to be an effective deterrent against crime, it doesn’t keep us safer and takes us back to medieval times when people would whoop and holler at public executions.

My aunt was murdered - I am still against the death penalty and I won’t ‘change my tune’, what a daft thing to say. Lots of us manage to maintain our moral integrity and personal convictions despite shit things happening.

That’s how it’s meant to be!

Well in regard to those on life sentences for major crimes, the public benefit by being protected from them! If they’re bored, I’m sure there is plenty of cleaning, maintenance etc to be done in prisons. They have an exercise yard. They have opportunities to read, write, learn, exercise. They don’t need TVs, X boxes or other entertainment. Many are beyond rehabilitation and should never see the light of day again.

What’s ‘gruel’?

Don’t be ridiculous!

there’s no hospital places! Secure hospitals struggle same as prisons

theres no room and no money!

It’s a Victorian fantasy that gets punishment fetishists all excited.

See all concrete cells, no windows, cleaning toilets with toothbrush, or restraint. Add some sort of physical violation to complete the menu

It’s thin porridge - the stuff that Oliver Twist wanted more of…

sits waiting for someone now to suggest reintroducing the absolute death factories that were workhouses

Actually if the likes of Bellfield were put on a treadmill all day they'd be too tired to riot.

@Allseeingallknowing - why is watching TV or playing XBox unacceptable, but reading and exercise/sports are acceptable? How about board games, Scrabble, ping pong? Where do you draw the line?

I love the list of prescribed or acceptable activities as if these engender some sort of wholesome mindset. As if prisoners read Dickens. They actually read true crime and thrillers about psychopaths. And their pictures are often depraved too.

Basket weaving. Fondant fancy making, embroidery and ice sculpting should also be on the list.

Along with deportment, public speaking and raffia work

Leisure activities like TV and Xbox are deemed to be fun activities. Sport and exercise are needed to keep physically fit. Perhaps the fun activities could be privileges that are earned but not routinely provided.

Basic leisure activities are all that’s required.
in comparison to some other prisons in the world , conditions in the U.K. seem to be pretty good!

I was at one time married to a prison officer. Looking after these people is not a fun job. Prisons basically run because the prisoners allow them to. To keep everyone safe the prisoners need to be content. If having an X Box and the threat of taking it away keeps him quiet that's a win all round. I also don't consider egg and bacon for breakfast particularly outlandish.