AIBU to wonder why we care so much about overcrowding of prisons?

[Ellie126]

Just that really. It’s prison. For people that have committed horrific crimes. Why are we giving it a second thought? Granted, I know some crimes are less ‘severe’ than others but they should still serve the sentence they were given. I can’t believe this is even a political issue right now!

if overcrowding is really issue, should capital punishment be given to the most SERIOUS offenders? For example for the two men that abused and assaulted that poor adopted boy. If they’re taking up space… that would solve the issue? They have no place in society and we certainly shouldn’t be worried if they feel cramped!!

You're laying the disingenuousness on a bit thick, OP.

This. Do you want them to come out worse than they went in or better educated and more able to fit back into society?

Do you know any homeless people?

I watched that programme and it was food for thought. I read Duncan Ferguson’s book and the first section about his time there was stomach-churning.
I think it’s easy to judge if you don’t know anyone who has been to prison, or has a family member or loved one who has.
It is very easy to think of others as not human. I still struggle with those two young boys who murdered Jamie Bulger, or the young man who shot Olivia Pratt-Korbel. I watched a great interview with Shelagh Fogarty recently about her time as a cub reporter on the James Bulger case, and her conflicting emotions around it has her in tears.
There is definitely a section of younger offenders who see prison as a prize - they come out and make those daft films getting picked up by a limo. But at the end of the day when the door kicks inside every night, you must have to be alone with your own thoughts.

Because we are better than that. Because even if we weren't, Andrew Malkinson...

Sadly fewer than we would like because the prison service is seriously underfunded and inmates are existing in conditions that break multiple humane conditions.
I am a literacy volunteer in a prison with over 80% remand prisoners (ie they are not - yet - convicted criminals). The "make up" of your average person in prison is abuse, neglect, lack of education and opportunity, poor mental health and - as a result - substance disorder.
Prisons serve their purpose for keeping seriously dangerous people away from society, however the majority of the prison population don't necessarily fit this definition and functional rehabilitation costs £££.

And frightened teenagers never tell.lies to sound impressive and make out they're fine when they're not. 🙄

There are lots of empty prison wings and the reason they are empty is understaffing. The government could recruit more staff and open these wings. Not that I really care if they are overcrowded.

Videos from inside the jail the actual things I could see don’t lie.

Even a fast Google will show you there is a big issue with cons having phones in jail and earning money on TikTok and showing off things inside.

The recent cases of prison officers sleeping with the cons again all in the papers to read easily.

If we cared about reducing reoffending we would reduce overcrowding, improve prison conditions and increase prison funding. It is well established in research that harsher prison conditions (and the death penalty) do not deter reoffending and if anything increase it. There’s this supposed logic that tough prisons deter crime but this simply isn’t true.

Overcrowded prisons prevent rehabilitation work taking place because prisoners spend longer in their cells and have lower input from staff.

Education hours in prison have fallen by 25% since Oct 2025. Funding has fallen in real terms compared to 2007.

Those in prison are often the most vulnerable in society who have been failed by their family and / or the state. 25% of the adult prison population are care leavers compared to c.1% of the population in general.

Jamie Varley, Urfan Sharif any doubt in your mind about their guilt?

Who took the video you saw? Was it an adult prison?

Stupid argument. There was no doubt in people’s mind at the time about people who have been since pardoned.

He did. Laughing and joking around in it with a couple of other lads.

I’ll try and see if I can find the news article to find the exact prison. He was 20.

I personally think they should be locked up in solitary for 23 hours a day, given basic food rations and not allowed any contact with relatives for the duration of the sentence... which they serve every single day of. Make it a hell hole that no one wants to go back to. Instead, it's basically a Butlins holiday camp. None of this X boxes, TV's, snooker tables and conjugal visits. Crime is so widespread because to most criminals, prison is no deterrent whatsoever.

To paraphrase what mnhq often says, it is not possible to tell who on the internet is genuine and who isn't. I often bear that in mind when reading these kind of threads.

So essentially psychological torture then?

You aren’t wrong Op. It’s way down my list of priorities tbf.

So yes it was an adult prison Infact he was sent to one then transferred to another.

He was given a three year sentence but didn’t serve it all. Was out like a bad man at the local Christmas event with his tag on chatting away to the local speeding nos lads.

Happy to dm you the two prisons he served in if you wish.

My family member was murdered so I have a horse in the race. I do care about the conditions the murderer lives in and I don’t agree with capital punishment for him. He deserves the chance to live and feel guilt and feel sorry for what he has done. We are a civilised society and there’s no place in such a society for state sanctioned killers, executioners, death row officers, jurors being called from their daily lives to make life or death decisions (and who are only humans and could get it wrong).
The point of prison is to keep people away from society for a time, some forever. The punishment is loss of freedom. If criminals are warehoused we lose all chance of redemption or rehabilitation and they will come out more dangerous than before.
the man who killed my relative had been in and out of the system for most of his life. If only he’d learnt a trade and been helped to go straight the first time (for robbery) maybe the rest wouldn’t have happened.

The now daily thinly-disguised "hang the bastards" thread. Yawn.

But this simply isn’t true. A lot of people think harsh prison conditions will reduce offending based on the idea that if you make prison unappealing, people won’t want to go there so won’t commit crimes.

But we know from extensive research that harsh prisons do nothing to reduce crime and in fact tend to increase reoffending. This is so well established that it’s not really even up for debate. I never understand why people feel qualified to comment on these sorts of issues based on apparently zero knowledge of them.

And I’d hazard a guess that this is partly because most criminals have poor impulse control. They haven’t usually chosen a life of crime after weighing up the risks (prison) and benefits. They mostly make decisions without much regard for the consequences or they lose control. And because loss of freedom is a significant punishment in itself.

Do you really think so? Even though statistics show only 30% reoffend that only means that 30% get caught...

On the basis that only the 30% have been caught it would mean that between 30% and 100% reoffend.

Statistics wouldn’t show how many reoffend, it would be wrong to assume either figure.
A 30% figure only shows 30% of offenders were found to reoffend. Statistically nothing is proven, but what can be found is to review figures over time to see if the rate rises or falls

Which prisons have you visited?