Stopping unwanted contact from an inmate.

[Tippytappytoes]

Asking on behalf of a third party. Is there a legal way to stop unwanted contact (by both post and phone) by an inmate to his victim. They have already tried speaking to the prison and the police with no luck.

Stunned the police aren't interested. A victim is still legally a "witness" for a year after the incident so they can crime it as witness intimidation. Otherwise it's straightforward harassment and they are failing the victim by not acting. Tell your friend to raise it either with the original officer dealings or else ask for the duty sergeant at local station, or superintendent if getting nowhere there. This is a police matter, so they should be handling it properly.

Sorry that should say a year after the case finishes.

I work in a prison. I can only assume all prisons have the same rule. When you enter prison you have to supply a list of phone numbers that will go on your list. Prisoners can only phone those numbers. Can they not change their number ?

Cabin Thank you, I shall pass that on.

Victoria They have tried that, but he gets the number. Without details, they are members of the same family, so the leak could be within the family.

I'm assuming that the contact isn't threatening in nature, just unwanted. My understanding is that 'harassment' means unwanted repeated contact after being told to leave a person alone. And it doesn't have to be threatening or obscene. Can the person consult a solicitor about getting some type of restraining order? I'd certainly think they qualified for one!

I'm astounded that the prison won't take action if they are told that an inmate's calls are unwanted no matter what the reason. Is there a reason why this person must accept the calls, such as inmate parent trying to speak to their minor child?

I'm in the US, here any call from a prison or jail begins with the recording "This call is from an inmate at XXXX prison/jail. If you do not wish to accept this call, hang up" or something like that. So you can disconnect before you ever hear the inmate's voice.

Unless he's phoning on an illegal phone there will be a recorded message when she picks up so she should just hang up. Doesn't stop the actual phone call though. I would speak to a solicitor about civil remedies to stop contact or the police again. Technically continued harassment is an oftener. In Scotland it would be considered stalking.