Parole.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Anyone watching? Really interesting.

Ah right.

I was surprised he was allowed out but I guess their point was that if he did reoffend it would likely be drugs related I guess.

I never understand when their position is "oh well they will probably reoffend but it won't cause serious harm to the public" if thats our level for parole then I feel we are setting the bar far too low.

Yeah. I guess they haven't got enough space.

That was pretty obvious. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm surprised the person who worked with him believed him though.

I’m not optimistic about Simran’s future - think a supportive community of some kind is what they need to build a secure base and is not what they are going out to. Lots of challenges ahead.

Simran had sisters but no mention of parents? I don't know how he can live regular life if he's taking and selling drugs to live.

Simran though …..out on parole =monitored . Chance to change but recall as before if it goes tits up.

like last week slime ball fraudster - decline parole - serve all sentence and out without follow up.

this weeks murderer - doing good but behaviour in prison “ work in progress “. Last weeks guy - after the one recall no further incidents. Still scary guy with anger issues but they thought maybe he’d have been tested whilst and not snapped ??

glad it’s not me … are forensic psych that bad normally - the fraud guys one was soo gullible . Not sure anyone believed simran really re the drugs though

Yep last weeks FP was extremely gullible. I
Hope someone's looked into her recently.

I’m going back 15 years now but I used to work for defence and this included prison law cases.

The prisoners themselves used to hold coaching sessions in what to say in parole hearings to help each other out, they even used to know who was chairing the meetings and what they looked for in answers and how to charm them.

It was all just scripted bullshit and they used to congratulate each other if successful.

Everyone knew including the boards however to some degree their hands were tied because the prisoners gave the correct answers to fit the criteria for release, it was just theatrical.

I always assumed that prisoners who had served their full sentence, were released still on parole and were followed up. From thread I assume that's not the case. Though since they've done their time they should be 'free'

@Toddlerteaplease it depends on the crime. Some are just kicked out with no support and a small amount of money, and those are the ones who tend to reoffend quite quickly.

I never want any of them to be released. Doesn't matter if they show someone else as a counterpoint who is worse. Simran should have stayed. So should the murderer last week.

Just catching up. I wonder how much account might have been taken of the effect of the testosterone on Simran's mental state. I agree Simran may be on the spectrum and have some degree of learning disability. It's a great shame that doesn't seem to have been explored and support offered from a very young age, including family support to see that gender nonconforming behaviour is no big deal.

(I knew Styal is a women's prison so I was very surprised by Simran's appearance but I could see immediately we were looking at a transman, not a transwoman. Far too risky for a transman to be locked up in a male prison. Hardly bears thinking about.)

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g I think in his culture it would be a big deal though.

I'm autistic and I though the same.

When he started to talk about an issue in his life (transitioning - I can't remember the wording) I though he was actually going to say he's autistic.

The blonde woman is not taking any of his shit. She seems to be holding back personal feelings

I really thought they were going to say no to both of them before they revealed the decisions

Finally caught up on the latest episode.

Matthew made a good first impression on me, but his index crime was horrific. He was young and clearly damaged by his upbringing and later substance abuse. They’re not excuses but it’s relevant context. I wasn’t surprised he’d got into bother in prison and I whilst I was pleased to see they did give some consideration to the fact that to an extent that’s part of prison life, I think they made the right decision for him to stay in Closed for now. He’s not ready yet but I think if he continues as he is he will be permitted to move to Open in due course.

I felt that Simran is very vulnerable. He got let out because he doesn’t pose a significant risk to the public and I would agree with that. He’s not violent (even the arson didn’t indicate particularly violent intentions to be honest). I do think he will reoffend and end up back in the system though because he has no support system at all which is very sad.

I do fundamentally believe that prison should be and opportunity for rehabilitation though so I’m slightly biased in that respect.

I thought this article on the bbc was interesting. It's about how prisoners being released on a Friday and are more likely to reoffend due to not having a network to help them on the outside. It wasn't something I'd thought about but it does make sense. It's almost like setting them up to fail.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64831235

Oh Jon.

I’d have let Bethany out and kept Jon in, so I’ll count myself as right so far.

I think there needs to be more support. Jon had been in prison almost exclusively since being 15. Yes he was supposed to get mental health support and have a curfew etc but seen as he was pretty much unemployable all he was going to do with his day was hang around with bad influences and get dragged into things he shouldn't have been doing. I would have thought open prison with some work release/day release provision might have been more useful to him.

I'm finding this series so upsetting. Nearly everyone featured has had a difficult childhood and has gone on to self harm, self medicate and commit crime. There must be a better way of supporting and rehabilitating people in the community. We can't keep people locked up forever - it's no life for them. But how can we keep the public safe and find ways to rehabilitate offenders? It actually feels quite hopeless.

This week’s was so upsetting. Poor Jon. No one to help him. What a horrid life he has had. He is never going to succeed because he has no support around him.

I truly wish the best for Bethany. Her mother seems lovely - to be met by that love and huge hug outside prison. I really hope she gets the help she needs from mental health services too. Trauma has a lifelong effect - and despite the make up,you could still stee all the self harming scars. She didn’t need to be in prison but I expect the social services had let her down and so she ended up in prison as much as to keep her safe as the public. Prison can sometimes act as a social dustbin,

I agree re Jon. I felt so sorry for him. He was trying so hard. Although I was a bit frustrated when they were thinking of turning him down because he'd been in prison for 18 years and wouldn't manage basic life skills on the outside. Well teach him some then! Provide the support. He said himself he'd been in institutions almost all his life either in care or prison.

I thought that maybe he could be a labourer or learn a trade to put him in a good position to try and get work on the outside.

I was sad when he got recalled but pleased it wasn't for something violent so he had made some progress of sorts.