It has been announced today that an inquiry is to be launched after it was reported that prisoners in some of Britain’s most high profile jails have been given cash prizes for playing bingo games while incarcerated. The inquiry will centre on activities in Wakefield Prison and other top security jails, where some of the most high-profile murderers, including Ian Huntley are held.
It has come to light that over £4,000 has been handed out in bingo prizes in Wakefield Prison, over £3,000 from Whatton Prison in Nottinghamshire and a small amount from Belmarsh in London since 2009. While many would agree that prisoners need a certain amount of stimulation, eyebrows have been raised at the idea of prisoners, especially high-profile murderers being allowed to gamble, and win money on bingo.
The practice came to light this week when the Daily Mirror put in a request under the Freedom of Information Act and today it has been announced that a full inquiry will ensue. The original story was also printed at the Mirror Online and can be read here.
The Ministry of Justice has defended the practice saying that many prisons run competitions and games, mainly at Christmas and that the cash prizes were nominal, amounting to around £5 each. However, rightly so the Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright has put forward concerns and promised a full review on what sort of prisoner activities are appropriate.
It’s important that the British public have faith in the justice system in the UK, a system that is already accused of being too soft. Prison is designed for punishment and rehabilitation, and we’re not sure that encouraging prisoners to gamble on bingo is the right way to go about this no matter how small the prizes are. We’re not sure that reward systems within a punishment system are highly appropriate at all, especially in such high-profile prisons that house some of Britain’s biggest monsters.
