Episode 5 Crime and Punishment


Episode 5

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On Crime And Punishment today, two events that changed policing and prisons for ever.

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Brighton, 1984 - a huge terrorist bomb which made the police

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rethink the way they deal with massive public events.

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And we revisit the month-long 1990 riots at Strangeways Prison,

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which spawned copycat disturbances at jails right around the country,

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including here in Bristol.

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Political party conferences always give police a major headache.

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How do you give delegates the freedom they need to move around,

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while keeping them safe from terrorist attack?

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The stakes have always been high,

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but one event in 1984 made them top priority

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Almost 30 years ago, the country woke up to these shocking images.

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Overnight, all our beliefs about how secure Britain was

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were totally shattered.

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Breakfast time, October the 12th, 1984,

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presenters and reporters piecing together the unimaginable.

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The Prime Minister and her cabinet targeted by an attack which left

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five dead and dozens injured.

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The Brighton bombing left no-one in any doubt that terrorists

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would stop at nothing to bring home their point.

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There had always been security around political conferences

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but this tragedy revealed massive gaps.

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Heather Bould was just 23 at the time.

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She was working for a company that provided fax machines for the government,

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essential equipment for the Prime Minister's office

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which had been set up in the Mrs Thatcher's suite at the hotel.

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I was asked to go down the Wednesday morning to teach the people in

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the prime Minister's office how to use the equipment.

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When it came to getting into the building, and right into the PM's room,

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she encountered nothing more than a police sergeant on the door.

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He looked me up and down and he said to me, "Go on, off you go.

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"You don't look like a terrorist."

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That was it.

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Heather walked straight in, explained the fax machine to

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the Prime Minister's aides and left to go home.

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Two days later, she woke to the news of the bombing.

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I was only young and I thought it was very startling but

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it didn't affect me in the same way that it affected my mother,

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who was quite shocked by the thoughts of what

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could have happened had it been at another time.

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At the time, the authorities believed that the level of policing

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was enough to match the level of threat but it turned out

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that it wasn't anywhere near enough, and the threat today is far greater.

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Colin Tansley is a security expert who has spent years helping to

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keep leaders safe across the world.

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In 1984, the main threat to the United Kingdom

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was from the provisional IRA.

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The IRA understood that there would be casualties of war.

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They accepted that people might be killed.

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Now the terrorists that we're up against,

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their methodology of attack is more brutal than the IRA.

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Their goal is to cause an outrage.

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It is to cause the spectacular,

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and that means by killing as many people as they can.

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The policing of party political conferences has changed for ever.

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Nowadays, it takes a combination of advanced technology

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and many times more manpower to keep everyone safe,

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a task that's fallen to Birmingham police.

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Security for the 2011 Lib Dem Conference

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has taken months of planning.

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The control room is set up two miles away from the convention centre so,

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if the worst should happen, the operation can still be managed from here.

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We've had a broad variety of policing

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functions involved in this operation.

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The highest risk we've planned for has been the risk of

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public disorder through protest that goes beyond being peaceful.

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Also, there is always going to be the risk of terrorist attack.

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Clearly, there have been lessons in the past.

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Most of those lessons have been in the distant past,

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but they haven't been forgotten so, therefore,

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we plan and prepare to secure the site, secure the conference

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and make sure that we don't open ourselves up to any particular risk.

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-Morning, Lou.

-Morning. Can I use a baton gun, MP5 and stick?

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Louise Proffitt is one of the 500 officers

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working on the operation every day of the conference.

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Just an hour ago, she kissed her 7-year-old daughter goodbye

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and headed off to pick up her weapons.

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We don't start our tour duty until 7 o'clock

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but we're normally in for about 6:15.

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We're getting ready because

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we need to be ready to respond once that call comes in,

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to swap over, so if something happens, there's always an armed response.

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Louise is one of just five women in the West Midlands Police Firearms Unit.

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When she joined the force,

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it was with the aim of helping vulnerable children.

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Now, she finds herself loading up a machine gun and a pistol.

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Magazine pouches, for my handgun, and that's where they'll stay now, hopefully,

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until the end of duty when I take them back out.

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Taser - always comes with four cartridges

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because if we deploy it with the one,

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we can reload early and always have the two there.

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With equipment weighing two stone, Louise is ready for action.

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I'm actually one of the marked vehicles

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and there's three officers on that car.

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Our role is to provide a presence

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so we will patrol around the site of Pelkin,

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provide a presence for the public and also for the unarmed officers.

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And, later, we'll be looking the massive range of

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police measures that it takes to keep the 8,000 people attending this conference safe.

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Until the late 1940s, misbehaving prisoners would

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find themselves doing hard labour as an extra penalty.

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But then it was abolished, leaving prison authorities with a dilemma.

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How do you punish a prisoner who's already being punished by being in prison?

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Every day, Bristol's duty governor holds the prison's own court

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to deal with inmates on report.

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Today, it's the turn of Sarah Coombs.

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She can punish defendants by withdrawing the privileges they depend on,

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such as having a TV in the cell or being able to earn extra money.

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The courtroom is on E Wing, the segregation wing,

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known to everyone at Bristol as The Block.

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First up is an inmate on remand.

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He's been caught out by a random drugs test.

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-OK, so you admit to taking cannabis?

-Yeah.

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So why are you using it at the moment?

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I just lost my dad... Well, I lost my dad since I've been in here

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and I'm looking at a 12-year sentence over theft, anyway.

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So I just needed a bit of escapism cos I felt a bit down, really.

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The prisoner claims his depression was caused by not being allowed

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to go to his father's funeral.

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Well, I'd have liked to have went to the funeral and I'd have liked to

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have the opportunity to go and say my goodbyes but I never did.

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OK. I understand that and I understand that must have been really difficult.

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Obviously that decision was made on the basis of a risk assessment.

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-Mm, yeah.

-Have you spoken to chaplaincy at all?

-No.

-OK.

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Can we hear the reports, please?

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He abides to the wing regime and complies with what is

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asked of him and is currently employed on a gym course.

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OK. This is your first offence so I'll be taking that into account.

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So I'll be awarding, for this, 14 days loss of association.

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Loss of association means that, for the next two weeks,

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the prisoner will be kept to his cell

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whilst his mates enjoy an hour of leisure time each evening.

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..and 14 days cellular confinement

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but I'm going to suspend that for a period of three months.

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So if you find yourself up on adjudication again for a positive MDT,

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then that could well be activated,

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-so it's a heavy award hanging over your head, OK?

-Yeah.

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Through there, Jamie. Name and number to the governor.

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-Do you understand the charge?

-Yep.

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Next up is another drugs offence.

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And, again, the prisoner is pleading guilty.

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But this time there's a complication.

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Is this your first offence for a positive MDT?

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You have had previous, have you? OK.

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An MDT is a Mandatory Drugs Test.

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They're done at random and there's no escape from them.

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In light of that,

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I'm going to remand this to go out to the independent adjudicator, OK?

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Sarah has no choice but to refer the man's case to the adjudicator,

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a visiting judge, because a repeat offence can mean extra time

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being added to his sentence.

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That's something she's not authorised to decide.

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One thing I always try and talk about with the prisoner when in the adjudication is

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if they regularly use drugs, and whether that prisoner is upfront

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and honest with you about their reasons or not,

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and then obviously taking into account whether it's a first offence

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or whether they've got a history of drug-taking behaviour,

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and then obviously they would get a more severe award as a result.

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The next case involves an inmate who has a history of violence.

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He's charged with criminal damage.

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The officers stand very close in case of trouble.

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They daren't take any risks.

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Have a seat, please.

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Tuck yourself right in there. And again.

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Put your leg around the front, please.

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Both, yes. Elbows on there?

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OK. You've been charged under prison rule 51, paragraph 17,

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"destroys or damages any part of a prison or any other property, other than his own."

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Do you understand the charge?

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Do you need any help at this hearing?

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Do you have any questions at this stage?

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Have you prepared a written reply?

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Calm down. Listen to the governor's questions.

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Let me finish my question, please, and then you can respond.

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Are you fit to proceed with the hearing at this stage?

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How do you plead to the charge?

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OK.

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Can we hear the evidence, please?

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Governor, on the 15th of the 11th, 2011, at 17:40 hours,

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I heard a loud noise from cell H107.

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When investigating, I found he had smashed his TV and,

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on speaking to him, he said he had smashed it because he didn't like his evening meal.

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And, er, is the evidence correct?

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OK.

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OK.

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If you've got complaints about the food,

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there is a procedure to follow.

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Smashing your television isn't the way to go about it.

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I suggest that you do.

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OK. Through the evidence that I've heard today,

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and your own admission, I find the charge proven.

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Have you got anything to say in mitigation?

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OK.

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I'm going to award you 14 days loss of association

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and 14 days loss of TV.

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You're not earning a particular large amount at the moment anyway,

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so I don't feel there's much that I can take off of that.

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Yeah, you'll still be entitled to exercise.

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You just won't have association periods. OK, that's it. Thank you.

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That particular prisoner has got a history of being volatile.

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He's got a history of being volatile towards staff.

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I believe he may have assaulted staff previously.

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You can see by his manner that he was slightly more aggressive

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and attempting to, control the hearing

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so the staff are just very much conscious of that and making sure

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that they're in a position to deal with that individual.

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Later, Sarah has an even more angry young man to deal with.

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Hang on a sec. Right, to start off, there's no need for bad language.

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We'll see how she gets on.

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Some of the most momentous changes to prisons came about

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following the riots more than 20 years ago.

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You may remember this.

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April 1990 - pictures that made world headlines the 25 days.

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The biggest prison riot in British history.

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This is HMP Manchester, better known as Strangeways.

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Trouble had been brewing for months because of overcrowding.

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As many as three inmates were held in cells designed for one.

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At night, prisoners had to use buckets for lavatories,

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slopping it out every morning,

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and they were also complaining of alleged staff brutality.

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Strangeways isn't a hotel but when you're treated like an animal,

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you act like an animal.

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The governor of Strangeways Brendan O'Friel had advocated

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for change in the prison system three years prior to the riot.

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There are people in the prison who could be dealt with in some other way.

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And what we've got to do,

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it seems to me, as a community,

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is to constantly strive for not only developing more alternatives

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to prison, but fully utilising those that are available.

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On Sunday the 1st of April,

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prisoners planned a protest during a service in the chapel.

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A ringleader, Paul Taylor, who was inside for three years

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on burglary charges, took his opportunity.

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I made my way from my seat,

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fully aware of the very fact that there were going to be,

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at the end of service, a sit-in protest...

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..and I grabbed a hold of the microphone.

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Taylor incited the crowd with a speech and, minutes later,

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the protest had escalated into a full-blown riot.

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All hell broke loose.

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Prisoners attacked officers and keys were grabbed.

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Hundreds of cell doors were opened.

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The chaos brought violence.

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Personal vendettas were taken out on sex offenders.

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The prisoners were coming out in such a distressed state.

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They were clinging to you. "Mr Wright, get us out!"

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Utter shock and fear on their faces, for their lives.

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One, Derek Wright, was so badly beaten, he later died in hospital.

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By now, barricades had been set up

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and rioters had broken through to the roof.

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Some, like Taylor, revelled in the notoriety.

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Governor O'Friel had plans to storm the prison on day two with police,

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but it was vetoed by the Home Office as too dangerous.

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A stand-off ensued and specialists were brought in to negotiate.

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Many prisoners gave themselves up

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but the hardliners wanted to continue the protest.

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They got everything they asked for, effectively,

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and yet there's no accounting for a brick-wall mind.

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Over the weeks,

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authorities tried psychological pressure - helicopter searchlights,

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sirens, even officers beating their shield and shouting "beasts"...

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Beasts, beasts! Beasts, beasts, beasts!

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..prison slang for sex offenders,

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and not least the hoses, making the rioters cold and wet.

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But some just laughed it off.

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Relatives were allowed to call up and try and persuade them to come down.

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Take care of yourself. I love you.

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By week three, there were only ten still there

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and police started to gain control.

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Prison officers, let back inside, were shocked by what they saw.

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It's very hard to describe.

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It's just a complete wreck.

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It was just utter, sheer, wanton criminal damage.

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Finally, on the 25th day, still grandstanding,

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Taylor and four others were the last to come down in a cherry picker.

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When they went, the siege was over. 18 prisoners were put on trial.

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Charges were for violent disorder, GBH, conspiracy to riot and murder.

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Taylor was given a ten-year jail sentence for his role as ringleader.

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A major enquiry, headed by Lord Justice Woolf was set up.

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His report said prisoners should never be put three to a cell

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and recommended that the practice of slopping out should end, and it has.

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Repairing Strangeways cost £55 million and, today,

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leading lights in the prison service say the riot really was a turning point.

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The Strangeways riot was copied in jails all over the country,

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not least here in Bristol, where up to 400 prisoners

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took control of three wings and kept control of them for two days.

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With me now is Governing Governor,

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also known around the prison as Governor One, Kenny Brown.

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-Nice to meet you, Kenny.

-Nice to meet you.

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Tell me about the changes that were made here in Bristol after those riots in 1990.

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I guess the physical changes, as you can see by looking through

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the wings, it's pretty much been halved from what it was before.

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-So that wall wasn't their?

-No, it would have been a full wing.

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The wing was twice the length it is now and those physical changes

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were brought in pretty much to control prisoners in the future,

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if such rioting took place again, so that's what you can see physically.

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And then on top of that, there were enquiries

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and from there we looked at the staff-prisoner relationship

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and how that could be bettered, to stop riots happening in the future,

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and training for prison officers

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and all sorts of different things were then implemented to make

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the relationships work better than what they were before.

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And you were instrumental in these changes, weren't you,

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because of your personal experiences and working on that relationship

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between the prison staff and the prisoner.

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Yeah. Well, I guess I was instrumental at Bristol.

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I wasn't instrumental from 1990 but,

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as far as my experience goes at Bristol, when I arrived here,

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the staff-prisoner relationships were OK. They weren't brilliant.

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I did want to implement a lot more stuff

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around the culture and decency, so that prison officers

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understood their role in terms of being mentors for prisoners, and

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the importance of their influence on turning prisoners' lives around.

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And that does come from my background.

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My background, briefly, is from a working-class area of Scotland,

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where times were quite difficult and lots of people were

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getting into crime quite easily because that was what it was.

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I think the difference to me

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at that time was that I pretty much had a strong family

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and good influential parents who actually made a difference,

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otherwise I'm quite convinced I would have ended up in prison myself at one stage.

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But because you know that side of things,

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you're able to help things from this side of things in prison as well.

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Just briefly, has that system worked?

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I think what you see at Bristol is that from 1990,

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another big change is that the prison officers working in Bristol

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are probably 50% less than were working at that time.

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The reason why that works so successfully,

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it's actually a lot safer than it was in 1990, but the

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staff-prisoner relationships have been enhanced considerably.

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Safety is more about how good the relationships are

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between the prisoner, rather than having numbers.

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So what you see here now is prison officers who are determined to make

0:19:340:19:39

a difference for society, in terms of role-modelling for prisoners.

0:19:390:19:44

Therefore, when they're released,

0:19:440:19:46

they're much less likely to commit crimes and, therefore, there is

0:19:460:19:49

less victims and prison officers at Bristol

0:19:490:19:51

understand that and want to put that back into the Bristol community.

0:19:510:19:54

-Thanks for your time today, Kenny.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

0:19:540:19:57

Today we've been watching how the West Midlands force have been

0:20:000:20:03

protecting the Lib Dems at their conference in Birmingham.

0:20:030:20:06

They're ready for anything

0:20:060:20:08

and it's not long before their preparations are tested for real.

0:20:080:20:11

The Brighton bombing in 1984 demonstrated how deadly

0:20:110:20:16

a terrorist attack on a political conference could be.

0:20:160:20:20

In Birmingham 2011, West Midlands Police are taking no chances.

0:20:210:20:27

Using all the equipment available to today's police,

0:20:270:20:30

they've drawn a circle of steel around the centre

0:20:300:20:33

hosting the Liberal Democrats' annual bash.

0:20:330:20:35

The most likely worst-case scenarios that we would plan for

0:20:350:20:38

would be the finding of a package, a suspect package,

0:20:380:20:41

inside the International Convention Centre.

0:20:410:20:43

So we'd have to very quickly and orderly

0:20:430:20:46

take at least 3,500 people off the premises so we could work

0:20:460:20:49

on that device and find out whether it was a genuine threat or not.

0:20:490:20:53

It's a massive operation to keep everyone safe.

0:20:530:20:57

500 police officers from all departments are working

0:20:570:21:00

round the clock with modern specialist technology

0:21:000:21:04

to ensure there's no threat to the delegates.

0:21:040:21:07

Every nook and cranny has to be checked out

0:21:070:21:09

and, on one side the building, that means a dip in the canal.

0:21:090:21:13

You can imagine that a narrow boat is, basically,

0:21:130:21:15

one massive void under the water and water level,

0:21:150:21:18

would be a good place to leave anything that could cause a disruption to the conference.

0:21:180:21:23

At the moment, Martin and Sarah a fingertip search

0:21:230:21:27

along the hull of the boat

0:21:270:21:28

It's designed to indicate to us

0:21:280:21:30

any anomalies that are either attached to the hull

0:21:300:21:33

of the boat, or anything built into the boat that shouldn't be there.

0:21:330:21:36

Can you feel if I push there?

0:21:360:21:39

-Like the riveting plates?

-Yeah.

0:21:390:21:42

The Brighton bombings were the catalyst regarding police

0:21:440:21:47

search of counter terrorist incidents, and as a result of that,

0:21:470:21:51

all the police forces in the country have got police search trained officers,

0:21:510:21:56

who are trained to conduct low-level counterterrorist surges.

0:21:560:22:00

As well as underwater, they have to go underground, too.

0:22:000:22:04

After a first safety check with their high-tech camera,

0:22:040:22:07

they get in for a closer look.

0:22:070:22:08

So, once the drain's been searched, and it's clear,

0:22:090:22:13

We have a rubber seal with an individual number on it,

0:22:130:22:15

and it's burnt onto the drain.

0:22:150:22:18

And then it's noted.

0:22:180:22:19

-And there's a lot of drains.

-That one's done.

0:22:190:22:23

Move onto the next one. There's 750.

0:22:230:22:25

Yeah. Thanks, Alpha one.

0:22:250:22:27

If you give me one or two minutes, I'll call you up

0:22:270:22:29

and ask the location of the principal.

0:22:290:22:32

The principal is the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.

0:22:320:22:35

It's inspector Paul Minor's job to coordinate the firearms unit

0:22:350:22:39

and some of his team are the last line of defence for the VIPs.

0:22:390:22:44

This is traditionally a body guarding-type operation.

0:22:440:22:47

The officers are working around

0:22:470:22:48

the deputy prime minister

0:22:480:22:49

on this occasion. One of the key factors, today, is continually keeping his convoy moving

0:22:490:22:54

rather than having it static and stationary.

0:22:540:22:56

So, there are occasions when as he enters into the conference site, some of the barriers

0:22:560:23:00

need to be opened and moved prior to him getting there,

0:23:000:23:02

so it needs to be a slick movement through, rather than him simply staying stationary

0:23:020:23:06

whilst the barriers are opened and negotiations take place.

0:23:060:23:09

This is quite an important part in the close detection operation.

0:23:090:23:14

As well as talking directly to his officers on the radio,

0:23:140:23:16

Paul can also see them.

0:23:160:23:18

We have CCTV cameras all around the city of Birmingham,

0:23:180:23:22

to be able to identify and observe officers on patrol in the area.

0:23:220:23:26

It's particularly useful in the event of an incident,

0:23:260:23:29

because we can work out what they are seeing at any one time.

0:23:290:23:32

Then we can communicate directly with them and draw additional resources into the system.

0:23:320:23:37

The police have every possible area covered, from bread rolls

0:23:370:23:41

entering the building, right up to their eye in the sky,

0:23:410:23:44

the police helicopter.

0:23:440:23:46

The whole five days of conference, 500 offices must remain vigilant.

0:23:490:23:54

Nothing can be allowed to slip through the net.

0:23:540:23:56

'Some bikes just going round Five Ways Island. Bear with us.'

0:23:560:23:59

Anything suspicious is a call for immediate action.

0:23:590:24:03

POLICE TALKS ON RADIO

0:24:030:24:07

This car has been picked up on police CCTV as it's

0:24:090:24:11

entered the controlled zone around the conference centre.

0:24:110:24:15

Anything that approaches the cordon is treated as a threat.

0:24:150:24:18

And their system has recognised the number plate

0:24:180:24:21

as being from a stolen car.

0:24:210:24:23

There is a possibility that this car could become extremely high risk

0:24:230:24:28

and it must be stopped before it reaches that stage.

0:24:280:24:31

'When we get the opportunity, we'll go for a reinforced stop.'

0:24:310:24:34

Right now, they have no way of knowing who's in it or what their intentions are.

0:24:340:24:37

The force helicopter has been called in to follow the car

0:24:370:24:41

and guide the officers on the ground to it.

0:24:410:24:44

Observer, Matt Smith, is on board.

0:24:440:24:45

'We're just waiting for it to come off.'

0:24:450:24:48

If you know the location,

0:24:480:24:50

And you know specifically what

0:24:500:24:52

sort of vehicle you're looking for,

0:24:520:24:54

so any descriptive details of that vehicle certainly helps.

0:24:540:24:58

But, because it was a specific type of sports car,

0:24:580:25:01

it was relatively easy for us to spot.

0:25:010:25:03

'..I think I see two traffic motorcyclists, now.

0:25:050:25:08

'Yeah, it's two vehicles in front of him, at the moment.'

0:25:080:25:11

With the great camera system we've got on the aircraft,

0:25:110:25:13

we can read registration plates from the air.

0:25:130:25:16

So we were able to identify the vehicle very quickly and effectively.

0:25:160:25:20

'OK, it looks like the vehicle's stopped...'

0:25:250:25:29

The way we live today, terrorism is in the news every day,

0:25:290:25:32

and a threat to government, ultimately,

0:25:320:25:35

could be a terrorist threat.

0:25:350:25:36

So, we are always on alert for a terrorist type situation.

0:25:360:25:40

Certainly, a vehicle of that nature, a stolen vehicle, potentially,

0:25:400:25:44

yeah, could have been a terrorist threat.

0:25:440:25:46

The driver's arrested

0:25:460:25:47

and the car moved well away from the conference site.

0:25:470:25:50

The massive security operation has proved successful,

0:25:540:25:58

as it has at every party conference since the '84 Brighton bombing.

0:25:580:26:01

Throughout the rest of the week, there were no more potential

0:26:010:26:05

threats, and a strong message has gone out.

0:26:050:26:08

Whatever you feel about prisoners and their crimes,

0:26:130:26:16

the fact is a sentence impacts

0:26:160:26:18

innocent families, too.

0:26:180:26:20

Each year, 160,000 children see a parent go to jail.

0:26:200:26:24

Now, there's a new way to stay in touch.

0:26:240:26:26

It was Christmas Eve, and Baby Owl had been out in the snowy woods.

0:26:260:26:31

Toby Diamond's a local lad serving five months for driving offences

0:26:310:26:34

and a cannabis possession.

0:26:340:26:36

It's not the first time he's been inside,

0:26:360:26:38

and over the years, he's missed a lot of time with his kids.

0:26:380:26:42

If I'm honest, I'd like to have been around with the children a lot more than I was.

0:26:420:26:46

I was out and about, doing my hobbies, motocross racing,

0:26:460:26:50

and stuff like that.

0:26:500:26:51

Looking back on things, now, I wish I was home a lot more.

0:26:510:26:54

But, because he's behaved himself in Bristol,

0:26:540:26:57

Toby's one of the lucky ones chosen to take part in the Storybook Dad Scheme.

0:26:570:27:02

I'd heard about it around the prison, and I'd asked one of the members of staff that deal with it

0:27:020:27:07

if I could get involved in it and do the next available slot.

0:27:070:27:10

Toby's recording a Christmas story for his five children.

0:27:100:27:13

The kids actually hearing me read them a story is a lot better

0:27:130:27:17

than them just receiving a book or a story from somebody else.

0:27:170:27:21

it means a lot to them, actually, just hearing their dad, even though I'm not there with them,

0:27:210:27:25

it might make them feel I'm there reading the story to them.

0:27:250:27:28

Working with Toby, today, is Bristol's families and children officer,

0:27:280:27:31

Stuart Harrington.

0:27:310:27:33

He runs several schemes in the prison designed to make better

0:27:330:27:36

parents of the inmates.

0:27:360:27:37

We encourage prisoners to keep in

0:27:370:27:39

contact with families,

0:27:390:27:40

purely because it's understood that any prisoner who does keep

0:27:400:27:43

in contact with his family while he's in prison

0:27:430:27:46

has a higher chance of not offending when they are released.

0:27:460:27:51

They need to remember that it's out there that's real life, not in here.

0:27:510:27:55

"Good night, Mum," said Baby Owl.

0:27:550:27:58

Toby's done his bit,

0:27:580:27:59

but his recordings need tidying up before it can be given to the kids.

0:27:590:28:02

110 miles away at Dartmoor,

0:28:020:28:06

Toby's efforts are already being worked on

0:28:060:28:08

in the Storybook Dads edit suite.

0:28:080:28:11

They add sound effects,

0:28:110:28:13

and music.

0:28:130:28:15

They've been running the scheme from here since 2003 when the charity was founded by Sharon Berry.

0:28:170:28:22

In the beginning, we just had an empty prison cell,

0:28:220:28:25

so, that's where we started from.

0:28:250:28:27

It's grown to now being in over 100 prisons across the country.

0:28:270:28:31

For Sharon, the prisoner is making a commitment to his family

0:28:310:28:34

just by making the recording.

0:28:340:28:36

They have to disengage from the person that they

0:28:360:28:38

have to be on the wing,

0:28:380:28:39

and you're in a prison, perhaps with 100 other men on the landing,

0:28:390:28:42

and prisoners tend to put up a guard.

0:28:420:28:45

But when they come to us for the first time,

0:28:450:28:47

they can be quite difficult, but usually we managed to help them

0:28:470:28:51

to relax and they're usually very pleased

0:28:510:28:54

when they hear it for the first time

0:28:540:28:56

and they want to come back and do more.

0:28:560:28:58

Once the finished recording is burned to a CD,

0:28:580:29:01

they make a customised label and it's ready for sending back to Bristol for checking

0:29:010:29:05

and then on to Toby's family.

0:29:050:29:07

We'll find out later how it goes down with his children.

0:29:070:29:10

TV crime series like CSI may make us a bit blase about using forensics to catch criminals,

0:29:150:29:20

but the reality is that it's a constantly evolving science and I'm about to discover

0:29:200:29:26

some of the latest techniques that are being used to solve crimes.

0:29:260:29:30

Ryan, here in the UK, we don't call it CSI, do we?

0:29:300:29:33

We're forensic scene investigators in the West Midlands.

0:29:330:29:35

And you're going to show me.

0:29:350:29:38

-Clearly, somebody's stood on here.

-Yes.

0:29:380:29:40

What kind of information can you get from this?

0:29:400:29:42

We'll get some foil. And we'll go over the area that we need to test.

0:29:420:29:47

-OK.

-So, we can see some marks, there.

0:29:470:29:49

And, hopefully, there's going to be some marks that...

0:29:490:29:52

-We actually can't see...

-..Yes.

0:29:520:29:54

..Already. OK.

0:29:540:29:56

So, this device has got a nine volt battery in it.

0:29:560:29:58

-We send a charge through the foil.

-Oh, gosh. Look at that.

0:29:580:30:02

-So, it sticks it to the surface.

-There's a big air bubble.

0:30:020:30:05

So, what we do is we'll turn the voltage up very slightly.

0:30:050:30:08

-And, as you can see, that's pretty much disappeared.

-Yes, it has. OK.

0:30:080:30:12

And we'll use this just to roll out.

0:30:120:30:14

The underside is black and that's sticking, now,

0:30:140:30:16

to those dusty marks that were on the work surface.

0:30:160:30:19

-Yes.

-And that's picking that up. That's charging this foil.

0:30:190:30:22

And it's only a small charge, so it's not going to you any harm.

0:30:220:30:26

I wouldn't touch it.

0:30:260:30:27

Everything that's on that surface, now,

0:30:270:30:29

should be stuck to the underside of this foil, so, we, hopefully,

0:30:290:30:33

we've got those trainer marks that we could see first.

0:30:330:30:35

-Which were about three or four, weren't they?

-Yes. And, hopefully, then we can see.

-Oh, my goodness!

0:30:350:30:40

Look, there's more than trainer marks. There's a great big handprint.

0:30:400:30:43

That's right. So, what we've got there is some fingerprints, hopefully.

0:30:430:30:47

Now, if we look at fingerprints and we don't have any detail,

0:30:470:30:50

then we might look at DNA, so, we could swab...

0:30:500:30:52

But, if you look at the surface, I couldn't see anything.

0:30:520:30:54

-Right. And, sometimes, the best marks are the marks that you can't see.

-OK.

0:30:540:30:59

Now, hopefully, this should aid us, in seeing those trainer marks.

0:30:590:31:04

You can see those three very clearly.

0:31:040:31:07

Now, by using this light, it would just enhance that.

0:31:070:31:10

So, you can see these marks, here, this is quite clearly four fingers from someone's hand.

0:31:100:31:14

-Yes.

-So we look at that area, as well.

-Yes.

0:31:140:31:16

Now, these trainers, quite clearly from the same foot.

0:31:160:31:19

And now we look of that detail on there.

0:31:190:31:23

You've got an example, haven't you?

0:31:230:31:24

-On your machine of when you've used this, actually, haven't you?

-Yes.

0:31:240:31:28

A bank robbery that I went to where the offenders had come down through the ceiling.

0:31:280:31:33

-So, it was a bank, they'd gone into a flat above it.

-Yes.

0:31:330:31:36

-An unoccupied flat.

-Yes.

0:31:360:31:38

The offenders had broken in the night before

0:31:380:31:40

and they had taken back the carpet.

0:31:400:31:42

They had removed the floorboards, as you can see, there, with axes and hammers

0:31:420:31:45

and they'd made a hole into the floorboards and they waited,

0:31:450:31:48

then, for the following morning, so the bank staff had come in,

0:31:480:31:52

the bank is still closed, the safe's had been opened, and, at that point,

0:31:520:31:57

they had then gone down to the ceiling, creating this hole.

0:31:570:31:59

Into the safety area, as it were, in the bank.

0:31:590:32:02

-Got the money.

-That's the safe. It's completely empty.

0:32:020:32:05

And they'd gone out, down the corridorr.

0:32:050:32:08

Now, this is the serving area.

0:32:080:32:10

So, this is where members of the public normally are.

0:32:100:32:12

This had been cleaned the night before, and the only people that had gone through were the offenders.

0:32:120:32:16

We put a couple of sheets down and we've done exactly what we've just done there

0:32:160:32:20

and we had some very good marks.

0:32:200:32:21

We managed to identify some suspects and when we arrested those suspects

0:32:210:32:24

their footwear matched some of the trainer marks we had at the scene.

0:32:240:32:27

That's fascinating. Thank you very much.

0:32:270:32:30

Earlier on, we sat in on a disciplinary hearing.

0:32:320:32:36

Now, Sarah Coombs has to do deal with the prisoner

0:32:360:32:39

who's already spent time on the segregation wing.

0:32:390:32:41

He's been through this process nine times before.

0:32:410:32:44

OK, you've been charged under prison rule 51, paragraph 17,

0:32:440:32:48

destroys or damages any part of a prison or any other property other than his own.

0:32:480:32:53

OK? Do you understand that charge?

0:32:530:32:54

And are you OK to proceed

0:32:560:32:57

with the hearing?

0:32:570:32:58

How do you plead to the charge?

0:32:580:33:00

OK, so you plead guilty to the charge of destroying or

0:33:070:33:09

damaging prison property.

0:33:090:33:11

The prisoner has been vandalising his cell

0:33:160:33:18

and the exercise yard with graffiti.

0:33:180:33:22

Can we hear the evidence, please.

0:33:220:33:23

Governor, I was conducting a cell fabric check,

0:33:230:33:27

and noticed the word scratched into the paintwork on the window ledge inside the cell.

0:33:270:33:32

The same word had also been scratched into the paintwork in the exercise yard.

0:33:320:33:37

OK, we'll get to that in a second.

0:33:380:33:40

Do you understand the evidence, first of all? Yeah?

0:33:400:33:44

Are there any points in the evidence that need clarifying?

0:33:440:33:46

I take it from your response

0:33:460:33:48

just then that yes, OK.

0:33:480:33:50

OK. You'll get a chance to put your story towards me in a moment. When did you do the damage in the yard?

0:33:520:33:57

OK, but...

0:34:000:34:01

OK, whether you cleaned it off or not,

0:34:040:34:07

you said to me that you did that, initially.

0:34:070:34:09

The prisoner doesn't have a defence.

0:34:090:34:12

And why did you do that?

0:34:120:34:14

Through the evidence, and your own admission,, I found the charge proven, OK?

0:34:160:34:21

Have you got anything to say in mitigation?

0:34:210:34:25

Apart from the fact that you were bored.

0:34:260:34:28

OK.

0:34:290:34:30

Can we hear the reports, please?

0:34:300:34:33

He has nine previous findings of guilt on adjudication,

0:34:330:34:36

eight of these have been in this establishment.

0:34:360:34:39

Two reports for a similar offence to this one.

0:34:390:34:42

Sarah can punish the prisoner by withdrawing privileges within the prison.

0:34:420:34:45

But this inmate's already been confined to a cell for two weeks after a previous adjudication.

0:34:450:34:50

OK, I'm going to award, for this,

0:34:540:34:56

seven days stoppage of earnings at 50%.

0:34:560:35:02

And seven days loss of canteen.

0:35:030:35:07

You've been on cellular confinement for the past two weeks, OK?

0:35:070:35:10

Is that correct? Two weeks?

0:35:100:35:11

16 days, OK.

0:35:130:35:15

And the staff have said to me,

0:35:150:35:17

since you've been down here,

0:35:170:35:18

you have been abusive to staff.

0:35:180:35:20

You obviously had a proven

0:35:200:35:22

adjudication the damage to

0:35:220:35:24

cells and the yard.

0:35:240:35:26

Have you seen healthcare

0:35:300:35:31

since you been down here?

0:35:310:35:32

OK, that's not an appropriate way to talk about staff that work here. OK?

0:35:400:35:44

They've got a lot of prisoners to see.

0:35:440:35:46

Sarah's seen many prisoners who are unable to take responsibility

0:35:460:35:50

for their own actions and blame everything and everyone else.

0:35:500:35:54

His reason for not complying with the regime was

0:35:540:35:56

because he slept till three o'clock in the afternoon.

0:35:560:36:01

His reason for not being compliant is he's not on the correct medication.

0:36:010:36:04

I'm going to sign you up for 72 hours good order or discipline. OK?

0:36:040:36:07

And we need to think about how we'e we going to progress you

0:36:070:36:11

back to normal location.

0:36:110:36:12

You need to start demonstrating some compliant behaviour.

0:36:120:36:15

Why not?

0:36:170:36:18

Right.

0:36:200:36:21

OK.

0:36:280:36:29

But, it's your responsibility

0:36:300:36:32

to behave.

0:36:320:36:34

You can't be reliant on medication. It's your choice and your decision.

0:36:340:36:38

You just said, yourself, that you do things your way.

0:36:380:36:41

I suggest you have a think about how your way...

0:36:410:36:44

Hang on a sec. To start off,

0:36:480:36:50

there's no need for bad language.

0:36:500:36:52

It's not appropriate, no.

0:36:520:36:55

Second of all, right,

0:36:550:36:57

you've demonstrated on a couple

0:36:570:36:58

occasions already, that you could behave.

0:36:580:37:00

And be polite.

0:37:000:37:02

There's no need for that.

0:37:050:37:07

No, it's not.

0:37:090:37:10

OK. I've told you what I expect, OK?

0:37:100:37:13

The staff have been quite clear.

0:37:130:37:15

They expect you to comply, not be rude, not be swearing,

0:37:150:37:18

and engage, constructively, with the regime, OK?

0:37:180:37:22

So, I'm signing you up for 72 hours and then we'll make a decision,

0:37:220:37:25

then, about whether it's suitable for you to go back

0:37:250:37:27

to normal location.

0:37:270:37:29

I don't, I don't,

0:37:300:37:32

I don't have that plan, at all.

0:37:320:37:34

That's up to you,

0:37:340:37:35

to demonstrate your behaviour.

0:37:350:37:37

Yes.

0:37:390:37:40

We'll be working with him over the next few days,

0:37:400:37:42

to try and get him to take some responsibility, really,

0:37:420:37:46

and see that the onus is on him to progress out of segregation.

0:37:460:37:50

The prisoner will be back in adjudications in three days

0:37:500:37:54

before another duty governor.

0:37:540:37:56

And, hopefully,

0:37:560:37:57

he'll be in a better frame of mind after 72 more hours on the block.

0:37:570:38:01

The gym at Bristol is not just there to keep the prisoners fit,

0:38:050:38:09

it's also a way into a job on the outside.

0:38:090:38:12

Louise has been along there.

0:38:120:38:14

This is our weight and fitness suite.

0:38:140:38:16

OK, so, it looks like, kind of like a normal gym.

0:38:160:38:20

-Well, that's the idea, to get it similar to an outside gymnasium.

-Yeah.

0:38:200:38:23

And the point of having it is...

0:38:230:38:25

Twofold, we've got two activities. We've got rehabilitation PE.

0:38:250:38:30

You can see on the treadmill, there, and we've got our PE course in front of us,

0:38:300:38:35

so we got two activities in the gymnasium.

0:38:350:38:38

And, can people just come in here

0:38:380:38:39

and work out as and when they wish or not?

0:38:390:38:42

No. Part of, you know, the government legislation

0:38:420:38:44

and the working prisons agenda,

0:38:440:38:47

we have no recreational PE in the core day.

0:38:470:38:50

You or I can't go and access a game of badminton,

0:38:500:38:54

we can't leave work and go and play football.

0:38:540:38:57

It's the same within Bristol prison.

0:38:570:39:00

The recreational gymnasium, early mornings before work,

0:39:000:39:04

dinner times and prisoners' own time, evenings and weekends.

0:39:040:39:08

-And can I speak to one of them, as well.

-Certainly. Benji?

0:39:080:39:11

-Got a second?

-Hi, Benji. I'm Louise. Hello.

-Hi, are you all right?

-Yeah, good.

0:39:110:39:15

So, what do you use the gym for, mostly, and how is it helping?

0:39:150:39:19

It's helping me, I guess, with my confidence, my self-esteem,

0:39:190:39:22

and that, and a lot of us have had a lot of issues

0:39:220:39:25

where we haven't always looked our best, you know, alcohol, drug problems, and whatnot.

0:39:250:39:30

So, I guess, to be able to come to the gym and get fit

0:39:300:39:33

and healthy, healthy body, healthy mind.

0:39:330:39:35

It makes me feel a lot more positive.

0:39:350:39:37

And what about after you leave?

0:39:370:39:39

-Have you got qualifications that you will be able to take on and use?

-I have.

0:39:390:39:42

I've gained qualifications whilst here in Horfield,

0:39:420:39:45

Level I gym instructor, and then, this month I'm down to start NVQ level II

0:39:450:39:51

which is fully qualified gym instructor, so, hopefully,

0:39:510:39:54

that will give me more confidence to go out and gain some employment.

0:39:540:39:58

-And do you think it will help you stay out, as well?

-Definitely, yeah.

0:39:580:40:02

I mean, I've been in and out quite a lot since I was quite young.

0:40:020:40:05

I'm 31, now, so I've got no trade, or,

0:40:050:40:08

no real experience in working, so, if I can get this under my belt,

0:40:080:40:11

hopefully, fingers crossed, that will help.

0:40:110:40:15

OK, well, thank you very much.

0:40:150:40:17

Now, Toby Diamond was sentenced to five months in prison for a series

0:40:200:40:24

of driving and drug offences.

0:40:240:40:26

Toby knows the punishment for his crimes is prison,

0:40:260:40:29

but his five children are the innocent victims in all of this,

0:40:290:40:32

and it's been almost impossible for him to keep a meaningful relationship with them.

0:40:320:40:36

Until, he discovered Storybook Dads.

0:40:360:40:39

Toby's now out of Bristol and trying to reform his ways.

0:40:410:40:46

'..and Baby Owl have been out in the snowy woods playing on his sledge..

0:40:460:40:50

Toby's wife, Terry, and their five children are listening again to their dad's story.

0:40:500:40:55

Storybooks Dad meant that the kids got to hear their dad,

0:40:550:40:58

to know that he was still there.

0:40:580:41:01

And they listen to him at night so it was like their bedtime story.

0:41:010:41:05

And it was always, "Come and listen to dad."

0:41:050:41:07

"Can we put dad on?"

0:41:070:41:08

To me it meant that he was trying to keep that communication open between him and the kids.

0:41:080:41:12

That's a great improvement over the old days before he went inside.

0:41:120:41:17

I think I've had my fair share of acting a prat

0:41:170:41:19

and going out gallivanting and doing what I was doing.

0:41:190:41:22

And being inside has made me realise that it's time to sort myself out and settle down.

0:41:220:41:27

My time now is to spend with my family.

0:41:270:41:29

The children have had the best present of all. Their dad back home.

0:41:290:41:33

Clever girl.

0:41:330:41:35

That's it for today.

0:41:370:41:39

Join us next time on Crime and Punishment

0:41:390:41:41

when we'll be looking at more of the changes in prisons and policing

0:41:410:41:44

since the Queen came to the throne.

0:41:440:41:46

Bye for now.

0:41:460:41:47

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