Prisons

Inspectors have given top marks to Hydebank Wood Secure College and Women's Prison — a first-time achievement for any prison facility in Northern Ireland. Outcomes for young men and women were ranked as "good" in both facilities against the four 'healthy prison' tests of ‘safety’,

Most Irish voters are open to proposals to tackle prison overcrowding by prioritising alternatives to imprisonment, according to a poll. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) commissioned RED C to gauge public opinion on a range of issues related to prison and the criminal justice system ahead of the

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has published its 10 priority proposals for party manifestos in the coming general election. The NGO is calling on all parties to make the following overarching commitments in the area of criminal justice:

A new approach to managing sexual offenders, with a particularly strong focus on rehabilitation, has been adopted by Irish prisons. The new model of intervention, called 'New Chapters', was developed by the Irish Prison Service following a review of the Building Better Lives (BBL) programme conducte

A former PSNI chief superintendent has been appointed as the new prisoner ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Darrin Jones, who has spent over three decades in policing, takes up office today for a three-year term.

Former Conservative justice minister David Gauke has been appointed by the UK's Labour government to lead a major sentencing review. The review comes as around 1,100 prisoners are to be released in England and Wales in a bid to ease prison overcrowding.

A former lord chief justice of England and Wales has lent his support to calls for prisoners serving indefinite jail terms to have their sentences reviewed. Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, who was the most senior judge in the jurisdiction between 2013 and 2017, worries that those imprisoned under the aboli

Penal experts have raised concerns that youth detention is not being treated as a last resort in spite of a statutory obligation. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) said the youth detention system is "now regularly at capacity" as it responded to a new report on conditions in Oberstown Children Det

Irish soldiers are no longer providing a 24/7 armed guard at Portlaoise Prison for the first time in more than 50 years. The Defence Forces were deployed to the prison at the height of the Troubles in the 1970s in order to prevent IRA prisoners from escaping.

The Irish prison system is "creaking at the seams" and promises of new prison places will not adequately address the crisis, penal experts have warned. The prisons budget has been increased by 18 per cent to €525 million in Budget 2025, which the government said will increase prison capacity an

A prisoner in Maghaberry who was denied drug addiction treatment for over three years suffered a breach of his human rights, Northern Ireland's High Court has ruled. The man, represented by Harte Coyle Collins prison law solicitor Chris McCann, brought a judicial review challenge against the South E

The High Court has determined that the failure on part of the prison authorities to provide kosher food to a rabbi did not constitute a sufficiently egregious circumstance such as to render his detention unlawful. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Ms Justice Nuala Jackson stated that she did n

A new solar farm at Hydebank Wood Secure College and Female Prison is to produce around 15 per cent of the site's total annual power needs. The 668 solar panels, capable of producing 356 kWp of electricity, are estimated to reduce electricity bills at the facility by around £60,000 per year, b

Older prisoners in England and Wales could be held in secure social care in the community to account for their specific health needs, a landmark new report has suggested. The report by Dr Jayne Price, published today by the Prison Reform Trust, calls on the Ministry of Justice to publish a national

English prisons are virtually full, according to new figures showing fewer than 100 places now left across the male prison estate. According to the BBC, there were a record 84,596 inmates in the male prison estate as of Friday 23 August.