INSIDE LOOKING OUT - The Truth About Life in a UK Prison Today

LONDON - June 18, 2014 - PRLog -- Stanley Fletcher (http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/stan-fletcher/98/500/997/) spent six months in one the UK’s most famous prisons, forced into an environment where violence and drug abuse seem to be state condoned. Inside Looking Out (http://insidelookingout.co.uk) tells his story of that time, his fight for survival and for retaining his self-respect.

This unique account of daily life behind bars today is much more than a memoir. With episode after episode, it exposes the hidden truth about the terrible inadequacies and inefficiencies of the UK’s Prison Service; the realities that the public normally never get to hear about.

There are all the details about how so many people who should never be in prison are there. There is the minimal if not zero impact on offender rehabilitation. There are all the so called improvements to the prison regime dreamt up by people who have no idea of the impact of these on people in the prisons; not least the Prison Officers who are supposed to implement change when they have no real understanding of what they are supposed to be doing. Cuts in education and facilities are described as Improvements and ‘sold’ to the prisoners as a “shorter, fuller day”!

Alongside such tales about it taking almost five months to get an optician’s appointment to the normal response time for an emergency alarm being sounded by a prisoner being 35 minutes, Stanley also exposes critical problems with the legal system as related to not only his case, but those of a number of fellow prisoners. As the book concludes and Stanley sits and waits for his release on his final day, he reflects on what he has experienced. This is typical of the views that he has to share:

“I have met numerous people I have truly believed to be innocent. They have been unfairly arrested and even though they have been found not guilty later, their lives will never be the same and there is no apology from the system … from anyone. To put an innocent person in this environment is the biggest state crime of all.”

“From the prison workers I have occasionally experienced kindness and compassion, but also victimisation, humiliation an even hatred. The biggest thing you get from them of course is indifference.”


What people say:


“This is a fascinating book. Even though I have spent decades working on prison issues, there is always more to learn and the detail in this book is the most telling“
- Frances Crook, Chief Executive, The Howard League for Penal Reform

“I really enjoyed this book. It is unique in that it’s the first one [prison memoir] written from the point of view of someone in the Vulnerable Person’s Unit. It is a great illustration, from the inside, of what the Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Justice, has done to the prison system”
- Noel Smith, Commissioning Editor, Inside Time

"Inside Looking Out allows you to step into one man's shoes as he faces what, for him at least, is inevitable. To share in those emotions and be allowed to follow this roller-coaster ride through the justice system makes for a compelling read from cover to cover.”
- Steve Mingo

-ENDS-

Visit http://www.insidelookingout.co.uk  for contact details, book background and an author bio.

Available digitally at http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00L1QGR0Y