Shock! Horror! Vermin in Prison.


Lantern Swinger
Not terribly PC, but the stories today about the Inspector of Prisons complaining about vermin in Pentonville and no flushing loos in Peterhead make me chuckle. If there was no vermin (the human kind) we wouldn't need prisons to begin with! How many flushing loos are provided for soldiers living semi-permanently under canvas in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Whilst I accept your point about our boys in Iraq and Afganistan, two wrongs do not make a right.

Imagine if you had the misfortune to be in prison, there are many ex-serviceman who are or have been, for whatever reason. Is this how you would expect to be treated. For goodness sake it is the 21st century, in a prison provided by the state. It is not Auchstwitz.

Before you all start I am not an apologist for the Human Rights Act or the ECHR, however I do believe that people - even prisoners - deserve the right to be treated with dignity whilst they are detained by HMP. Which might I add, is exactly the reason why there is a court martial going in Bulford as we speak.


War Hero
Must admit, I am with Rosey on this one. Whilst I am sure we all believe these 'rodents' in prison should be left to rot, they should at least have the basic sanitary functions available and working. Remember, not all prisoners are sex offenders, rapists etc. Just think of that elderly woman who was imprisoned for not paying her council tax. Would you want her to suffer the ignomy of no flushing toilets just because she stood up against the government? :wink:

What I do 'object' to is the fact they are pampered above all belief with gyms, playstations, tv, further education etc and even allowed visits by their partners for sex. Some are even allowed out to go shopping. :twisted:
rosinacarley said:

If ex-Service people are in prison, they probably deserve to be there and prison should involve some degree of punishment. I don't think slopping out is necessarily that undignified, but, even if it is, people employed by HMG in the "defence" of the realm have to do it on a regular basis, so don't expect me to feel sorry for inmates of HMPs, the huge majority of whom are not misguided little old ladies, but the scum of the earth.

Oh - and I'd bet that you are an apologist, whether you like to admit it or not!


War Hero
Maybe we should treat them with the same regard and respect that they have for their victims????
I think the problem with putting undeserving people into fetid prisons is a problem that should be sorted out further down the legal chain, not by improving prisons to such a standard that it's comfortable. I've seen prisons on programs that were more comfortable than any of the hospitals i've worked in. Admittedly they were probably the 'better' prisons, but still.


Lantern Swinger
I don't see how people can be in prison out of misfortune. People on remand aside, those who are there, are there because they have been convicted of a criminal offence, the severity or repeated nature of which warranted a custodial sentence.
The cold, hard truth is that prison is there to serve as a punishment, yes, before someone jumps down my throat, prison does serve to rehabilitate and re-educate as well, but its primary purpose is to punish.
Inmates committed their crimes, knowing that they would be punished by the legal system if caught, so I don't have a great deal of sympathy with them, when they whinge about conditions and the lack of flushing toilets. It's not supposed to be nice, that's why naughty people get sent there and when prisoners whinge about their lot, they would do will to consider who's to blame for it.


The worst part of it all - when they get legal aid to take the prison officials to court...........if you cant do the time you shouldnt do the crime..

No Squirrel they dont go to prison because of misfortune they go because they got caught, you clean the messdecks even do Cap`n of the heads , you clean up in your home, its these bleedin` hearts that should do the time with them, the justice system is a farce, but we`ve been down that road on another thread.


Lantern Swinger
at least they dont have to clean up the after heads because of a blow back in the stp they are only emptying out there own excrement and urine not the entire wing . So I guess no sympathy here then there is always the old fashioned way of emptying your bowel and bladder before they lock you in for the night. If i could hold it during action stations then they can hold it during the hours they should be asleep dreaming of ways to be a productive member of society upon their release.
If you bothered to read the story, it was not about slopping out, it was about there being only chemical toilets in HMP Peterhead.

I knew you would all react (with the exception of Brigham) this way, part of the reason why we send people to prison is for rehabilitiation (as well as punishment and keeping them off the streets etc). How can treating them so appaulingly be good for the rehabilitiation.

What about ex-service personnel who leave, do not have a family home, end up on the streets because of PTSD from the horrible things that they have seen in war, end up doing drugs and thieving to fund their habit. That could be you, I know it is not, but it could be.

Stop being so judgemental about the reasons people end up in prison, sure there are the rapists, the murderers, the habitual recidivists but there are also some very sad cases. And before anyone else accuses me of being an apologist for the ECHR and HRA I do not practice crim, I practice conveyancing. But it is about reckonising that actually they do have human rights - whether you like it or not that law is here to stay, so to avoid any claims under the act - just give them the basic amenities and try and help them become useful members of society.


War Hero
Book Reviewer
Hurrah, the voice of sense and reason returns! Can we all form a queue and join your party when you stand for election? :wink:


War Hero
So you want the bloke that blugeons a 70 year old lady after raping her then stealing her pension to fund a drug habit to have a warm,cosy palce to live.TV on demand etc etc??????
No wonder crims like it inside!


War Hero
Book Reviewer
Sensational judgements like that are a bit sweeping - not every person who is in prison is a murdering rapist with a drug habit; some are 70-year old ladies who refuse to pay their Council Tax, or the MS sufferer who got caught smoking a joint in to comfort of his home to ease his pain, ad nauseum.

Cure the problem, not the symptom. A bit utopian but who knows; one day we might get it right...


Lantern Swinger
Prison is there to punish and to deter.If a person has commited a crime for which a custodial sentance is given then he is beyond rehabilitation.Prison should be so unplesant that a criminal will not want to go back for a second dose.....This works.
No mention the of Naval Ships, ones ive been on were thick with cockies they were every where. Even when they fumigated Eagle the buggers came back in force, dont modern ships have them? why should prisons get all the fun, lost and won many half tots on the races.


War Hero
Yea and I`ll tell you something else.
There`s no shittas in the cells in Pompey DQ`s either, you have to slop out each morning,


So I`m told.



War Hero
Unless you have ever worked in a Prison, none of you have any idea of what goes on, or how it runs.
The scum bags, yes scum bags have the upper hand. They know that they can wreck their cell and toss everything out through a small window in pieces.They don't care, because they know my first job the next morning was to refurnish that cell! They know that they can "up end" their full meal platter all over the landing,other inmates or staff and still be entitled to a meal. BTW they do the same thing with "Joeys" ( thats their term for shit filled socks)
For most of them, Prison is an improvement on their life style. But is it a punishment? No. Is it rehabilitation? No! Does Prison work? Yes! Because while Scumbag is incarcerated, he can't mug, burgle, rape TWOC or any of the numerous other unsavoury pastimes he/she get up to. Unless of course its on another Scummer.
These people are a different tribe to the normal people, totally amoral. They love you liberals or purveyors of the ECHR. You're the reason they get all the perks whilst inside and get out early. My early years in the Mob had a more disciplined regime.
Oh and one last thing, Old age pensioner tax evaders and genuine hardship cases like ex servicemen usually get better treatment from the Staff because they aren't scummers and only want to do their time and leave. Not like the career Crims.
15 years worth of experience talking.
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