§ Mr. BlairTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether Keith Whitehouse's name was placed on the police national computer, in accordance with Home Office rules, in order to alert police forces that he was wanted, after he failed to return from home leave in January 1991:
(2) whether Keith Waterhouse was eligible for home leave under the Home Office rules barring leave for prisoners suffering from mental disorder; and when he was given home leave from HMP Risley in January 1991.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mr. Tony Blair, dated 21 January 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the eligibility of Keith Whitehouse for home leave from prison in January 1991 and whether his name was placed on the Police National Computer after he failed to return to Risley prison on 11 June 1991. I have set out the circumstances and background 3n some detail because I think you will find it helpful in this tragic case.In January 1991 Mr. Whitehouse, then known as Nico Constantine or Keith Nicholas Constantine, was at Featherstone prison not Risley. He was a category C prisoner and was granted home leave between 18 and 21 January 1991 so that he could arrange a date for his wedding. He returned to Featherstone on time.He was later transferred to Lancaster prison and then moved to Risley in May 1991. He was allowed another period of home leave between 5–11 June, which had been agreed at Lancaster. The governor of Risley had no reason to interfere with that 916W decision He failed to return and was unlawfully at large until his arrest on 28 November 1991. He would have been released from prison at the end of his sentence on 29 August 1991.Prisoners who are "considered to be mentally ill or suffering from mental disorder, or who have been committed to prison as a place of safety" are ineligible for consideration for home leave. The definition of mental disorder is considered to be a condition requiring psychiatric care or treatment under the terms of the 1983 Mental Health Act. Mr. Whitehouse had been described in a report to court in 1990 as having a "psychopathic personality disorder", but he was not considered mentally ill and did not require psychiatric treatment. On each occasion when he was considered for home leave, prison doctors considered his case. They did not find any medical reason to suggest leave should not be granted.When a prisoner escapes, absconds or fails to return from temporary absence such as home leave it is the responsibility of the governor to inform the local police force. This was done within four hours of Mr. Whitehouse's failure to return on 11 June 1991. The Cheshire Police incident log confirms that Keith Nicholas Constantine was reported as unlawfully at large from Risley. I am advised that it is now impossible to confirm whether Cheshire Police then passed his details to the Police National Computer, as this data would have been deleted from the computer after 13 months.I naturally regret the very tragic outcome in this case. But I am satisfied that Mr. Whitehouse's requests for home leave were properly considered according to the rules that existed in 1991. His failure to return was properly reported to the police.Revised instructions now apply to requests for home leave. In particular, governors are required to make a rigorous risk assessment in each case, which is aimed at reducing the likelihood of further tragedies occurring.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) male and (b) female nationals of other European countries were either remand or sentenced prisoners being held in prisons in England and Wales as of 10 January.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 21 January 1994:
MALE AND FEMALE NATIONALS FROM OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIESThe home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many (a) male and (b) female nationals of other European countries were either remand or sentenced prisoners being held in prisons in England and Wales as of 10 January.The latest available provisional information is for prisoners in Prison Service establishments on 30 September 1993. On that date there were 1,022 males (of whom 309 were remanded and 713 were sentenced) and 46 females (of whom 17 were remanded and 29 were sentenced) recorded as nationals of European countries other than the United Kingdom. These figures exclude those for whom a nationality was not recorded.
Population in Prison Service establishments by type of prisoner and nationality as at 30 September 1993 Type of prisoner Nationality Remand Male Sentenced All Remand Female Sentenced All Angola — 5 5 — — — Benin — — — — 1 1 Central African Republic 4 2 6 — — — Ivory Coast 1 1 2 — — — Ethiopia 1 2 3 — — — Ghana 16 41 57 5 18 23 Gambia — 4 4 — — — Kenya 2 25 27 1 — 1 Liberia 1 2 3 — — — Libya 1 7 8 — — — Morocco 6 18 249 — 1 1 Mauritania — 2 2 — 1 1 Mauritius 1 8 9 — — — Malawi — 3 3 — 1 1 Nigeria 37 134 171 14 48 62 Seychelles 1 4 5 — — — Sudan — 1 1 — 1 1 St. Helena — 1 1 — — — Siena Leone 2 7 9 — — — Somalia 9 9 18 — — — Tunisia — 6 6 — — — Tanzania 4 5 9 1 — 1 Uganda 4 I5 19 — — — South Africa 3 17 20 — 2 2 Zambia 4 3 7 — 1 1 Zaire 2 6 8 — — — Zimbabwe 2 9 11 — — — Total 101 337 438 21 74 95
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the foreign language documents available in prisons in England and Wales to be given to people serving sentences who do not speak English; in what languages the documents are available; and what information each contains.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 21 January 1994:
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§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) male and (b) female nationals of each African country were either remand or sentenced prisoners being held in prisons in England and Wales on 10 January.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 21 January 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many (a) male and (b) female nationals of each African country were either remand or sentenced prisoners being held in prisons in England and Wales on 10 January.The latest available information is given in the attached table.The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about foreign language documents available to be given to prisoners in England and Wales who do not speak English.The foreign language documents issued centrally by the Prison Service are listed below, along with details of the languages into which they have been translated and an outline of their content. Further foreign language documents may also have been produced locally by establishments or by other agencies, but details are not kept centrally.Prisoners Information Pack.
Languages: Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Dutch, French, Gujerati, Hindi, Italian, Punjabi, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Welsh.
Content: useful organisations; starting your sentence; visits, letters and phone calls; requests and complaints; race relations; social security and discharge grants; health and hygiene; welfare and religion; prison discipline; unconvicted and civil prisoners; women prisoners; young offenders; release; and visiting prisoners.
919WForeign Prisoners Resource Pack
Languages: staff section—English only; prisoner section—English, Arabic, Bengali, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Gujerati, Hincli, Italian, Spanish, and Urdu.
Content: the criminal justice system; immigration; customs and excise; embassies and consulates.
The Race Relations Policy Statement
Languages: Arabic, Bengali, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Punjabi, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, and Welsh.
Content: Statement of Prison Service race relations policies.
"Custody, Care and Justice: The way ahead for the Prison Service in England and Wales",
Languages: Arabic, Bengali, Dutch, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Punjabi, Spanish, Turkish, and Urdu.
Content: details of the Government White Paper "Custody, Care, and Justice."
How to make a request or a complaint
Languages: Bengali, Dutch, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, and Spanish.
Content: information on request and complaint procedure in establishments
Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984
Languages: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.
Content: information for foreign prisoners about the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984.