§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is their policy to release to the media photographs of any category A or category B prisoners who escape from custody.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility 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 to Lord Marlesford from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the release to the media of photographs of any category A or category B prisoners who escape from custody.
It is not the policy of the Prison Service to issue any photographs of escaped prisoners to the media. The Prison Service provide photographs to the police, who, after considering the tactical and strategical merits of each individual case, may decide that to issue them to the media will assist them with their enquiries and the successful recapture of the prisoners concerned.