Prisoners can talk to media, says judge

Prisoners can talk to media, says judge

By Ian Burrell Home Affairs Correspondent

Saturday, 23 March 2002

Serving prisoners won the right yesterday to take part in radio programmes and speak to newspapers about issues relating to Britain's jails and the inmates held inside them.

Serving prisoners won the right yesterday to take part in radio programmes and speak to newspapers about issues relating to Britain's jails and the inmates held inside them.

A judge upheld a legal challenge brought by long-serving prisoner John Hirst, who claimed that jail authorities were breaching his human rights by preventing him from talking to the media.

Mr Justice Elias at a High Court sitting in Cardiff ruled that Home Office policy on dealing with access to the media by phone by serving prisoners was unlawful.

The judge said that serving inmates had a right to speak directly to journalists on "matters of legitimate public interest relating to prisons and prisoners".

The Home Office, which was granted leave to appeal against the judgment, has been ordered to pay the prisoner's costs. Hirst, 53, who was given life for manslaughter in 1980 and who is being held at Sudbury prison in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, said he was "chuffed" at the ruling.

"I have to give the judge credit for having the courage to hold out against the authorities," he said. "I find it incredible that the state is able to gag prisoners when there is a debate going on about jail overcrowding or electronic tagging." Hirst, who was yesterday on day release at an office of the charity Barnardos, where he works four days a week, said prisoners had a unique perspective on penal issues.

"We have got an inside-out view, whereas the lawyers can only look at prison from the outside in," he said.

The ruling will not allow prisoners to participate in live "phone-ins" and interviews for radio will have to be pre-recorded and cleared by jail authorities to ensure they do not include inappropriate material.

Hirst's solicitor Nogah Ofer, said subjects for discussion that were barred by the ruling included comment about the prisoner's own case, information on prison security or the identification of prison staff.

The Prison Service tightened restrictions on phone calls after convicted killer Jeremy Bamber was able to participate in a live radio debate from jail.

Hirst, who has established an organisation called the Association of Prisoners to campaign for better jail conditions, accepted that some victims of crime or their relatives might feel "aggrieved" to hear a prisoner talking on the radio.