Category Archives: Prisons: Opening and Closing
23 Brazillian Cops get 156 Years Each for Killing 13 Prisoners
The prison being demolished in 2002
Read Converse – the national newspaper for prisoners in England and Wales
A jury has found 23 Brazilian police officers guilty of killing 13 inmates during the 1992 riot at Sao Paulo’s Carandiru prison that left 111 inmates dead.
Three officers were acquitted in the case.
Judge Jose Augusto Marzagao sentenced each of those convicted to prison terms of 156 years.
No-one can serve more than 30 years in prison under Brazilian law. Their attorney has filed an appeal.
The officers had originally been charged with killing 15 inmates, but prosecutors said that two of those prisoners were stabbed to death by fellow inmates.
The officers are free pending the outcome of their appeal.
Another 79 officers will be tried in the coming months in connection with the slayings at the now-defunct prison.
Read Converse – the national newspaper for prisoners in England and Wales
WELLINGBOROUGH PRISON TO BE CLOSED
Wellingborough Prison will close by the end of this year with the loss of almost 600 prison places, Kenneth Clarke said.
The Justice Secretary said closing the category C jail in Northamptonshire will save £10 million per year.
The prison population in England and Wales was 86,652 last Friday, with enough capacity for a further 3,500 inmates, thePrison Service said.
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Today’s announcement of the closure of Wellingborough Prison signals a slowing down in the inexorable growth of theprison population over the past two decades.
“Each prison place costs nearly £40,000 a year and half of all prisoners reoffend within a year of release.
“Before we sink even more taxpayers’ money into large private jails, it’s time to invest in effective measures to cut crime that give a better return for the public purse.”
She went on: “There is sound evidence for a switch of investment to well organised community sentences, restorative justice and appropriate treatment and care for people with mental health needs, learning disabilities and drug and alcohol addictions.”
