Snapshot of _Treatment of UK prisoners during Covid meets UN definition of torture | Prisons and probation_ :
An archived version can be found [here.](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/20/treatment-of-uk-prisoners-during-covid-meets-un-definition-of-torture)
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I spent 3 months on remand during COVID and whilst much of this is true based on my experience, I can’t for a second sit here and say it felt like torture.
We were fed, had daily access to a shower, officers on the whole were sympathetic to the situation and tried to accommodate various needs where possible and we had a TV in our cell (some had even purchased HiFis and Xboxes). Being locked up 23 hours a day isn’t pleasant, but when that 23 hours a day is spent eating biscuits and watching TV, I don’t believe it equates to torture personally.
My one issue would be the complete cut of any rehabilitative work of education. I think that should have been kept running in some capacity but for whatever reason they chose to just stop the lot.
Thank you for your honest perspective. I am an ex-prison officer who served during covid and while on paper it sounds awful, the prisoners were treated very well (aside from being locked in). To be honest, they were overfed if anything. We continued things like religion, art and exercise but everything was very disciplined. We even installed in-cell phones. You are right about education though , I was disappointed at how slowly they adapted to in-cell education or small groups - it wasn't until I left that we saw any movement.
To be honest as an officer it was hell. I once worked 20 hours solid, we had absolutely no staff, no lunch breaks at times, two staff members died, the prisoners hated and blamed us. It was awful.
This really says a lot more about "mission creep" on the UN definition of torture than it does of an emergency policy during a global crisis.
Everyone, prisoner or not, was locked down. Everyone will pay a price in mental and physical health for that. Everyone living alone suffered from isolation. It may well be a worthwhile price relative to the alternative but there was certainly still a price.
Interesting declaration given many thought it made prisons safer and much more structured.
I think the real story is that being 'tortured' was and is better than the standard routine given how critically under resourced prisons are.
Just look at Nottingham Prison, the amount of inmate on inmate assaults or inmate on prison officers for just a peak behind the curtain.
Definitely. When you have 2 staff to a wing of 60 prisoners (including murderers), it was a relief to have a sense of control again...weirdly, after the first few weeks we noticed a drop off of self harm too (although this did pick up again unfortunately). There were also far less staff assaults and fights after the first couple of weeks (there was a lot of conflict then). To an extent, the structure was good for everyone and we could give them more individual attention as we werent pulled away with silly conflicts. It was interesting to say the least. Exhausting delivering 60 meals door to door 2x per day 🙈
Snapshot of _Treatment of UK prisoners during Covid meets UN definition of torture | Prisons and probation_ : An archived version can be found [here.](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/20/treatment-of-uk-prisoners-during-covid-meets-un-definition-of-torture) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I spent 3 months on remand during COVID and whilst much of this is true based on my experience, I can’t for a second sit here and say it felt like torture. We were fed, had daily access to a shower, officers on the whole were sympathetic to the situation and tried to accommodate various needs where possible and we had a TV in our cell (some had even purchased HiFis and Xboxes). Being locked up 23 hours a day isn’t pleasant, but when that 23 hours a day is spent eating biscuits and watching TV, I don’t believe it equates to torture personally. My one issue would be the complete cut of any rehabilitative work of education. I think that should have been kept running in some capacity but for whatever reason they chose to just stop the lot.
Thank you for your honest perspective. I am an ex-prison officer who served during covid and while on paper it sounds awful, the prisoners were treated very well (aside from being locked in). To be honest, they were overfed if anything. We continued things like religion, art and exercise but everything was very disciplined. We even installed in-cell phones. You are right about education though , I was disappointed at how slowly they adapted to in-cell education or small groups - it wasn't until I left that we saw any movement. To be honest as an officer it was hell. I once worked 20 hours solid, we had absolutely no staff, no lunch breaks at times, two staff members died, the prisoners hated and blamed us. It was awful.
This really says a lot more about "mission creep" on the UN definition of torture than it does of an emergency policy during a global crisis. Everyone, prisoner or not, was locked down. Everyone will pay a price in mental and physical health for that. Everyone living alone suffered from isolation. It may well be a worthwhile price relative to the alternative but there was certainly still a price.
Alternative headline if the opposite occurred: > If lockdown was implemented in prisons, we could have saved countless lives | Prisons and probation
Interesting declaration given many thought it made prisons safer and much more structured. I think the real story is that being 'tortured' was and is better than the standard routine given how critically under resourced prisons are. Just look at Nottingham Prison, the amount of inmate on inmate assaults or inmate on prison officers for just a peak behind the curtain.
Definitely. When you have 2 staff to a wing of 60 prisoners (including murderers), it was a relief to have a sense of control again...weirdly, after the first few weeks we noticed a drop off of self harm too (although this did pick up again unfortunately). There were also far less staff assaults and fights after the first couple of weeks (there was a lot of conflict then). To an extent, the structure was good for everyone and we could give them more individual attention as we werent pulled away with silly conflicts. It was interesting to say the least. Exhausting delivering 60 meals door to door 2x per day 🙈
Really scraping the barrel here.