Governor deplores prisons

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 7

Governor deplores prisons

NZPA London The governor of Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London yesterday likened it to a “large penal dustbin," in a letter to “The Times” newspaper. John McCarthy was joining the debate in Britain on the best way to reduce the overcrowded prison population. He said he was driven to write to the newspaper “as my patience and tolerance are finally exhausted." “From "my personal point of view I did not join the prison service to manage overcrowded cattle pens, nor did I join to run a prison where the interests of the individuals have to be sacrificed continually to the interests of the institution, nor did I join to be a member of a service where staff I admire are forced to run a society that debases," said Mr McCarthy. “I am aware of the difficulties that the Home Secretary faces in reducing the prison population, but I find it difficult to understand why, automatic release on licence for short-term prisoners is not introduced,” he added. “As it is evident that the present uncivilised conditions in prison seem likely to continue and as I find this incompatible with any moral ethic, I wish to give notice that I, as governor of the major , prison in the United Kingdom, cannot for much longer tolerate, either as a professional or an individual, the inhumanity of the system within which I work.”