One is a tragedy, two is suspicious, three is murder. ‘Meadow’s Law’ – except he plagiarised that phrase, like everything else he said, it was not his sound bite, he was a fraud. It was in fact a phrase first used by an American forensic pathologist who specialised in sudden infant deaths; Janice Ophoven. Why… Continue reading When ‘truth’ is driven by headlines. The death of our CJS.

Back in 2000 there was a very small band of people who decided to openly stand up for women who were accused of murdering their babies. Often we were the pariahs of society. Attaching yourself to such a controversial and emotive cause often meant running the gauntlet of being verbally and in my case, physically… Continue reading John Batt a port in the storm.

Yesterday I tried to explain why so many people from the prison community felt so betrayed by Alex’s behaviour. I am not sure I managed to adequately convey the strength of their feelings. It was a hastily written piece driven by anger. Some people on SM chose to make snide remarks about the feelings of… Continue reading My name is Penny and I am an ex con. Alex Cavendish part 2

You might be wondering why the title of this particular blog reads like the start of an AA meeting, however after recent events on Twitter relating to Alex Cavendish, I feel a need to ally myself with a community I was part of and attempt explain, from my own point of view, some of the… Continue reading My name is Penny I am an ex con. Alex Cavendish my take.

   It is the removal of somebody’s freedom that is the punishment for a crime. Anything else that follows in HMP that leads to the harming of an inmate is abuse.   Rehabilitation must not start with fear of reprisal Because of an erroneous label attached to me of being guilty of a schedule 1 offence… Continue reading The coercive nature of HMP carrot and stick. My experience.

The below is a transcript of notes taken from the shaken baby conference. The verbatim notes were taken by an American lawyer and have been sworn before a judge as a true and accurate account of what was said on the day. Here you have a then serving police officer who headed up a unit… Continue reading Transcript SBS conference MPS talk on “How do you influence judges”