The uk prisons crisis

Over her decade as a prison officer, Alex South worked with some extraordinary colleagues, and saw what prisons at their best are like. She also saw the bad side – illicit affairs, violence, squalid conditions – getting gradually worse

THIS YEAR MARKS THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEADLIEST TERRORIST ATROCITY IN THE UK SINCE LOCKERBIE – THE BLOODY 7 JULY BOMBINGS

As a sentencing review proposes ways to tackle the prison population, Closer looks at what it might mean for women who have often been coerced into crime

Seeing my little brother’s face squashed up against the glass, I burst out laughing. It was October 2000 and I’d popped to see my mum, Gaynor, then 48, after dropping my eldest daughter, then four, at

With the prison system under strain, low-risk offenders could be serving time working in Iceland instead of sitting in a cell – but not everyone’s convinced it’s a good idea. So we ask…

FRED SCULTHORP