Inmates are able to call fellow, trained prisoners anonymously – at any time when they are in their cell – to discuss problems or concerns as part of the never-before-seen initiative that was launched in December.
Prison bosses say the scheme is especially important at night when vulnerable inmates are most likely to experience dark thoughts. The scheme allows prisoners to use their in-cell phones to call an on-shift counsellor – a fellow inmate who has undergone a ten-week training course. In January and February, 88 calls were made to four trained ‘listeners’. Two other prisoners are currently being trained.
The Jersey branch of the charity Samaritans is now working with regional and central offices to help roll the scheme out to other prisons.
Levels of suicide and self-harm in prisons in the UK have been described as a ‘scandal’. Peter Clarke, chief inspector of prisons, made the comments as he published a report last year to show there had been 83 self-inflicted deaths in male prisons in 2018–19 – including Victoria Crescent killer Damien Rzeszowski – a rise of 15 per cent on the previous year. Reports of self-harm rose by a quarter from 36,347 to 45,310.
In Jersey, there were 11 ‘serious’ and 33 ‘minor’ self-harm incidents in 2018 and 2019. There have been no suicides in the last 15 years.
Self-harm ranges from swallowing items to scratching and cutting. Some vulnerable offenders may have repeated self-harm incidents during their time in prison.
Nick Cameron, governor and head of the Prison Service, said the initiative was part of a ‘comprehensive anti-suicide strategy and a focus on inmates’ wellbeing’.
Prisons in the UK launched a face-to-face inmate-to-inmate listening scheme in the 1990s to combat suicides in prison. Jersey followed suit in the early 2000s but it is the first prison in the British Isles to utilise the in-cell phone technology.
Mr Cameron added: ‘It had been requested that we let some of the listeners out at night to speak to other inmates. We couldn’t do that because of security, so Nick [Watkins, deputy governor] went away and came up with this idea and came up with the idea of using the in-cell phone system.
‘It’s a great, efficient use of the technology we currently have and it’s arguably working better than the face-to-face listening because there is that anonymity.’
Inmates can call ‘listeners’ free of charge from their cell, as well as the Samaritans. Maria Miller, safe custody officer at La Moye, explained that since the scheme was introduced there had been almost no calls to Samaritans.
The Jersey branch prison support officer for Samaritans, José, explained that inmates often preferred to speak to other prisoners about their problems because they could empathise better.
La Moye has four main wings: a female wing, a vulnerable prisoner wing – which includes sex offenders – and two general population wings. Calls to the ‘listeners’ can span wings, meaning male inmates can speak to women and offenders in the vulnerable area can speak to those in general population and vice versa.
Mrs Miller explained that that posed obvious risks but, to date, the scheme had not been misused.
