Jail governor resigns - Chaotic prisons

KATHLEEN McMAHON, who quit as a prison governor, has not said anything that so many others deeply concerned with prisoner welfare and the effectiveness of our prison system have not said many times before.

Ms McMahon spoke of “dreadful” overcrowding citing an instance where 137 women were held at a centre designed for 85.

There is a worrying consistency to these depictions of overcrowded jails, where the possibility of starting a new life seems not to be an option.

The implication is that jail is for containment and nothing more.

This is not what a humane society would want and is another consequence of failed public management.