Archer condemned for jail book

News that Jeffrey Archer is to publish a book on his time at London's Belmarsh jail has come in for wide criticism.

He could lose remission from his four year sentence if A Prison Diary, his view of life behind bars, breaks strict guidelines.

Norman Brennan, the director of the Victims of Crime Trust, says Archer is "making a mockery of the criminal justice system".

He said: "Within a year of his four-year prison sentence he was seen walking in town centres, eating and drinking and living as though he was a law-abiding citizen.

"The truth is he is a common criminal who has committed a serious criminal offence for which he has been rightly sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

"That is exactly where he should be, serving his time behind closed doors, not living it up like a celebrity."

The book is set to be serialised in the Daily Mail newspaper payment for which will be donated to drug rehabilitation and victim support groups.

John Cryer, the Labour MP for Hornchurch, says he is tabling a House of Commons motion condemning publication.

Colleague Peter Bradley says he will refer the Daily Mail to the Press Complaints Commission amid concerns it could breach the industry's Code of Conduct on payments to convicts.

But Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "If the publication of these diaries alerts the public to the poor conditions in our overcrowded jails, they may prove a force for change."