Martin Narey

Had I not been the Director General of Prisons when Jeffrey Archer served his four-year sentence for perjury, I think I might still have found some of the sentimentality over his recent death hard to take. But my experience of personally ensuring his celebrity status did not disadvantage him in custody, and then having to deal with his appalling behaviour, his exploitation of prisoners and staff, and his constant manipulation of the media means that I must offer a different view. Prior to his imprisonment, Archer’s general view of those who go to prison was not sympathetic. Famously, he had the 1993 Tory conference baying their support when, in introducing Michael Howard’s 'prison works' speech, he demanded that the then home secretary 'stand and deliver'.

In 1982, to the shock of almost everyone who knew me, I began a two-year training programme designed to turn me into a competent prison governor. It was a largely unmemorable experience but with a singular exception. I read an article about the commandants of the Nazi death camps called ‘A curious absence of monsters.’ It was and remains the most troubling thing about the Holocaust I’ve read, and it encouraged me to read a great deal more about the individuals who industrialised barbarism.  Auschwitz as it is currently presented fails in one important respect In all the 23 years I worked in and around prisons in England and Wales, including seven years leading the Prison Service, I never stopped fretting over the possibility that some of my staff might abuse prisoners.

Mike Amesbury, the former Labour MP who has been sent to prison for ten weeks for punching a constituent in the street, is rather unlucky: the truth is that very few first-time offenders get locked up. It’s probable that those convicted of similar offences in the future may still be imprisoned. But the use of short prison sentences for non-violent offences, however numerous and persistent, are under threat. Very few first-time offenders get sent to prison David Gauke’s Sentencing Review, which is due to be published in full over the coming months, is likely to make it harder for magistrates to hand out short jail sentences.

The renewed interest in the disproportionate involvement of men of Pakistani origin in historic group child sexual abuse has led to trenchant criticism of the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. What has been less acknowledged is the failure of the children’s sector to acknowledge the horror of what was happening. They were part of a consensus which betrayed some of the most vulnerable and innocent children in the UK.  Deeply disadvantaged children being repeatedly raped deserved better I worked with offenders for 23 years and led the Prison Service for seven, resigning in 2005 to lead Barnardo’s.