Brown forgets about the dying prisoners

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Therelease of the Lockerbie bomber must have raised the hopes of the many non-celebrity ill and infirm prisoners in English jails.

Since Gordon Brown was so reluctant for a mass-murderer to die in prison, surely he would wish to extend the same sympathy to the large number of frail or dying prisoners currently advancing towards a state of harmlessness behind bars? Or does Brown’s humanitarianism only surface when he’s sucking up to a dictator?

According to the Howard League for Penal Reform, there are already 2,265 prisoners aged over 60 in England, of whom 129 are over 76. Some 94 died of natural causes in our prisons last year.

And thanks to a combination of longevity, longer sentences and Labour’s love of prision, the over-60s are the fastest-growing group in English jails. Yet there is no coherent strategy for the care of older prisoners, and the terminally-ill may only apply for compassionate release three months before their predicted death, meaning many die in custody. Even without the high-profile Megrahi case, the need for reform is clear.