Former Governor Belmarsh/Brixton/ Swaleside, Inspector/Head Anti-Corruption, consultant, expert witness, author. Born and raised in Greater Manchester
England
Joined February 2011
- Tweets13K
- Following1K
- Followers4.2K
- Likes3.3K
Pinned Tweet
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic.
John Podmore retweeted
HMYOI Werrington: fewer assaults and effective violence management, but far too long locked up
Read the report: hmiprisons.justiceinspectora…
And the press notice: hmiprisons.justiceinspectora…
ALT Social media postcard for the publication of HMIP's report of its independent review of progress at HMYOI Werrington. It features a photograph of the exterior of the institution and the dates of the inspection; 24 August to 8 September
John Podmore retweeted
HMP Bedford: performing better, but drugs, violence and poor living conditions remained problems
Read the report: hmiprisons.justiceinspectora…
And the press notice: hmiprisons.justiceinspectora…
ALT Bar graph showing the healthy prison scores for HMP Bedford when it was inspected in 2023 and 2026. It shows that the scores for Safety and Respect had both improved from poor to not sufficiently good, the score for Purposeful activity had remained poor, and the score for Preparation for release had remained not sufficiently good.
Very serious questions about the actions of the PM and most importantly the Cabinet Secretary but no one seems interested.
Collateral Damage - the unlawful dismissal of Olly Robbins
@KenMacdonaldKC and @TimOwenKC discuss this and other UK Law and Politics issues on this week’s episode of Double Jeopardy.
Listen here: link.podtrac.com/aw3azzp5
So the policy as I understand it is the build new prisons at £600k per cell and £50k a year to run to solve the released prisoners crisis.
Early release prisoners given tents after Probation Service housing shortage
lbc.co.uk/article/early-rele…
The proposals are an insult to victims and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the prison environment.
And not to forget the new showers at £250k PER SHOWER and new windows at £14,473 PER WINDOW- but the promotions of those responsible go on and on.
There is always talk of the prison system being dilapidated, short of funds and facilities but : healthcare centre at Wandsworth was completed in 2021. It was not used by a single prisoner for 3 and a half years after completion.
John Podmore retweeted
Want to deepen your understanding of ketamine beyond the basics?
Join The Loop for an above-entry-level course informed by frontline experience of drug use, drug markets and harm reduction, including discussion of acute and chronic risks.
Book: tinyurl.com/yhtc62e9
Anyone who thinks this amounts to serious punishment and any form of deterrence has no understanding of the reality of prison and prisoners.
Some serious questions for line managers surely?
And WFH practices?
Kashim Chowdhury, the WFM civil servant who had five full-time jobs blames 'stress, panic and PTSD' courtnewsuk.co.uk/wfm-civil-…
A quite remarkable episode that has received very little attention and poses many questions about the behaviour of both the PM and the Cabinet Secretary . Is there a handbook out there to help understand what went on? @NotThatBigIan
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
Proud to have introduced all sorts of music projects in prison- it was a bit tricky getting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra into the Brixton Chapel - but it worked.
#newsround: HMP Manchester criticised over music course aimed at reducing reoffending insidetime.org/newsround/hmp…
Promoted from Acting DG and COO - presumably performance related
This is why there’s a prison capacity crisis. As fast as new cells are delivered, others are emptied for repairs. @MoJGovUK just trumpeted 250 new places at HMP Elmley, Kent. What it didn’t say was a houseblock with 127 places has just been closed.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
Tagging is failing the public - more importantly it is failing victims. So too is HMPPS which continues to fail by every single metric but remains unaccountable. What was that at Wanno? £250k a shower! It’s not about resources.
#newsround: Tagging is failing public, says influential research group insidetime.org/newsround/tag…
Page 16: [corruption ]…..”implies that an action is improper in some way and morally reprehensible “
DG and COO HMPPS
facebook.com/reel/2155296538…
