Law on the Landings

Law on the Landings

By: Ben Gunn

For some time I have been having odd thoughts about Mark Leech. Where does his heart lie - with the Director General? The bank manager? Or prisoners?

Every time you write a letter to your solicitor and mark it ‘Rule 39’, you should thank Mark Leech, editor of the Prisons Handbook. In one of his more important wins in his various legal battles whilst he was still a con, he overturned the idea that we could only have free access to our solicitors when issuing legal proceedings. Up until that point, the Prison Service could, and did, interfere. That Inside Time still gets letters from cons complaining about screws messing with legal mail is a testament to the importance we place on this issue.

He also roped Governor’s Adjudications into the arena of Judicial Review, persuading the courts to keep a beady eye on the shenanigans that went on. Leech changed the legal landscape for prisoners, and I for one will remember that effort.

But this was many years ago; before most Inside Time readers knew the inside of a prison. Now, as they say, the boy has done good. Very good. The Prisons Handbook for starters. Now the paper Converse, and the Institute of Prison Law and its distance learning certificate of competence in prison law. He must be raking it in hand over fist.

You know me, and by now some of you may be wondering where this is going to end up? Well, all I have said up to now comes with a big fat BUT attached to it. Given his history, I am very hesitant to criticize the man in any way. He took his lumps and he fought his corner; but that is history, no matter how significant to prison law geeks like myself. The fact that he has a reputation of not taking criticism lightly must also be born in mind.

Even so, two developments have caused me to break silence on Mark Leech. The first is his criticism of barrister Flo Krause. Former prisoner John Hirst who, along with Flo Krause, was instrumental in getting votes for prisoners, has already defended her honour, so I will make a broader point. But that he took two digs at her in the latest issue of Converse makes him look petty and spiteful, and is what tipped me over the edge to write this. Leech has a Prison Law Institute to market and money to make. Fair enough. But to imply that lawyers who choose not to take up his qualification are less worthy of our custom is a step too far. That these lawyers are the only ones allowed to advertise in Converse makes this seem a tad incestuous and finance-driven. A good prison lawyer not only knows the law but has the stones to fight the prisoner’s corner.

It is only in recent years that lawyers have taken much interest in our small world, and to be faced with hordes of them advertising themselves as ‘prison law specialists’ was disconcerting. In this respect, having Leech’s qualification at least implies that they have some vague idea of prison law. But alongside these new boys there were always lawyers who took an interest in us, and we learned who they were by trial, error and reputation. I'm no fool, and I use AS Law solicitors and Flo Krause as barrister for a reason.

Reputation counts for more than a basic certificate of competence. Undermining solicitors who choose not to use his services is a bloody awful way for Leech to behave, and looks suspiciously like a move to have all prison law work land on his doorstep; with the money that comes with it. It is not in the interests of prisoners to have their choices limited in this way, although it may be to Leech’s interest.

My second point is wider. Leech offers himself as "Britain's foremost ex-offender expert on prison - and its most contentious!". Easily said, but hard to deliver on. Whilst the Prisons Handbook is a useful reference tool, far too much of it is written by prison staff. When I want to read about offending behaviour courses, for instance, I don't want some self-serving Prison Service psychologist lecturing me. A far fairer view may come from elsewhere. It's simply not critical enough. This is one example.

But it sets a tone, follows a pattern. Because whilst claiming to be a thorn in the system’s side (as he was years ago) Leech also wants to leap into bed with it; the Prisons Handbook is invariably introduced by the Director General. Personally, if I wrote anything that the Prison Service was happy to endorse then I would regard myself as having failed. This slide to a commercial ‘Dark Side’ has gone so far that Leech is happy to have this quote emblazoned on his website; "I consider myself very lucky as Director General to have had you around. I consider you not only as a colleague but also as a friend". That was Martin Narey, "Mr IEPS, MDT and Volumetric Control" himself. When this was brought to my attention, I very nearly retched.

Any prison law course is an excellent idea – his particular course, for some lawyers perhaps, and certainly for Leech. For prisoners though, at a cost of almost £1,000, it is priced way out of reach, let alone his Certificate of Competency in Prison Law Course at £2,800. This leaves us in the position we have always been in; having to grovel around for a lawyer to take up our gripes. It is disempowering. It would be far more useful if cons themselves had this type of training, then we could push for changes ourselves, harass management and wield the legal stick. If such courses were made available to cons (the cost of Leech’s means it effectively isn't at present) then we could see a nationwide network of cons on the landings with not only the stones to fight their corner (and for others), but the knowledge as well. It could effectively transform the system.

As it stands, Leech hasn't had that leap of imagination. Whilst making a very healthy living by claiming rebelliousness and militancy, the reality is that he has a standing invitation to break bread with the very people who are standing on our necks.

Those of us who are really trying to fight for change on the landings have to make do with pathetic resources. Perhaps Leech could cast his mind back to when he was fighting cases from inside. Has anything he has done since release made that situation better?

The law can be a powerful tool to effect change. At the very least it can curb the excesses of staff and make managers pause. Leech knows this. He is now in a position to help the rest of us use this tool, and yet he chooses not to. For a self-proclaimed rebel, that must be a disconcerting position to be in.


Ben Gunn is currently resident in HMP Shepton Mallet