Mark Leech - the "prison reformer"

Mark Leech - the "prison reformer"

By Ben Gunn

How do you wind up an egomaniac? Ask Mark Leech... All I did was ask if he was a little too close to the Prison Service, and he went nuclear. Little old me gets plastered across a whole page of his Converse paper, and he entertained my mates by summoning the whole weight of his intellect to call me an idiot, liar, ignorant, malicious and - my favourite - full of shit. Classy guy, eh?

Of course, when I question someone's motives I expect a comeback. What I don't expect is an article that relies on lies, half truths, and twisting reality. But then I've never had a run in with Mark Leech before. That he felt the need to take up a page in his paper to shout abuse at a me seems just a teeny bit desperate, don't you think? And seeing conspiracies against himself just makes me feel slightly sorry for the man. Medication, anyone?

Responding to Mark Leech is like addressing a particularly bad probation report - you have to find the bits of truth that sneaked in by accident before you can reply. All I did was wonder if Mark Leech's relationship with the Prison Service was a bit too close for a man claiming to be a prisoner's friend, and I was even fair enough to give him credit for the battles he fought during his sentence. But even this mild question gets me abused. Leech has a reputation of being a bully, and his piece only confirms what people who know him have told me in private. If only the libel laws were more flexible, I'd share the juicy bits!

The response from Leech was of a level of defensive viciousness that I normally expect from a psychology report - a lumbering piece cobbled together from half-truths and twisted reality. It was brilliant in its level of self-deception. But then if you spend that much time playing footsie with the Prison Service you're bound to pick up some of their habits.

What a touchy sod he is. As he wrote in his piece, "...when the smearing starts it's generally an indication that you've got the opposition on the ropes..." So when his first paragraph includes the claim that I knowingly wrote lies and am full of shit, I take it to mean that I have touched a nerve that's as big as his ego.

Of course, you could ignore anything I say because its all part of the Vast Conspiracy. John Bowers sits at the centre of a spiders web of power, the Dr Evil of Inside Time, pulling stings of puppets like myself so that we just spout the anti-Leech line that Inside Time holds so dear. Apparently. Nurse...!

At no point did I criticise Converse; a legal paper for cons can only be a good thing. That Leech feels the need to so strongly abuse Inside Time makes me wonder who feels the most threatened. Inside Time is run by a charity, the New Bridge; the money from Converse goes to keep up Leech's whirlybird lifestyle..

My beef with his Prison Law Course was not just its cost - and I apologise for getting the figures wrong. Not bad research, just me sending an unfinnshed draft to Inside Time instead of the final version. My point was that at over £700 it is way out of reach of most cons, particularly the long-termers who can make best use of it on the landings. I want prisoners to be empowered, not having to rely on solicitors. In itself, I wasn't going to criticise the course. But a course that is so easy that no one fails it isn't worth a damn.

Readers may be helped, by knowing that there is a history between Leech, AS Law solicitors and Flo Krause. The prominence he gives to her losses in court are not just fair reporting, they are a deliberate dig, and people who are aware of the history feel that it is pretty pathetic on Leech's part. Notice that he doesn't name other barristers losses. When Flo loses it is because she takes on cases that push the boundaries, she is willing to take a chance to make the system better. She also wins a lot - (7 cases in the European Court alone) - but that won't be reported by Leech. Remember who told you about this personal beef he has - it wasn't him. At least with me you know I won't hide my agenda.

My original point was a question - is Leech too close to the Prison Service for a man claiming to be the nations premier prison reform campaigner? In his defence, Leech defended the old Director General's achievements. He somehow forgot to mention that under DG Narey the weight and depth of our imprisonment increased hugely. So we get to crap in stainless steel instead of plastic. Whoopee. That the amount of property we have is limited, that the drug culture has been sent into a smackhead tailspin, that domestic visitors are staying away in droves, that Education has been gutted of meaning, and that we are perpetually screwed by psych courses- these are things that matter, and they are down to Narey, Leech's best mate. Narey couldn't even force the screws to call us "Mister". Narey helped stand on our throats, and now Leech wants to pass him a medal. Claiming positive changes in prisons are due to Narey is to dismiss the blood and sweat of cons who have fought in recent years.

Two final points. Firstly, Leech asks, "what has Gunn ever done to improve the prisoners' lot?" I had a 10 year tariff; I have served nearly 30. No violence in prison. You have no idea what I do, because it is done down in the trenches and not up in front of the cameras. It is people like me who deal with the daily crap that weighs cons down. Abuse me all you like, but remember this -¬ While your rewards are the houses and helicopters, my reward has only been prison pay, 20 extra years, and the satisfaction of knowing that now and then I just may have helped someone to resist abuses of authority. When I pitch in for my fellow cons it isn't for good money or the endorsement of the Prison Service.

And secondly, a question. For a man claiming not to be in bed with the Prison Service, and who wants to be known as a champion of prisoners', then why is it that your websites carry adverts for people wishing to become screws? Luckily for you, we can't get the web and so you have managed to keep this dirty little secret away from cons. But now we know, and the cons can make up their own minds.

I'm bored now, so I just can't be arsed to go through his feeble abuse line by line, arguing the toss. And as I don't own my own newspaper, then I have a strict word limit. One day...