'FORGOTTEN' FAMILIES OF PRISONERS

The plight of forgotten victims of crime -- prisoners' families -- has been
raised on national radio by Royton councillor Margaret Kelly.

On last night's BBC Radio Four's "The World Tonight", she described how she
was treated like an animal the first time she visited Manchester Prison,
Strangeways, to see her son Michael.

She was asked for her experiences after official figures showed that there
was a year-on-year drop in visitors to prisoners.

And Councillor Kelly told interviewer Nick Ravenscroft: "The way we are
treated is horrendous."

She said that there were several factors to blame: not only the way
visitors and families were treated, but also the fact that prisoners were
transferred long distances making it hard for poorer families or people
with illness or disability to travel, and failure to let families know that
their relative had been moved without warning to another jail.

Councillor Kelly's experiences came from visiting Michael after his
conviction in December, 2000, for supplying drugs to his partner, who was
also jailed for possession.

Today Councillor Kelly said: "The first visit is very difficult. I was
frightened and I did not know what to do. You are terrified of being late
because you will lose the visit.

"You have to supply a handprint and a photo, but I simply could not do the
print, and the prison officer shouted at me.

"Then there is the search. I have no problem with that, but they bark
orders at you, no please or thank you, and they treat you like an animal.

"In the visitors' room you have to have open your mouth and lift your
tongue. I wear dentures, and I asked if I should take them out.

He shouted to the whole of the room, 'She wears dentures'."

"It was an absolute disgrace, I was trying to be discreet.

"When you get to your loved one, you cannot let them see how upset you are
and how you have been treated."

Councillor Kelly also criticised Styal Prison for poor treatment of
visitors, but singled out Buckley Hall at Rochdale for being thorough yet
polite.

"I was even thanked for my visit when I left," she said.

"It reduced me to tears even though it was treating me like an worthwhile
human being, which I am.

"Victims of crime are supported, so are prisoners in jail. But visitors are
forgotten victims, in the main they have never done anything wrong."

Councillor Kelly also made a video this weekend for Partners of Prisoners
and Their Families (POPS) describing experiences of prison visits.