Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the summer of 2023, 17 year-old Charlie Cosser went to an organised house party in a small village in West Sussex and never came home. A fight broke out on the dance floor and Charlie was stabbed. He died later in hospital.
As he was lying on his hospital bed, Charlie's father Martin Cosser made a promise to Charlie that he would spend the rest of his life educating young people about the dangers and immeasurable impacts of knife crime. He founded the charity Charlie's Promise, and his work in the last two years has led him to talk to more than 50,000 people in a variety of settings, including prisons.
This episode ideals with the grief and pain of a family who have experienced an unimaginable loss. It is a difficult and emotional listen. If you are unsure about whether this programme is for you, you may wish to skip this episode and go back into the archive to listen to some of our other programmes.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sarah was released from prison after spending 16 years behind bars as part of a life sentence. She was released to an approved premises two hours away from her friends and family. She had no ID, no bank account, no job, and the world had completely changed in those 16 years. She received support from Paula and her charity Unlock before and after release.
This is Sarah's story.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ian Watkins, the disgraced former front man of the rock band Lostprophets, died in HMP Wakefield on Saturday 11 October. Two men have been charged with his murder. Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence for crimes that were so shocking, the judge in his trial said the case 'broke new ground' and 'plunged into new depths of depravity'.
HMP Wakefield is a category A prison that holds people convicted of some of the most serious offences and serving extremely long sentences, including people whose infamy. So how do we deal with people imprisoned for these sorts of incomprehensible offences that, some believe, should attract the death penalty? What's it like to manage such an institution? And how does it feel to be working or serving a sentence in a prison when someone dies in these circumstances?
Tom Wheatley was Governor of HMP Wakefield from 2018 until last year, having been running maximum-security prisons for almost 20 years. He is now the President of the Prison Governors Association. He joins Phil and Paula to answer these questions and to help us understand what sort of a community exists behind the walls of our maximum security prisons.
There were 7 homicides in prisons in the 12 months to June 2025, an increase from no homicides in the previous 12 months. Deaths in custody have increased to 401 in the 12 months to June 2025, from 208 in the previous 12 months. You can dig into the data here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When Laura found herself in HMP Eastwood Park serving the latest of a string of prison terms, something magical happened when she met Isie Potter, a music teacher who had recently become Musician Residence at the prison.
In this emotional episode, they tell the extraordinary story of how Laura's life was transformed thanks to Isie's approach to her role for the charity Changing Tunes.
You can donate to Changing Tunes here.
And you can read the latest report from HM Inspector of Prisons about HMP Eastwood Park here, and the previous report here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Shahid Amin was serving a long sentence in HMP Grendon when he began studying criminology. This came after teenage years in which being engaged with the police and the criminal justice system overshadowed any early experiences with education. He has continued his further education and become an academic researcher after he was released from prison.
Dr. Ruth Armstrong is a Postdoctorate Research Associate in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool. She has worked in criminal justice both in the UK and globally for over 20 years, and founded the Learning Together programme in which students from inside prison and outside prison studied in equal partnership.
Our thanks to Dr. Ed Schreeche-Powell at the rest of the team at the University of Greenwich for making this recording possible.
You can find out more about studying criminology at the University of Greenwich here.
You can read about We Are All Criminals here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
One month into Frank Stedman's prison sentence, he lost his brother to suicide. Unable to attend the funeral, the prison put Frank into segregation because he was considered to be an escape risk. He spent 10 days on the block before being moved to a category A prison, HMP Belmarsh.
Fast forward several years, Frank has completed his sentence and runs his own business. But he retains a desire to help others who are in prison to get through what can be the most difficult of times. He also loves National Prison Radio. And so when Frank contacted us out of the blue to ask if he'd be able to walk 200 miles in 10 days to raise money for the Prison Radio Association, we were delighted to support his incredible efforts.
This is the story of Frank's walk, and of a man who retains an astonishingly positive outlook in spite of everything. It's an uplifting story of joy and optimism.
To donate to Frank's Walk, visit Frank's Just Giving page.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We love receiving your questions, thoughts and comments. Email us at podcasts@prison.radio.
In this final episode before we take a summer break, we answer questions from listeners inside prison and listeners on the outside.
David Breakspear is a peer mentor, advocate and ambassador for people who have been to prison. He spent time behind bars between 1985 and 2017, and uses his lived experience to support organisations including ADHD Liberty, 5asideCHESS and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance.
Dr. Ruth Armstrong is a criminologist at the University of Liverpool and a consultant working to support change in government departments and third sector organisations. She’s worked in criminal justice both in the UK and globally for over 20 years, including playing a leading role in Prison Radio International, supporting the development of prison radio projects around the world.
Organisations, books and links referred to in this programme include:
Howard League for Penal Reform
PSI 75/2011 (Residential Services)
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In 2014, probation services in England and Wales underwent the most radical shake-up for generations in a part-privatisation process known as Transforming Rehabilitation.
Seven years later, in 2021, these reforms were reversed as the public and private arms of probation were brought back together under a newly-constituted public Probation Service.
In June 2024 a group of people with a wealth of experience of probation gathered for a one-day workshop at Liverpool John Moores University as part of the Rehabilitating Probation project. The workshop aimed to envision what probation services might look like in the future.
Phil and Paula spoke to several workshop participants, including people who had worked in, studied and been supervised by probation. We released this episode on 15 July 2024.
This was followed up by a second episode on 5 August 2024 with Professor Nicola Carr, then of the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham, and Dr. Matthew Millings from the School of Justice Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. They have played a leading role in the project and reflected on the workshops.
In this final episode, we catch up with Nicola and Matthew, along with Martin Jones CBE, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation, to hear about the outcome of the Rehabilitating Probation project and to reflect on where we are one year after the election of a new government.
This is the final of three episodes looking at the future of probation. Rehabilitating Probation was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
James Batchelor is an educator, musician, film-maker and producer. He spent a time behind bars where he became a presenter for National Prison Radio. Jimmy has continued to work with the Prison Radio Association in the many years since his release, and he’s been leading a series of workshops in prisons over the past few weeks as part of National Prison Radio’s contribution to Windrush Day.
Colin McFarlane is an actor, voice artist and campaigner. He's the star of films including Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as well as countless animations and TV series. Together with the singer Annie Lennox, he founded the Justice4Windrush campaign which aims to inform the British public about the on-going Windrush scandal and provide free legal support to people who have a legitimate claim for compensation.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tamar spent a short period of time in HMP Holloway, a women's prison in North London, in 2016. Months later, the prison was closed for good. The buildings became derelict. Several years later, Tamar was one of a group of six women who had all spent time in Holloway to go back into the prison with film-makers to take part in a remarkable documentary called Holloway,
Daisy-May Hudson is one of the co-directors of Holloway. She began her film-making career when she decided to start filming her family's experience of homelessness. She is also the writer and director of the acclaimed film Lollipop, which premiered at last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Find screenings of Holloway and buy tickets here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer (and deputy presenter!): Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Zak Addae-Kodua is one half of Zak and Jules, the presenting team behind the award-winning Life After Prison podcast. He has experienced several stints out on licence and explains why it's not always as straightforward to keep to your licence conditions as you might imagine.
Cecilia Goodwin is the founder and Managing Director of Goodwin and Rose Solicitors. She has extensive experience of representing and working with people who are on probation having been released from prison.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ten years ago, David Kendall decided to put on an entire festival of arts and literature inside HMP Lewes. This was the birth of Penned Up, a unique annual event which is now in its tenth year, and which has found a home in HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire.
Today we learn about how on Earth you go about organising a festival in a prison, and some of the guests who have taken part over the years, including Nick Cave, Tony Adams, Billy Bragg, Garry Younge, Courttia Newland, Max Porter, Dr Rache Clarke, John Niven, and even National Prison Radio's Lady Unchained.
Alongside David is Jailhouse Moose, a blogger who first met David while serving a sentence in HMP Liverpool. He went on to be on the organising committee after he'd been transferred to HMP Erlestoke. He now writes about prison.
Find out more about Penned Up here.
You can read Jailhouse Moose here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On the day David Gauke, the former Justice Secretary, publishes his long-awaited Independent Sentencing Review, we get analysis from the journalist David Shipley who served a sentence for fraud in 2020-2021 and now broadcasts for several publications, including The Spectator.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nigel Bromage was a prominent member of several far-right groups, including British Movement and Combat 18, for 20 years. During that time, he was close to events that could easily have led him to prison. He became disillusioned with the life in the late 1990s and began a long and dangerous process of moving away from the far-right. He now runs an organisation called Exit Hate, which aims to support people who want to leave the far-right.
Find out more about Exit Hate here.
Graham Finochio spent almost 20 years in prison in California, having joined a white supremacist group at the age of 14. While in prison he encountered a rehabilitation programme called Success Stories which is based on feminism. Graham is now a Transformational Coach for Success Stories, having renounced his former allegiances.
Find out more about Success Stories here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Cherie Blair KC became a barrister in 1976 and went on to be a county court and crown court judge. In 2024 she was appointed to the Leadership Board of the charity Women in Prison, where she has stressed the importance of supporting women and girls before they come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Kate Morrissey is on the Women’s Justice Partnership Delivery Group which supports the Women’s Justice Board. She’s Head of Health and Justice for the East of England region for NHS England, and at the weekends she serves on the frontline with an ambulance service. Kate was remanded to prison as a young adult where she began to address drug problems that she'd experienced since she was a teenager and embarked on volunteering work which eventually led her to the positions she holds today.
You can read about the role of the Women's Justice Board here.
You can watch Kate Morrissey's extraordinary TEDx Talk here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Andy West is the author of The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to be Free, which is currently being adapted into a BBC television drama. Andy has been teaching philosophy in prisons since 2016.
You can buy Andy's book while supporting local independent bookshops here.
Ray Smith writes for Inside Time, the monthly newspaper for people in prison, and was a member of Andy's philosophy group during a six-month spell he spent in HMP Pentonville.
You can read Ray's thoughts about being invited on this podcast in the latest edition of Inside Time.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Two days before the 2025 London Marathon, a very special half marathon took place behind the walls of HMP Brixton in aid of the Prison Reform Trust. And The Secret Life of Prisons was granted exclusive access to bring you the sounds of a momentous morning.
Nine of HMP Brixton's residents undertook a 16-week training programme, supported by members of the local running community, and on Friday 25 April they ran alongside around 40 visitors in a feat of endurance and stamina. The result was a beautiful example of the power of sport to change lives.
The voices you will hear in this podcast include:
Tara Benedetti
Pia Sinha
Mia Wheeler
Sean Fletcher
Marianne Garvey
Jamie Loyn
Sarah Taylor
Abbey Darling
Alan Higgins
Hermen Dange
Martin Jones
Dr. Dave Maguire
Eleanor Carmichael
Adam Harris
Andrew Wilkie
Faye Dunn
Our thanks to the staff at HMP Brixton, particularly Governor Wheeler, Deputy Governor Merrifield their physical education team, and also the team at the Prison Reform Trust led by Pia Sinha and Tara Benedetti for making this event, and this podcast, possible.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We love to hear your thoughts, your views and your questions. To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
In this week's episode we answer questions from listeners inside and outside prison.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week we've got two guests who, for very different reasons, have spent time in a lot of different prisons. We asked them to compare notes and tell us their best stories.
Duewaine Marshalleck-Baker was released from prison for the final time in 2016, having spent more than eighteen years in prison on and off. He now works for National Prison Radio as one of the presenters of our Takeover Days - visiting prisons across the country for a very different reason. Find out what happened when he visited his old cell in HMP The Mount.
Arthur Hagues is Head of Content Innovation for the Prison Radio Association, and the lead producer of National Prison Radio's Takeover Days. He's visited dozens of prisons in his career with the Prison Radio Association.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chris Tchaikovsky was a founder of the charity Women in Prison, the charity that campaigns on behalf of women in the criminal justice system. She died in 2002, having lived an extraordinary life. Today's episode marks the end of Women's History Month and is dedicated to her life and her legacy.
Kate Fraser spent 17 years in heroin addiction, engaged in street sex work, and spending spells on remand in prison. She went on to work for the charity NACRO, and then applied for a job with Women in Prison, where she first came across the name Chris Tchaikovsky. She is now Head of Practice for Women in Prison.
Deborah Coles is the Executive Director of Inquest, the only charity providing expertise on state-related deaths and their investigations. Deborah knew Chris, having met her during her days at the University of Essex.
You can read Women in Prison's new strategy document, Together in Power 2025-2030, here.
You can buy Criminal Women, the book written by Chris Tchaikovsky with Pat Carlen and others, here.
You can find out more information about the work of Inquest here.
Presenters:
Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association
Paula Harriott – Chief Executive, Unlock
Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Assistant Producer: Faye Dunn
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release.
To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate.
To contact the show, please email podcasts@prison.radio.
Registered Charity in England & Wales 1114760
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
