BEN'S PRISON BLOG - Lifer On The Loose

The first blog by a British prisoner. Variously described as being "obviously extremely intelligent" (Michael Gove), "the most interesting interview I have ever done" (Michael Portillo), and a "fully paid up member of the awkward squad" (Parole Board), I try to generate debate around the moral and political nexus that is imprisonment. Imprisoned between ages 14 to 47, released on Licence in August 2012

Thursday, August 22, 2013

One Year Later...

It's been a year! http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/22/ben-gunn-prison-blogging Ed

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

On Power

Eleven years in... Lying on my bed after lunch, I heard the muffled rattle of plastic approaching my cell door. There is only one thing wh...

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Predatory Children

To the observer, there is rarely anything as entertaining as sitting back, coffee and cigarette in hand, watching a bunch of people working...

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Ministry of Justice Press Office

I've had some pretty weird phone conversations over the years. But then, I blame that on the people I mix with.... None of whom have ev...

Prison Diaries -The Verdict

My post last night led to delicate negotiations and discussions in private with Prison Diaries. Bluntly, I asked him for his name and date o...

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Prison Diaries - Fact or Fake?

The closed world that is prison cries out to be dragged into the light of public consideration. There is an endless list of reasons for thi...

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Stephen Fry Thing

If you want me to tell you, with utter contempt, to fuck off then don't throw any complicated insult at me. Just wait until my depress...

Saturday, June 15, 2013

On Liberty

It has to be admitted, there are very few of us who get worked up over a little monument sticking out of a field on the banks of the river ...

Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Probation Thing

Somewhere in the answer from the Parole Board ordering my release there is a slightly woeful passage pointing out that my Probation Officer...

Child Abuse.

"David Cameron's statement said he was "sickened by the proliferation of child pornography." DISGUSTING". Are ...

Friday, June 7, 2013

Rape, AIDS, and Cockwombling

No, I don't know what it means, but being labelled a "cockwomble" is the mildest of the insults heaped upon my head of late...

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Daniel and the Lion's Den

I seem to spend an improbable amount of time on trains. Mostly to and from the Westcountry and Paddington, on which station I am now an exp...

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Versus...Grayling

No sooner had I bitched about Grayling and the broad thrust of Tory prison policy then the man himself decided to make the nightmares come ...

Friday, April 26, 2013

For one night only....

Some have complained that I rarely mention my daily doings here but instead splash about on Twitter. Fair cop. So.... Tonight I am talking a...

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About Me

prisonerben: United Kingdom; Previously known as "one of Britain's best known prisoners...he constantly questions authority and exposes the futility of the system" The Times, Ben was finally released from prison after 32 years in August 2012. Pleading guilty to the murder of a friend when he was 14 years old, he renounced violence and fought for the recognition of the inherent dignity of all human beings. As a result of speaking truth to power, he served far longer than the recommended 10 years, leading Education Secretary Michael Gove to argue that he had "been punished excessively for a crime committed as a child". One of the more intellectual of prisoner-campaigners, Ben chose to educate himself from schoolboy level to having both undergraduate and post graduate degrees. He is currently one of very few prisoners in Britain ever to attempt a Doctorate. Ben's speciality is non-violent action and the Human Needs Theory. Now on Life Licence, He is forging a career as a CJ policy consultant, writer and - as ever - campaigner.

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