A planned parole service for prisoners in Anguilla moved to a new dimension with a five-day training workshop this week for members of the island’s Parole Board.
The facilitators, who are concluding the training on Friday, August 17, are Martha Blom-Cooper, Director Quality & Standards, Parole Board of England and Wales; Natalya O’Prey, Deputy Head of Litigation also with that Board; and Steve Fradley, Overseas Territories Prison Reform Coordinator.
“We have been covering a range of issues during the training,” Ms Martha Blom-Cooper told The Anguillian. “We talked to the members of the Board about how they should make their decisions within the legal framework; how to assess the risks that the offenders present to the community when released; how the Board should assess the change that prisoners have made during their time in prison; and how they can be supported and managed in the community so that they can live there safely in the future.”
Ms Natalya O-Prey said it was a very intensive training workshop. She stated that while the training was available to Parole Boards in other Caribbean islands, the Board inAnguillawas the first to have received parole training.
Mr.Fradley, who has been performing his role as Overseas Territories Prison Reform Coordinator for the past four years, noted that at his first visit toAnguillathere was no parole system to properly process prisoners for release in the community. He said efforts were gradually made to put the necessary legislation and regulations in place and he was now looking forward to the passage of the amending legislation. He was pleased that part of the final process was the recruitment and training of the Parole Board members which had now taken place.
“This week, my office inLondonarranged for Martha and Natalya, who are experts in parole, to come out and set up this workshop which was designed specifically forAnguilla.” Mr.Fradley added.
Chairman of the Anguilla Parole Board, former Attorney General, Ronald Scipio, said the workshop was an important part of the training process for the upcoming parole service.
“The Board is going to be functioning in a kind of quasi-judicial capacity,” he explained. “It means that when applications are made to the Board, we are going to receive the evidence that will be collated by the Probation Office and the Prison Service etc. We will then have to consider the dossierwhich will contain all the information about the applicant…We will have to make a determination as to whether or not that person should be released into the community and, if so, whether any conditions should be imposed such as curfews.”
Mr. Scipio said the members of the Parole Board were all busy people, some in government, and others in private practice, but they were coming together to provide a service to the community to deal with applications for parole. “It is a very demanding process because, as I said, we function in a quasi-judicial capacity and our decisions will have to be very transparent because they can be reviewed by the court,” he stated.
The amending parole legislation has had its first reading in the Anguilla House of Assembly. Mr. Scipio noted that: “At the next sitting of the House it is likely to have its second and third readings. Following that it will be signed into law by the Governor. We are hoping that at the end of this training programme to actually deal with the first applications for parole, but we are not able to do so yet because the law is not in force.”
Head of Custody at Her Majesty’s Prison inAnguilla, Allister Richardson, said in part: “We are indeed grateful that the whole aspect of the parole system is beginning to take shape. It is quite timely and necessary. There are a number of prisoners who are serving very long sentences and the system and legislation will afford an opportunity for parole for those who meet the criteria.”
The Parole Board comprises the following persons: Mr. Ronald Scipio (Chairman), Rev. Dunstan Richardson, Mr. Hubert M. Hughes, Mrs. Rhonda Connor, Mr. Derek Gumbs, Mr. Seymour Hodge, Mr. Reynolds Richardson and Ms. Gilley Connor.
