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Episode details

Radio Berkshire,3 mins

What does it take to reform a convict?

Paul Coia

Available for over a year

The government has been strongly criticised for the way it runs prisons with many over-stretched staff. But the Ministry of Justice says they’re recruiting more officers. Mike Longsmith from Reading spent 23 years in prison for various crimes. He said: "They're recruiting people will no experience. "Prisoners just want to be left alone with a routine but when the regime changes, all because of staff cuts, how are you supposed to live like that? "Religion has put these people off as well, you're talking about people who have been brought up in the Bronx atmosphere, it's difficult to listen to a middle-class religious figure with a cushy job."

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