A prolific offender is repeating well-known concerns about conditions inside Her Majesty’s Penitentiary.
Government and staff at the Pen are well aware of the problems at the facility.
Jesse Lewis is currently at HMP on remand and told VOCM Open Line with Brian Callahan that overcrowding and understaffing has left inmates in “inhumane” living conditions.
Jesse Lewis in court, 2019 (VOCM News archive)
“Twenty hours a day we’re locked in our cells. That’s like, inhumane….they’re saying it’s because they’re overpopulated, this and that, and we’re being punished because of it. It’s hard on the head.”
Listen to “Jesse Lewis” on Spreaker.
“We can’t get out. Oftentimes visits are cancelled. There’s no such thing as recreation. There’s inmates being housed in the gym on cots, so we can’t get to the gym. They haven’t been doing outdoor rec, it’s absolutely inhumane.”
Lewis understands that many likely don’t have sympathy for their situation, but he says it’s sending people back out onto the street worse than they were when they went in.
He says there’s a shortage of toothbrushes and blankets. Short staffing is also having an impact.
“Me, personally, I missed my old man’s burial because they didn’t have the staff to get me there. It goes a little deeper than toothbrushes and blankets”
VOCM has reached out to the Department of Justice for response.
