Tag: HMP Fairbanks
Problems persist for vulnerable prisoners
(CNS): An independent oversight body that monitors the local prison system has repeated concerns in its recently published annual report for 2021 that there is still no purpose-built facility or space for prisoners with mental health issues. With no dedicated accommodation for vulnerable prisoners at HMP Northward or HMP Fairbanks, the mentally ill and other […]
Government moves ahead with new prison plans
(CNS): The PACT Government has begun the process of finding architects for a new prison that will be built on land next to the existing jail at Northward, with a target completion date of 2027. A Request for Supplier Qualifications (RFSQ) has been issued for bidders interested in designing the new facility. The aim is […]
Prison service marks progress in rehabilitation efforts
(CNS): Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service (HMCIPS) has been criticised for many years for its revolving door, partly due to a fundamental lack of investment in proper rehabilitation programmes. However, recent steps to change that include a partnership with the University of the West Indies to deliver education and skills training to inmates.
Full prison struggles with high COVID case load
(CNS): With at least nine security officers isolating at home and around 20 inmates now infected with COVID-19, the prison service is struggling with quarantine issues inside HMP Northward. Prison Director Steve Barrett has denied that inmates who have tested positive are being housed in the same cells as those who are virus-free and said […]
Young offenders still jailed with adult inmates
(CNS): A new report by the Cayman Islands Independent Monitoring Board (CIIMB), which was established to observe the conditions and treatment of inmates within the local prison system, has noted that Cayman is still housing juvenile offenders alongside adult prisoners, in some cases with some of the most dangerous and volatile serving time in HMP […]
Mental health ‘grave concern’ at prisons
(CNS): The mental health needs of prisoners at HMP Northward and HMP Fairbanks must be addressed urgently, according to a report published by a group of volunteers. The first report of the Cayman Islands Independent Monitoring Board, based on 369 visits conducted in 2019, raised “grave concerns” about the lack of provision for the significant […]
Prisoners were safe during quake, officials say
(CNS): The Ministry of Home Affairs has said all of its uniform services responded robustly to the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook Cayman last week. Although it hasn’t directly refuted claims made by inmates and their families that the women in HMP Fairbanks were locked in and abandoned, officials said that a decision was made […]
Consultants invited to make case for new prison
(CNS): It’s no secret that Cayman’s prison facilities are not only horribly overcrowded but also unfit for human habitation, with conditions that Prison Director Steve Barrett has called “simply unacceptable”. But after many years of neglect, funding has now been secured to begin the redevelopment process of the current estate. An invitation to tender has […]
Prison investment plans too slow, says HRC
(CNS): It is no secret that for many years conditions in Cayman Islands prisons have been dire and in desperate need of investment. But in a newly published document the Human Rights Commission detailed the human rights challenges, describing Cayman’s prison system as “overcrowded, chronically underfunded and in need of urgent investment”. The HRC warned […]
New rehab project introduced for jailed women
(CNS): The Department of Community Rehabilitation (DCR) has established a Female Empowerment Services Project to help incarcerated women take a different path when they are released from jail. Around a dozen women are currently serving time in Fairbanks for a variety of crimes, from murder to drug related offences, and the DCR recently began offering a series […]
CIG needs to consider prison mental health
(CNS): Before the government embarks on a new prison project it will need to consider the future mental health of inmates. The new prison director, Steven Barrett, said that thought will need to be given on how the prison service is going to deal with prisoners suffering from mental health conditions in the years to […]
