Tag: Neil Lavis
TCI prison boss to take over HMP Northward
(CNS): Steven Barrett, who is currently serving as the superintendent of prisons in the Turks and Caicos Islands, will be taking over HM Cayman Islands Prison Service next month as the interim director, the home affairs ministry announced Thursday. Barrett, a senior manager with more than 30 years of prison experience, formerly worked with the […]
Prison turns to UK for interim boss
(CNS): The deputy director of operations at HMP Northward, Daniel Greaves, will be acting as director for just two weeks, ministry officials said Tuesday, as they have reached out to the UK to find an interim replacement for Neil Lavis, who leaves the post in less than two weeks. In a release about filling the […]
Prison boss quits months after signing new contract
(CNS): UPDATED: Neil Lavis, the director of HM Cayman Islands Prison Service, has resigned less than six months after signing a new contract. Ministry officials issued a formal press release, Wednesday, after Lavis handed in his resignation, Monday. The director has not said why he is leaving but confirmed to CNS that it was his […]
Prison targets specialist areas to help inmates
(CNS): Senior prison staff from HMP Northward will be heading off to the UK soon to take part in specialist training relating to gang violence. The prison service clinical team, forensic psychologist Nina Welsh and correctional counsellor Rachel Whitlock will be undertaking a course on managing gang dynamics in the prison and the delivery of specific […]
Prison starts leather workshop
(CNS): Several inmates at HMP Northward are in the process of learning a new and specialist skill that the director hopes will have the dual effect of rehabilitation for the men and generate some income that the prison will be able to ringfence for the jail’s wider rehab programmes. Experts from Guyana are spending a […]
Prison rehab project raises hope for change
(CNS): HMP Northward has one of the highest recidivism rates in the region and the revolving prison door has become a major problem for local authorities. But a new prison-private sector partnership teaching inmates a wide range of construction and workplace skills is already showing signs of real promise after just a few weeks. Last […]
Cayman needs new jail with rehab focus
(CNS): The prison director thinks the time has come for the Cayman Islands to invest in a new prison and provide more intense rehabilitation services as part of the local fight against crime. Well aware that public spending on jails is rarely popular, Neil Lavis said it was obvious that the current system is not […]
Prison starts new rehab project
(CNS): Ten prison inmates are about to start a new pilot rehabilitation project run by HMP Northward in partnership with three local construction firms in which the offenders will learn and hone building skills to help them get out and stay out of jail. Faced with the requirements of the new Conditional Release Law, Prison Director […]
First treated sex offender released from jail
(CNS): The rehabilitation of offenders has become of significant importance at the prison since the change in the law that now requires all inmates to demonstrate that they have changed before they are released early. But one of the most challenging issues for the prison is dealing with sex-offenders, who are considered to be notoriously […]
Prison visitor found with 1lb ganja
(CNS): Officials at HMP Northward say they are clamping down on smuggling after arresting a woman earlier this month who was trying to bring over a pound of ganja into the jail while she was visiting, and a recent inspection turned up a Nokia mobile phone hidden in an inmate’s cell. “We have zero tolerance when […]
MLAs press for details on prison video scandal
(CNS): Following the reinstatement of Deputy Prison Director Natalie Aduke Joseph-Caesar after a settlement with government, independent members of the Legislative Assembly demanded answers last week over what happened in the scandal at HMP Northward, when unauthorized video cameras were allegedly found in a manager’s office. With Jennifer Ahearn acting as deputy governor, the chief officer in […]
