Category A prisoners

The last post discussed the categorisation of adult males in prison. This post specifically deals with Category A prisoners.

The PSI which contains provisions for the policy and treatment of Category A prisoners is PSI 03/ 2010.

PSI 03/ 2010 can be found here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/psis/prison-service-instructions-2010


What is a Category A prisoner?

PSI 03/ 2010 Chapter 1, para. 2 defines a Category A prisoner as:

"...a prisoner whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, or the police or the security of the State, and for whom the aim must be to make escape impossible."

In deciding whether Category A is necessary, consideration may also need to be given to whether the stated aim of making escape impossible can be achieved for a particular prisoner in lower conditions of security, and that prisoner categorised accordingly. This is in line with the lowest security category principle, as outlines in PSI 40/2011, 3.1, which stipulates:

"All prisoners must have assigned to them the lowest security category consistent with managing their needs in terms of security and control and must meet all the criteria of the category for which they are being assessed."

 However, this will only arise in exceptional circumstances.

The Director of High Security is responsible for the categorisation and allocation of Category A prisoners.


When will an individual be categorised as Category A?

PSI 03/ 2010, Chapter 1, para 4 states that a prisoner may meet the criteria for Category A status if the offending involves the following:

• extreme, sadistic or frenzied violence;
• a serial or escalating pattern of serious or potentially life-threatening violence;
• extreme violence against a victim unknown to or not closely related to the offender;
• extreme sexual violence;
• robbery with potentially life-threatening violence against the public or the police; 
• firearms being discharged at a victim, particularly in a public place;
• large-scale trafficking of Class A controlled drugs, particularly where the offender has used violence or firearms, or has access to firearms and other resources to assist an escape attempt; 
• Terrorism or Official Secrets Act breaches that have potentially serious consequences for the public, police or security of the State;
• serious organised crime, as defined in Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, where the offender is believed to have a continuing role in an organised crime group, and is of continuing interest to law enforcement. 

Equally, offences which may result in consideration for Category A status include:      

• Murder
• Attempted murder
• Manslaughter
• Wounding with intent
• Rape
• Indecent assault
• Robbery or conspiracy to rob (with firearms)
• Firearms offences
• Importing or supplying Class A controlled drug
• Possessing or supplying explosives
• Offences connected with terrorism   
• Offences under the Official Secrets Act

It should be noted that this is merely guidance as the decision to categorise a prisoner as Category A involves an individual assessment.


Escape Risk Classification 

All Category A prisoners are placed in one of three escape risk classifications (PSI 03/ 2010, Chapter 1, para 5). They are as follows:

• Standard Escape Risk:  "A prisoner charged with a serious offence which would make them highly dangerous if at large.  No specific intelligence has been received either internally or from external agencies to suggest that the threat of an escape attempt is likely at this time."

• High Escape Risk.  "As Standard Escape Risk, however, intelligence received either internally or from external agencies would suggest that the individual has access to the type of resources and associates that could provide assistance in attempting to facilitate an escape and the propensity to activate them." 

• Exceptional Escape Risk.  "As High Escape Risk, however, recent intelligence received either internally or from external agencies would suggest that an escape attempt is being planned and the threat is such that the individual requires conditions of heightened security in order to mitigate this risk."

The Director of High Security is responsible for deciding a Category A prisoner’s escape risk classification.   


Initial Placement in Category A

PSI 03/2010, Chapter 2, para 1 explains how a prisoner is initially and provisionally placed in Category A:

"The Governor will have systems in place to ensure that all prisoners considered to potentially meet the criteria for placement within Category A or Restricted Status are reported in to the Directorate of High Security’s Category A Team."   

The Category A team, if appropriate, must then confirm whether or not the prisoner meets the requirements to be provisionally classified as Category A. After this, a formal review of their status must be held. 

        

How is a prisoner initially identified as potentially Category A status?

PSI 03/2010, Chapter 2, para 2 states:

"The Governor will have systems in place to ensure that a prisoner’s suitability for provisional Category A or Restricted Status is identified when the prisoner is first received into prison custody, by using the criteria outlined in Chapter One [see above; offending and offences]...

 
The Governor will have systems in place to ensure that as much background information as possible is obtained to determine the prisoner’s suitability for provisional Category A Status, including from the police officer in charge of the case.  This may include information to show whether the victim was known to the prisoner, the possible motives, the extent of any violence used, whether a weapon was used, or whether drink or drugs or the prisoner’s mental state are relevant."


What if it is unclear if initially a prisoner could be Category A?

The Category A team should be contacted if it is unclear whether an individual meets the criteria for provisional Category A status.

Initial Escape Risk Classification

Most provisional Category A prisoners are classified as standard escape risk (PSI 03/2010, Chapter 2, para 4).  The Category A Team may however recommend a provisional Category A prisoner should be held in a higher escape risk classification if prison or police information suggests the prisoner poses an enhanced escape potential. The Category A Team may recommend this when the prisoner is first received into custody or at any other time while the prisoner remains Category A.  This recommendation needs to be authorised by the Director of High Security  


Reviews of Provisional Category A status

PSI 03/2010, Chapter 3, para 1 provides:

"The Category A Team will regularly review the security category of each provisional Category A  prisoner.  It will also regularly review the escape risk classification of each provisional Category A exceptional and high escape risk prisoner. 

The Category A Team will review each provisional Category A prisoner after conviction and sentence, and forward the case of each prisoner confirmed as Category A Status after conviction and sentence to the Director for a first formal review.           

The Director is responsible for all final decisions to downgrade provisional Category A Status prisoners during remand reviews, on conviction or at their first formal review.  The Director of High Security is also responsible for all final decisions to downgrade a provisional Category A prisoner from high or exceptional escape risk.

Before approving a provisional Category A Status prisoner’s downgrading the Director must be convinced the prisoner does not pose a high risk of re-offending in a similar way if unlawfully at large.  The Director may decide this on the nature and circumstance of the prisoner’s offending, or on any significant change in the prisoner’s circumstances, such as an important change in the charges against the prisoner or substantially impaired health or mobility.

Before approving a provisional Category A prisoner’s downgrading from high or exceptional escape risk classification the Director must be convinced that information suggesting an enhanced escape potential is no longer valid."


When do Escape Risk Classification reviews take place??

PSI 03/2010, Chapter 3, para 5 stipulates:

"The Category A Team will review the escape risk classification of each provisional Category A high escape risk prisoner every six months and each provisional Category A exceptional escape risk prisoner every three months, and send the prisoner a decision notification within four weeks of the review.  It will forward any recommendations for a Category A prisoner’s downgrading from high or exceptional escape risk for the Director’s final decision."


When does the first formal Category A review take place?

The Director reviews the security category of each provisional Category A and Restricted Status prisoner as soon as possible after their security category has been confirmed following conviction and sentence (PSI 03/2010, Chapter 3, para 6).


Who sits on the Director's advisory panel for the first formal Cat A review?      

The Director reviews each case with an advisory panel which may consist of:

• police advisers;
• a psychologist;
• Cat A team staff.

Can a prisoner submit representations to the review?

Yes. He may do this through the disclosure of a dossier which summarises the information which is to be used. A copy of the completed dossier and an explanatory letter will be sent to the prisoner to allow the prisoner to submit representations.  The prisoner is allowed four weeks to submit representations. 

Who prepares the review dossier?

The Category A Team.

What will the review dossier contain?

• The Crown Court warrant or order for imprisonment (this must be sent to the Category A Team within 1 week of sentencing);
• the indictments and the trial record sheet (this must be sent to the Category A Team within 1 week of sentencing);
• It may also include the judge's sentencing remarks;
• Previous offending history;
• Police information.

What happens after the first formal review?

The Director will review the prisoner’s case at the next available panel following the disclosure of the dossier to the prisoner. 

The Category A Team will inform the prison of the Director’s decision immediately after the review takes place.  It will also immediately put into effect any decision to downgrade a prisoner from provisional Category A Status, or any decision to amend a Category A prisoner’s escape risk classification.

The Category A Team will send the prisoner a decision notification detailing the reasons for the Director’s decision four weeks after the date of the review.

When will confirmed Category A prisoners be reviewed?

PSI 03/2010, Chapter 4, para 1 says:

"Each prisoner confirmed as Category A Status at a first formal review will then have their security category reviewed annually on the basis of progress reports from the prison.  These are known as annual reviews and are completed by the Category A Team or the Director of High Security and an advisory panel.  The Director will however remain solely responsible for approving the downgrading of a confirmed Category A  Status prisoner."


When will a confirmed Category A prisoner be downgraded to a lower security category?

Once the Director is convinced that the prisoner's risk of re-offending if unlawfully at large has significantly reduced.  

What is considered as evidence for the purpose of that decision?

• Evidence from the prisoner’s contact with others;

• Participation in offending behaviour work that shows the prisoner has significantly changed their attitudes towards their offending or has developed skills to help prevent similar offending. 

Can a prisoner ever receive a Category A review more than once a year?

Sometimes. Special reviews outside the normal sequence of annual reviews may be granted if:

• There are exceptional circumstances that suggest the highest level of security may no longer be needed, for example the prisoner’s sentence has been substantially reduced or the prisoner’s health or mobility has seriously deteriorated. 

• If the prisoner has been recommended for parole. However, given that parole assessments are based on different criteria from security category reviews, a favourable parole assessment does not necessarily indicate that the prisoner would not be highly dangerous if unlawfully at large.

Can the annual Category A annual reviews ever take place in the form of an oral hearing?

The Director can grant an oral hearing of Category A prisoner’s annual review.  This will allow the prisoner or the prisoner’s representatives to submit their representations to the Director verbally (PSI 03/2010, Chapter 4, para 2).

When will the Director grant an oral hearing?

The Director will grant an oral hearing if there are exceptional circumstances that suggest the submission of oral representations is the fairest means of determining the prisoner’s suitability for downgrading. The suitability and the format of an oral hearing remains at the Director’s discretion.                         


Reviews of Escape Risk Classification

The Category A Team will continue to review the escape risk classification of each confirmed Category A high escape risk prisoner every six months and each confirmed Category A exceptional escape risk prisoner every three months, and send the prisoner a decision notification within four weeks of the review (PSI 03/2010, Chapter 4, para 3).

The Director remains solely responsible downgrading a Category A prisoner from exceptional or high escape risk classification and all recommendations for downgrading will be forwarded to the Director for the final decision.   

Before approving a confirmed Category A prisoner’s downgrading from high or exceptional escape risk classification the Director must be convinced that information suggesting an enhanced escape potential is no longer valid.

Annual Reviews

The first annual review will normally take place two years after the prisoner’s first formal review, to enable prison staff to fully assess any progress made by the prisoner.  The exceptions to this will be where:

• the Director ordered at the first formal review that the prisoner’s first annual review should take place earlier;
• the Governor of the holding prison decides the prisoner’s first annual review should take place earlier on the basis of exceptional risk reduction.             

Each subsequent annual review will normally be completed 12 months after the last review.      
   

Can annual reviews ever be deferred?

Deferrals of annual reviews are valid in exceptional circumstances.  These may include the need to obtain further information, for example offending behaviour programme reports, or for prison staff to link the review with other forms of assessment, such as parole reviews. 

Prison staff or the Category A Team may also at their discretion grant a prisoner’s request for a deferral of an annual review.  A deferred annual review should however not normally affect the timing of future reviews, which should return to the previous schedule.      

What is the procedure for Category A Annual Reviews?

1. Preparation of reports

Prison staff prepare the reports for the prisoner’s annual Cat A review review.

What is to be included in the report?

 

The reports should produce a comprehensive summary of the prisoner’s behaviour and progress to date, that will enable an assessment of any reduction in the prisoner’s level of risk.  

Where applicable the reports should record and assess any exceptional circumstances that suggest the prisoner may not require the highest level of security. 

• Other relevant documents may include:
• Offending behaviour programme reports;
• Sentencing Planning Review Board assessments;
• OASys reports;
• Psychological or psychiatric reports;
• Parole reports.

Individual report writers should not make a recommendation on the prisoner’s suitability for Category A Status.

2. Disclosure of reports

The completed reports are disclosed to the prisoner to allow representations to be submitted to the prison’s Local Advisory Panel ("LAP". The Panel will include the prison’s Governor or Deputy Governor and a range of appropriate report-writing staff, including wing, specialist and security staff). The prisoner is allowed four weeks to submit representations, although an extension may be granted at the prison’s discretion if requested. 

3. The Panel's consideration of reports and recommendation

The LAP consider the reports and any representations submitted by the prisoner or on his behalf. They will do this as soon as possible after the period of disclosure. The Panel will then make a recommendation to the Category A team as to whether the prisoner is still suitable for Category A status. It is unnecessary for prisoners or their representatives to attend, as prisoners have the appropriate opportunity to submit written representations to the LAP. The recommendation should also record and comment on any representations, or any factual inaccuracies in the reports that have been taken into account or resolved. The reports, representations and the LAP’s recommendation will then be sent to the Category A Team as soon as possible for the final decision to be made. 

4. The decision

The Category A Team or the Director completes the review and make a decision taking into account the reports, any representations and the LAP’s recommendation.  It will also take into account or forward to the Director any representations received following the prison LAP’s consideration. 

                   
If the Category A Team supports the LAP’s recommendation that the prisoner should remain Category A or Restricted Status, it will normally within four weeks of receipt of the reports complete the review and send the prisoner a decision notification confirming that the prisoner should remain Category A or Restricted Status.

The decision notification will provide detailed reasons for the decision, taking into account any progress the prisoner has made reducing risk, and addressing any relevant points made in the prisoner’s representations.

Referral of Annual Reviews to the Director of High Security 

The Category A Team will refer a case to the Director and the next available monthly panel if:    

• the LAP or Category A Team recommends the prisoner should be downgraded;  
   
• the Director has made a special request at the previous review that the case should be referred to the Director and his panel;
   
• the prisoner has recently moved from Restricted Status within a Young Offenders Institution to Category A status within a high security prison;
   
• the Director has not reviewed the prisoner’s case for five years. 

Decisions from the Director of High Security

The Director will review the prisoner’s security category assisted by a similar advisory panel present in first formal reviews.  Panel meetings usually take place monthly  The Director may also review a Category A prisoner’s escape risk classification at the same time. 

The Category A Team will inform prison staff of the results of the Director’s review immediately after the review takes place.  It will also immediately put into effect any decision to downgrade a prisoner from Category A or Restricted Status or to amend a Category A prisoner’s escape risk classification. 

The Category A Team will send the prisoner a decision notification four weeks after the date of the Director’s panel.  The decision notification will include a summary of the information taken into account and detailed reasons for the Director’s decision. 

Downgrading from Category A

Once the Director decides a prisoner is downgraded from Category A or Restricted Status the responsibility for deciding the prisoner's further allocation and categorisation passes to governing staff at the holding prison.

The Director may recommend that a prisoner downgraded from Category A to Category B should remain in high security conditions for a trial period.