From numbers behind bars to drugs, mental health and regressive legislation, our prisons are in a shameful stateJust around the corner from where the Krays used to hold sway in east London’s Brick Lane there is an establishment called Alcotraz. Describ…
Cressida Dick is staying as Met chief, but who else would take the poisoned chalice? | Duncan Campbell
After many calls for her resignation, Dick is the latest in a line of commissioners to be blamed for the police service’s failuresIn 1955, after being presented with a damning report on corruption within the Metropolitan police, the then commissioner, …
Jailhouse rock: how history’s crimes live on in music
From Maggie May to Ronnie Kray, crooks have long inspired songs, as a new book provesIn the 1960s when Sir Stephen Sedley, the former appeal court judge, was a young barrister, he successfully defended a number of Travellers in Kent who had been charge…