Channel 4 - News - Dispatches - Undercover Prisoner

Broadcast: Monday 02 April 2007 08:00 PM

For the first time, a covert camera investigates prison life. A prisoner has secretly filmed for 15 days inside one of Britain's most controversial open prisons as part of a major investigation into the effectiveness of such prisons in protecting the general public and the successful rehabilitation of offenders.

Undercover Prisoner

For the first time, a covert camera penetrates the hidden world of the prison inmate. A prisoner has secretly filmed for 15 days inside one of Britain's most controversial open prisons as part of a major investigation into the effectiveness of such prisons in protecting the general public and the successful rehabilitation of offenders.

Once home to white-collar convicts like Jeffrey Archer, now covert footage reveals weaknesses in security at HMP North Sea Camp in Lincolnshire which allow potentially dangerous prisoners to abscond, the misuse of prescription drugs and illegal drugs and alcohol to circulate. Examining issues which are relevant to the prison system as a whole, Dispatches asks whether John Reid's least secure prisons are 'fit for purpose?'

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