A prison has introduced a Weakest Link-style scheme which lets inmates vote out troublesome cellmates.
Category B Grendon prison typically only accepts cons from other jails if they’ve shown signs of good behaviour - and must adhere to strict rules. And once there, they can be kicked out by fellow cons at regular "wing meetings" where votes are cast. Each of the jail’s wings - six in all - can, if deemed suitable, hold what is called a "commitment vote" to expel an inmate they think is ‘unsuitable’ for the 185-man Buckinghamshire jail, the UK’s only so-called "fully therapeutic" prison.
If booted out, they are made to return to the jail they arrived from. Five have been ordered out since the voting was introduced. One source said it brought to mind memories of Anne Robinson’s 2000s TV quiz. Players could vote each other out and were infamously told: “You are the weakest link, goodbye.”
A source said: “Prison bosses will try almost any kind of innovation to maintain order. This seems to be working well. No wants to be voted out by their peers.”
Those accepted at Grendon must have at least another 18 months to serve, have been drug free for at least two months, and are not considered an escape risk. If they are accepted, they join around another 30 prisoners and live on one of the six wings.
Each wing operates autonomously, with the men taking part in daily group therapy sessions with doctors, psychiatric nurses and counsellors. They are taught various coping mechanisms to regulate their emotions in a bid to rehabilitate themselves.
It also revealed how 25 inmates asked to be moved back to a ‘normal’ prison in the same time period, with 17 kicked out for security breaches , and 19 judged ‘unsuitable for therapy’. The voting scheme was revealed in a report by inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board stated: “The community on each wing runs within the parameters of its own constitution, which all community members sign up to.
“Issues of breaking boundaries are dealt with by the community in small groups or, in serious cases, by the whole wing in community meetings. If deemed necessary, the whole community will take a ‘commitment vote’ on an individual, which, in extremis, can result in them leaving therapy and Grendon.”
In a blog about life at the jail, a prisoner calling themselves Adam Mac said previously that there were entertainment reps at the jail to keep lags amused - including darts competitions, quizzes, talks, gigs and plays. He also said there were ‘gym reps’ who help other prisoners work out in the jail’s gym - and ‘art reps’, who put on drawing classes along with an in-house "artist in residence." There is also believed to be a ‘budgie’ rep for prisoners who keep caged birds, which some lags are allowed to keep in their cells at the jail.