prison visit in leicester

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• Crime, justice and the law
• Prisons and probation

Visit someone in prison

Use this service to request a social visit to a prisoner in England or Wales. There’s a different way to book a prison visit in Northern Ireland or a prison visit in Scotland .

To use this service you need the:

• prisoner number
• prisoner’s date of birth
• dates of birth for all visitors coming with you

If you do not have the prisoner’s location or prisoner number, use the ‘Find a prisoner’ service .

You can choose up to 3 dates and times you prefer. The prison will email you to confirm when you can visit.

The prisoner must add you to their visitor list before you can request a visit. This can take up to 2 weeks.

Request a prison visit

Visits you cannot book through this service.

Contact the prison directly if you need to arrange any of the following:

• legal visits, for example legal professionals discussing the prisoner’s case
• reception visits, for example the first visit to the prisoner within 72 hours of being admitted
• double visits, for example visiting for 2 hours instead of 1
• family day visits - special family events that the prison organises

Help with the costs of prison visits

You may be able to get help with the cost of prison visits if you’re getting certain benefits or have a health certificate.

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HMP Leicester, Visits and getting there

Visiting times are shown below. Check with the prison on the visiting booking number as different times/days occur over Bank Holiday periods. The visiting centre is not very large, so book as early as you can to avoid disappointment. Visits are held on:

• Mon: 14:15-16:15
• Tue: 14:15-16:15
• Wed 16:00-18:00
• Thu: 14:15-16:15
• Sat: 14:15-16:15
• Sun: 14:15-16:15

Basic visits take place on Wednesdaybetween 15:15-16:15 & 17:00-18:00

Visits can be booked 7 days in advance. Any cancellations and amendments must be done within 48 hours.  Booking reference # will be required for this.

The Booking line on  0116 228 3128 is open 5 days a week 08:30 – 11:30 ( (9:30 start on a Monday), & 13:00-15:00 or book in person at the Visitors’ Centre open for all domestic visits sessions.

You can book online, visit: www.gov.uk/prison-visits   All you need is the name and date of birth of the person you are visiting and their prisoner number . You can choose up to 3 possible dates and times. Prison booking staff will check what’s available and confirm your visit by email. If you’ve made an online visit booking request and haven’t received a confirmation email within 1-3 working days,  email [email protected]

Visitors should report to the Visitors’ Centre on Tower Street to book in for their visit. Children’s play area and tea bar operate in the visits room staffed by volunteers.

Transport to the Prison

If you want to plan your journey on public transport visit the travel  web site  (click here). It is an excellent way to plan your visits.

The prison is located close to the city centre. Leicester train station is the nearest station and is a short walk from the prison. It is on the Midland Mainline. In case of difficulty getting instructions to the prison, ask for directions to Leicester Royal Infirmary (Hospital) – the prison is opposite the hospital.

If travelling by bus the main bus station (St. Margaret’s) is situated to the north of the city centre. The prison is approximately 1 mile south of the bus station.

A taxi fare for either the bus station or the train station will be around £5.00

If arriving for a visit by car from London / South: Take the M1 northbound, turning off at junction 21. At the roundabout, take the 2nd left and follow the signs for the city centre. At the 4th set of lights you come to, turn right. Go straight at the next roundabout and left at the one-way system. Take the 2nd right round the multi-storey car park (this car park is for L.R.I nurses). The prison is opposite Leicester Royal Infirmary, which is well signposted. From Manchester / West: Leave Manchester via the A6, heading towards Derby. After about 23 miles, take the A623 towards Peak Forest. After about 20 miles, take the A619 towards Chesterfield. Stay on this road for 10 miles, take the A617 towards Mansfield and after about 5 miles, join the M1. At junction 22 join the A50 heading towards the city centre. Follow A50 or signs for Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Like all town centres parking spaces in Leicester are in short supply and some are some distance from the prison, and there is no parking available at the site.

Return to Leicester

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Blog Government Digital Service

https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2014/09/15/you-can-now-book-a-prison-visit-online/

You can now book a prison visit online

Booking a prison visit should be simple and straightforward. Until now that was far from the case. Booking a visit required both prisoner and visitor to jump through hoops: paper forms and drawn-out phone calls. And if the visit date turned out to be impossible, they had to start all over again.

Now you can book a visit online . It takes about 5 minutes. Before, picking an available date was pot luck. Now there's a date-picker that lets you select 3 possible slots instead of 1. It’s a straight-forward service with user-needs at its heart but, if you get stuck, you can call the prison's visits booking line and someone will help you with the booking.

Here's a very short film we've made about it:

By making it easier to book visits, prisoners will see more of their friends and family. Evidence suggests this will help their rehabilitation. Transformation isn't just about websites.

The service was built by the Ministry of Justice, with a combined team from the National Offender Management Service, HM Prison Service and MoJ Digital Services.

For more of the story behind this service, read Mike Bracken's account of his trip to HMP Rochester or check out the service’s transformation page .

Join the conversation on Twitter , and don't forget to sign up for email alerts .

You may also be interested in:

• Prison visit booking: using digital analytics to inform alpha development
• Making prison visits easier to book
• Meet the Transformation team

Sharing and comments

Share this page, 20 comments.

Comment by Pauline posted on 23 August 2015

How do you find out the prisoners number??? so you can go ahead with online booking of a visit?

Comment by Carrie Barclay posted on 24 August 2015

You can find a prisoner using this service: https://www.gov.uk/find-prisoner However it will be the prisoner's responsibility to get in touch with you to let you know their prison number etc.

Comment by linda posted on 15 August 2015

This service does not appear to work this is day 2 trying to use it

Comment by Olivia posted on 30 July 2015

Hi, If a visit is booked and someone cant make it, is it possible to change the name of one of the people to someone else?

Comment by Louise Duffy posted on 30 July 2015

It's best to contact the prison directly if this happens. You can find contact details here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/contacts/prison-finder

Thanks, Louise

Comment by Paige posted on 28 July 2015

Hi my partner was sent to nottingham today, I was on his previous list 4 months ago for a visit. Will that still be on the system all will it have to he put through again if so how long does it take to be approved for a visit? Thanks Paige.

Comment by Louise Duffy posted on 29 July 2015

You might want to get in touch with the prison first before booking a visit. You can find the contact details of the prison here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/contacts/prison-finder

Comment by Debs posted on 27 July 2015

Hello Is there a list of prisons where online booking can't be used?

Comment by Louise Duffy posted on 28 July 2015

According to the information on this page: https://www.gov.uk/prison-visits , you can arrange a visit to any prison in England and Wales through this service. If you're visiting someone in Northern Ireland or Scotland you'll need to contact the prison directly.

This link also lists the type of visits that are not covered by the online service: https://www.gov.uk/prison-visits so you need to get in touch with the prison directly.

Hope that's helpful.

Comment by c.steer posted on 26 July 2015

So how do I find the booking form to fill in I am new to computers

Comment by Louise Duffy posted on 27 July 2015

Here's the link to the booking form: https://www.gov.uk/prison-visits

You'll need this information to complete the form:

prisoner number prisoner’s date of birth dates of birth for all visitors coming with you make sure the person you’re visiting has added you to their visitor list

Hope that's useful.

Comment by Shawnaa posted on 09 May 2015

i have a visit booked which i did online but i do not have a visiting order woll the prison let me in?

Comment by Carrie Barclay posted on 11 May 2015

Your identity will be checked on arrival to make sure you’re on the visitor list.

Comment by jessicca posted on 27 January 2015

What happens after you book the visit and its confirmed by email do you need the visiting order ?

Comment by Carrie Barclay posted on 29 January 2015

The Visiting Order (VO) number is generated by the booking system, it is included in your confirmation email and you will need this to change or cancel a booking.

However, if you're visiting a prison the guidance is that you only need your ID, not the VO number. If when you visit the prison you are asked for the VO number you should report this via the Contact Us link on the Prison Visits Booking form.

I hope that helps.

Comment by Ilysa Mcnally posted on 18 November 2014

How late in advance can I book e.g. book a visit today (Tuesday) for the Sunday coming???

Comment by Carrie Barclay posted on 19 November 2014

Hi Ilysa. Thanks for your question. A visit needs to be booked 3 working days in advance. So in this case, the visit request would have to be no later than Tuesday to allow for a visit on Sunday.

Comment by carole posted on 23 October 2014

How far in advance can you book visits

Comment by Carrie Barclay posted on 23 October 2014

Hi Carole. You can book up to 28 days in advance. Thanks for your question.

Comment by kimberly posted on 16 August 2015

does anyone know how to cancel a visit online?

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New 'smart' prison aims to rehabilitate nearly 2,000 prisoners

• Friday 30 June 2023 at 4:10pm

Ravneet Nandra

Reporter, ITV Anglia

ITV Central reporter Ravneet Nandra visited the prison ahead of its official opening

Britain's newest male prison has opened in Leicester with the aim of encouraging prisoners to learn new skills and gain qualifications before going back into the community.

HMP Fosse Way is a resettlement prison, which will house nearly 2,000 prisoners who'll take part in daily workshops and classes and find local jobs, which is proven to cut their chance of reoffending.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has also billed it as the greenest prison ever constructed in the UK, because of greener fuels, renewable energy and electric construction machinery.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said the build signals a new approach to prisons by "creating safe, modern places that utilise the latest technology to place rehabilitation and cutting crime at their core" as the Government presses on with its £4 billion construction programme.

There were 71 ex-offenders and prisoners released on temporary licence who were part of the 500 people involved in the construction of the prison.

It is to feature 24 workshops and help offenders learn skills such as how to drive construction vehicles in a simulator, manufacture glasses, and construct concrete components and lighting equipment that can be used in future prison builds.

The new jail, on the site of the old HMP Glen Parva, started accepting a small number of prisoners on May 29.

It will create another 600 jobs, according to the MoJ, and will be operated by Serco following a competitive tendering process.

The build has also seen £180 million spent with local construction suppliers.

Mr Chalk, who met with frontline prison staff at HMP Fosse Way, said the opening means the Government is "a quarter of the way towards completion of the biggest prison-building programme in more than a century"

He added: "The cutting-edge design will give offenders every opportunity to turn around their lives, while also providing a significant boost in this Government's drive to grow the economy."

The MoJ said work is being done to provide immediate extra capacity, including rolling out hundreds of rapid deployment cells at HMP Norwich and HMP Hollesley Bay.

Although, the Prison Reform Trust says these types of prisons come with challenges.

In an interview with ITV News Central, Mark Day, the Deputy Director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "The concern we have at the moment is because the number of prisoners are growing, there will be pressure to to get prisoners into the prison as quickly as possible which could lead to instability if not done carefully."

It comes as the Trust releases a new report revealing the extent of the challenge facing the government, as it struggles to respond to the demand for prison places fueled by a rapidly rising prison population.

In the report, The Prison Reform Trust said: "The government's commitment to building 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s remains significantly behind schedule, despite a recent increase in activity.

"By 5 June 2023, just 5,202 new places had been constructed.

"Ministry of Justice officials conceded that even if all planned capacity projects are delivered on time, there will be a shortfall of 2,300 prison places by March 2025, according to an internal memo accidentally published at the start of June.

"With government projections that the prison population will rise by a further 7,800 people to reach 93,200 by 2024, the prison service faces an extraordinary challenge simply to keep up with demand—intensifying the strain on existing infrastructure and limiting capacity within the organisation to focus on other pressing priorities, including post-pandemic recovery."

In response to this, the Ministry of Justice told ITV News Central that it has always been clear about delivery dates.

In a statement, the Department said: “We have always been clear that delivery dates are contingent on external matters, including planning permission, but we remain committed to building these prisons as quickly as possible.

“More than 5,000 of the additional 20,000 prison places we are creating have already been delivered, including the brand new HMP Fosse Way which started accepting prisoners on time in May.

"Based on our current forecasts of prison places supply, taking into account current assumptions of how quickly new places will be delivered and brought into use, we expect there to be around over 8,000 complete by the end of May 2025."

The pictures that offer a rare glimpse of life behind the walls of Leicester Prison

The prison granted access to inmates

• 04:00, 7 JUN 2019

The latest crime and court news from Leicester and Leicestershire

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It’s rare to get a glimpse of life behind the imposing walls of Leicester Prison.

More than 300 inmates are housed in the Category B Victorian Welford Road jail and some insight into their lives has been provided by a student who was granted access to meet some of them.

Corrine Gretton-West made several visits to the prison where she photographed and interviewed inmates seeing out their sentences

The University of Northampton photography student found that some inmates admitted their time inside had eroded their identity, while several revealed the strategies they use to try and cope with prison life , such as writing poetry, playing musical instruments or seeking solace in religion.

One prisoner told her: “I don’t know who I am anymore.

"I have no identity, so I just keep things plain around here. Poetry keeps me alive.”

Corrine said: “Those I spoke to who had been in prison for a long time, had pretty much given up and really didn’t feel like they were the same person they were before.

“It was quite sad to hear them say this.

“In contrast, those who had been incarcerated a for just a few months or a year or two had a better outlook, and seemed to make the most of their time in prison, keeping occupied with activities, taking part in the prison’s education system, religion, and so on.

“They also have a great mental health system put in place which is available to the inmates.”

She added: “The prison officers do a fantastic job, they definitely deserve more funding. I cannot thank them enough for allowing this project to happen.”

The prison visits were a challenge for Corrine, who wrote to 40 institutions before Leicester agreed to help her with her project.

She said: “HMP Leicester is a beautiful building from the outside, and once I went through the gates it still seemed quite appealing as there was a peaceful garden to walk through and then some offices.

“But the mood changed as soon as we went down a long corridor to where the cells are – the noise just hit me and it’s a sound I’ll never forget, it was pretty overwhelming.

“Once I’d got over my nerves and actually spent time with some of the prisoners in their cells, I felt more at ease and they were really surprised and intrigued that someone was interested in what they had to say.

“They are human beings, just like us all. That’s something that has stayed with me and I hope my project will get over to people who see it.”

What's happening in county prisons

Corrine’s project, Identity Inside, will be exhibited at the university’s degree show, which opens today (June 7) and is open to the public.

She has recreated a 6ft by 8ft prison cell, with the photos taken at HMP Leicester displayed on the walls – including an image of a cell window which a prisoner had dressed with curtains made from pillow cases and tooth picks.

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Prisons · Leicestershire

Overcrowding.

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA): 212

Population: 308

Leicester prison is a Victorian-era prison located in the city centre. It is a category B, local prison serving Leicester and the surrounding areas.

Read Leicester’s latest inspection report here. 

About this information

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) is the prison service’s own measure of how many prisoners can be held in decent and safe accommodation. Any occupancy above CNA means that the prison in question is overcrowded.

Prisons in England and Wales fall into four separate security categories. Some prisons can operate under more than one category.

Category A : Category A prisons are high security prisons, holding those individuals considered the most threatening to the public should they escape. Category A prisons should not be overcrowded, given the high levels of security required.

Category B: Category B prisons, or local prisons, are the largest category of prison. They tend to hold un-sentenced prisoners, prisoners on remand awaiting trial, short-sentenced prisoners or those newly sentenced and awaiting transfer to another prison category. Category B prisons tend to be the most overcrowded, with a constantly churning population.

Category C: Category C prisons are sometimes called ‘training prisons’. They are meant to offer education and training to prisoners and the vast majority of prisoners on longer sentences will spend time in Category C accommodation. Historically not overcrowded, we now see more and more Category C prisons running overcrowded regimes.

Category D: Category D prisons offer open conditions and house those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape. Prisoners in Category D prisons will be given Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) to work in the community or go on home leave, usually returning to the prison in the early evening. The majority of Category D prisoners will be towards the end of their sentence, and their period in open conditions is preparing them for their eventual release. Category D prisons tend not to be overcrowded.

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• Gaols in the City
• Daniel Lambert, a gaol keeper from 1791, was famous for his size and went on to tour the country as a ‘natural curiosity’
• A small part of the old borough gaol wall (demolished 1880) can be seen on Highcross Street
• The last man to be exhibited in a ‘gibbet’ after execution was in 1832

Civic Affairs

Damp, dirty, overcrowded.

In the 18th century Leicester had four gaols (the Georgian spelling of jail) on or near Highcross Street. In the late 18th century the visiting philanthropist John Howard found them to be damp, dirty and overcrowded. Inmates might be forced to work on a treadmill or turn a winding machine known as ‘the crank’. Food consisted of oatmeal gruel, bread, meat, potatoes, and cocoa. After Howard’s visit the gaols were rebuilt. In 1791, the County gaol was replaced by a new gaol built to the design of a Mr Moneypenny (said to have become its first inmate as a debtor).

Daniel Lambert

Famously, Daniel Lambert weighed 52 Stone 11lbs (335kg) at the time of his death in 1809. He would have known the gaols of Leicester well as his father was the keeper of the County Bridewell on Blue Boar Lane (Bridewells, or Houses of Correction, were prisons for a variety of minor offences). Daniel took over from his father in 1791 and was recorded as being a kind gaoler, but in 1804 the Bridewell was replaced by a new House of Correction for females, which was added to the gaol on this site. Daniel Lambert then left the service and travelled around the country, establishing an international reputation as a ‘natural curiosity’.

What is left to see?

The Gaol was demolished in 1880 but a small part of one of its walls was left in place and can still be seen today from Highcross Street. Parts of the wall can also be seen in the shop next door and the old foundations extend back to the cellars of neighbouring buildings.

"In the castle style"

The new county Gaol (now HM Prison Leicester), opened in 1828, was a striking castle-like structure designed by county surveyor William Parsons. It didn't impress traveller and writer William Cobbett when he visited this “very fine town” in the 1820s. He said of the new prison “..as if proud of it, the grand portal has little turrets in the castle style….Instead of expressing shame at these indubitable proofs of the horrible increase of misery and crime, they really boast of these “improvements”…. jails and tread-mills and dungeons have now become the most striking edifices in every county in the kingdom.”

Public hangings

Temporary scaffolds were erected outside the main gates of the county gaol for executions, attracting huge crowds. In 1832 James Cook was executed here for murder in front of a crowd of 30,000. He was the last man to have his dead body exhibited in a “gibbet” which was hung at the junction of Saffron Lane and Aylestone Road. Replica gibbet irons can be seen in Leicester Guildhall.

HM Prison Leicester now operates from this site.

• Roman Leicester

(47- 500) A military fort was erected, attracting traders and a growing civilian community to Leicester (known as Ratae Corieltauvorum to the Romans). The town steadily grew throughout the reign of the Romans.

• Medieval Leicester

(500 – 1500) The early years of this period was one of unrest with Saxon, Danes and Norman invaders having their influences over the town. Later, of course, came Richard III and the final battle of the Wars of the Roses was fought on Leicester’s doorstep.

• Tudor & Stuart Leicester

(1500 – 1700) The wool trade flourished in Leicester with one local, a former mayor named William Wigston, making his fortune. During the English Civil War a bloody battle was fought as the forces of King Charles I laid siege to the town.

• Georgian Leicester

(1700 – 1837) The knitting industry had really stared to take hold and Leicester was fast becoming the main centre of hosiery manufacture in Britain. This new prosperity was reflected throughout the town with broader, paved streets lined with elegant brick buildings and genteel residences.

• Victorian Leicester

(1837 – 1901) The industrial revolution had a huge effect on Leicester resulting in the population growing from 40,000 to 212,000 during this period. Many of Leicester's most iconic buildings were erected during this time as wealthy Victorians made their mark on the town.

• Edwardian Leicester

(1901 – 1910) Electric trams came to the streets of Leicester and increased literacy among the citizens led to many becoming politicised. The famous 1905 ‘March of the Unemployed to London’ left from Leicester market when 30,000 people came to witness the historic event.

• Early 20th Century Leicester

(1910 – 1973) The diverse industrial base meant Leicester was able to cope with the economic challenges of the 1920s and 1930s. New light engineering businesses, such as typewriter and scientific instrument making, complemented the more traditional industries of hosiery and footwear manufacturing.

• Modern Leicester

(1973 – present day) Industry was still thriving in the city during the 1970s, with the work opportunities attracting many immigrants from all over the world. While industry has declined in recent years, excellent transport links have made Leicester an attractive centre for many businesses. The City now has much to be proud of including its sporting achievements and the richness of its cultural heritage and diversity.

The Women’s Social and Political Union, better known as the Suffragettes, was formed in 1903 to campaign for votes for women.

Today, the ‘Magazine’, or more correctly, the Newarke Gateway dominates the western end of Newarke Street where it joins Vaughan Way and Oxford Street. Today, the gateway, which was built about 1400, is one of Leicester’s finest surviving medieval buildings.

The Queen visited Leicester twice in the 1980s, opening a new extensions of the Leicester Royal Infirmary

Prince Charles visited Leicester twice in the 1980s

The school was built around 1573 using stone, timber and lead from St Peter´s church that had been demolished following an appeal to Queen Elizabeth I. The royal coat of arms is displayed over the entrance.

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Man jailed for life after breaking baby son’s neck in Leicester

Judge says Michael Davis showed ‘callous indifference’ to baby Ollie’s suffering, as mother Kayleigh Driver jailed for seven years

A man has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 22 years for murdering his four-week-old son, who was left to die from a broken neck in 2017.

Michael Davis, 29, was found guilty last month of murdering his newborn son Ollie Davis, after a six-year investigation into the case.

He was also found guilty of two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, while Ollie’s mother, Kayleigh Driver, 31, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm.

She was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Mr Justice Cotter, sitting at Loughborough court, said Ollie had suffered a “devastating” fatal spinal injury up to eight days before his death, as well as dozens of other injuries inflicted over four separate overnight episodes of violence.

“At least five different mechanisms were required to cause this terrible array of injuries,” he said. “Michael Davis, I have no doubt that during the night, you became frustrated and angry and this led to terrible violence.”

In not seeking medical help, Davis showed “callous indifference” to Ollie’s suffering, the judge said.

A safeguarding review partially published after the trial, compiled by the Leicester Safeguarding Children Partnership Board in 2017, found “early opportunities to refer and assess [the family] were not taken” but that the abuse levelled against Ollie was “not foreseeable”, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.

The board found “more could have been done to explore vulnerability and risk for this family” even though “some effort” had been made by agencies to address Ollie’s safety, according to the outlet.

Leicester city council said recommendations following on from the review have been implemented, the LDRS reported.

Addressing Driver, the judge said she “must have heard Ollie’s cries after he was assaulted, as you were together in the bedroom. This must have woken you up.”

Emergency services were called to the family’s home in Leicester on 21 October 2017, after Ollie was found unresponsive in his cot.

The baby was taken to hospital but pronounced dead a short time later.

There were no obvious signs of injury or illness to account for Ollie’s death, but a postmortem examination revealed he had died from the delayed effects of a broken neck.

The injury had led to the compression of the spinal cord, which had caused him to stop breathing. It was also found that Ollie had 40 bone fractures, including a fractured skull, collarbone, breaks to joints in both arms and legs, and 23 rib fractures.

His parents were initially arrested by police on 27 October 2017, and offered no plausible explanation for the injuries.

A complex police investigation ensued, which established the fractures Ollie had sustained were non-accidental and must have been caused by serious physical abuse, including a blow to the head, severe compression of the chest, twisting of the limbs and a pulling of the neck.

After four years of gathering evidence, police charged the pair in October 2021. They both continued to deny any knowledge of what happened.

Ricky Driver, the father of Kayleigh Driver and grandfather of Ollie, said in a statement on behalf of the whole family that they were “shook to the core” when the couple were questioned by police.

“On the 21 October 2017, we were awakened to the sad news of Ollie’s sudden death and concluded that it was probably a cot death. A day none of us will forget,” he said.

“Over time, the injuries were made public, and we couldn’t believe what we were being told. Ollie was perfect in every way when he was born. This was our worst nightmare. How could anybody hurt a beautiful baby was beyond words.”

He added the family had been “dragged through hell for nearly seven years” through the case. “This has changed our family for ever and we suffer mentally from these evil actions,” he said.

The senior investigating officer DI Mark Parish said: “Due to the amount of injuries Ollie suffered, and the medical expertise needed to examine those injuries, it has taken more than six years for this investigation to come to court and for Ollie’s parents to be held accountable for his death.”

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Parents of Michigan School Shooter Sentenced to 10 to 15 Years in Prison

Jennifer and James Crumbley, whose son killed four people, each faced up to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter convictions.

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By Jacey Fortin and Anna Betts

Jennifer and James Crumbley, who were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent their teenage son from killing four fellow students in the deadliest school shooting in Michigan’s history, were each sentenced on Tuesday to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Their separate jury trials ended in guilty verdicts in February and March , making them the first parents in the country to be convicted over the deaths caused by their child in a mass shooting.

Involuntary manslaughter charges carry a penalty in Michigan of up to 15 years in prison, and prosecutors asked in sentencing memos filed to the court last week that the Crumbleys each serve at least 10 years. Both have been in jail for more than two years while awaiting trial and will receive credit for time served.

“Parents are not expected to be psychic,” Judge Cheryl Matthews of the Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Mich., said before issuing the sentence. “But these convictions are not about poor parenting. These convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train — repeatedly ignoring things that would make a reasonable person feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up.”

Before the hearing, prosecutors said that Ms. Crumbley, 46, was asking to be sentenced to house arrest on her defense lawyer’s property, rather than serving prison time. And Mr. Crumbley, 47, said that he had been wrongly convicted and his sentence should amount to the time he had already served in prison, adding that he felt “absolutely horrible” about what had happened.

On Tuesday, each of them spoke in the hearing before the judge pronounced sentence.

“I stand today not to ask for your forgiveness, as I know it may be beyond reach, but to express my sincerest apologies for the pain that has been caused,” Ms. Crumbley said in court, addressing the relatives of students who were killed.

Mr. Crumbley also apologized. “I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen, because I absolutely would have done a lot of things differently,” he said.

Relatives of some of the victims also spoke during the hearing, describing the overwhelming effects the shooting had on their lives.

“The ripple effects of both James’s and Jennifer’s failures to act have devastated us all,” said Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, 17, who was killed in the shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. “This tragedy was completely preventable. If only they had done something, your honor, anything, to shift the course events on Nov. 30, then our four angels would be here today.”

Steve St. Juliana, whose daughter, Hana, 14, was killed, said that the Crumbleys continued to fail to take responsibility for what had happened.

“They chose to stay quiet,” he said. “They chose to ignore the warning signs. And now, as we’ve heard through all of the objections, they continue to choose to blame everyone but themselves.”

The Crumbleys’ son, Ethan, was 15 when he carried out the shooting that killed Justin and Hana, as well as Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Tate Myre, 16. Seven others were injured. Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder, and was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole . He is still eligible to appeal that decision. His parents may appeal, too.

In the trials of both parents, prosecutors focused in part on their failure to remove their son from school after he made a violent drawing on the morning of the shooting. It included a written plea for help.

They also emphasized Ethan’s access to a handgun that Mr. Crumbley had purchased. And they said that Ms. Crumbley had missed signs that her son was struggling with his mental health, adding that she took him to a gun range just days before the shooting.

Defense lawyers for both parents said they could not have foreseen the unspeakable violence their son would commit.

Ms. Crumbley grew up in Clarkston, a Detroit suburb about 20 minutes from Oxford, her lawyer said during a hearing after the couple’s arrest in 2021 . Before her arrest, she had worked as a marketing director, her lawyer said.

Mr. Crumbley’s job history included work at a handful of small software and technology companies.

The couple once lived in Florida but returned to Michigan several years ago, their lawyers said. They bought their home near downtown Oxford in 2015.

The trials of Jennifer and James Crumbley became a lightning rod for issues of parental responsibility at a time of high-profile gun violence by minors. In recent months, parents in other states have pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct or neglect after their children injured or killed others with guns.

But the manslaughter charges against the Crumbleys were unique, and legal experts said their trials could serve as a playbook for other prosecutors who seek to hold parents accountable in the future.

Ekow Yankah, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, said the effect of the ruling on Tuesday might be felt beyond the state.

“This is going to be precedent, most obviously in Michigan and its home jurisdiction, but prosecutors all over the country will see this as a new and viable form of liability,” Mr. Yankah said. “I think we should not underestimate the precedential power of this case, even as we recognize that the facts were quite extraordinary.”

For Matthew Schneider, a former United States attorney in Michigan, what makes this case so different from many others is that most criminal sentences are related to the actions of a defendant, rather than being “about inactions, and how the inactions of a person result in a criminal sentence.”

The sentencing is “very much about making an example of the defendants,” Mr. Schneider said. “This is a shot across the bow to all parents, to all people who have firearms in their house, to keep them locked up, if they could be in the hands of the wrong people.”

Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for the National desk of The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics all across the country. More about Jacey Fortin

Anna Betts reports on national events, including politics, education, and natural or man-made disasters, among other things. More about Anna Betts

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G. Dep Says Diddy Didn't Visit Him in Prison But Bad Boy Alum Wants to Reconnect: 'I Got a Lot of Songs'

The 49-year-old was released from prison in April after being granted clemency.

G. Dep is unsure about the multiple sexual abuse allegations aimed at Diddy —and the recently freed rapper is ready to work with the hip-hop mogul again.

In a new interview with Fox 5 New York, G. Dep cast doubt over Diddy’s ongoing legal issues.

“I’m like, ‘When? When did that happen?' You know what I mean?” Dep said of Diddy’s purported misconduct. “We were in the studio for months on end with each other. So I don’t know where this is coming from.”

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The Bad Boy Records alum continued, “People should give people the benefit of the doubt. If somebody just saying that you did something, you know, people can say anything.”

While incarcerated, the “Special Delivery” MC penned hundreds of songs and shared that he’s eager to get into the studio again with Diddy.

“I got a lot of songs, bro. I’m looking for you so we can get some type of musical situation going,” Dep said directly into the camera.

Following his release this month , the 49-year-old gave his first interview to The Art of Dialogue , sharing that Diddy never visited him in prison.

“He reached out to me inadvertently,” the Harlem native said. “Like videos, a couple of interviews, I heard him shout me out. … I couldn’t expect too much from anybody—that wasn’t what type of time that was. I went in there with my own volition.”

G. Dep spent over a decade in prison for a fatal shooting in 1993. It wasn’t until years later that he turned himself in, after discovering that the man died. He confessed to the murder in 2010 and was subsequently sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. He was granted clemency after 13 years by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

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'Rust' movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed sentenced to 18 months

"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 18 months in prison in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, court Monday for the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month.

The judge referred to Gutierrez-Reed's lack of remorse before she handed down the sentence.

"Your attorney had to tell the court you were remorseful," she said.

Following the sentence, she said, "You were the armorer who stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. [But] for you, she would be alive."

Prosecutors sought the maximum penalty of 18 months in state prison.

In an interview following the sentencing New Mexico special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey said the prosecutors “respect the judge’s decision.”

“It’s been a difficult case. ... But taking responsibility I think is critical in the criminal justice system and that was something that unfortunately was lacking from Miss Gutierrez,” Morrissey said.

At the start of the sentencing hearing, Morrissey said she reviewed Gutierrez-Reed’s phone calls from jail to inform what sentence length to recommend to the judge. Morrissey said that the calls made by Gutierrez-Reed “tell us who she really is,” that she does not take responsibility for Hutchins’ death and that she “chooses to place blame on the witnesses that testified against her, me, you.”

In an interview following the sentencing Morrissey said that when she heard those phone calls she experienced "compassion fatigue."

"The state has approached this prosecution from a standpoint of compassion for Miss Gutierrez for her age for her lack of experience. And my compassion came to an end," Morrissey said.

Gutierrez-Reed, who was dressed in a khaki prison uniform with a long-sleeve white T-shirt underneath, wiped away tears as Hutchins’ agent, Craig Mizrahi, read a victim impact statement to the court during the sentencing hearing.

"Rust" director Joel Souza, who was also injured during the incident, read a victim impact statement virtually. He said the last two and half years have been “difficult to put into words” and that “I want everyone damaged by Ms. Reed’s failures that day to find peace. ... I want the pain to go away. ... She had a talent for life, she was a touchstone for all who knew her and those of us who were lucky enough to have shared in her fleeting time on this planet were better for it.”

Hutchins’ mother spoke in a video recorded in her native Ukraine. She sobbed as she recalled her life without her daughter, saying, “It’s extremely difficult without her.”

“There are no words to describe. Time does not heal,” she added.

The prosecutors concluded their presentation with a slideshow of photos of Hutchins set to Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."

Gutierrez-Reed was crying as she addressed the court asking for probation, saying that "my heart aches for Hutchins and her friends and family."

She added that Hutchins "will always be an inspiration" and that her "heart goes out."

“I beg you, please don’t give me more time,” Gutierrez-Reed said.

Following Gutierrez-Reed's conviction, the judge ordered the 26-year-old to be held in police custody pending her sentencing. She was found not guilty of tampering with evidence.

In recorded jail phone conversations with her mother, boyfriend and her attorney’s paralegal, Gutierrez-Reed called jurors “idiots” and “a--holes” while complaining about the length of time it took them to deliberate, according to a recent filing by prosecutors.

Also in the phone calls , she said that she would not testify in actor Alec Baldwin’s upcoming criminal trial if subpoenaed and that she wants him to go to jail , too.

The almost two-week criminal trial centered on the shooting on the “Rust” film set in 2021, when Baldwin held a prop gun  that fired a live round of ammunition, killing Hutchins, 42. The bullet also injured Souza.

During the prosecution’s closing arguments, special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey told the jury that Gutierrez-Reed “was negligent, she was careless, she was thoughtless.”

But Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, said the prosecutors had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for taking live rounds onto the set and alleged that Baldwin was ultimately responsible for Hutchins’ death.

He also doubled down, saying “What caused her to pass was Mr. Baldwin going off-script and pointing the weapon.”

Bowles added that “the only ultimate act is the pointing of that weapon. Ms. Gutierrez wasn’t in the church, she didn’t point that weapon, she didn’t pull it.”

Baldwin, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, is set to stand trial in July.

Chloe Melas is an entertainment correspondent for NBC News. 

Dana Griffin is an NBC News correspondent.

Sumiko Moots is an NBC News booking producer.

Palestinian Prisoner’s Day: How many are still in Israeli detention?

Why are thousands of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons without charge?

Every year, April 17 marks Palestinian Prisoner’s Day , a day dedicated to the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Campaigners use the day to call for the human rights of such prisoners to be upheld and for those who have been detained without charge to be released.

On Monday, Israel released 150 Palestinian prisoners detained during the war in the Gaza Strip. These prisoners, including two Palestine Red Crescent Society workers, said they suffered abuse during their 50 days in Israeli prison, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.

Keep reading

Why are so many palestinian prisoners in israeli jails, jailed without charge: how israel holds thousands of palestinian prisoners, anxious, optimistic: families of female palestinian prisoners await release, freed palestinian prisoners report physical abuse in israeli jails.

Here’s more about Palestinian Prisoner’s Day and the situation of the prisoners in Israel.

What is Palestinian Prisoner’s Day?

The Palestinian National Council chose April 17 as Palestinian Prisoner’s Day in 1974 because it was the date that Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi was released in the first prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestine in 1971.

Hijazi, who had been serving a 30-year prison sentence on charges of trying to blow up the Nehusha Water Institute in central Israel in 1965, was released by Israel in exchange for a 59-year-old Israeli guard named Shmuel Rozenvasser.

How many Palestinians are in Israeli prisons and how are they treated?

In the occupied Palestinian territories, one in every five Palestinians has been arrested and charged at some point. This rate is twice as high for Palestinian men as it is for women – two in every five men have been arrested and charged.

There are 19 prisons in Israel and one inside the occupied West Bank that hold Palestinian prisoners. Israel stopped allowing independent humanitarian organisations to visit Israeli prisons in October, so it is hard to know the numbers and conditions of people being held there.

As of Tuesday, about 9,500 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank were in Israeli captivity, according to estimates from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a rights group based in the West Bank city of Ramallah that supports Palestinian prisoners. The organisation works with human rights groups and families of prisoners to gather information about the situation of the prisoners.

Palestinian prisoners who have been released have reported being beaten and humiliated before and after the start of the war on Gaza on October 7 .

Prisoners released into Gaza on Monday have complained of ill-treatment in Israeli prisons, according to the Reuters report. Many of those released said they had been beaten while in custody and had not been provided with medical treatment.

“I went into jail with two legs, and I returned with one leg,” Sufian Abu Salah told Reuters by phone from a hospital in Gaza, adding that he had no medical history of chronic diseases.

“I had inflammations in my leg, and they [the Israelis] refused to take me to hospital. A week later, the inflammations spread and became gangrene. They took me to hospital where I had the surgery,” said Abu Salah, adding that he had also been beaten by his Israeli captors.

Permission for family members of prisoners to visit them has been suspended since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Gaza and since December 2020 in the West Bank, according to HaMoked, a human rights NGO assisting Palestinians subjected to human rights violations under the Israeli occupation. HaMoked added that minors being held in prisons were allowed a 10-minute phone call to their families once every two weeks during 2020.

How many Palestinian prisoners are being held without charge?

About 3,660 Palestinians being held in Israel are under administrative detention , according to Addameer. An administrative detainee is someone held in prison without charge or trial.

Neither the administrative detainees, who include women and children, nor their lawyers are allowed to see the “secret evidence” that Israeli forces say form the basis for their arrests. These people have been arrested by the military for renewable periods of time, meaning the arrest duration is indefinite and could last for many years. The administrative detainees include 41 children and 12 women, according to Addameer.

Why are Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons?

According to Addameer, 80 women and 200 children are currently being held in Israeli prisons.

In 2016, Israel introduced a new law allowing children between the ages of 12 and 14 to be held criminally responsible, meaning they can be tried in court as adults and be given prison sentences. Previously, only those 14 or older could be sentenced to prison. Prison sentences cannot begin until the child reaches the age of 14, however [ PDF ].

This new law, which was passed on August 2, 2016, by the Israeli Knesset, enables Israeli authorities “to imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14”, according to a Knesset statement at the time the law was introduced.

This change was made after Ahmed Manasra was arrested in 2015 in occupied East Jerusalem at the age of 13. He was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison after the new law had come into effect and, crucially, after his 14th birthday. Later, his sentence was commuted to nine years on appeal.

What sort of trials do Palestinians receive?

Controversially, Palestinian prisoners are tried and sentenced in military courts rather than civil courts.

International law permits Israel to use military courts in the territory that it occupies.

A dual legal system exists in Palestine, under which Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are subject to Israeli civil law while Palestinians are subject to Israeli military law in military courts run by Israeli soldiers and officers.

How long have some Palestinians been in Israeli captivity?

Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in Israeli prisons for more than three decades.

These are people who were arrested before the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 between then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzakh Rabin, who was assassinated by an ultra-nationalist Israeli in 1995 who opposed the negotiations, and Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. These pre-Oslo prisoners are called “deans of prisoners” by Palestinians, according to the website of Samidoun, an international network of organisers and activists advocating for Palestinian prisoners.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the current number of pre-Oslo prisoners in Israeli prisons.

On April 7, the prominent Palestinian prisoner, activist and novelist Walid Daqqa died at Israel’s Shamir Medical Center. Daqqa had been arrested in 1968 for killing an Israeli soldier and remained in prison for 38 years before his death. He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2021. Despite pressure from rights groups to release Daqqa on medical grounds, Israel refused to free him.

Walid Daqqa,🇵🇸 prisoner battling cancer,has died in an Israeli Hosp. Despite international & Palestinian calls for his release due to severe medical neglect in prison, he remained detained until his death. Daqqa leaves behind a legacy as a 🇵🇸 hero, survived by his wife & daughter pic.twitter.com/liBBnFBVtM — Lema (@Lemapal) April 7, 2024

Prominent Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti – who was the co-founder of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, also known as Fatah , the party that governs the West Bank – has been in prison for 22 years. In February, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir , announced that Barghouti had been placed in solitary confinement in February.