Court Martial: Soldiers Behind Bars

[vim_fuego]

Latest C5 fly on the wall programme goes inside MCTC Colchester. Only watched most of one episode which confirms what I’ve always heard about the place, that they work them had but treat them fair however,

WTF is the bloke with the ridiculous moustache wearing on the uniform? It looks like a RAF brevet but it’s not ‘right’ ie the crown is missing?

 

[Deltaitem]

My guess is Army Air Corps.
I worked with a guy who was the RSM at the glasshouse, he was a really solid guy. It's a great series, looking forward to the next episode.

 

[Junter]

There was a similar documentary, I think in the 90s. The regime then looked far tougher than the one in the current series. I was disappointed to see there's far less bull, beastings and being made to move everywhere on the double these days. In the old one the staff were not calling the prisoners "mate" and letting them dick around like they were doing in the museum.

 

[Deltaitem]

Everything was always tougher back in the day, so everyone says. I remember being told when I was on basics, and my Dad told me they said the same thing to him, and so it goes. Of course, we're still only seeing what they want us to see. Not sure I'd want to be sent there though.

 

[Wobbly_Jon]

Missed the tv show but I'm guessing it's similar to the 1990's version but not quite as hard tack and water in these 'enlightened' days.
I believe from a serving pongo WO that it's more re-education and psycology rather than bulls#!t and beasting. Still if it works etc.
As for Hotel Colchester, I went on a visit many moon ago and it scared the bejesus out of me even as a visitor.

 

[Tin basher]

Everything was always tougher back in the day, so everyone says. .

An ex-RAF TG10 SNCO I know who did a tour there in the 90's reckoned mostly he was bored with an unchanging routine and tedious night shifts. From tales told to me, way back then, from folks who were merely delivering the prisioners it was a very shouty, very Army, double everywhere type of establishment. Seems a much more mellow affair in the current TV show. I have noticed that, for now, all the featured bods are Army. You get the odd shot of a guy in Navy uniform marching away but never a face and so far, at least, no mention of any RAF inmates.
A question I don't know the answer to. In these days of equal treatment is there a female version of MCTC??

 

[Lux_deluxe]

Not many RN or RAF in MCTC on this show. My wife was made acting Sgt in 1991 to go to MCTC because a WRAF had been locked up for the first time. It had to be RAF that handled her which I thought was odd. I wonder if it's still like that now. My wife hated it there btw, way too much Army sh!te.

 

[Talk Wrench]

Didn't we have a sort of Shiney jail thing at Innsworth many, many years ago?

 

[Oldstacker]

The RAF had, iirc, a number of regional detention centres for short sentences (under 28 days) Innsworth, Lyneham & Bruggen amongst them but longer sentences went to imprisonment at MCTC. Detention and Imprisonment being 2 different things.

 

[Deltaitem]

Didn't we have a sort of Shiney jail thing at Innsworth many, many years ago?

There was one at Wyton in my day.

 

[Oldstacker]

From vague memory, RDCs were essentially just extensions of the normal guardroom cells and detainees were marched to the mess and back for meals wearing denims and given supervised tasks during the day - whitewashing kerbstones etc. I did know 3 - 4 detainees during my career and had a friend who escorted someone to MCTC and was horrified at being made to double everywhere until he had handed the prisoner over.

 

[Deltaitem]

I had to chuckle at the doubling everywhere. Your mate wasn't TG8 then?

 

[Oldstacker]

I had to chuckle at the doubling everywhere. Your mate wasn't TG8 then?

No, in my experience escorts were from the offender's own squadron and he was a stacker...

 

[Talk Wrench]

The RAF had, iirc, a number of regional detention centres for short sentences (under 28 days) Innsworth, Lyneham & Bruggen amongst them but longer sentences went to imprisonment at MCTC. Detention and Imprisonment being 2 different things.

One evening doing duty dog in the Lyneham guardroom, I had two bus loads of Gurkhas turn up and nobody from the green slime had thought to book transit accommodation for them. Cue one hectic evening.

To further compound matters, it was a Thursday evening which meant NAAFI bop night. Post 22:30hrs saw a rather inebriated, abusive female stacker brought into detention and locked into a cell by the RAF plod closely followed by a member of 47AD who managed to swamp himself and the cell floor with his urine.

We had a checklist outlining how to handle detainees and then handed them back over to plod in the morning.

A couple of years or so later, the cells were put out of use. I can't remember the official reason why they were decommissioned but I think it was also something to do with the fact that the average NCO/SNCO/ZOB wasn't trained in prisoner/ detainee handling procedures. This itself was deemed to create legal quagmires when charges were brought.

Well, at least that's what the grey matter is telling me.

 

[Wobbly_Jon]

Latest C5 fly on the wall programme goes inside MCTC Colchester. Only watched most of one episode which confirms what I’ve always heard about the place, that they work them had but treat them fair however,

WTF is the bloke with the ridiculous moustache wearing on the uniform? It looks like a RAF brevet but it’s not ‘right’ ie the crown is missing?

The pongo with the dumbass tash and brevet is Army Air Corps and he's either an Air Gunner or an Air Observer. The lettering on his brevet isn't very clear

 

[Oldstacker]

I knew of a SACW who was court-martialled for fraud at Gutersloh and awarded Detention+?. As there were no detention facilities for WRAF in Germany she had to be accommodated in a 'stripped out' room in the WRAF block at Gut with a rota of female NCOs set up to provide 1-2-1 supervision for the duration. Not ideal for anyone - detainee nor 'guards'.

I think guardroom cells went out of use as a result of something like PACE where it was deemed that all prisoners had to have proper accommodation and supervision at all times to prevent mistreatment (leading to dodgy confessions) and potential self-harm instances. Most civilian police stations also lost the use of their cells around the same time for the same reason - the need for SQEP staff to meet the responsibilities and it is why most civilian police forces now have centralised prisoner handling facilities (names vary) which means if you get nicked for a bit of fairly trivial D&D you can end up taking a couple of PCs of the streets for a couple of hours while you are transported and processed several miles away... My nearest such facility is 12 - 15 miles away whereas our local nick (in a town of 70k) is only a 10 minute walk.

 

[Deltaitem]

most civilian police forces now have centralised prisoner handling facilities (names vary) which means if you get nicked for a bit of fairly trivial D&D you can end up taking a couple of PCs of the streets for a couple of hours while you are transported and processed several miles away... My nearest such facility is 12 - 15 miles away whereas our local nick (in a town of 70k) is only a 10 minute walk.

They're called Police Investigation Centres (PIC) in my neck of the woods. I worked in a few of them about ten years ago. A really interesting job, and a definitely unique client group. After seeing how some people live their lives, I was never so happy go home after work, have cup of tea, watch the telly, sleep in my own bed and generally have a boring life.

 

[Tin basher]

I had a friend who escorted someone to MCTC and was horrified at being made to double everywhere until he had handed the prisoner over.

Same story related to me by escorting bods. All shouty and doubling everywhere until the miscreant went through the "in" door then the staff revert to "wanna brew mate" normality.