SOME of the country's most dangerous criminals will be embarking on pioneering classes behind bars - to learn more about crime.

For prisoners at the top security Frankland Prison in Durham - whose former inmates include African warlord Charles Taylor and Soham killer Ian Huntley - can explore such issues as whether prison works, the causes of crime and debate the UK's drug policy.

They will be taught criminology as part of a programme led by Durham University academics. The ten-week course, which starts in Durham Prison today (Wednesday, October 29) and Frankland after Christmas, is open to all but sex offenders.

Inmates will study criminal justice alongside undergraduates from the university's School of Applied Sciences.

Its leaders say it is based on a highly successful US example and its launch in Durham, the first in Europe, follows years of careful planning.

Dr Kate O’Brien, a criminology lecturer and one of three Inside-Out facilitators, said: “Prison education programmes are one of the most effective ways of reducing reoffending.

“The subject matter is secondary. It’s the process that’s the primary focus.

“It’s about inviting prisoners to reflect on their own experiences and recognise their capacity to make changes. It’s about the dialogue and interaction.”

Inside-Out was developed at Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1997 and has reached more than 20,000 students in the US, where Durham’s facilitators have undergone training in top-security US jails.

Here, recruitment posters have been displayed on prison wings and interested inmates are interviewed before being accepted onto the course.

“They’re keen to engage in educational opportunities and be stimulated intellectually,” Dr O’Brien said.

The university students also face a lengthy vetting procedure.

“We’re offering them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to step inside a prison and learn with prisoners.

“We’re asking them to put down the textbooks and learn in a completely different way.”

Dr O’Brien said project leaders took security very seriously, with an extra level of checks in place for the Frankland course.

Classes of 12 male inmates and 12 male and female students will sit alternately in a circle and learn through discussion, with three-hour classes held once a week with two facilitators and a teaching assistant present at all times.

“It looks like nothing I’ve experienced or the students will have experienced before,” Dr O’Brien said.

Angie Petit, deputy governor at Durham Prison, said: “Durham Prison is continuously looking for ways to help prisoners break the cycle of reoffending, whether through the work or education opportunities we provide.

“This partnership with Durham University will provide a new opportunity for prisoners to study alongside university students to discuss key issues in the criminal justice system.

“This will not only help them build new skills, it will also encourage them to re-examine the impact of their own actions on wider society.”

Durham Prison has repeatedly been criticised for its high levels of drug use among prisoners and overcrowding, although it made headlines for better reasons earlier this month, following a surge of interest in reading among inmates.

Frankland houses some of the country’s most dangerous criminals and suffered a string of high-profile incidents over several years, but last year Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said it was making progress.