ECONOMIST Vicky Pryce, who was jailed for lying about former MP Chris Huhne’s speeding points, has been speaking a North-East conference, arguing prison is not suitable for women.

The 62-year-old, who was sentenced to eight months last year following her conviction for perverting the course of justice, took part in the event today (Thursday, December 11) at Northumbria University in Newcastle.

Greek-born Ms Pryce was joined by former prisoners, prison reform campaigners and criminology experts arguing that the prison system is often not suitable for women who offend.

She served at HMP Holloway and then HMP East Sutton Park, an open prison near Maidstone, Kent and her book, Prisonomics, published after her release, calls for reform in women’s prisons.

Ms Pryce said: “It is mainly women who look after children. When the woman goes to prison it is highly unlikely that the children stay in their own home, only five per cent do. When a man goes to prison the children do not move.

“Many children go into care and it costs the state a lot of money.

“It is very expensive and you end up with an intergenerational problem.

“Children of people who have gone to prison often end up not in education or employment, often go on to get involved in anti social acts, like crime, and may end up in prison themselves.”

More than 120 people, including Jenny Earle, director of the Prison Reform Trust, attended the one-day event, Does prison work for women?

Delegates heard from ex-offenders and service providers for women prisoners and their families as they shared their experience of why prison does not work for women.

They also discussed effective alternatives to imprisonment that could help solve the problem of increasing re-offending rates for women.

Louise Ridley, senior lecturer in criminology at Northumbria and a member of the Centre for Offenders and Offending research group, said: “Women are mainly imprisoned for low level crimes, such as theft or handling stolen goods, which are often linked to their domestic situation.

“The types of crimes are very different to men’s offending but we know that even short custodial sentences for women leads to immense damage, including loss of home and losing contact with children.”

The number of female ex-offenders who are convicted again within one year of being released from prison is 45 per cent, a figure that is increasingly annually.

Helen Attewell, chief executive of NEPACS, a regional charity providing support to prisoners and their families, said: “Prison can be a traumatic and damaging experience for women and their families, with long-term impacts on individuals and society.”