min0 lee

Umm...to hell with them, let them continue hugging each others wood in prison.



Daily Express: The World's Greatest Newspaper :: UK News :: Convicts hug a tree to go free



By Tom Whitehead

PRISONERS are “hugging� trees as part of their rehabilitation – with an eye on winning early release.


Inmates are signing up for a National Lottery-funded project to assess and measure our ancient trees.


One trusted method of gauging their age is to “hug� the tree trunk – linking arms around it to measure the girth.


The Prison Service insists it does not receive funding for taking part in the five-year scheme, and that it helps prisoners to improve their maths skills. But it is bound to benefit any inmates who take part, especially more serious offenders who have to persuade a parole board that they are fit for release.


A TaxPayers’ Alliance spokesman said: “I do not think this is what people imagine when the Home Secretary talks about prison being a tough place.


“Victims are led to believe criminals are being punished, not taught to hug trees.�


The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt hopes to pinpoint 100,000 ancient specimens across Britain during its “Summer of Hugs�.


Conservation policy officer Jill Butler said: “Many prisons were established on old stately homes. Where you’ve got a stately home you have parkland and those old parklands will have ancient trees.




“It is not very easy to send people from outside in, so we really need people who are living inside those prisons to record them.�


Asked if the inmates would be involved in tree “hugging�, Ms Butler replied: “Yes. That’s what some of them are doing.�


A group hug is a recommended method of dating a tree. A British standard hug from an adult with arms outstretched, fingertip to fingertip, is about 1.5 metres, and a child’s hug is roughly half that.


A veteran oak may be a candidate for the trust’s database once it gets to three adult hugs, a beech might qualify at just two hugs – but an old, fat sweet chestnut would require four hugs because it grows more quickly.


The Prison Service said: “Many offenders have poor literacy and numeracy skills.


“This is just one project that teaches prisoners serving less serious offences skills in maths, measurement and using databases, as well as teaching them to value the environment.�