Examining the lives of the mothers and children that are born within the confines of prison walls
At Askham Grange prison, it is visiting time and six-month-old Callum McClay is preparing for the onslaught of relatives. He is not a prisoner, but he was born in the confines of the prison walls to a mother serving three years for assault and battery.
The 1990s have seen a dramatic climb in offending rates by women, yet Askham is one of only four British prisons to have a mother-and-baby unit. Filmed over a four-month period, Witness gains unprecedented access to a regime that seeks to punish the mother without punishing the child.The film follows the lives of mother and baby, the pain and emotional punishment of imminent separation at 18 months, and the plight of the wardens seeking to ensure the mental and emotional survival of an innocent party while exacting retribution from the guilty.
