Delighted to be with a fellow Norfolkman, Alderman and Sheriff Nick Lyons, who works with me as a Tower representative. Tonight we were at the Old Bailey learning about the work of this great Norfolk lady Elizabeth Fry the driving force behind reform of prisoners treatment, especially women, she was the 'Angel of Prisons'.
There is always lessons to learn from history and the work that went before us to build a just and fair society. Fry was instrumental in the 1823 Gaols Act which mandated sex-segregation of prisons and female warders for female inmates to protect them from sexual exploitation. Today her statute is found in the great hall as a reminder of the importance of justice for prisoners.
