Prison book ban ruled unlawful by High Court

The government's ban on sending books to prisoners in England and Wales is unlawful, the High Court has declared.

Under the current rules prisoners are prevented from receiving parcels unless they have "exceptional circumstances", such as a medical condition.

Mr Justice Collins said he could see "no good reason" to restrict access to books for prisoners.

The Prison Service said it was a surprising judgement, and would look at how it would deal with with the ruling.

The legal challenge was brought by Barbara Gordon-Jones, a life sentence prisoner at Send Jail in Surrey.

Danny Shaw reports.