Two prisoners who were supposed to be doing community work found themselves invited into a former British government minister's home to do a spot of decorating. Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, said the pair had been at a loose end so she had put them to work in her family home. She made a contribution to a local charity which helps prisoners in return for the labour.
"On one day, when actually they didn't have anything else on, they did come to my house and do three hours' worth of painting, for which me and my husband made a donation to the community group," Smith said during a programme she was presenting on radio station LBC. Britain's prison service said the decision to use prisoners in this way had been a mistake.
"Offenders should work on projects which help the whole community. The scheme has been suspended while a full internal investigation is undertaken," a prison service spokeswoman said. Smith faced embarrassment as a minister after using public money to pay for adult films watched by her husband. She resigned from the Labour government in June 2009 and lost her seat in parliament last year.
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