Prison

[Beechy101]

Does anybody know if it's possible to find out why somebody has been sent to prison? Is it public information?

[ginvodka]

You can get the information, usually, from the Court that they were convicted in. It is public information.

[atalanta]

If you know where the court was, and approximately when the case was heard, you will find the report in the local newspaper/s

[EDDIE51]

Only the most 'newsworthy' cases are in the newspapers most of them are not 'intresting enough'. If you know the court and date there is a list of the cases heard that day with the defendants name and charge so you could find out from that.
But you can't look up a name and find out if that person is in prison and why. The prison service will not even tell you which prison a person is in or if they are in prison at all. It is considered confidential information.

[DaisyNonna]

Why is it confidential if some cases are in the newspaper?

[EDDIE51]

The newspapers can report the court case but they can not ask the prison service if a certain person is in jail .
If you wanted to find out if Mr Bert John Brown, for example, was in jail you could not do it by asking the prison service . You could go to his family / friends / workmates and ask them but they don't have to tell you .
Prisoner have a right to privacy just as anyone does.