By Sophie Lewis | HMP Prisons Justice Group | @sophielewiseditorial

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While celebrities accused of violent crimes walk free on million-pound bail, everyday people are being recalled to prison for minor infractions.

This month, global superstar Chris Brown was granted £5 million bail by a UK court after being charged with grievous bodily harm—an alleged bottle attack on a music producer in a London club, captured on CCTV. Brown is now free to resume his world tour. The court, it seems, was confident he posed no risk worth denying his liberty.

Contrast that with a case closer to the ground, involving a young man from South Wales. We’ll call him “Jay.”

Jay received a call out of the blue. He was being recalled to prison for a driving offence. Nothing violent, no harm caused, no breach of licence terms beyond the alleged offence. This, despite being monitored on both GPS and alcohol tags. Just days earlier, he’d been told he wouldn’t be recalled. No court, no hearing. Just a phone call and a van.

“It’s childish, bro. Honest to God,” Jay told a friend. “They just want power over you.”

He’s right. The system is bloated with contradictions. On one hand, the government insists prisons are full, costs are sky-high, and low-risk offenders need community-based alternatives. On the other, it’s using recall powers with casual, unchecked frequency—targeting working-class individuals, many with neurodivergence or vulnerabilities, and funneling them back in through side doors.

Chris Brown, meanwhile, walks. Not only free but celebrated. Protected by wealth, access, and publicist-driven narratives.

The disparity is staggering.

This isn’t about defending wrongdoing. It’s about proportion. It’s about due process. It’s about how justice plays favourites.

The Ministry of Justice claims recall decisions are based on risk. So how do they define it? Is a man with tracking devices on both legs more dangerous than a multi-millionaire accused of GBH? Or is it simply easier to punish the powerless?

Jay will spend 28 days inside, a formality under the new rules. It won’t make the community safer. It won’t undo his driving error. But it will remind him, and everyone like him, where the line is drawn and who it’s drawn against.

As the headlines follow Brown across Europe, spare a thought for the names we don’t see. Because justice, when truly blind, shouldn’t know your fame. Only your facts.