y dangerous. He was ten years older than her and had been in prison many times.

When she told him what she had endured in the attack by her exboyfriend and his associates, Gibson told she could get her revenge and Rachel agreed.

"Except for the grudge this was completely out of character and she was completely out of her depth," said Mr.Leslie.

The coupie burst into a flat in North London, where Gibson, armed with an air-pistol, ordered Rachel to tie up the three men found inside.

But the inexperienced girl did such a poor job of it that Gibson handed her the gun while he tied up the men.

The victims soon realized Rachel was helpless despite her threats to shoot them and they fought back.

She was biushed aside by one man and finally she just walked out of the flat and threw the gun away.

Gibson was soon overpowered by the men and police were called in.

　

Rachel admitted everything to police and was bailed, but she fled to Portugal and did not return until a month after Gibson's trial. He was jailed for six years in July last year.

Rachel was rearrested as she entered Britain. Her mother had sent her the fare home so that she could return for medical treatmeot for a cyst.

The court heard that Rachel was one of nine children and was from an "excellent" family.

Her mother, Mrs. Mary Farrington, told the judge that her daughter had got out of hand after her father died of cancer and Rachel lost her job through illness.

She said: "I have a home for her and the family is willing to help her in any way we can."

　

5. Police Are Pals to Convicts

It doesn't look like a jail at first sight. Situated in Jixi County in remote

northeastern Jilin Province, this prison has neither high walls nor electrified barbed wire to prevent prisoners from escaping.

A small wooden fence around the compound looks like those around farmers' fields. Only the wofd "Cordon" printed on the planks suggest something unusual about the place.

Since 1986 none of the several hundred male prisoners jailed here has tried to escape. And those who have finished their sentences seldom return to crime. The recidivism rate in only 0.5 per cent, much lower than the 3 per cent common in other Chinese prisons.

Perhaps even more amazing is 80 per cent of the released inmates have become friends of their guards.

Some ex-convicts have travelled many miles back to the prison to see Wang Hongwu, the head of the security police.

One sent a bull of fine breed when he heard that a bull was badly needed in the prison.

It was quite a different story when the prison was first set up years ago. The prisoners toed the line during the day but were hellions at night, stealing chickens from the farmers' cottages and causing all sorts of mischief .These acts precipitated many letters of complaint to the authorities from residents who had become vicitms.

Then Wang stepped in. That was in 1984.

To the prisoners' surprise, the 40-year-old security veteran used talk rather than punishment to restore discipline.

Wang finaliy got to know most of the prisoners and their concerns. Many were afraid that their spouses would divorce them and their children would be left homeless. Many worried about their work and life after being released.

Wang set out policies to reform his prisoners. He developed educa tion programmes tailor-made to each prisoner's specific case and family background. The prisoners were moved by his sincerity.

A larcener was frightened when his wife asked for a divorce the first time she came to see him.

"This is the last time we see each other, ?the wife said. "I sent the divorce papers to the court yesterday. I will return with our son to my hometown in Shandong Province tomorrow."

Angry and disappointed, the larcener pretended to be indiffeient and said he agreed and that it didn't matter to him what she did.

"I will find a better girl if I'm released," he told his sobbing wife.

When she left he burst into tears. Wang came to his cell and asked why he cried since he had agreed to the divorce. The larcener confessed he could not live without his wife; he simply did not want to lose face before the other prisoners.

Later on, Wang got to know that the couple loved each other deeply. The wife wanted a divorce because she felt embarrassed when she met his friends and was looked down upon by her mother-in-law since he was put in jail.

Wang believed the man's reform would he harder to achieve if some solution to this dilemma wasn't found. He wrote to the larcener's brother-in-law, his wife's brother who was a middle-school teacher in Shandong Province, urging him to persuade his sister to change her mind.

Ten days later, Wang received a letter from Wang's brother-in-law, saying that he would try to persuade his sister into takin

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