Dear Charles
From: THE PRIVATE SECRETARY
HOME OFFICE
QUEEN ANNE'S GATE
LONDON SWIH 9AT
29 January 1991
Thank you for sending us a copy of your letter of 16 January to Simon Gass enclosing a letter about Lorraine Osman from the Prime Minister of Malaysia. I am replying, because this is a matter for the Home Secretary.
I attach a draft reply for the Prime Minister to send, about the decision to transfer Mr
Mr Osman to Brixton prison. This was because of a judgement about security and is not a matter we would like to see spelt out in the correspondence. So the draft is necessarily bland on this aspect. Mr Osman was held until recently in Pentonville prison, the usual location for people held while extradition requests are dealt with. But recently the Pentonville management asked us to move Mr Osman because they were concerned that the level of security they could provide was not adequate, given the financial resources available to him. Mr Osman had been in the prison for many years and was involved in numerous rackets. He was receiving legal visits every day, and there was evidence that he was using these to set up property deals. We therefore transferred him to Brixton, where he can be held in more secure conditions.
Yours sincerely.
Dan fayl
Sir Charles Powell KCMG 10 Downing Street
London SW1
PAUL PUGH