Scientology is being taught in 70% of UK prisons, investigation reveals

The Church of Scientology has quietly gained access to prisons across the United Kingdom as it seeks to expand its influence behind bars and recruit vulnerable inmates, a Scientology Business investigation has uncovered.

The controversial church’s Criminon front group, which it claims is a secular prison reform program has expanded its reach and is now delivering ‘educational courses’ based on the works of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard in 89 prisons throughout the UK. Although Scientology was denied tax exemption 1999, Criminon is a Gift-Aid registered charity that has been operating since 2003 and is now present in almost 70% of British prisons, including those housing the most dangerous ‘Category A’ offenders.

The program has also received funding from a number of well-established non-profits, including two Royal charities under the patronage of King Charles III. Philanthropic organisations linked to Cadbury’s, Typhoo Tea and heritage clothing label Barbour have also donated to Criminon, though it is understood its ties to Scientology were not known at the time of the grants being made.

Criminon has been described by former members of the church as “nothing but a PR activity run by dedicated Scientologists”, while the charity itself says its courses “equip prisoners with the life skills they need to stay on the straight and narrow.” It added their ties to Scientology are “well known to everyone we work with” and “only a bigot” would find fault with its relationship with the cult.

An investigation by Scientology Business has revealed that 1,513 inmates are currently enrolled on Criminon courses in the UK, with 120 ‘mentors’ teaching the program in 89 prisons across the country. Their latest accounts, published at the end of June, includes testimonials from graduates out of HMP Frankland, HMP Northumberland, HMP Bure, HMP Channings Wood, HMP Stafford, HMP Lindholme, HMP Dovegate, HMP Thameside and others.

One inmate is quoted as saying “Doing this course has helped massively with my confidence and self-esteem it has also helped me see things in a different light help me to understand and put things into action for my own personal development.”

Former Scientologist Pete Griffiths, who ran a Scientology Mission in Kendall, Cumbria in the 1990s, described Criminon as a “front group” and described how he was asked by church executives to infiltrate HMP Haverigg with the program. “Ultimately, my brief was to go in and try and persuade them that we had the best thing since sliced bread,” he explained. “What was the purpose to this? Like all the front groups, every single one of them, the purpose was to make people into Scientologists.”

“Scientology wants to be recognised and accepted in society. That’s the only reason these groups exist – to make Scientology respectable,” he said. “The fact that they [Criminon] have charity status is the disturbing thing, because under no circumstances are they a charity. They only exist to make more Scientologists.’

The courses being offered by Criminon are identical to the introductory ‘life improvement courses’ available at any Church of Scientology, though appear to have been repackaged to appeal to prisoners. They include ‘Learning How to Learn’, ‘Personal Integrity’ and ‘Successful Parenting Skills’. In the context of its prison reform program, Scientology claims the courses are “secular”, though when delivered within the setting of a Church of Scientology they are “religious scripture”.

Some of the courses, including ‘The Learning Skills Course’ and ‘The Restoring Self-Respect Course’ have been accredited by LASER Learning Awards and allow inmates to demonstrate continued personal growth and development during their time behind bars, which is taken into consideration when determining applications for early release.

One course titled ‘Understanding and Overcoming Addiction’ is based entirely on L. Ron Hubbard’s quack teachings about drugs and encourages prisoners to use vitamin therapy and saunas to combat their addictions. In the course pack, obtained by Scientology Business, Criminon teaches “the effects of medical and psychiatric drugs, whether painkillers, tranquilisers or antidepressants are just as terrible” as street drugs like cocaine and heroin. By taking prescription medicines, the courses says prisoners are “made stupid, blank forgetful, unreal and irresponsible” and even “become a threat or danger to friends and the people around them.”

It continues, “The drug rehabilitation technology developed by Mr Hubbard has been able to get rid of the major damage in people who have been on drugs. This is an exact technology which gets a person off drugs without pain. It handles their physical and mental effects and helps them get back in control of their lives. Nothing else can do this with certainty.”

There is no scientific evidence to support these claims and in fact, several people have died as a result of Scientology’s controversial drug rehabilitation program, which is offered without medical supervision at its Narconon centres across the world. In 2024, The Guardian found the Narconon program had left vulnerable people “traumatised” and triggered an investigation by the Charity Commission.

A Criminon spokesperson said that in severe addiction cases, it does advise people to consult doctors and that “Criminon provides an effective course in this area that should be supported and promoted, not maliciously attacked.” Though it declined to comment on the contents of the courses themselves.

According to its annual accounts filed with the Charity Commission, Criminon has received funding from the Royal Society of St George (RSSG) and the Mountbatten Memorial Trust, of which the monarch is patron. In a statement, an RSSG spokesperson said that it had made small donations to a charity a few years ago, but that “at the time we were not made aware of any connection to any religious or other body. No further support has been given or is planned.”

The Mountbatten Memorial Trust said it would “not knowingly make any donation to the Church of Scientology.”

Journalist Tony Ortega, who has been reporting on Scientology for 31 years, said the Criminon program and Scientology are “very much entwined” and that anybody donating to Criminon is unwittingly funding Scientology’s activities. He said the charity “can only operate under licensing from Scientology’s Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), and ABLE is only staffed by Scientology Sea Org members who have signed one-billion-year Scientology contracts.”

“Anyone who says a branch of Criminon is “independent” of Scientology is deluding themselves,” he continued.

In a statement, a Scientology representative said “The Church of Scientology has proudly supported Criminon charities around the world for decades and features them at the top of the home page of the Scientology website.”

The Charity Commission said that no concerns have been raised about Criminon, but it added: “Anyone with any evidence to support concerns should share that with us, so that we can assess it, and determine whether there is a role for us as regulator.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Criminon is one of many charities operating within the prison estate and we keep their activities under constant review to ensure they operate within our rules.”