 Forensic psychologist Eric Cullen and prison governor Tim Newell claim that prisoners face a throffer once they are told that they must acknowledge their guilt before they are offered parole or moved to an open prison . Cullen and Newell cite the example of a prisoner who falsely admitted guilt to move to an open prison ; once there , however , he felt he could no longer lie about his guilt , and confessed to the prison 's governor . He was subsequently transferred back to a maximum security prison . In the case of sex offenders , a throffer is presented when they are offered release if they take up treatment , but are threatened with extended sentences if they do not . Cullen and Newell are concerned about the predicament that these throffers present to prisoners , including those found innocent on appeal . Concerns surrounding throffers proposed to convicted sex offenders have also been discussed in print by Alex Alexandrowicz , himself wrongly imprisoned , and criminologist David Wilson . The latter observed the difficulties for those innocent people wrongly imprisoned who are faced with the throffer of having their sentence shortened if they " acknowledge their guilt " , but noted that , as perspectives of prisoners were rarely considered , the problem is usually not visible . 
