Influx of prisoners after riots ‘has led to serious incidents’

Chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick says decision to remand more than 65% of riot defendants in custody had resulted in problems at London jails An influx of more than 1,000 prisoners in the immediate aftermath of the riots that hit England last month has fuelled gang culture in prisons and led to serious incidents, the chief inspector of prisons said on Wednesday. In his first annual report, Nick Hardwick said the decision to remand more than 65% of riot defendants in custody had already resulted in incidents at Feltham young offenders prison and Brixton prison, in London, and “significant numbers” of people being placed on suicide watch. Hardwick said that although the prison service had coped with the influx of riot-related inmates, there had been serious tensions involving existing prisoners who had been moved to other prisons to make way for the new inmates. But he also reported that his prison visits in the last four weeks had revealed first-time inmates on riot charges had been joining gangs for their own protection. He said the gym at Feltham was wrecked during an incident, and young prisoners got out onto a roof space before the situation was brought under control. At Brixton, prisoners refused to go back to their cells. Prisons and probation UK riots Alan Travis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.