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Prisons condemned

01 November 1993

Judge Stephen Tumim, the government's Chief Inspector of Prisons, has described Wymott prison as verging on anarchy in a report following the third major disturbance at the jail in seven years. The disturbances, in September, left the prison in ruins and caused damage estimated at £20 million. Violence had broken out the previous weekend, and in the year leading up to the riot 87 prisoners had been admitted to hospital following assaults.

After the disturbances Home Secretary, Michael Howard, ordered the removal of privileges for the 780 prisoners, whether or not they were involved in the rioting. Governors at the seventeen prisons holding former Wymott prisoners were instructed not to grant them home leave or temporary release. This blanket ban lasted for at least a month.

The previous disturbances at Wymott were in April 1986, when 58 prisoners were injured and the prison was damaged by fire and flooding. Six months later violence flared again and several prison officers were injured.

Judge Tumim also criticised Liverpool Prison where severe overcrowding has led to prisoners spending 20 hours a day locked in their cells. At the time of Tumim's inspection of the prison, last May, it held 1,231 prisoners, nearly double its official capacity. He also expressed concern at the prisons health care centre which was unfit for patient care while the operating theatre was structurally unsafe.

Guardian 21.10.93, 23.11.93.; Independent 22.10.93;