UK: Raid on Blantyre House "unjustified"
01 November 2000
Last May a raid on the Blantyre House resettlement prison by 86 prison officers in riot uniform caused more than £5,000 worth of damage to the jail and shattered "a regime based on trust" that had been built up between inmates and officials. "Operation Swinford" was undertaken with close police cooperation after claims of security breaches and criminal activities at the prison were made by an internal Prison Service investigation team known as the "Chaucer Group", led by the manager, Tom Murtagh. At the outset of the raid the prison governor, Eoin McLellan-Murray, was escorted from the prison and the prison officers were given a free reign. The doors of the prison hospital, church and gymnasium were smashed in and prisoners complained of intimidation and threats. Justifying the raid the director general of the Prison Service, Martin Narey, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee, "Credit cards not held legally, cameras, passports in forged names and escape equipment" were found.
In November the Home Affairs Committee published its report on the Blantyre House raid which concluded that the search "was a failure" and "heavy-handed", and condemned the removal of the prison governor. The report singled out the evidence from Narey, accusing him of misleading the committee "over the significance of what was found" when the Prison Service's own report had already concluded that "there were no significant finds." It also called for the complete overhaul of the Prison Service including an end to the self-inspection of prison service management. The Committee was "completely unconvinced that the search was a proportionate response" and recommended an "immediate review" of the Chaucer Group.
However, the remaining impression from the report is that the raid was an attempt to punish the liberal regime at Blantyre House and undermine resettlement prisons. The "traditionalist" Murtagh was opposed to the liberal regime which retrains convicts to re-enter the community. This scheme allows prisoners to leave on day-release to work or study and had achieved remarkable results. Only 8% of prisoners from Blantyre House re-offend within two years of release and it has the lowest level of positive drug tests of any jail in Britain.
Home Affairs Committee "Blantyre House Prison" 9.11.00. (The Stationery Office) ISBN 0 10 269000 6 (£15.90); Observer 20.8.00.