Tonight:
9°c
Five managers in the prison service are facing disciplinary action over a “deplorable” scam in which difficult inmates were transferred ahead of inspections.
The swaps — which Justice Secretary Jack Straw today called “disgraceful” — involved moving inmates between Wandsworth and Pentonville prisons to try to improve the jails' ratings.
One Wandsworth inmate took an overdose of prescription drugs and needed hospital treatment, and another cut himself and tied a ligature around his neck. Both will be able to sue for compensation.
A third, Christopher Wardally, 25, who was taken to Pentonville after a court appearance and returned in a van with the other prisoners, killed himself a week after the inspection.
His death is being investigated, and although he is not thought to have been part of the swaps, an internal inquiry found that the inspections may have led to delays in returning him to his cell.
Today, as the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Dame Anne Owers, published a scathing report about the practice, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that five senior staff at the prisons were facing disciplinary action, which could range from a warning to dismissal.
It is thought the five include the former Wandsworth governor Ian Mulholland, now head of custody in Wales, and former Pentonville governor Nick Leader, who is in charge of a prison in Cambridgeshire. The other three are “governor grade” staff.
Dame Anne said the actions of those responsible for the swaps were “deplorable” and accused them of a “dereliction of their duty of care”. She said Wandsworth had been warned, after a suicide, about moving prisoners: “Every prison knows prisoners are particularly vulnerable to suicide in the days immediately after they move to a new prison.”
Five prisoners were moved from Wandsworth and six from Pentonville during inspections in May and June.
Inspectors went back after being tipped off about the transfers. Dame Anne's report tells how the two highly distressed Wandsworth inmates were moved despite self-harming. One was dragged from a cell “bloody, handcuffed and dressed only in underwear”.
Mr Wardally hanged himself on 12 June. He was serving a four-year sentence for armed robbery.
Mr Straw will publish a parliamentary statement on the transfers today. He said there would be a wider inquiry into the practice of moving inmates, which has also occurred at Brixton. “The transfer of prisoners in an attempt to undermine the inspection process was disgraceful,” he said.
Reader views (4)
The scandal here is just how cushy these prisons have become because of these Liberal-Lefties naive goody two shoes. The Lags do not mind doing time any more with their plasma TV sets, game consoles, et al.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
It is the incompetent Jackboot Straw who needs to be sacked for allowing such alleged incidents to happen in the first place.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
What do you expect... I suppose some bonus scheme or career progression is based on these inspections.
When will society learn that it is an element of human survival behaviour to find a way to excell, no matter how. Enron, banks, doctors and prison managers to mention just a few. Our policies should look to nurture collective responsiblity, not individual condemnation or reward.
- Heidi, London, UK
The practice of "swapping" does appear to be deplorable, and hardly likely to help with rehabilitation. However, probably the best way to avoid being abused by unkind prison officers, is to refrain from armed robbery and similar abuses against the rest of us.
- Graham Collins, Worthing, England
