Case Studies

HMP Leicester report

by Mark Rowe

In our February 2016 print issue, we featured new psychoactive substances (NPS), as a threat to the safety and health of prisoners in UK jails. This was among the features of a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons at HMP Leicester, pictured.

According to the inspectors, after their unannounced inspection, significant numbers of intelligence reports about NPS use were submitted, but although they were processed, responses were often inadequate. There was compelling evidence that NPS – locally referred to as Mamba – were too readily available. Illicitly brewed alcohol was also a significant issue, readily available in the prison. Well over half of prisoners thought NPS were easy to obtain and yet too little was done to disrupt supply.

As earlier report by the HM Inspectorate covered ‘changing patterns of substance abuse in adult prisons’. As we reported in our February 2016 issue, NPS – not illegal on the outside, but banned in prisons – might cause addicts to be aggressive, or come to medical harm.

At Leicester, inspectors found levels of violence were high, including what the inspectors called a very high assault rate against staff; and a level of assaults almost three times that found in other local prisons. In a survey over half of prisoners indicated that they had felt unsafe in Leicester and 28pc felt unsafe at the time the inspectors asked them.

During the previous six months, there had been 75 assaults on staff and prisoners which was nearly three times the rate found in recent inspections of local prisons. Of these, the rate of assaults on staff was almost five times that of comparator local prisons. The number of fights was also high with 23 in the previous six months, twice the rate found in other local prisons. As a comparison, Leicester held 325 adult male prisoners at the time of inspection.

HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Prisons Martin Lomas said: “Basic procedural security was poor. Staff often could not account for prisoners and we routinely found prisoners where they were not supposed to be.”

Some prisoners said they were intimidated by disruptive and aggressive prisoners who got what they wanted while compliant prisoners were left unassisted. This was consistent with the inspectors’ findings; the inspectors observed poor behaviour going unchallenged and broad inconsistencies in how staff dealt with prisoners.

Inspectors described the ageing Victorian-era prison as unacceptably overcrowded. To read the 119-page report, visit the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website.

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