"HMP Parc: 10 deaths in 3 months; youngest age 19. Riots sparked, prisoners stabbed, air ambulances, tornado squads, phone lines disconnected so families can't get through. This is the tip of the iceberg for the British prison system if it doesn't get its act together."
Someone else tweets:-
"There is a riot taking place in HMP Parc - one wing currently barricaded - inmates and staff injured with 2 airlifted to hospital and police at the site. This is what happens when you keep people locked up for 23 and half hours a day in a prison that's imploded!"
I've been prevented from appearing on BBC R4 Today tomorrow to talk about HMP Parc because Purdah. That's perfectly fine of course, most of us who opine are used to being gazumped by dog bites man etc. No foul. But here is what I would have said:
The frequency of fatal incidents in HMP Parc - 10 dead prisoners in the same establishment in 3 months is unprecedented. Behind the human tragedy are failings that can't be explained away as coincidence.
Parc was until relatively recently performing reasonably well. 2022 inspection of the adult part of prison where the deaths have happened does mention easy availability of drugs tho.
So what has happened since then to create a place that seems so profoundly unsafe? Several of the deaths are believed to be of suicide, several related to poisoning by synthetic canabinoids. Hard to detect, still easy to smuggle in.
One source of information ought to be the state 'Controllers' team. Every private prison has a state official based there to monitor contract delivery, ask awkward questions, look everywhere and coordinate enforcement of penalties. In theory anyway.
The idea that private prisons are insulated from state accountability is a polite fiction. The state is directly accountable for the welfare of all prisoners in its custody whether it outsources the risk or not. Again, that's the theory.
So here is an institution already going downhill fast in the two years since last inspection. Recruitment and retention is horrendously difficult, staff corruption is apparent, violence is becoming endemic. People are worn out and systems are breaking down. A familiar tale.
All the precursors for failure assemble. G4S has form for this. It was stripped of HMP Birmingham contract in 2018 after a riot caused in part by rampant drug abuse and insufficient staff caused millions of pounds worth of damage. The death rate there was far lower.
Birmingham had a Controllers team that was either unable or unwilling to sound the alarm about a descent into chaos over a period of time. The same was true of Lowdham Grange, another privately operated prison that was in anarchy in Xmas this year until the state took it back.
Again, an eleborate and bureaucratic system of contract monitoring seems to have completely failed to spot or arrest a frightening and tragic series of fatal incidents. A drugs economy operated with impunity by organised crime is likely at the bottom of most of the horror.
So what should be done? Well handing the prison back to the state seems to be a non-starter - less odd if you consider you'd be handing the place back to the people who run Wandsworth, Bedford, Woodhill and other hell holes.
We need a beefed up assertive state contract management presence in Parc and G4S forced to get suitable and sufficient front line/specialist staff back into the prison to secure it and properly manage prisoners at risk. On pain of losing contract altogether w/o compensation.
We should also have HMIP do an immediate emergency inspection to examine how and why the prison is failing to protect prisoners. And staff. If that power doesn't exist, give it to them.
One of the best ways of easing the pressure - removing prisoners from a huge jail - one of our biggest and close to maximum capacity - giving staff some breathing space. But we literally can't spare any accommodation being taken out.
For the first time, a state prison, HMP Woodhill, has recently been found culpable by the Coroner for unlawful killing through neglect after an inquest into a suicide there. But we can't wait for that level of accountability to arrest the decline. We need action now.
I've seen my share of dead people in prison. It never leaves you. I feel huge sympathy for the parents & loved ones bereaved, looking for answers and the beleagured and fearful staff at HMP Parc who have been let down by their employer and the state. I probably would only have been able to say a tenth of that tomorrow morning but there you have it.
and an extensive thread by Ian Acheson and what he intended to tell Radio 4 listeners this morning:-
Extraordinary. *Unconfirmed* rumours that there is a major incident at the prison this evening. National Tornado resources mobilised.I've been prevented from appearing on BBC R4 Today tomorrow to talk about HMP Parc because Purdah. That's perfectly fine of course, most of us who opine are used to being gazumped by dog bites man etc. No foul. But here is what I would have said:
The frequency of fatal incidents in HMP Parc - 10 dead prisoners in the same establishment in 3 months is unprecedented. Behind the human tragedy are failings that can't be explained away as coincidence.
Parc was until relatively recently performing reasonably well. 2022 inspection of the adult part of prison where the deaths have happened does mention easy availability of drugs tho.
So what has happened since then to create a place that seems so profoundly unsafe? Several of the deaths are believed to be of suicide, several related to poisoning by synthetic canabinoids. Hard to detect, still easy to smuggle in.
One source of information ought to be the state 'Controllers' team. Every private prison has a state official based there to monitor contract delivery, ask awkward questions, look everywhere and coordinate enforcement of penalties. In theory anyway.
The idea that private prisons are insulated from state accountability is a polite fiction. The state is directly accountable for the welfare of all prisoners in its custody whether it outsources the risk or not. Again, that's the theory.
So here is an institution already going downhill fast in the two years since last inspection. Recruitment and retention is horrendously difficult, staff corruption is apparent, violence is becoming endemic. People are worn out and systems are breaking down. A familiar tale.
All the precursors for failure assemble. G4S has form for this. It was stripped of HMP Birmingham contract in 2018 after a riot caused in part by rampant drug abuse and insufficient staff caused millions of pounds worth of damage. The death rate there was far lower.
Birmingham had a Controllers team that was either unable or unwilling to sound the alarm about a descent into chaos over a period of time. The same was true of Lowdham Grange, another privately operated prison that was in anarchy in Xmas this year until the state took it back.
Again, an eleborate and bureaucratic system of contract monitoring seems to have completely failed to spot or arrest a frightening and tragic series of fatal incidents. A drugs economy operated with impunity by organised crime is likely at the bottom of most of the horror.
So what should be done? Well handing the prison back to the state seems to be a non-starter - less odd if you consider you'd be handing the place back to the people who run Wandsworth, Bedford, Woodhill and other hell holes.
We need a beefed up assertive state contract management presence in Parc and G4S forced to get suitable and sufficient front line/specialist staff back into the prison to secure it and properly manage prisoners at risk. On pain of losing contract altogether w/o compensation.
We should also have HMIP do an immediate emergency inspection to examine how and why the prison is failing to protect prisoners. And staff. If that power doesn't exist, give it to them.
One of the best ways of easing the pressure - removing prisoners from a huge jail - one of our biggest and close to maximum capacity - giving staff some breathing space. But we literally can't spare any accommodation being taken out.
For the first time, a state prison, HMP Woodhill, has recently been found culpable by the Coroner for unlawful killing through neglect after an inquest into a suicide there. But we can't wait for that level of accountability to arrest the decline. We need action now.
I've seen my share of dead people in prison. It never leaves you. I feel huge sympathy for the parents & loved ones bereaved, looking for answers and the beleagured and fearful staff at HMP Parc who have been let down by their employer and the state. I probably would only have been able to say a tenth of that tomorrow morning but there you have it.
Ian Acheson
"HM Coroner has been informed. It will be for HM Coroner to give a determination on the cause of death." Families of inmates who have died protested outside the jail on Monday, while two MPs called on the UK government to take charge of the prison.
HMP Parc is one of the UK's largest category B prisons, holding convicted male adult and young offenders, as well as convicted sex offenders or those awaiting trial for sex offences.
South Wales Police previously said a synthetic opioid called Nitazene had been identified in connection with four of the deaths. The force said spice, another synthetic drug, had been identified in two of the four deaths.
In March, prisons and probation ombudsman, Adrian Usher, urged all prisoners in possession of spice to dispose of it.
--oo00oo--
Ian Acheson profile Staffordshire University:-
Prison officer, journalist, Government adviser, director of an international charity – Ian Acheson’s career has been nothing if not varied.
He is an expert in the UK’s criminal justice system and specifically the prevention of Islamist and right-wing radicalisation in its prison system and the post-release threat of terrorist offenders.
In 2016 Ian was asked by the Government to lead a landmark independent review of Islamist extremism in prisons and the probation service which led to transformational change in the way the UK manages ideologically inspired offenders.
Born in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland in 1968, Ian moved to England to study politics at Durham University from 1986 to 1989 followed by a short stint as a trainee manager at Coutts Bank. “I had no aptitude or interest in finance,” he says. “I come from a uniformed family – the Army, police etc so going into the uniformed services was always in the back of my head.”
A journalism career followed banking, working for BBC Radio Ulster and then as a reporter for Ballymena Guardian, but a recruitment brochure for HM Prison Service that promised ‘this is a career where you will find out who you are’ turned his head.
Ian worked for HM Prison Service for around a decade including as a prison officer, principal officer, manager of a wing and finally a prison governor.
He then became the Director of Prisoners Abroad, an international charity supporting British citizens detained overseas.
Senior civil service roles followed including time as Director of Community Safety at the Home Office.
Ian left the civil service to launch what was to become a successful executive coaching company, Reboot, combining his loves for walking and talking. He was enjoying self-employed life until Michael Gove rang in 2016.
“He said I’d like you to investigate Islamic extremism in the youth justice sector and probation service. Of course I said yes.” For someone who talks of having “a profound and personal interest in counter terrorism” there was never any question of whether he would be prepared to step back into public life.
Ian’s work led to transformational change in the way the UK manages ideologically inspired offenders. In the years since he has worked to assist governments across the world to combat violent extremism in their prison systems and other criminal justice reforms in post-authoritarian states.
He has been a senior advisor for the Counter Extremism Project since 2018 where his research includes risk/dangerousness management, deradicalisation, reintegration of terrorist offenders and disguised compliance.
Ian is now a Visiting Professor at Staffordshire University and has been made an Honorary Doctor of the University.
He said: “I was very pleased to become a Visiting Professor, it’s important for me. I was a very working class kid, the first from my family to go to university. I love the idea of working with students like me and playing a small part in driving their enthusiasm.”
Being made an Honorary Doctor is a cherry on the icing on the cake and for Ian it is “recognition of the work that I’m doing.”
He is determined to ensure he always has something valuable to contribute and added: “I try to say what I think. I try to be honest and ethical about the problems we have.”
Prison officer, journalist, Government adviser, director of an international charity – Ian Acheson’s career has been nothing if not varied.
He is an expert in the UK’s criminal justice system and specifically the prevention of Islamist and right-wing radicalisation in its prison system and the post-release threat of terrorist offenders.
In 2016 Ian was asked by the Government to lead a landmark independent review of Islamist extremism in prisons and the probation service which led to transformational change in the way the UK manages ideologically inspired offenders.
Born in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland in 1968, Ian moved to England to study politics at Durham University from 1986 to 1989 followed by a short stint as a trainee manager at Coutts Bank. “I had no aptitude or interest in finance,” he says. “I come from a uniformed family – the Army, police etc so going into the uniformed services was always in the back of my head.”
A journalism career followed banking, working for BBC Radio Ulster and then as a reporter for Ballymena Guardian, but a recruitment brochure for HM Prison Service that promised ‘this is a career where you will find out who you are’ turned his head.
Ian worked for HM Prison Service for around a decade including as a prison officer, principal officer, manager of a wing and finally a prison governor.
He then became the Director of Prisoners Abroad, an international charity supporting British citizens detained overseas.
Senior civil service roles followed including time as Director of Community Safety at the Home Office.
Ian left the civil service to launch what was to become a successful executive coaching company, Reboot, combining his loves for walking and talking. He was enjoying self-employed life until Michael Gove rang in 2016.
“He said I’d like you to investigate Islamic extremism in the youth justice sector and probation service. Of course I said yes.” For someone who talks of having “a profound and personal interest in counter terrorism” there was never any question of whether he would be prepared to step back into public life.
Ian’s work led to transformational change in the way the UK manages ideologically inspired offenders. In the years since he has worked to assist governments across the world to combat violent extremism in their prison systems and other criminal justice reforms in post-authoritarian states.
He has been a senior advisor for the Counter Extremism Project since 2018 where his research includes risk/dangerousness management, deradicalisation, reintegration of terrorist offenders and disguised compliance.
Ian is now a Visiting Professor at Staffordshire University and has been made an Honorary Doctor of the University.
He said: “I was very pleased to become a Visiting Professor, it’s important for me. I was a very working class kid, the first from my family to go to university. I love the idea of working with students like me and playing a small part in driving their enthusiasm.”
Being made an Honorary Doctor is a cherry on the icing on the cake and for Ian it is “recognition of the work that I’m doing.”
He is determined to ensure he always has something valuable to contribute and added: “I try to say what I think. I try to be honest and ethical about the problems we have.”
--oo00oo--
BBC News two days ago:-
A tenth inmate has died at a prison in just over three months amid claims of drug misuse by prisoners.
Warren Manners, 38, is the latest to have died at HMP Parc in Bridgend, which is run by Security company G4S. Nine other inmates have died since 27 February, including four believed to be drug-related, while one prison staff member has been arrested in connection with drug dealing there.
South Wales Police said the death was not believed to be suspicious and the coroner had been informed. A spokesperson for the prison said Mr Manners' death would be investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and that the coroner would establish the cause of his death. Mr Manners died earlier on Wednesday, the spokesperson said, adding: "Our thoughts are with [Manners'] family and friends."
South Wales Police were called just after 12:20 BST following a report of a "sudden death of a 38-year-old man at HMP Parc". "Investigations are continuing into the circumstances surrounding the death, however at this time it is not believed to be suspicious," said police.
A tenth inmate has died at a prison in just over three months amid claims of drug misuse by prisoners.
Warren Manners, 38, is the latest to have died at HMP Parc in Bridgend, which is run by Security company G4S. Nine other inmates have died since 27 February, including four believed to be drug-related, while one prison staff member has been arrested in connection with drug dealing there.
South Wales Police said the death was not believed to be suspicious and the coroner had been informed. A spokesperson for the prison said Mr Manners' death would be investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and that the coroner would establish the cause of his death. Mr Manners died earlier on Wednesday, the spokesperson said, adding: "Our thoughts are with [Manners'] family and friends."
South Wales Police were called just after 12:20 BST following a report of a "sudden death of a 38-year-old man at HMP Parc". "Investigations are continuing into the circumstances surrounding the death, however at this time it is not believed to be suspicious," said police.
"HM Coroner has been informed. It will be for HM Coroner to give a determination on the cause of death." Families of inmates who have died protested outside the jail on Monday, while two MPs called on the UK government to take charge of the prison.
HMP Parc is one of the UK's largest category B prisons, holding convicted male adult and young offenders, as well as convicted sex offenders or those awaiting trial for sex offences.
South Wales Police previously said a synthetic opioid called Nitazene had been identified in connection with four of the deaths. The force said spice, another synthetic drug, had been identified in two of the four deaths.
In March, prisons and probation ombudsman, Adrian Usher, urged all prisoners in possession of spice to dispose of it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-31750112
ReplyDeleteTaylor believes the riot ultimately led to prison reform and resulted in inmates being treated in a more humane and civilised way.
"I'm glad I took part in a protest that changed the course of history," he says, "because the prison service were reluctant to implement any changes whatsoever until Strangeways happened."
He adds: "There was a lot of people dissatisfied with their treatment within that jail and as a result of a discussion it was decided that something had to be done."
A major inquiry into the riot was carried out by a senior judge, Lord Woolf,, external whose report blamed severe overcrowding and described conditions in the months leading up to the disturbances as "intolerable".
"You look back today at those complaints and you think how awful that they didn't have these things at the time," he says.
"There was no dignity, being locked up for 23 hours a day, being force-fed Largactil [anti-psychotic drug] to calm them down. It was just appalling."
Paul Taylor was sentenced to a further 10 years for his role as ringleader. He was convicted of a newly created offence - prison mutiny.
Alan Lord was convicted of prison mutiny. He served a total of 32 years in prison and was only released on licence in 2013.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-69027204
ReplyDeleteProbation staff have held a rally in Sheffield claiming they are facing unmanageable workloads, which poses a growing risk to public safety
Brilliant well done. I can see Ranjit Singh in picture so clearly some national NAPO support there.
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99zze8r7kdo
ReplyDeleteLeah Croucher, 19, disappeared while walking to work on February 15 2019 and her remains were discovered in a house in Milton Keynes, less than half a mile from her home, in October 2022.
Prime suspect Neil Maxwell was a wanted and previously-convicted sex offender who killed himself while on the run from police in April 2019, two months after Ms Croucher vanished.
Senior coroner at Milton Keynes Coroner's Court, Tom Osborne, said the inquest would look at admitted failings by the police and probation services that had not yet been specified publicly.
The secrecy is so creepy. Sinister.
ReplyDeleteFrom Twitter:-
Delete"If 450 staff at Parc have been issued naloxone packs it means G4S has acknowledged a crisis & taken action - good! Question is where is HMPPS at across public sector prisons? We will never know unless some journos pull their fingers out. Oh no it’s purdah, mums the word."
Naloxone is specifically to treat the effects of opioid overdose.
DeleteThe shockingly high number of deaths at HMP Parc have been attributed to spice use.
Issuing Naloxone to staff is like employing a carpenter to fix a car engine.
It's a gesture. It dosent solve the problem.
'Getafix
From Metro:-
ReplyDeleteA ‘riot’ at a notorious prison in Wales has been shut down by security officers after three inmates were hospitalised.
Around 20 prisoners were involved in Friday’s unrest at the crisis-hit HMP Parc in Bridgend, which has seen 10 inmate deaths in just three months.
At least four of the prisoners are believed to have died after taking a rogue batch of zombie drug Spice. A prison worker and three others have since been arrested after being accused of smuggling illicit items or drugs into the private-run prison.
Security firm G4S, who run the facility, sent a ‘tornado team’ into the prison to quell the uprising on Friday after two ‘unrelated incidents’ saw prisoner tensions flare.
It said the first involved about 20 prisoners and was ‘resolved safely’ after support was received from the Prison Service.
The second was an altercation between three prisoners, who later required hospital treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
An air ambulance also attended the prison but was told to stand down.
A G4S spokesperson said: ‘Staff at HMP Parc swiftly resolved two short-lived incidents involving prisoners on Friday, with no officers injured. Those involved will receive the strongest possible punishments, including criminal prosecution.’
The prison confirmed support was sought from the Prison Service and was received ‘in line with national protocol.’
Families of prisoners and staff alike said the unrest was tantamount to a prison riot, WalesOnline reports.
Earlier in the week, families of those that have died held a protest outside the prison demanding ‘justice’ for the deceased, following reports of a drug-smuggling ring operating in the prison which has seen a number of staff members arrested.
A woman who recently worked at the prison told WalesOnline: ‘The prison was ultimately run by the prisoners, with officers being paid to bring in contraband items. The enhanced red band prisoners, who were able to roam, would then ferry these items across the prison.’
Rampant drug use throughout the prison would go ‘unnoticed or ignored’, she added.
A select committee heard drugs were rife in the prison with Labour MP Beth Winter saying ‘almost half of prisoners had easy access to drugs’.
She called for the Prison Service to take over the running of the jail following a spate of controversies and corruption allegations at the prison.
Although the trigger for the riots is not yet clear, it is believed that a ‘hostage situation’ took place, which prompted G4S to send in the tornado team to negotiate.
South Wales Police previously said they had received reports of sudden deaths that have occurred at HM Prison Parc in Bridgend since 27th February.
A spokeswoman said at least four deaths are believed to be drug related.
Probation staff need to start actively resisting our national management
ReplyDeleteLong hot summer (or just slightly warmer) often leads to disturbances in prisons so which genius decided to let a large number of prisoners out early? Which could actively encourage more releases………..via the disturbance route……….And the exclusion is for Very High Risk, not High risk
ReplyDeleteI can't understand why the government keep handing out contracts to privateers like G4s to run our prisons.
ReplyDeleteG4s has already been stripped of the contract to run HMP Birmingham after riots and £millions of damaged caused.
They're currently in the process of stripping Sodexo of the contract to run HMP Lowdham Grange.
These companies are both serious and serial offenders within the CJS.
Kick them out and ban them all from public service contracts.
'Getafix
Three articles that perhaps lay bare home truths about the world today?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv22wl04gvxo
"Tories pledge cash for towns as Labour pitch benefits plan"
Or... Politicians now resort to blatant cash bribes (using ***our money***) to attract votes
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/05/30/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/trump-fundraises-political-prisoner-00160807
"Trump campaign immediately fundraises: ‘I’m a political prisoner!’ "
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c888p5p2zvxo
"No Gaza ceasefire until Israel war aims achieved, Netanyahu says"
No words can describe the pure spite of this man.
Another power-crazed bully, Modi, now claims he has been sent by god:
Delete“This energy could not be from my biological body but was bestowed upon me by God… whenever I do anything, I believe God is guiding me… I am nobody, I am just an instrument... everything happens as destined by God and humans are merely an instrument or excuse. So, whatever is happening, or whatever I am doing, is God’s wish.”
Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said an average person saying this would be asked to go see a psychiatrist.
I just do not understand, given the crisis in Prisons how probation senior managers allowed ( willingly ran towards it) probation to be degraded by putting so many more staff into Prisons to shore up that crumbing estate. If probation had remained intact with our identity distinct from Prisons surely we would have been in a much stronger position to deliver alternatives to custody thereby reducing the prison population at source ie sentencing. One HMPpS naw its emperor’s new clothes. Disastrous as NOMS was, HMPpS is catastrophic and we all know this.
ReplyDeleteThe prison crisis is being pushed out of prison and into communities and APs
ReplyDeleteWales online:-
ReplyDeleteA prison officer at HMP Parc smuggled drugs into the prison with the intention of dealing the substances. She also received a sum of money to convey the drugs behind bars.
Jodie Beer, 30, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office. The offence took place between November 2021 and February 2022, when she willfully received a quantity of class A drugs, namely cocaine, received a sum of money to convey the drugs into HMP Parc in Bridgend, and received a package containing illicit items to convey into prison.
The former prison officer, of Birch Grove, Llanharry, near Pontyclun, also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession with intent to supply cannabis, and possession with intent to supply buprenorphine. She was previously convicted of possession of cocaine and buprenorphine at the magistrates' court.