Release inmates or face jail pandemic, say prison governors

Head of Prison Governors Association says crowding and staff shortages mean Covid-19 could overwhelm system

Prisoners should be released in order to prevent UK jails being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the Prison Governors Association has told the Guardian.

Andrea Albutt said prisons were facing “unprecedented risk” and the release of some prisoners would help prevent disorder and slow the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday the Ministry of Justice announced that all visits to prisons would be suspended and inmates would be confined to their cells in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Albutt warned that a combination of prison overcrowding, prisoner lockdown and staff shortages as a result of prison workers needing to isolate themselves meant that the system was facing unprecedented pressure.

“Overcrowding, poor regime, reduced contact with family because we’re not having visits anymore – these are all things that can introduce instability,” she said. “If we can take one of them away, if we can reduce the level of overcrowding in our prisons, it will help towards the coming months.”

Albutt said jails were already severely overcrowded, with prisoners sharing cells designed for a single person.

“We’ve lots of prisoners, two people in a cell built for one,” she said, adding that around 80% of prisoners in Swansea were currently doubled up.“We have that all across the country.

She added: “To reduce our population is always a good thing: it helps to stabilise prisons, it helps to calm prisons, it means that staff have got the greatest staff to prisoner ratio. If we have less prisoners doubled [up in cells], it will be easier to isolate those who’ve been confirmed as having the virus or have the symptoms, so we can delay the spread.”

Prisoners are particularly at risk because they are typically held in confined or overcrowded conditions, where the coronavirus can easily spread. The World Health Organization has warned prisons to expect “huge mortality rates” unless they act to prevent the disease from infiltrating jails. .

The Guardian has been told prisons in the UK have begun preparing for a possible rise in deaths. Two prisons in Merseyside, HMP Liverpool and HMP Altcourse, have been told there is a designated area in the region for storing additional bodies, according to one prison source. A separate source said staff at HMP Northumberland, which is run by the company Sodexo, have been told bodies could be removed to nearby army bases.

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A Sodexo spokesperson declined to comment except to say: “We are working fully to guidelines issued from Public Health England, HMPPS and Sodexo.”

A prison service spokesperson said “robust contingency plans” had been put in place in consultation with with Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care. “These use available evidence and prioritise the safety of staff, prisoners and visitors while making sure normal regimes experience the minimum possible disruption.”

Some countries have already begun releasing prisoners. Iran said it would pardon 10,000 inmates “in light of the sensitive situation in the country”, while the chief justice of the US state of New Jersey signed an order releasing 1,000 people from county jails.

Thirteen cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in UK prisons so far, with the first patient reported at Strangeways in Manchester last Wednesday. The justice secretary, Robert Buckland, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that he was considering whether to release prisoners so as to reduce pressure.

The former justice secretary David Gauke last week called on the government to suspend short sentences to avoid the virus spreading. “There is a strong case for releasing some of those coming towards the end of their sentence a few months earlier,” he said. .

There is currently no additional guidance on handling excess deaths in custody as a result of the pandemic. However, the prison system has been placed in “command mode”, whereby the response to a major incident can be coordinated nationally.

“As things stand now what has been put in place is right, and the best we can do at the moment,” said Albutt. “However, even with things like that in place, the risk we are managing is massive.”

On Tuesday the Ministry of Justice announced that all prisons in England and Wales would be closed to visitors. Family members would be encouraged to use the prison voicemail service, or to email or write.

In a circular distributed to prison staff on Tuesday, the general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, Steve Gillan, said he had volunteered to return to frontline service, despite having left the prison service 10 years ago.

“There is no blueprint for this, and having been involved as a POA member for 30 years I personally have not come across anything so challenging,” Gillan wrote. “You never forget how to be a prison officer, and if I can assist by doing that then I am quite prepared to do so if the prison service give me the green light.”

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Inmates could be freed to ease virus pressure on jails

The government is considering releasing some offenders from prisons in England and Wales to ease pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the virus poses an "acute" risk in prisons, many of which are overcrowded.

Some 3,500 prison staff - about 10% of the workforce - were off work on Tuesday because they were ill or self-isolating, a committee of MPs was told.

Mr Buckland said releasing some inmates could help to "alleviate" pressures.

The justice secretary told the Commons justice committee he was "keen" to make use of release on temporary licence - where prisoners are let out for short periods, after a risk assessment.

Mr Buckland said he was looking "very carefully" at whether or not 50 pregnant prisoners could be released.

He also indicated some of the 9,000 inmates who are on remand, awaiting trial, could be transferred to bail hostels, if it was safe to do so.

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Mr Buckland said the prison service must "balance the protection of life with the need to protect the public", but releasing prisoners early could help to "alleviate some of the pressures" the virus was having on the system.

However, he pointed out that releasing more prisoners would be a "challenge" for probation staff.

Amnesty International UK's head of policy and government affairs, Allan Hogarth, said elderly prisoners and those with underlying medical conditions should "immediately" be considered for release "if they do not pose a threat to themselves or society".

Mr Buckland's appearance before the committee came as all visits to prisons were cancelled, as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Outside visitors, group activities and education classes have all been banned and inmates have been confined to their cells for 23 hours a day.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said 55 prisons across England and Wales would be given 900 phones to allow prisoners to stay in touch with family members during the ban.

The phones will not have internet access and would only be handed out to risk-assessed prisoners on a temporary basis, the MoJ said.

Source: Government prison population bulletin, July monthly figures for England and Wales. *In-use Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA)
The justice committee also heard from Jo Farrar, chief executive of the Prison and Probation Service, who said 13 inmates had tested positive for coronavirus.

The confirmed cases were in nine prisons although more jails are suspected to have had cases.

According to the latest Department of Health figures, there are now more than 8,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK - although the actual number cases is likely to be far higher. Some 422 of those patients have died.

Mr Buckland said more tests for the virus were needed in prisons, and more personal protective equipment (PPE) was needed for staff.

About 50,000 protective masks have been delivered for staff to use and a ban on bringing hand sanitiser into prisons has been lifted.

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Coronavirus: Fears as prison inmates start 'riot' over restrictions inside jail

Inmates at a UK prison reportedly started to 'riot' over coronavirus restrictions inside jail - with fears hostages may be taken. 

Emergency services were called to Addiewell Prison in West Lothian, Scotland, after reports of a riot in which a two prison custody officers were injured.

The disturbance led to the private jail’s Forth D Hall being “smashed up”.

All prisons in Scotland are understood to have faced mounting tension amid rising numbers of suspected and confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Prison advocacy groups have warned that overcrowding creates a perfect storm for the spread of any virus.

Many believe suspected cases have remained in contact with others for too long, including some who have continued to share calls.

Police, fire and ambulance crews attended the prison near Livingston on Monday.

Prisoner transfers were put on hold as officers tried to defuse the situation.

In a video sent to the us, one prisoner laughs as he discusses with another the vandalism done to the hall.

The con, out of shot, says: “Mate, you’s have lost the plot. Have you trashed the whole place?”

He also asks the bare-chested prisoner in the video: “Where’s your cosh”, which results in a length of metal being produced.

One prisoner also produces the apparent identity card of an officer, employed by private services firm Sodexo.

A source told the Record: “A hardcore of prisoners at HMP Addiewell went on the rampage and smashed things up, leading to a lockdown.

“They situation there has been growing more tense every day, as there is no effective way to apply social distancing inside a jail.

"If one prisoner gets ill and they are not moved the whole population is at risk. The virus does not show symptoms for several days, so the continued closeness of prisoners is a big issue.

“Prisoners are angry that others with symptoms are not been taken of the premises until they are confirmed as suffering from the virus.”

Mirror Online has contacted the Scottish Prison Service for comment.

Prisoners at Barlinnie in Glasgow are also understood to be close to erupting over similar concerns relating to coronavirus.

Inmates there are being made to “self isolate” despite sharing cells.

The Scottish Prison Service by Thursday had identified 28 prisoners - including two in overcrowded Barlinnie’s laundry room - showing signs of coronavirus.

By Friday 50 inmates were self-isolating with symptoms across 12 sites.

Two  at HMP Kilmarnock  at Bowhouse were confirmed as suffering from the illness and the SPS has been on high alert for an outbreak that sweeps the prison estate.

It is understood that SPS bosses believe that any prisoners sharing a cell with another is very likely to already have Covid.19 if their cellmate has and there would be little point is separating them.

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Coronavirus is a disaster for UK prisons. Releasing the harmless now will save lives

To protect staff and inmates facing the spread of the virus, older and infirm people who pose no threat must be set free

The Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS), a charity of which I am a trustee, asked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last week to release groups of prisoners in order to lessen the impact of coronavirus in the penal estate. They have done it in Iran, so why not here?

The UK government has already announced that it intends to ease pressure on prisons by increasing the number of prisoners released on home detention curfew with a tag.

But the PAS is calling for those inmates who are old or infirm; or have long passed their tariffs – if they are serving a wretched imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence; or simply do not pose a threat, to be released immediately. These include the more than 1,700 prisoners, mostly men, aged 70 and over – some of whom are 80 or older, with a growing number in their 90s.

Releasing these prisoners, who are now completely harmless, will undoubtedly save lives, not just of prisoners but also of prison officers and other staff, especially in jails where there are wings full of elderly inmates. We have already had the first case of Covid-19 in a prisoner at Strangeways in Manchester. Make no mistake, this virus will take hold. Nowhere more so than in our antiquated local jails, such as Strangeways, where two or more prisoners are crammed into cells Victorian prison planners designed for one. Please tell us, justice minister, how such inmates can self-isolate?

Only last month a report from the National Audit Office on the physical state of prisons revealed a shocking state of disrepair, from leaking roofs and failing heating systems to broken cell windows and rat infestations. So, how can they possibly provide the hygienic conditions needed – particularly for frail, elderly prisoners – to fight this virus. Last year inspectors found that 10 out of 35 men’s prisons weren’t meeting minimum standards of cleanliness and infection control compliance.

When serving time, I experienced a few hairy moments, occasions when I felt my actions would lead to my physical harm. But my biggest fear, always, was suffering a serious illness. Of all the myths peddled by the MoJ, the line that prisoners receive healthcare comparable with that they would receive in the community is the hardest one to swallow.

Writing about the state of the prison system in England and Wales, my inbox is full of horror stories of medical neglect in the penal estate. They include prisoners who have died in hospital, more often than not in chains, after prison medical staff had ignored signs of serious illness until it was too late. The one I recount here did not end in death, but the scale of the neglect still shocks me.

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A prisoner in a Midlands jail complained of severe pains in his leg. He was given paracetamol. Then his leg began to turn black and started to smell. The man did not have great mental capacity and simply accepted his pain. He was discharged from a relatively small sentence and his son immediately took him to their GP, who referred him immediately to a specialist. It was, of course, gangrene and there was nothing to be done but amputate. I put them in touch with a lawyer and the man eventually received compensation. But no treatment, on a leg that had turned black and smelly?

Ironically for the hang ’em and flog ’em brigade, the least dangerous prisons in terms of coronavirus will be the high security ones, which house those who have committed the most serious crimes. They are not overcrowded and all inmates have single cells. The local jails may well transform into charnel houses if nothing is done to release those who represent at worst a nuisance, rather than a danger to society.

On Saturday night I spoke to a pal from the old days, who is now retired from the game but keeps abreast of prison matters. He’s a Londoner and we discussed the impact this virus may have on the local jails he and I know well: Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs. We discussed our chances of survival if we were back inside any of them. Would we get the medical care our ages (we are now in our 70s) and our underlying medical conditions (I was a heavy smoker) required?

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“More likely to be struck by lightning,” he said. “In Pentonville, we’d be lucky to get a mattress to sleep on.”

As many as 60% of prisoners could become infected with coronavirus, according to Prof Richard Coker at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has looked at the potential spread of the virus in locked establishments.

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Those who say criminals deserve what they get should bear in mind that, in life, as in prisons, there is a pecking order. The poor and disadvantaged, who have committed no crimes, will be the next in the line of fire of this disease.