Prison boss goes months after riot New governor is brought in following worst inmate trouble in decades
THE boss of HMP Birmingham has been replaced nearly four months after the worst UK prison riot in nearly 30 years.
G4S, which operates the Winson Green prison, confirmed that Pete Small has been replaced by Richard Stedman, who was previously director of HMP Rye Hill, near Rugby.
Prison bosses also confirmed that HMP Birmingham will reopen its damaged wings later this month and reach full operational capacity with prison numbers returning to 1,450, from the current 990.
More than a third of the prison population was shipped out following the riot at the jail in December.
In what was dubbed the worst trouble since the infamous 1990 Strangeways Prison riot, it is believed more than £2 million of damage was caused.
Heroic prison officers held rampaging prisoners back who sprayed them with hoses and pelted them with missiles and paint during the 12-hour stand-off that was finally brought under control with the help of national colleagues who had been drafted in.
G4S said Mr Small will remain in a role within the company’s custodial and detention services division following his departure from Birmingham.
Managing director for G4S custodial and detention services in the UK, Jerry Petherick, said: “Pete has worked relentlessly to restore and recover the wings affected by last year’s disorder and now is the right time to entrust the continued progress of the prison to new leadership.”
New boss Richard Stedman led the successful re-purposing of Rye Hill in summer 2014 to become a category B sex offender only facility, the only one of its type in England and Wales.
He said: “Birmingham is a busy, local prison and I will be focused on ensuring we successfully re-open the wings affected by disorder at the end of last year and return the prison to a path of continuous development and innovation which has been nurtured so carefully over the past five and a half years. HMP Birmingham has an experienced staff team with a very long history and tradition of courage, public service and pride in the prison. The team passionately believes in the possibility of reform for the men in their care and I am looking forward to building on innovations such as the UK’s first prisoner on prisoner debating competition, held at Birmingham last summer.
Mr Small said: “I am proud to have led the HMP Birmingham team over a period of significant change and in more recent times, some very difficult moments.
“The staff team has achieved a great deal in recent years and I am confident that they will not be defined by the events of December 2016 but instead will push forward, grow and ultimately surpass the high expectations they set for themselves and the men they look after.”