Anger as Gove wins battle to lift cigarettes ban in prisons
JUSTICE Secretary Michael Gove came under fire yesterday after winning a costly appeal against a smoking ban in prisons.
Appeal Court judges agreed with his warning that enforcing an immediate ban could spark jail riots.
But Ukip MEP Gerard Baten said: “If smoking is banned in public places it should include prisons. This shows that the Government is more afraid of prisoners than the public.”
However, Prison Service chiefs welcomed yesterday’s decision, saying it would allow them to phase in a smoking ban over the long- term in all prisons in a “safe and secure” way.
The Appeal Court ruled that the law against lighting up in public places does not apply to Crown estates, which includes jails.
Mr Batten said: “It is outrageous that the Government goes to such lengths to ensure convicted criminals should be allowed privileges denied to ordinary decent people not in prison.
Damaged
“It is another case of the taxpayer footing an enormous legal bill which only serves to make lawyers richer.”
The cost of the court battle so far is believed to be nearly £ 100,000.
It is set to rise after barristers for Paul Black, the prisoner at the centre of the case, said they may take it to the Supreme Court.
Yesterday’s ruling came after Mr Gove appealed against a High Court judgment in favour of Black last year.
Black, a sex offender held at Wymott jail, near Leyland, Lancashire, claimed second- hand smoke had damaged his health and that prisons should not be exempt from the law.
Current rules let prisoners in state jails light up in cells with the door shut and in outdoor exercise yards.
The Health Act, which outlaws smoking in public buildings and workplaces, applies to private prisons as they are not Crown premises.
Government lawyers argued
that vigorously enforcing an immediate smoking ban in state jails could risk the safety of staff and inmates.
The Prison Governors Association backed this position. It wants a ban but fears for discipline, as 80 per cent of convicts are smokers.
The High Court upheld Black’s case last March. A judge said then that it was “Parliament’s intention” that banning smoking in public places and workplaces was applied in any area for which the Crown is responsible.
Three Appeal Court judges overturned that ruling yesterday.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “This means we are able to roll out smoke- free prisons in a safe and secure way.” A ban will be enforced eventually as a matter of policy.
A smoke- free policy was imposed in all Welsh prisons in January in a pilot scheme.
It is due to be tried out at four English prisons this month.
Black’s lawyer Sean Humber said yesterday’s judgment “denies nonsmoking prisoners and prison staff the same legal protection from second- hand smoke as the rest of us”.