LAGS’ 9-HR RIOT OVER CIGGIE BAN
Prison trashed in rampage
CIG-addicted inmates rioted for nine hours after a smoking ban was introduced at their prison, it has been revealed.
Scores of rampaging lags smashed sinks, flooded cells and trashed TVs at HMP Haverigg in Cumbria because they were desperate for a cigarette.
A new report by the Independent Monitoring Board into last August’s riot reveals over 50 specially trained officers in Robocop-style black boiler suits were drafted in to end the siege.
Some 55 prisoners had to be transferred off the Category C site to other prisons across the country while the wing where the riot took hold was treated as a crime scene.
Prison bosses had no choice but to close the unit for four weeks to repair the damage.
The protest was sparked after new national guide- lines to outlaw smoking inside jails was rolled out at Haverigg.
The Independent Monitoring Board concluded: “It is thought that the unrest may be related to the no smoking ban implemented last year.” Lynn Chambers, chairman of the Independent Monitoring Board at Haverigg, was on site as the riot took hold and said the governor and staff acted quickly to end the unrest.
But she added: “The accommodation block was uninhabitable so a number of prisoners were transferred overnight and early the next morning.
“We were very concerned for those not involved who were moved without possessions and who may have been in the middle of courses ahead of their release.
“It seemed to us that these people had been disadvantaged.”