Staff exodus at ‘toxic’ jail
Two years of turmoil at HMP Styal
THE last official report by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons was glowing in its praise of HMP Styal. Following inspections between late April and early May 2018, it described a caring and compassionate institution where staff did a good job looking after women, many of whom were troubled before they began their sentences.
Despite that official verdict, a series of troubling events have since raised questions about conditions behind the gates of the jail - and the safety of vulnerable women in the system as a whole.
These events include a cluster of tragic deaths at Styal within a 15 month period in 2018 and 2019, and an ‘exodus’ of senior staff.
Three of the four deaths involved women who had just arrived at Styal, and were, according to a report, being held in its ‘First Night Centre’ - a unit set up to protect women in their first 48 hours in jail.
And, coincidentally, three of the four deaths occurred after the chief inspector’s visit.
Those deaths – and a raft of other issues – have not escaped the notice of other observers of prison life, such as the ordinary members of the public who volunteer to check up on jails, and INQUEST, the charity that focuses on deaths in state custody.
Meanwhile, the M.E.N. can reveal that a number of senior prison staff, including a governor, have left Styal amid reports – denied by the Prison Service – of a ‘toxic’ work environment.
Now, describing Styal as having been through ‘a period of significant instability,’ INQUEST has accused the government of not doing enough to ensure women’s safety.
Their intervention comes after an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) – members of the public whose role is to check up on standards at their local prison – revealed a series of issues in their own separate and more recently concluded series of inspections, brought together in a report published in October.
They highlighted ‘a problem with Spice,’ violence fuelled by debts involving vapes, facilities so poor women had to bathe in rusty water, and ‘slow’ maintenance, with contractors making ‘manifestly excessive quotations,’ including £850 to fix a battery operated doorbell.
Their conclusions were based on visits on May 2018 and April 2019, covering the period where the three women died and a number of senior staff left.
Among the staff who left was Mahala McGuffie.
She was suspended as governor of HMP Styal, which houses over 400 women in 16 detached Victorian houses, by the Ministry of Justice in August 2018, following staff complaints.
The complaints triggered a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) investigation in which about 30 current and former staff were interviewed.
That investigation concluded in March 2019, and Ms McGuffie, who had been at home on full pay, ended up moving on to another job in the Prison Service.
Sources in the Prison Service have told the M.E.N. her management style had upset many colleagues and have described an ‘exodus’ of senior staff. Among those who left were the prison’s healthcare manager, the replacement healthcare manager, the deputy governor and one of the jail’s senior prison officers, according to insiders.
Two prison officers who worked at Styal, but who have now left, told the M.E.N. the atmosphere at the prison was ‘toxic.’
One former prison officer, among those interviewed, told the M.E.N. Ms McGuffie had been brought in by the MoJ to cut costs, a claim vehemently denied by the Prison Service, and that experienced prison officers were replaced by inexperienced and cheaper alternatives.
“Styal was a sleepy little jail with 400 women and all the staff were absolutely brilliant”, they said. “Not much went on in there.
“There were good, honest, decent staff. You hear horror stories at other jails but not Styal.
“It was really good but she turned up and it really changed. She got rid of all the old experienced staff.
“There was no discipline anymore,” said one former prison officer.
No suggestion can be made of links between staff issues and the tragic deaths that occurred in 2018 and 2019. Inquests in the late women’s cases have not been held yet.
But the number of tragedies, in quick succession, raises concerns not least because there were only two deaths in the threeand-a-half years preceding the most recent cluster.
The first in the most recent spate of tragedies was the death of 41-year-old Nicola Birchall in February 2018, just a few months before the Chief Inspector of Prisons’ visit.
The second, in June 2018, involved Imogen Mellor, 29, who was found hanging and died later in hospital.
Then, in March 2019, Christine MacDonald, 56, was found collapsed in her cell.
And, in May, the body of Susan Knowles, 48, was discovered at the jail.
None of the deaths are being treated as suspicious by Cheshire Police.
Dates for the women’s inquests have not yet been fixed as the coroner is awaiting reports by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman.
However, the Independent Monitoring Board’s report has revealed that three of the deaths occurred while people were ‘in custody on the First Night Centre,’ and said safety there ‘requires careful monitoring.’
The IMB also said that the preparation of prisoners for release was one of the jail’s ‘strengths,’ and that prisoners were treated fairly and humanely, but ‘conditions are adversely affected by the poor state of the buildings.
In fact, it described ‘continued’ failings in the maintenance of accommodation at the prison, ‘resulting in further deterioration in the fabric and serious decency issues for the women,’ to the extent they invited the prisons minister to ‘conduct a review of the maintenance of the prison.’
In March 2018, the IMB report revealed, a ceiling in the education building collapsed, ‘fortunately without injuring anyone.’
Meanwhile, the IMB told the Prison Service in its report: “The prison is challenged by the need to manage many women with severe and enduring mental problems and complex needs... more needs to be done to address the use of illicit substances in the prison.”
Also, following the closure of the jail’s ‘Dove Unit,’ ‘women with complex needs and enduring mental health conditions are managed within the main prison population,’ the report reveals - with the IMB saying it would continue to monitor whether women ‘will be adequately cared for under the new arrangements.’
In the report, the IMB described the senior staff changes, including the departure of his predecessor, as having ‘resulted in an unsettled period for prison staff and prisoners alike.’
Nonetheless, they said there had been a dramatic reduction in the ‘number of self-harm incidents from 282 in August 2018 to 149 in March 2019,’ and a decrease in drug finds.
However, the number of prisoneron-prisoner assaults had increased from seven to 16, with ‘disputes about debt involving vapes a major
Two prison officers who worked at Styal, but who have now left, told the M.E.N. the atmosphere at the prison was ‘toxic’