‘Prisoners had no protection from Covid’
A RECENTLY released inmate from Cardiff Prison has criticised the prison authorities for not having done enough to protect prisoners from Covid-19.
Parris Lennox, 28, of St Mellons in Cardiff, was released from Cardiff Prison on April 24. He has co-operated in the making of a video by local film-maker Martin Read, who is making a film about wider prison issues for Channel 4.
Mr Lennox says in the video: “There was no social distancing – nothing. It was just normal routine.
“They tried to put lines on the floor so you can see the correct distance from each other. To be honest, people didn’t listen to that.
“You’d wake up at about 8am to the door opening. You’d go out, go and make your phone calls, have a shower. Now the whole landing’s out. So anyone’s doing whatever they want. Sometimes it was 45 minutes, each break. 45 minutes in the morning, 45 minutes in the afternoon. The people from other landings were coming down and using the phones. It was easy for the virus to spread. They weren’t taking it seriously at all.”
According to Mr Lennox, prison officers weren’t wearing any protection or distancing from each other. He said: “They’d go onto other wings which had confirmed cases of Covid-19, and then they’d come on our wing and not do the two-metre rule.
“There were a couple of officers I spoke to – they were fearful and made to go to work. If they didn’t go to work they were going to have warnings and lose their job.
“There were four cases of Covid19 on my wing alone. There were six, I think, on F wing.
“An inmate opposite my cell had it – he was confirmed. He was in a cell on his own for about a week before they took him over to health care.
“[Before] they’d left him in with someone who was high risk – he had diabetes, loads of underlying health issues and they left him in there.
“I was working on the servery, handing people their food. I didn’t have any face masks. If you cough... it was only a small space. I felt we needed more protective equipment, but they didn’t give it to us.
“It was spreading quite quickly when I was there – there two, three, four locked in [their cells] because of coronavirus.
“You’ve got to remember that each cell has two people. You might be in with a guy who has it and then you get it.
“I asked what would happen when I was released. They just took my temperature from my ears, and that was it. They didn’t do an in-depth test. I didn’t want my mum to be at risk.”
Mr Lennox’s mother, Leanne Lennox, said: “I know my son – I could tell he was really upset. My concern was how he was going to be released, and pass this on to me. I knew I was going to have to take the issue up.”
South Wales Central MS Neil McEvoy said: “If you look at the issue of prisons and Covid-19, the authorities say something completely different from those who have been in prison.
“If they’re not in single cells, how can they be isolating? It has been alleged to me that people with asthma have been put in with people who have Covid.
“I know there’s no testing, which I think is an outrage.”
A large majority of Cardiff Prison’s approximately 700 inmates have to share cells.
A Prison Service spokesman did not discuss the allegations in detail, but said: “There is no evidence to back up these inflammatory and unverified claims. At HMP Cardiff, and across the country, health experts have praised the efforts of staff who have successfully restricted the spread of the virus and saved many lives.”
It is understood that while Cardiff Prison has previously had prisoners with Covid-19, that is not the case at present.