Inmate numbers should be cut for ‘harmony’
REPORT GIVES DETAILED INSIGHT TO PRISON LIFE
THE maximum number of extremists held in a specialist North East jail should be cut – so inmates can enjoy a more harmonious lifestyle.
That’s the finding of a prison watchdog which has offered one of the most detailed snapshots yet of life inside HMP Frankland’s unit.
Opened in June 2017, the unit is separate to the rest of the prison and is aimed at stopping extremists from influencing other vulnerable inmates.
Lee Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo and extremist preacher Anjem Choudary were thought to be among the contenders for those to be housed there.
But almost a year on, concerns have been flagged up about how many extremists the unit could hold.
“The compact nature of the centre does give rise to a claustrophobic feeling,” states the report.
“Whilst there is a guideline population ceiling, the board have serious reservations and feel that this should be reduced in the interests of safe and harmonious living for the prisoners and staff.”
However Independent Monitoring Board inspectors have lavished praise on staff.
The report adds: “Considering that the Separation Centre is both the first, and at the time of writing, the only one, which was developed under both time and budgetary pressures and with ongoing close scrutiny from government departments and other external stakeholders, the management and staff deserve a great deal of credit for the successful delivery of a fully functioning unit.
“All the staff employed in the unit have received high quality special training and have embraced the challenges in what, for them and the prisoners alike, is a totally new and different environment.”
Inspectors state the unit is effectively a “microcosm of a normal prison”.
There’s a kitchen, gym and recreational areas while extremists have “full access to religious activities and discussions”.
“The prisoners work with psychologists, probation and religious leaders all of whom contribute towards a comprehensive progress review quarterly alongside the management,” adds the report.
The isolation centre was launched after a review found extremists in prison were attempting to radicalise others.
It will house all forms of extremism, from Islamists and fascists.
And the report adds: “The task of bringing about this entirely new and, at the time of writing, unique unit, with its specific objective of reducing the spread of extremist ideology within the wider prison population, fell substantially to the local prison management and staff.
“It will be significantly easier to deliver the further planned units in other jails, following the pioneering work at Frankland and the early lessons learned.”