Explosive device ‘erupted’ at Cardiff prison, AM told

AN EXPLOSIVE device made from tea whiteners “erupted and slid across the floor” at HMP Cardiff in an incident which saw four men arrested.

The incident was revealed after a prison whistleblower told Plaid Cymru AM Bethan Jenkins the jail was so understaffed inmates would be able to “take over” the building in “less than 10 minutes” in a riot situation.

A spokesman from South Wales Police said nobody was injured when “a bottle containing an unknown liquid erupted and slid across the floor” on June 15.

Four men were arrested, three of whom remain under investigation, while the other will not face further action, he added.

Ms Jenkins, AM for South Wales West and Plaid Cymru’s shadow cabinet secretary for communities, said she was speaking to a prison officer about plans to build a new prison in Baglan, Port Talbot, which she is opposing, when he started to talk about HMP Cardiff.

She said: “He said that there had been an incident involving an improvised explosive device made out of tea whiteners... That was very concerning to them as staff and he said: ‘They could take over in less than 10 minutes, that is how shortstaffed we are and that has been very close to happening a few times recently’.”

Ms Jenkins called on the UK Government to conduct an urgent review into prison staffing levels and security across the prison estate.

“Ms Jenkins said her sources also raised concerns about the “appalling” problems with educational programmes at the prison.

She is also calling for powers over criminal justice and policing to be devolved to Wales “as soon as possible”.