Inmates handed 3,455 extra days in jail for breaking rules

PRISONERS in Wrexham were handed the equivalent of nine years in extra jail time for breaking rules.

Inmates at HMP Berwyn were given 3,455 extra days in jail time for falling foul of rules while serving sentences during 2017 – the first year that the prison operated.

It equates to more than nine years of additional time being served, or around eight extra days for each of the prisoners.

As of June 2017, there were 426 inmates serving time at the “superprison”.

The Howard League for Penal Reform, which uncovered the figures, has called on the government to scrap the imposition of additional imprisonment for rule-breaking.

Out of all prisons in England and Wales, the equivalent of punishments totalling almost 1,000 years was handed down in 2017.

The Howard League has claimed use of additional days has increased as prisons have been brought to breaking-point by overcrowding and staff shortages – soaring from fewer than 160,000 in 2014 to almost 360,000 last year. Figures for HMP Berwyn are only available for 2017 – due to it opening in February of that year – so a comparison with previous years is not available.

Other prisons in Wales and England saw a large rise in the use of extra prison time, with some facilities passing down more than 10,000 additional days.