Inmates win court fight over illegal strip searches

THE Ministry of Justice (MoJ) failed to prevent “systemic breaches” of the human rights of inmates who were unlawfully strip-searched at a privately-run prison, the High Court has ruled.

Four inmates at HMP Peterborough claimed the MoJ was required to ensure adequate and effective safeguards against breaches of their right to privacy were in place at the jail.

Sodexo, which runs the prison, admitted it was responsible for a “systemic failure” to follow MoJ rules on strip searches because it failed to properly train its staff.

The four claimants – three women and a transgender prisoner, who is transitioning from female to male – also sought a declaration from the High Court that the MoJ had failed in its responsibility to ensure Sodexo was not violating their human rights.

Giving his judgment in London, Mr Justice Julian Knowles found there were “numerous serious, systemic and widespread failures at HMP Peterborough ... which led to a number of strip searches being carried out unlawfully”.

The judge ruled: “The measures put in place by the Secretary of State [for Justice] to ensure that Sodexo had procedures in place to train its staff properly so that there were not systemic or widespread mistakes – which is an aspect of his duty to monitor and supervise – therefore failed.”

The claimants’ case that there had also been a breach of their right to freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment was dismissed.

Their legal action followed five unlawful strip searches carried out in July and September 2017. All four inmates were unlawfully strip-searched on the first occasion but only the transgender prisoner, known as LW, was stripsearched on the second occasion.

Sodexo admitted all five searches were unlawful because its officers conducted a “level two” strip search without first carrying out a less intrusive “level one” search, as required by prison rules.