Access all areas prison visit
MAINLY GOOD REPORT INTO HMP STOCKEN BY RESIDENTS
A GROUP of residents living near a major prison have given a largely positive verdict on the jail following an “access all areas” visit.
The Independent Monitoring Board members, who all live near category C prison HMP Stocken in Rutland, carried out a series of inspections of the prison, which houses criminals serving terms varying from four years to life sentences.
During their visits earlier this year, they had access to every part of the prison, every prisoner, and the prison records.
The prison, which is off the A1 in Rutland and has an inmate capacity of 1,044 males, had seen its numbers rise from 840 to 1,038 in the 12 months leading up to the final inspection visit in March.
Over that period - and despite a riot inside the jail earlier this year - the residents had largely positive views to report, though there are concerns over prisoners’ mental health and the numbers being sent long distances from home.
The prison recorded 132 assaults by one prisoner on another – down from 153 the year before. There were 79 assaults by prisoners on staff, down from 80 the year before.
The most serious violent incident during the year up to the inspection was a riot on Saturday, January 18, when a group of prisoners took control of part of one wing, assaulting an officer who had to be rescued by colleagues. He had been hit in the head with a pool ball inside a sock.
The board’s report stated: “The gates were chained off. Many prisoners retreated to their cells to avoid becoming swept up. Power and water were cut, leaving only emergency lighting.”
A specialist national team was sent in and they entered the wing at 2am the following day to find all the inmates back in their cells and offering no resistance.
The board said: “Subsequent investigation revealed that the number of ringleaders was small, they were largely from London and the south east and trouble had been brewing for some weeks.”
The board said that while they were “highly impressed by the prison team’s preparedness, calm, and professionalism” during the siege, the prison’s ability to prevent the incident was potentially affected by the lack of staff on duty at weekends.
On safety, the board felt HMP Stocken “is relatively safe compared with other similar establishments”.
They continued, on the treatment of prisoners, to say: “In general, prisoners are treated fairly and humanely. We have seen very few instances of treatment which are out of line with Prison Service directives, and possible instances of unprofessional attitudes from staff are taken very seriously and thoroughly investigated.”
Regarding prisoners’ health and wellbeing, they said: “There are too many prisoners with mental health issues in the prison system as a whole, and Stocken is no exception to this judgement.
“The mental health team do their best but we have serious concerns about a significant number of men. Physical health is well catered for.”
The board did express concerns that too many prisoners were sent to HMP Stocken because there was not enough space in the south, which meant they were a long way from their families.
They called on the government to increase prison capacity around London and the south east.
Positive findings included low amounts of drugs getting into the prison.
Other improvements included better maintenance than a year earlier, better living conditions and improved cleanliness.