JAILED FOR 28 EXTRA YEARS

PRISONERS in Wales had a total of 28 years added to their sentences last year for breaking prison rules. At Parc, in Bridgend, they were locked up for 6,293 extra days, or just over 17 years and two months.

At Cardiff it was 2,829 days, or seven years and nine months, while at Swansea it was 1,219 days – three years four months.

At HMP Usk/Prescoed no extra days were added to prisoners’ sentences.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The system of adjudications has become a monster.

“Originally intended as a way to punish incidents of unacceptable conduct, it is now routinely used as a behaviour management technique by prisons that are out of control.”

There were 771 prisoners locked up at HMP Cardiff in December.

That means an average of four days extra were added per prisoner for bad behaviour.

The longest amount of time added for any one person in Cardiff – Wales’ biggest lock-up – was 37 days for violence.

There were nine more cases of prisoners getting 30 days or more put on their sentences for other unauthorised dealings and wilful damage.

“Instead of solving the problems, these punishments feed a vicious cycle, piling more pressure on the prison population and worsening overcrowding, which in turn creates conditions for drug abuse and violence,” Ms Crook said.

“At the same time, rules to incentivise prisoners’ behaviour have been made more punitive, which is also contributing to the poisonous atmosphere behind bars.

“The imposition of additional days should be seen as a sign of a poorly performing prison and included in new measures to monitor safety and order. The rules around incentives and earned privileges must also be revised, as ministers promised.”

Governor or independent adjudicators can stop prison earnings, ban privileges or confine prisoners to their cells – sometimes in a segregated unit.

At Cardiff there were 18 cases of prisoners being confined for 14 days each at in 2016.

A Welsh prison source, who did not want to be named, said: “The Government some years ago, back in the late ’90s changed the rules.

“A governor was able to give up to a maximum of 42 additional days loss of remission.

“They stopped governors doing that and the only people able to do it then were judges.

“It’s not so good for prison officers because people do not get their just deserts.

“If a prisoner is violent toward you, for instance, that might just result in a loss of canteen.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “It is right that prisoners who break the rules, including those on drugs and violence, face sanctions.

“That is why we are working to give governors and those who work in prisons, the tools to reform and rehabilitate offenders more effectively.”