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General view of a sign for HMP Winchester in Hampshire
WINCHESTER prison is falling apart amid “very high levels of violence” and needs urgent improvement, the prisons watchdog warned today.
Inspectors called for immediate emergency measures after finding that an inmate had been able to remove his own cell door.
Prisoners are being held in “dreadful conditions,” they said, with some cells “so damp and mouldy that inspectors questioned whether they were fit for habitation.”
MARK FAIRHURST highlights the main issues facing officers in a long neglected service, and raised by front-line delegates at POA conference last week, including understaffing, violence, bullying and the ongoing denial of workers’ right to strike
The announcement of a Women’s Justice Board should be cautiously welcomed, writes SABINA PRICE, but we need to see a recognition that our prison system is in crisis and disproportionately punishes some of the most vulnerable people in society