Winson Green 'riot': Specialist team move in bid to end disorder

With disorder spreading across four wings of HMP Birmingham a "Tornado Team" was dispatched to quell the trouble which started at the prison at around 9am.

MORE: Officers regain control of prison

Beyond the walls, banging, barking dogs, firecrackers and the sound of cheering could be heard as authorities assembled outside the privately-run facility.

West Midlands Police said keys giving access to residential prison areas were taken from an officer and that inmates have since occupied some blocks and exercise facilities.

The jail, run by security firm G4S can hold up to 1,450 inmates - but it is now understood 260 prisoners were caught up in the incident.

• First reports of a disturbance at the prison at around 9am today.

• Prison officers withdrew from two wings at the prison which were sealed off due to the trouble

• Reinforcements from HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, among those to be sent to help quell the disturbance.

• A specialist riot squad known as the "Tornado Team" has been sent inside

• All prison staff have been 'accounted for' say operator G4S

• Dog unit sent inside.

• G4S has handed control of the situation to Prison Service staff

The Victorian category B jail, which was built in 1849 in the Winson Green area of the city.

Follow live updates from the scene here

Managing director for G4S custodial and detention services, Jerry Petherick, said given the "scale of the incident and deployment of national resources" they have transferred "overall operational responsibility" to the Prison Service.

"Our command team remains on site and our staff will be actively involved in the recovery of the affected wings," he added.

He said their teams initially "withdrew following a disturbance and sealed two wings, which include some administrative offices" - before the disorder spread to two further wings.

Canine units were also sent to the prison and a West Midlands Police helicopter was also in attendance. Mr Petherick also said all their staff have been accounted for.

At the category B jail, where mass murderer Fred West hanged himself in 1995, there were reports of a "badly injured" prisoner and inmates burning and destroying their files.

Inmates caught in the middle of a prison riot have spoken of their fear they might be attacked by the other prisoners.

An inmate at HMP Birmingham, where disorder was first reported at 9am on Friday, said other prisoners had tried unsuccessfully to force their way on to his wing.

Speaking through his solicitor, the prisoner, who is on the jail's G wing, known as the protected wing for inmates accused or convicted of sex offences, said: "The others have been trying to get in here.

"We're terrified."

The prison has been in lockdown all day, and specially-trained riot prison officers have been sent in to try to regain control of the jail, which is in the Winson Green area of the city.

As dusk fell, fires started to burn, and the sounds of men cheering, smashing, banging and firecrackers, could be heard from behind the high perimeter wall.

Meanwhile, there is a heavy police presence around the outside of the sprawling jail complex, which sits in the middle of a busy residential and industrial area.

The Ministry of Justice said the trouble is "contained, the perimeter is secure and there is no risk to public", adding that prisoners who "behave in this way" could spend "significantly longer behind bars".

At the scene as the disturbance continued into late afternoon, a steady stream of prison officers in black overalls carrying riot shields and equipment arrived on foot and in vans.

One of the specially-trained units of up to 15 men and women had come from HMP Long Lartin near Evesham, Worcestershire.

At one end of the sprawling prison compound, smoke could be seen pouring from a fire - the source of which was obscured by high walls which rings the jail complex.

A former inmate, who got out of the prison in January, said drugs were "rife" in the jail and there was "a lack of respect" between some staff and inmates.

The man, who declined to give his name, said: "Some of the staff in there, they're fair and they treat you ok - with respect.

"But a lot of those guys - there's just a lack of respect. So I'm not surprised this has happened at all."

Prison affairs academic and blogger Alex Cavendish told reporters an "inside informant" told him the trouble started with lights being broken and inmates controlling fire hoses.

He said a prisoner threatened an officer with "what appeared to be a used syringe" before another inmate approached from behind and "snatched the keys from his belt and snapped the security chain".

The 53-year-old said inmates have also gained access to the offender management unit (OMU), where their paper records are stored, and which have subsequently been burnt.

"I am hearing there is a very badly injured casualty (prisoner), and the prisoners are throwing computers out of the OMU window - destroying records," Mr Cavendish added.

The latest disturbance is the third in English prisons in less than two months.

On November 6 a riot at category B Bedford Prison saw up to 200 inmates go on the rampage - flooding the jail's gangways in chaotic scenes.

Just days earlier, on October 29, a national response unit had to be brought in to control prisoners during an incident at HMP Lewes in East Sussex.

Mike Rolfe, national chairman of the Prison Officers Association, who last month protested over safety concerns, said the "serious incident" at the prison is "another stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis".

A spokesman from the Prison Governors Association said the disturbance at the Birmingham jail "comes at a very difficult time for Noms on the back of recent riots and at a time when the prison estate is already bursting at the seams".

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said the disturbances at the Birmingham jail are "hugely concerning" and claimed the Justice Secretary is "failing to get this crisis under control".

It is understood 80 additional prison officers, including the Tornado Team, have been deployed to the incident on top of the jail's usual staffing levels.

Sources also said inmates have accessed a small amount of equipment which was being stored within a wing, and that a security chain has been broken, but the perimeter is still secure.

Outside the jail, a dozen police vans full of officers clad in protective helmets and carrying shields and batons arrived, backed up by dog units.

The police have since closed the road and established a secure cordon around the main gate of the prison.