Featherstone Prison: Violence escalates as jail staff dwindle

A report from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) reveals that there were 144 assaults in the jail, which it describes as 'potentially volatile', between November 2015 and October this year.

But what it does not show is how assaults at the South Staffordshire site have increased while officer numbers have dwindled.

In 2010 there were 66 recorded incidents, meaning the number of assaults has more than doubled in five years. There were 40 assaults on staff last year and just three in 2010. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults leapt from 57 in 2010 to 104 this year.

It is a similar story when looking at the self-harm figures. In 2005 there were 12 incidents, but fast forward 11 years and there were 155 at the category C men's prison. Four years ago the figure stood at 61.

As assaults and self-harm incidents have increased, the number of officers has declined.

The Howard League for Penal Reform reports that in 2013 there were 110 officers in Featherstone. This decreased to 100 the following year and the number for 2016 is 96.

In January last year the league released a report in which it said the staff shortage at the prison was leading to inmates having hospital appointments cancelled.

And there have been several high-profile incidents at the facility in recent years.

In July, then-inmate Menelek Thompson was sentenced to an extra two years and four months for hurling boiling jugs of water mixed with sugar at two guards. Staff member Sharon James suffered such severe psychological trauma that she lost her £29,000-a-year job at the prison and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The second guard, Michael Wallace, said the incident had a 'massive' impact on his life.

Then in August a hostage situation developed at the prison with staff assaulted and fires lit by inmates. A trade union official claimed an extra 20 people had to be drafted in to help deal with the incident.

At the time Prison Officers Association spokesman Mark Fairhurst said conditions at Featherstone had deteriorated to the point where it had become 'one of the most violent' prisons in the country. During the Express & Star's prison in crisis features, we heard from the partner of one inmate who had been beaten up at the jail. He was set upon by 10 inmates, according to his girlfriend, and left with two black eyes and a broken hand.

The latest report says Featherstone had been more 'stable' and settled' before being made a resettlement prison last year, which sees inmates from the West Midlands moved to Featherstone at the end of their sentence before being released.

"There has been an escalation in violence since the prison became a resettlement prison last year," the report states. "Previously, the establishment had been a more stable and settled community but the move to bring in prisoners in the last six months of their sentences has changed the whole dynamic of the prison and made it more unsettled and potentially volatile. It now appears to be at odds with its work ethic as a working/training prison."

The report also highlights an increase in drones being flown over the prison to get drugs to inmates. In March a prisoner tried to have bolt cutters flown in. The incident was foiled when officers spotted the aircraft near the perimeter fence. Increased fencing and patrols have now been introduced.

The report also says a 'significant number' of cells have been vandalised and put out of action by some prisoners.

"The lack of respect for their environment by some prisoners have led to increased levels of damage to the prison. This coupled with the lack of sufficient financial resources to upgrade the facilities has led to pressures on already stretched human resources." The board said there was also prisoners choosing to remain behind their cell doors for their own safety because of fear of reprisals over 'debt issues' relating to drug or psychoactive substances by their prisoner suppliers."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We are pleased that inspectors from the IMB were impressed with HMP Featherstone's education facilities, which are an important part of reducing reoffending and giving offenders the chance to turn their lives around.

"The Justice Secretary has announced a major overhaul of the prison system including 2,500 extra frontline prison officers to help reduce violence and tackle the drugs, drones and mobile phones that undermine safety in our prisons.

"We are also investing £1.3 billion to transform the prison estate over the next five years, to better support rehabilitation and combat bullying, violence and drugs."