Ex-inmate jailed for prison worker video posting

Zachery Griffiths made false claims on social media about a prison worker being involved with drugs

A former inmate of Wales' only privately run jail has been sent to prison after he posted on a Facebook group a video of a staff member restraining a prisoner.

Zachery Griffiths, 32, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, previously admitted to publishing the video, as well as falsely accusing a worker at Parc Prison, Bridgend, and her family of involvement with drugs online.

He was sentenced to 12 months at Cardiff Crown Court, and he will spend half in prison.

A restraining order was also made, forbidding Griffiths - who has 50 previous convictions for 107 offences - from contacting or writing about the staff member.

Griffiths, who represented himself, said he posted the video on the Facebook group HMP Prisons Justice Group earlier this year because he wanted to highlight what he described as "the toxic culture in the prison”.

He said he posted the video in the public interest, adding: “This video caused no harm to anybody. It showed violence in the prison.

"No-one wants to hear the truth."

But Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told him: "You are not making a speech for your campaign."

The court was told a prison family support worker had been the victim of untrue allegations posted on the page by Griffiths.

He claimed she was a drug user and said her brother was a drug dealer. He also claimed the worker's mother was involved with drugs.

In a statement read to the court by Pamela Kaiga, prosecuting, the worker said the allegations had a serious impact on her and her family.

She was off work due to anxiety for nine weeks, the first sick leave she had taken in nine-and-a-half years working at the prison, which is run by G4S.

She said she was worried about the safety of herself and her young daughter and did not want to leave the house.

She said she and her family were approached in public by people who had seen the allegations.

Griffiths admitted he had "crossed the line" but said the campaign group he was part of had achieved a huge amount of publicity and he was pleased an inquiry into the prison was taking place.

Last month, Prisons Minister James Timpson said the prison service’s corruption unit was looking at HMP Parc.

Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Griffiths’s action was an “intentional... and a deliberate decision” to distribute the video and his inability to verify his claims “suited your cause”.

Griffiths waved to friends in the public gallery as he left the dock.