Prisoner held in segregation for two-and-a-half years

An inmate at Whitemoor Prison has been held in segregation for two-and-a-half years, it has emerged.

Some 24 offenders in high-security jails had been segregated for more than six months on 1 June, Whitemoor's Independent Monitoring Board said.

Prisoners can be segregated for their protection, as punishment or to prevent trouble. But the measure should be used as a "last resort", regulations say.

The Prison Service said segregation played an "important role".

'Complex to manage'

In its report, the Independent Monitoring Board said most prisoners in segregation "were complex to manage, either in terms of compliance or in respect of getting them back onto mainstream accommodation."

It said seven of the 24 prisoners who had been held in segregation for six months or more were at Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the case of a prisoner being held for two-and-a-half years - at various segregation units - is one of the longest on record.

In 2013, however, it emerged an inmate at HMP Bronzefield had been held in segregation for more than five years.

At the time, the chief inspector of prisons said it amounted to "cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment".

'Not isolated'

Concerns have been raised about the long-term impact of prolonged segregation on mental health.

In a 2014 report, the chief inspector of prisons said use of "special accommodation" at Whitemoor "was not always justified and there was evidence that prisoners remained there too long".

And earlier this year, the prison ombudsman said governors had been warned "about the risk of holding vulnerable prisoners in segregation units" after eight suicides in 2013-14 - the highest number for almost a decade.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Segregated prisoners are not held in isolation, and are provided with as normal a regime as possible. They are also visited on a daily basis by a member of healthcare staff."