Woodhill prison violence very high during pandemic says report

HMP Woodhill is a Category A prison in Milton Keynes

Woodhill Prison has had "very high levels of violence" during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by its independent monitoring board (IMB).

The IMB said that during the national lockdowns inmates at the jail in Milton Keynes were kept in their cells for 23 hours a day to limit transmission.

The IMB said more banned items were also getting thrown into the jail.

The Prison Service said it took "decisive action during the pandemic".

The IMB report looked at conditions in the category A high security men's prison between June 2020 and May 2021.

Only two cases of Covid-19 were found, in prisoners being transferred into the jail.

Prisoners were kept in their cells for 23 hours a day during the coronavirus lockdowns

Board members said violence throughout the year included assaults by prisoners on staff, assaults by prisoners on prisoners, and self-harm by inmates.

The IMB said there were "some indications" the prison was better at reporting such incidents than other prisons.

The report showed that since April 2020, the monthly "assault rate on staff" varied between four and 15.

As lockdown restrictions eased, inmates' out-of-cell time was doubled to two hours a day.

However, the severe restrictions were re-imposed in December when the country returned to lockdown and this continued until May.

'Throw-overs'

During this time the prison continued to provide inmates with limited in-cell education, a wider allocation of televisions, DVDs, games loans and activity packs.

In response to the restrictions on movement and visitors caused by Covid-19, Woodhill also saw a large increase in the number of "throw-overs".

The IMB said these included mobile phones, SIM cards and drugs being propelled from outside the prison walls into into the exercise yard.

The prison tackled this issue by putting restrictors on windows, and police monitoring was increased outside the jail perimeter.

• Jail search failures over exercise yard execution

• Prison officer jailed for inmate relationships

• Urgent review call after unlawful detention death

There was one death in custody during the reporting period, in April 2021. The report said it was likely to have been self-inflicted, but the inquest had yet to take place.

The board said it was pleased that the quality of assessment, care in custody and teamwork documents had improved since the last reporting year.

HMP Woodhill had the highest suicide rate of all prisons in England and Wales in the five years to 2017.

A spokesman for the Prison Service said: "Our decisive action during the pandemic saved thousands of lives and we continue to support prisoners' wellbeing and rehabilitation through vital family contact, education, work and exercise.

"Self-harm incidents at Woodhill have fallen and as part of a comprehensive action plan, the prison is training both prisoners and staff as mediators to reduce violence."

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