Lives 'at risk' at HMP Chelmsford, ex-prisoner claims

A man recently released from Chelmsford Prison said he saw violence "every day"

Inmates' lives could be at stake at a prison where concerns were raised about increasing levels of violence, an former convict has claimed.

The man, who served two sentences at Chelmsford Prison, said he saw inmates pouring boiling water on each other.

Last year, a report said "bullying, low-level violence, and disobedience by prisoners" had increased.

A spokesman for the prison service said there was a "zero tolerance approach to violence".

The former prisoner, who wished to remain anonymous, said during his first stay a few years ago, "there was a lot more order" and he felt "quite safe".

"Last time I was there I saw about three violent incidents. This time there was violence every day," he said. "The whole place was just a shambles."

A "zero tolerance approach to violence" is in place at Chelmsford Prison, a spokesman said

The ex-convict described a prisoner-on-prisoner attack in which a young inmate had boiling water poured over him while he was asleep, before being beaten with a metal rod.

"I know people have committed crimes, and they deserve to do their time, but people's lives are at stake in there," he said.

"There needs to be more staff. On a typical day, you'd look around on the wing, and there'd be 30 men on the floor and one officer with you."

Last year's report, by Chelmsford Independent Monitoring Board, also raised concerns about the "loss of a large number of experienced supervising officers and wing officers" having a "significant negative impact on the care and safety of prisoners".

In response to the former prisoner's claim, a prison service spokesman said: "We have a zero tolerance approach to violence in prisons and it can lead to offenders having time added to their sentence.

"We keep staffing levels under review and responded to recent pressures by recruiting over 1,700 additional prison officers nationally."