Winchester prison 'behave like animals' in riot footage

Inmates have been filmed knocking through weak cell walls and rioting inside a prison.

Police and specialist prison officers were called to the disturbance involving 19 inmates at HMP Winchester in Hampshire on Tuesday night.

Footage shows prisoners dancing and running around the walkways, with some holding batons and one squirting a water hose.

The Prison Service said they would end up spending more time in jail.

The footage was posted on social media by prison campaigner Cody Lachey.

He told the BBC he wanted to share the footage sent to him by an inmate to raise awareness of the "squalid conditions".

Asked for his opinion on the video, he said: "If you treat prisoners like animals, then they'll behave like animals."

The inmates used furniture to break "weak points" in the cell walls

Mr Lachey said there were Victorian-era prisons around the country which are "not fit for purpose".

"The walls are crumbling," added Mr Lachey, who once served a sentence at HMP Manchester.

Mr Lachey said prison officers used to check cells on a nightly basis for signs of possible planned escape attempts.

"They simply don't have enough prison officers for that anymore," he said.

• Prisoners breach 'weak walls' in mass cell escape

A Prison Service spokesman said: "This behaviour will never be tolerated and we are working closely with the police to push for the strongest possible punishment for those involved - including more time behind bars.

"We are taking action to improve and modernise our jails - just last week the Prime Minister announced up to £2.5 billion to create 10,000 new prison places."

The MoJ previously confirmed that inmates broke out of their cells at the prison by "manipulating weaknesses" in the mortar with furniture.

It said pepper spray was used to subdue two prisoners but no injuries were sustained.