Winchester Prison: Report highlights rise in violence and self-harm

HMP Winchester consists of a Victorian prison (pictured) holding up to 561 prisoners and the smaller Westhill site with 129 inmates

Violence, self-harm and self-inflicted deaths have increased at a troubled jail, the prison watchdog has found.

HMP Winchester was described as "not safe enough" by a HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) report.

It found a "significant deterioration", with seven inmates taking their own lives since 2016 and 59% of prisoners considering it easy to obtain drugs.

The Prison and Probation Service director said staff were "working hard to improve safety".

HMIP carried out an inspection of the Victorian-built jail in June and July, shortly before inmates were moved out of a wing following rioting inside the prison in August..

Its report said levels of self-harm were the highest in the country and seven inmates had taken their own lives since the previous inspection in 2016. There had also been a "marked increase" in violence against staff.

Time spent out of cells was "very poor" with those not at work or in education typically out of their cell for 90 minutes on a weekday. Most prisoners were locked up for most of the day at weekends.

Analysis

By Nikki Mitchell, BBC South home affairs correspondent

The regime at the overcrowded prison went from bad to worse in 2017, partly because of a severe shortage of prison officers.

In January 2018, after being found to be "teetering on the edge of a major incident" the Ministry of Justice put the prison into special measures.

By 2019, a new governor was in charge and a huge recruitment drive saw the prison fully staffed for the first time in years.

By the end of the year, improvements, such as giving all prisoners time with a key worker every week, were starting to help bring down levels of violence and self-harm. Drug use was also down.

There's no room for complacency though. The management only narrowly escaped a call from inspectors for the justice secretary to intervene.

The report said changes to improve the situation were "within the gift of the prison", and inspectors did not invoke the Urgent Notification process that would have required the Secretary of State to produce an action plan within 28 days.

"Safety was a priority, but improvements here need to be linked to the introduction of a coherent and deliverable regime that would get prisoners out of their cells and using their time purposefully."

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "The urgent problem at Winchester, as at so many prisons like it, is not too few staff but instead too many prisoners. That's not a problem any governor can solve."

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Phil Copple, HM Prison and Probation Service Director General for Prisons, admitted there was "still much to do" at Winchester.

"Since the inspection, prisoners who are new to custody are receiving additional support, repair and improvement work is ongoing and the most violent and high-risk prisoners are being managed better," he said.

HMP Winchester has two parts - a traditional category B Victorian prison holding up to 561 prisoners and the smaller West Hill site with about 130 category C inmates.