HMP Five Wells: Former staff describe 'dangerous' conditions

Former staff say "something is brewing" at HMP Five Wells

Former prison officers have been speaking up about the "dangerous work environment" at a flagship prison.

HMP Five Wells opened in Wellingborough last year and is run by security firm G4S.

Prison officers who have left because they felt unsafe said violence was common and nothing was done about prisoners having weapons.

G4S said it had "sufficient levels of staffing to run a stable, consistent and safe regime".

HMP Five Wells was built on the site of the former HMP Wellingborough, which closed in 2012.

It was designed to be a "different" kind of jail where there would be no bars on the windows, inmates would be known as "residents" and prisoners would be given "a platform to change their lives".

Prisoners are offered activities to make them more employable on release

One former prison officer told BBC Radio Northampton she was supposed to be shadowing a more experienced officer when she went on to a wing for the first time, but she was often left in charge of 63 prisoners with no handcuffs, alarm or radio.

She said: "They have weapons everywhere. We know prisoners have got them, we know where they are, but we do nothing about it."

The officer described a violent attack on one of her colleagues when he tried to tell a prisoner he was in a restricted area.

"A fight started, the officer was thrown to the floor, the prisoner jumped on his leg, snapped his leg in two different places, and then wandered off to his house block like nothing happened," she said.

She added the prisoner was placed in the segregation unit but managed to escape and climb on to the roof.

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A second former officer said: "I was included in a few restraints and I've been scratched [and had my] hair pulled. The intensity of the incidents were just getting worse.

"It's going to take someone's life for them to realise how serious it is. What a dangerous work environment."

HMP Five Wells aims to offer a "normative living environment"

In a statement, G4S said: "The safety of staff and prisoners is our number one priority and we do not tolerate violence. Managers take swift and robust action when serious incidents do happen. Such incidents are then referred to the police to support further prosecution.

"We have sufficient levels of staffing to run a stable, consistent and safe regime. We continue to drive recruitment to increase our staffing numbers which will enable us to broaden our current prison regime."

The company added that all staff go through a "rigorous" training course and shadow an experienced officer for two weeks.