The Guardian
Official inquiry highlights a record six homicides and a 38% increase in assaults involving weapons in 2015-16
There were 4,000 assaults involving a blade or other weapon in English and Welsh prisons in 2015-16. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
An official inquiry has criticised the “wholly unacceptable level of violence” in English and Welsh jails after a record six inmates were killed in 2015-16.
A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into the six homicides also uncovered a 38% rise in the number of assaults involving a blade or other weapon to 4,000.
The proportion of armed prison assaults has doubled from 10% to 20% over the last five years.
Nigel Newcomen’s inquiry was ordered by the prisons minister after official figures showed there had been six apparent homicides in prisons in 2015-16, the highest number since current records began in 2000 and up from four in 2014-15.
Newcomen said that homicides were still rare in English and Welsh jails, but had increased in recent years: “The killing of one prisoner by another in a supposedly secure prison environment is particularly shocking, and it is essential to seek out any lessons that might prevent these chilling occurrences in the future.”
He said that a review of the eight homicide investigations he has carried out since 2013 showed they had little in common beyond their outcome: “In five of the eight cases we also concluded that it would have been difficult for prison staff to have predicted or prevented the death.
“Nevertheless, what is clear is that the increased number of homicides is emblematic of the wholly unacceptable level of violence in our prisons.”
The eight homicide cases the ombudsman looked at happened across the prison estate from local jails to high security prisons and involved weapons, strangulation and two cases in which the victim was killed by a punch to the head. Four people were convicted of murder, three of manslaughter and one person was acquitted.
Newcomen voiced concerns about “the lack of a structured and coordinated approach to challenging violent behaviour” in some of the jails where the killings took place. He calls for a much more rigorous approach to searching cells for weapons and managing violence and debt in prison, not least that associated with what he described as an epidemic of new psychoactive substances.
The shadow justice minister, Jo Stevens, said: “Staff numbers have fallen, leading to increasing levels of violence, drug use and chaos in our prisons. Swift and urgent action must be taken in order to tackle the astronomical levels of violence in our prisons to help ensure that meaningful rehabilitation takes place, reoffending rates fall, and the public can have confidence in our prison system.”
Andrew Neilson, the campaigns director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said his organisation was particularly concerned at the growing number of assaults involving weapons.
“Reducing resources while allowing the prison population to grow unchecked has created a toxic mix of violence, death and human misery. Urgent action is needed to make prisons safer,” he said.
A prisons service spokesperson said the new justice secretary, Elizabeth Truss, had made clear that safe prisons were fundamental to an effective justice system and a key part of the government’s reforms.
“The prison and probation ombudsman rightly sets out a number of factors that must be addressed, including the availability of psychoactive substances and levels of violence in prisons. There are no easy solutions and his insight and experience are invaluable in helping tackle these complex areas.
“The justice secretary will be setting out her plans for prison safety and reform in the coming weeks.”
