Leicester prison staff lose inmates during inspection at 'chaotic' jail
Report describes ‘unacceptable levels of overcrowding’, ‘chaos’ and an overall ‘deterioration’ in standards
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Inmates at Leicester prison are often unaccounted for as staff battle with overcrowding, violence and self-harm, an inspection has found.
The prison, home to 325 inmates, 50 per cent more than capacity, was described as “chaotic” and prisoners' movements as “poorly controlled”.
Reporting on the unannounced inspection, carried out last Autumn, Martin Lomas, HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “We were unable to undertake meaningful spot checks because there was no accurate account of where prisoners were.”
Inspectors found alarming rates of violence and self-harm in the prison, compared to a previous visit in November 2013.
Mr Lomas explained: “Since our last inspection there had been three deaths in custody; two of which were believed to be self-inflicted.
“Levels of self-harm had increased by 50 per cent over the same period and were now five times the number in other local prisons.”
The report also pointed to a high assault rate towards staff and described security at the facility as “poor”.
A survey of inmates found more than half had felt unsafe during their time in the facility, and 28 per cent felt unsafe at the time of questioning, results Mr Lomas described as “significantly worse than we would expect”.
It also found 40 per cent of prisoners felt they had been victimised by staff, the same number as those who said they had been victimised by other inmates.
Drug and alcohol abuse were found to be rife in the prison. Mr Lomas said: “There was compelling evidence that new psychoactive substances (NPS) and alcohol were readily available in the prison.”
According to the survey 41 per cent of inmates felt it was easy to obtain illegal drugs in the prison, and 14 per cent claimed to have developed a drug problem during their time there.
Mr Lomas said the report did find “pockets”, such as the gym, substance misuse services and the new community rehabilitation company, which were “operating more effectively”, but expressed overall concern about the future of the facility.
He said: “Unlike our last inspection… when we felt problems and difficulties were at least being addressed, this inspection found a prison that had deteriorated and seemed to have few ideas about what to do next.
“There were few meaningful plans to effect progress and we could discern no determination of priorities.
“Managers should start by making the prison safer and gaining control of basic operational routines,” he concluded.