Prison guards used force 500 times last year against women at a UK jail, report finds

Prison guards used force against female prisoners at a Gloucestershire jail over 500 times last year as they struggled to deal with inmates with complex mental health problems, a watchdog report has found.

Use of force, such as restraining inmates and self defence by prison officers at HMP Eastwood, in South Gloucestershire, was “very high compared to other women’s prisons”, the report from the Independent Monitoring Board found.

Incidents had risen by 30 per cent in the past year, from 398 to 517 in the year to November 2023.

A high proportion of the incidents involved prisoners with mental health problems and staff were often injured themselves. While fourteen prisoners had been injured during instances of use of force, eight members of staff had been injured as well.

Inspectors have raised concerns about whether women with mental health problems would be better treated by the health service rather than spending time in jail.

From January to September 2023, there were 91 assaults on staff by prisoners at the 387-person prison.

Self-harm among prisoners had also risen substantially - by 128 per cent in a year - prompted by a small number of unwell women harming themselves repeatedly.

The prison’s safety team also reported a rise in prisoner-on-prisoner bullying and fights in September last year fuelled by debts among inmates.

There have also been two deaths in custody in the year to October 2023, inspectors said.

The report said the most common reasons for the use of force included tackling assault, fighting, and the prevention of self-harm.

Sonya Ruparel, CEO of charity Women in Prison, said the monitoring board’s report “tells us that prisons are not a safe place for women”.

She added: “The increasing levels of self-harm, currently ten times that of the male estate, and mentally unwell women being in prison is wholly unacceptable. Most women in prison have not committed a violent crime and are serving short, unnecessary sentences that turn their lives upside-down.”

Her comments come as the former head of the judiciary, Lord Burnett of Maldon, expressed concerns about the “ramping up” of sentence lengths.

He told The University of Law podcast, The Judges, that there should be more use of community sentences. Lord Burnett said: “I think there’s a serious question about whether lengthening sentences is actually good in the public interest, good for society.”

He questioned whether longer custodial sentences were “actually producing benefits to society that can be measured, that are tangible.”

This week justice secretary Alex Chalk announced plans to release some prisoners early to try and ease overcrowding pressures in jails in England and Wales.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We take the safety of women in custody incredibly seriously and are pleased that the report recognises the success of HMP Eastwood Park’s complex needs wing.

“Many women in custody suffer from mental health issues which is why we are continuing to improve mental health and psychological support.”