Family hit out, we all want tranparencey not lies or cover ups.

Britain's overcrowded jails are leading to a vicious culture of drugs, debt and violence, warn experts.

Figures released this week show the shocking levels of overcrowding as inmates are crammed in to crumbling jails.

The average level of overcrowding across all prisons is 110 per cent.

Wandsworth in South London, tops the list. Built to hold 841 men, it now has 1,373 behind bars.

A spokesman for the Howard League, the prison reform charity, said: “Prisoners are living in unsuitable conditions. Some are in these overcrowded cells for 23 hours a day.

“And that leads to increased drug use and gambling and........ That in turn brings debt and that leads to violence. That’s one of the reasons we are seeing an increase in the amount of violence in our prisons.”

Figures seen by the charity show a total of 359,081 days – almost 984 years – were added to sentences in 2017.

“Locking people up for longer and longer is unsustainable,” the spokesman said. “It piles pressure on the population and worsens overcrowding, which in turn creates conditions for drug abuse, violence and self-injury.”

Last month, separate figures revealed record assaults, up 13 per cent to 29,485 – more than 80 a day.

Keir Mudie: We are locked into failure as prisons are not working

Meanwhile, it was revealed 211 officers who took voluntary redundancy have since been re-hired.

• IPP prisoner are still in the same petition.
• Crammed conditions are  prisoners are being struck down with TB, the prisons waited 4 months before doing anything which no doubt will be passed on to the public.

One  woman from Birmingham hit out at health standards inside a West Midlands prison after her partner was struck down with the potentially deadly TB virus.

The 34-year-old, who has asked to remain anonymous, explained how her partner was transferred from HMP Oakwood to a TB isolation unit at a nearby hospital due to the seriousness of his condition.

he said: "He's been unwell since January and has been showing all the signs of having TB; puking up blood, sweating and having chest pains.

The prison has confirmed there is one new case of TB

The prisoner's partner, who is from south Birmingham, drove to the prison to dish out posters onto cars outlining her concerns, claiming that inmates "have not been receiving the appropriate care".

However, the posters were subsequently removed by security staff at the prison, which is situated opposite HMP Featherstone.

"He was finally diagnosed last week.

"I last visited him on March 28 and he said loads of people had TB and that they were in the gym trying to sweat it out.

"There's babies and potentially vulnerable people sitting inside the visiting room on visitor days so it's very concerning."

"Imagine being banged up 23 hours a day thinking you're dying. You just can't imagine it, can you?

"There's people sitting there getting no care because of the c**p health care.

"We've been given no information. All I want to know is that if he is OK."

"Drastic measures by a family member to give leaflets  warning inmates and other families of the out break but was taken down, if that,s not covering up a problem!!!!

COMMENTS

Jez

Average running capacity 110%. 299 died in one year. Over 800 years ADDED to sentences in just ONE year!! To clarify that's extra days given whilst in prison for breaking the hundreds of prison rules which could be something as simple as breathing rule.

Rosina

I will never understand how someone can be tarnished with the same brush over and over again yet someone can kill someone and serve a less sentence .. they say Ipp is for public protection yet sitisticly the longer kept insutusanlised the more likely to reoffend... It's a sentence that in my eyes is crazy some base this sentence on past more vulnerable than ever people serving this sentence and easy targets for others including prison officers to revoke.. it makes me sad that many are over tariff families struggle with special events to even know if they should wait for weddings christening for loved ones to share them moments .. if one claims any such issues they get told not to play victim sorry ipps are victims victims to a sentence abolished due to not working yet they are meant to apply and follow something that does not work and is no longer a sentence... I will never understand all I can say is that I am a member of that public they are trying to keep safe and myself personally has more emotional distress than any one of these could pose to me because honestly if I felt dangered amoung any one of them and hundreds probs around us daily id phone the police 🤣so in my eyes more money needs to be spent in younger years of young men and women's lifes to prevent and help mental health family issues and young youth to prevent this path as the system fails from a young age in children that need help that could or most likley prevented many with mental illnesses adhd ect my brother being a mixed culture was targeted non stop from young he had no chance he was wrong because of his colour no help was given to our family no support even when asked to prevent this .. It's a joke something I will never understand

Mcluckie

  This is wot I have said so many tome Joanne Staunton how can they prove their no risk to the public wen the only dealings they have wit them is on a visit ? Release them to the community it's not that their not being monitored by police an probation an it's that word IPP that's a danger not the prisoners

Biamonti-bello It’s very sad 😞 I have a nephew in prison on a IPP sentence and I feel for you —it’s all a mix of mental health -institutionalisation and red tape -prison makes it worse I know —it’s really painful.

Horton 

My grandson has just been refused parole. Again I haven't seen the letter myself yet, but I know that his probation officer at the hearing said she wanted him to do yet more courses to prove he is not a risk to the public!

He's a bigger risk to people in prison, because there is nowhere to go to get away from them! Why oh why can the Parole Board not understand this? I'm not going to rant at length, because I know people in this group understand. But my grandson is just about ready to give up now. He worked so hard for this parole, and our solicitor was brilliant too

Ford ,I am Keen to ask a prison psychologist why they keep coming up with courses that extend prisoners lives locked up for year and years, some of these courses discredited - to keep themselves in employment? Transfixed by the courses & ignore the human being in front of them? Using 'public protection' as the unassailable mantra to perpetuate suffering inside?

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/prisoner-struck-down-tb-hmp-14593743