“Supermax” jails might be constructed to accommodate probably the most harmful offenders following a spate of alleged assaults on workers, the prisons minister has stated.
James Timpson advised the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that “we shouldn’t rule anything out” when requested if probably the most harmful criminals must be positioned in prime safety prisons.
It comes after Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water from a kettle at an officer at HMP Belmarsh on Thursday. Police at the moment are investigating.
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2:36
Is the UK jail system damaged?
Earlier than that, three jail officers had been additionally allegedly attacked by 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Manchester Area bomber Salman Abedi – with sizzling cooking oil and “improvised knives”, probably constituted of a baking tray.
Talking from HMP Preston for a particular programme of the Politics Hub, Mr Timpson advised Sophy Ridge: “We inherited a complete mess in the prison system.
“Violence is up, assaults on workers is up. However for me, we should not rule something out.”
He added: “What we need to do is to speak to our staff. They’re the experts at dealing with these offenders day in, day out. “
Mr Timpson – who was the chief govt of Timpson Group earlier than he was appointed prisons minister final 12 months – stated the violence in prisons was “too high”.
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1:06
Are we sending too many individuals to jail?
He continued: “The number of people when you have prisons are so full, and the people in there are not going to education or into purposeful activity.
“You get extra violence and that’s completely unacceptable. Our workers flip as much as work to assist flip folks.
“They want to turn people’s lives around. They didn’t turn up to work to get assaulted. It’s totally unacceptable.”
Reflecting on the disaster dealing with the UK jail system forward of the federal government’s sentencing evaluate, Mr Timpson stated a serious downside was the excessive price of reoffending, saying “80% of offending is reoffending”.
He stated folks had been leaving locations like HMP Preston “addicted to drugs, nowhere to live, mental health problems – and that’s why they keep coming back”.
Requested whether or not each jail had a medication situation, he replied: “100%.”
“If we want to keep the public safe, we need to do a lot more of the work in here and in the community. But also we need to build more prisons.”
Put to him that making extra use of neighborhood sentences – regarded as one of many suggestions within the authorities’s sentencing evaluate – is perhaps thought-about a “cushy option” in comparison with a custodial sentence, Mr Timpson stated: “There are some people in this prison tonight who would prefer to be in prison than do a community sentence – but that’s not everybody.
“Neighborhood sentences have to be robust punishments exterior of jail, not simply to assist them tackle their offending behaviour, but in addition the victims must see punishments being executed too and for me, know-how has an enormous half to play sooner or later.”
