Gang violence is on the rise in British jails, according to a report by the BBC. It visited HMP Belmarsh and HMP Isis in London, and interviewed people seeking release and visitors. Both overcrowding – over 1,700 prisoners were released early to ease pressure on the system – and the mixing together of different gang members were causing an increase in violence, the report said. The Independent Monitoring Board report on HMP Isis revealed around 136 active gangs in the 600-inmate prison, with an incidence of gang affiliation among inmates of around 50%.
The report identified different types of gangs, including postcode, drug and religious groups. Volunteers at every prison are tasked with monitoring fair treatment of prisoners and support for them to turn their lives around. An ex-inmate serving a life sentence for murder said he had been injured for not following gang orders properly. “The prison officers let them get away with it because they’re just as scared,” he said.
Steve Gillan, the general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said attacks on members by inmates and on other gang members were making the job far more dangerous than it had been in the past, while Glenn Bartley, the security manager of HMP Pentonville, in London, said weapons fashioned by prisoners, such as toilet brushes and toothbrushes with razor blades melted into the end, were being used increasingly
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