On 18 July, the prisons inspectorate published its report of an unannounced inspection of Cookham Wood, a prison which holds boys aged 15-17 years old.
The report is grim reading. The physical conditions of the prison are bad: ‘Living units were dirty, important equipment was broken and graffiti was rife.’ But most terrifying is the way in which the prisoners, vulnerable and traumatised children, are routinely treated by prison staff, whose only response to misbehaviour from those in their charge is prolonged isolation and the use of sadistic levels of violence.
‘During the previous six months, there had been 307 recorded incidents of use of force. Use of pain-inducing techniques, a high-level intervention for children, was higher than at other establishments, being used four times in the last six months.’
‘Many were locked in their cells for 23.5 hours a day with hardly any meaningful human interaction. Some did not come out… for days on end, a situation that amounted to solitary confinement… At the time of our inspection, more than a quarter of children were living in separated conditions… The very high levels of separation had overwhelmed the resources available to provide basic entitlements for these children, including education, exercise and visits. The number of children separated had increased since our last inspection, with 184 children living in separated conditions during the previous six months. The average time that children spent separated had increased to 15 days. Two children had been separated for more than 100 days and a further four for more than 50 days.’
Almost routinely, when the inspectorate highlights serious mistreatment at a prison, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) responds by blaming understaffing and stretched resources. But Cookham Wood employs 360 members of staff, not counting those employed in healthcare and education, for just 77 young prisoners.
Challenged on Channel 4 News on the obscenity of locking up a young person in solitary, the fact that a place in Cookham Wood is more expensive than one at Eton, and that understaffing cannot possibly be the root cause, thuggish POA chair Mark Fairhurst responded that under-18 year-olds are the ‘most violent cohort’ in the prison system and that is why he would be meeting the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to ‘reiterate my call for him to issue PAVA incapacitant spray to all prison officers who deal with juvenile prisoners’. Fairhurst has previously called for prison officers in the adult prison estate, who already have PAVA spray, to additionally be armed with stun guns.
Nicki Jameson
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 295 August/September 2023
