Alwaght- More than two hundred prisoners were transferred from a prison in Birmingham after a riot broke out on Friday.
Based on reports by local sources and news channels, the disorder involved as many as 600 of HMP Birmingham’s 1,450 inmates and spread across four of the 11 wings of the G4S-run jail, formerly known as Winson Green.
About 240 inmates, involved in a 12-hour riot at one of Britain’s biggest prisons, are being moved out of the jail, the Ministry of Justice has said.
Specially trained prison guards, known as Tornado squads, were backed up by about 25 riot police officers as they moved into the Victorian facility. Order was not restored until late on Friday night.
One prisoner is understood to have sustained a broken jaw during the disturbances but no prison officers were injured.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the prison remained “calm and ordered” on Saturday and additional staff were on site.
“The Prison Service will continue to work closely with G4S to manage the prison safely over the coming days. A full assessment of the damage is under way. Initial reports indicate that two wings suffered superficial damage, with more serious damage to a further two wings,” she said.
“A limited regime is being offered to those who were not involved in the disturbance and staff continue to work closely with West Midlands police. A thorough investigation into the disturbance is under way,” she added.
The MoJ did not say where the prisoners were being transferred the day after the disturbance, which was the third in a prison in England in less than two months.
Mike Rolfe, the national chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said more than 30 staff had left the jail in recent weeks.
“This prison is a tough place to work, it serves a very big area, it serves a large, dangerous population of prisoners, but it’s not unlike many other prisons up and down the country – ones that have very similar inmates,” he told the BBC.
The head of the National Offender Management Service Agency, Michael Spurr, said gang-related violence and violence fuelled by psychoactive drugs had “really changed the dynamic” in UK prisons.
“Where we are at this moment with our prisons is not where I or anybody, I think, in society would want to be, but I’m confident that we can change that. We now are getting resources for the first time in a number of years that will enable us to do it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“It will not be done overnight. There are serious problems that will require determined, consistent leadership from governors and staff across the service to put right, but they are incredibly professional, skilled professionals, and with this resource, over the coming months and years, we will turn it around.”
