Young offenders at Midlands prison ‘dehumanised' by violence, say mothers
Young offenders at a troubled prison in the Midlands have been stabbed, 'dehumanised' and are 'becoming more violent' in order to survive, mothers of prisoners have told the Guardian.
HMP Swinfen Hall, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, has seen a growing number of disturbances, including the intervention of riot officers. The prison officers union last month called for the Ministry of Justice to intervene and clear the place of weapons after several staff members were attacked.
On Friday, an air ambulance was called to the prison for at least the third time this year – this time in response to an alleged stabbing of a prisoner.
Three mothers of inmates have spoken out about conditions inside the prison for about 600 inmates, because of fears for the safety and sanity of their sons within the Category C prison.
Rachel, 43, from Preston, said her 22-year-old son, who has been in Swinfen for two years, was slashed on his hand on Thursday by an inmate during the one hour in which he is allowed to leave his cell each day.
'Someone just produced a weapon and swiped at his hand,' she said. 'When my son asked why he had been slashed, the attacker said: 'I never liked you.' That is what Swinfen is like. They are free to dehumanise and degrade and stab each other. There are not enough guards and many don't have enough experience to handle the violence.
'My son says that so many prisoners have so many weapons that he prays every day that this isn't the day that he gets stabbed. But then it finally happened.
'I know, and he knows, that he deserves to be punished. He deserves to have his liberty taken away. But there is no rehabilitation and there is no protection and the threats are constant… They are locked in their cells for most of the day. And when they get out of the cells, there are drugs and knives everywhere.
'So he stays in his cell for 23 hours a day, in constant fear. Because he is in for a sex crime, he has items stolen, his clothes have been urinated upon, and his food is spat on. He is scared that he will be attacked in the shower and went weeks without having a wash because he was warned he would be attacked.
'He still hasn't had a sentencing plan and so can't get on any educational courses. I have asked if he could be sent to a prison in Lancashire so he can try to maintain close links with his dad and his siblings, but instead he is stuck surrounded by gangs stabbing each other,' she said.
Marie, 50, from Warwick, whose 26-year-old son is serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for a violent assault, said he was becoming more violent inside the prison in order to survive.
'He hears the guards preparing to open his door and he gets ready, gets his trainers on, because he has to be instantly prepared to fight. Attacks happen that quickly. It has happened to him before.
'I don't want him out of jail. He is in there to learn a lesson. But he is not being rehabilitated. In fact, he is getting more violent because that's the only way he can survive.'
Dawn, 58, whose 21-year-old son is autistic, has a borderline personality disorder and is serving a seven-year sentence, said she was given regular reports on stabbings, gang fights, beatings and attacks of prison officers witnessed by her son.
'He has lost three stones in weight in eight months and is losing his hair from the stress of being in such a violent environment. He has said he wants to take his own life and I'm worried he's going to get a knife in his back. The security at the prison is lax – you do not get properly searched on the way in. No wonder there are so many weapons and drugs.'
Their claims come days after Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor, accepted many of the recommendations of a sentencing review, in the hope that it would ease overcrowding and reduce tensions in prisons in England and Wales.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'This government inherited a prison system in crisis. Our landmark sentencing reforms will reduce violence by making prisoners earn their release through good behaviour, while our £4.7bn investment will deliver 14,000 new prison places.
'We take the safety and wellbeing of staff and prisoners extremely seriously, and we don't hesitate to push for the strongest possible punishment for those who break the rules.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Keir Starmer and Labour are accused of standing in the way of a ban on cousins marrying each other - after poll shows British people want it axed
Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour party are standing in the way of a ban on cousins marrying each other, after a new poll showed an overwhelming majority of Britons want to see it axed, a Conservative MP has claimed. Conservative MP Richard Holden last year introduced a private members' bill to ban the practice, which would bring cousin marriages into the same bracket as marrying a parent, child, sibling or grandparent. Now a new YouGov poll has revealed the British communities that are most likely to back first cousin marriages, with a large majority thinking the practice should be outlawed. The former Cabinet Minister and Conservative Party Chairman told MailOnline: 'This YouGov poll is clear. 'The overwhelming majority of Brits, including those of Pakistani heritage, want to see first cousin marriage banned. 'The fact Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party are standing in the way of ending an outdated practice rooted in misogynistic cultural practices shows that he's more interested in promoting cultural relativism than in ending practices that have no place in our country and isolate both individuals and communities from each other. 'If Starmer really believed in British values he'd back my bill, just like every community in Britain does.' Pakistani and Bangladeshi Britons are most likely to support the first cousin marriages, with 39 percent of those polled saying it should be legal. While 47 percent of the community say the practice should not be legal, this compares to just eight percent of white Britons who support first-cousin marriage. Six percent of black Britons say marrying a cousin should be legal, with nine percent of Indian Britons holding the same view. While marrying close relatives including siblings and half-siblings is illegal in the UK, marrying a first cousin is technically legal. Some 77 percent of white and Indian Britons believe marrying a cousin should be made illegal, compared to 82 percent of black Britons. Currently the UK follows the practice of 'genetic counselling', in which first cousins who are in a relationship are offered education about the risk of having children together and encouraged to receive extra checks during pregnancy. It is estimated that children of a first-cousin union have a six percent chance of inheriting a recessive disorder such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease - double the risk of the general population. But some have warned that outlawing the practice completely risks stigmatising those already in first cousin marriages in the UK. Amongst these was Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed, who drew huge criticism last year for defending cousin marriage. Instead of banning it outright, he said a 'more positive approach' involving advanced genetic tests for prospective married cousins would be more effective in addressing issues around it. One of Britain's foremost experts on child health also defended the right for first cousins to marry, dismissing concerns about inbreeding. Professor Dominic Wilkinson, an NHS neonatologist and ethics expert at the University of Oxford, argued a ban would be 'unethical'. Instead, Professor Wilkinson backed calls for such couples to be offered special screening on the NHS to help them decide if they should have children. Such tests can cost £1,200 privately. They are designed to spot whether prospective parents are carriers for the same genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy. It comes as data from 2023 showed in three inner-city Bradford wards, 46 percent of mothers from the Pakistani community are married to a first or second cousin, according to data published in 2023. The overall estimate for the cousing marriage capital of the UK in Pakistani couples was 37 percent ten years ago, and this figure has since dropped. Reasons behind the fall are thought to include high educational attainment, stricter immigration rules and changes in family dynamics. It compares to just one percent of white British couples. YouGov's data also revealed that those in London are most likely to support first cousin marriage, at 15 percent. The north followed at 12 percent, while in the Midlands it was ten percent. The south of England and Wales were the least likely to support it being legal, at six and seven percent respectively. Historically, first cousin marriages were extremely common amongst royalty and the British upper classes. It was seen as a way of firming up alliances and keeping wealth and land in the family. MailOnline recently revealed that no-one is tracking the rate of cousin marriages in the UK, with councils not recording any data on the issue. Studies have put Pakistan as having one of the highest rates globally at 65 percent of unions. This is followed by Saudi Arabia (50 percent), Afghanistan (40 percent), Iran (30 percent) and Egypt and Turkey (20 percent).
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How women blighted by cruel back pain may actually have hidden arthritis - as doctors reveal there's a simple drug cure that can end the agony. Special report by ETHAN ENNALS
Clair Evans believes her back pain began during her teens – but she has lived with the debilitating problem for so long that she struggles to remember a time when she wasn't in agony. The 47-year-old from Doncaster says her lower back became extremely stiff, and often the pain would radiate down into her legs. She also found that certain movements triggered excruciating spasms.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN POLLARD: Labour's created an atmosphere where the hard working middle class are now fair game for bigotry
That an eight-year-old can be refused healthcare on the NHS because of the school he attends is deeply troubling. It shows that the service once described by Margaret Thatcher 's Chancellor Nigel Lawson as 'the closest thing the English people have to a religion,' has become a battleground for class war where children seeking treatment are seen as the enemy of the proletariat. That includes my children. I am lucky enough to be able to pay for them to attend private schools. I pay the fees on top of my taxes, of course. Now it seems the NHS regards my kids as non-citizens to be shunned.
