Father-of-five's 100-day ordeal in one of Africa's most overcrowded and dangerous prisons

Wales Online

25-05-2025

Father-of-five's 100-day ordeal in one of Africa's most overcrowded and dangerous prisons
Mountain rescue volunteer Paul Inch is heading home to Wales after a 'simple four-day job' turned into a nightmare in one of the country's most notorious prisons
Father-of-five Paul Inch is a mountain bike guide and works as a volunteer with the Welsh Mountain Rescue
They slept head-to-toe on a single mattress, locked in a dark cell beside violent offenders. The water burned their skin. Rats crawled over them at night. For 100 days, Paul Inch and colleague Richard Perham survived inside one of West Africa's most overcrowded and dangerous prisons. Then, for 42 more days, they remained trapped in Guinea, unable to leave.
Now – 142 days after they first arrived in the country – they are finally flying home. Paul, 50, from Wales, and Richard, 29, of Bristol, had travelled to Guinea to support the recovery of equipment from a high-altitude research balloon.
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It was meant to be a simple four-day job. But within days, they were arrested and accused of espionage, sedition, breaching national defence, and violating airspace by the authorities.
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Paul Inch is a mountain bike guide, water safety officer, and works as a volunteer with the Welsh Mountain Rescue
Paul Inch said: "This is a nightmare we never imagined. In my work as a mountain bike guide, water safety officer, and as a volunteer with the Welsh Mountain Rescue, I understand the meaning of responsibility.
"I was in Guinea, doing my job, trusting that everything was in order. Yet I was locked away for 100 days in unbearable conditions.'
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His detention also tore him away from his wife, their five children, and his three brothers. They were left to hold their families together throughout this traumatic ordeal. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
Richard Perham and Paul Inch at the prison in Conakry with a fellow inmate
The two men were imprisoned in Conakry Central Prison, a facility operating at 475% of its capacity and "notorious for inhumane conditions."
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Richard and Paul were locked into a "swelteringly hot, overcrowded cell the size of a railway carriage", alongside individuals convicted of violent crimes.
The only toilet was a single latrine shared by the entire cell holding 80 inmates.
The men say they were threatened with sexual and physical violence. To avoid being transferred to a more violent section of the prison, they claim they were forced to make regular extortion payments to prisoners and staff.
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Richard Perham with his baby before Guinea
(Image: Senja Larsen )
The prison was infested with rats, cockroaches, and mosquitoes. The water was so contaminated they had to disinfect their skin after washing.
Both men suffered dehydration, gastrointestinal illness, and skin infections. Serious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, and dysentery, were confirmed to be circulating in the prison at the time.
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There are no guards stationed inside the cell blocks. Security personnel remain at the outer gates. Inside, order is maintained by informal and often violent prisoner hierarchies. Access to food, water, safety, and medical care depends on unstable, unofficial systems of control.
Richard and Paul had entered Guinea under contract to Aerostar International, tasked with conducting a civilian, peaceful, and lawful recovery operation.
The Aerostar balloon N254TH had been diverted off course by unexpected winds and was intentionally brought down in Guinea by the company.
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Aerostar believed that all necessary permits for the flight and landing had been secured, but it later emerged that neither had been properly authorised.
Paul Inch and Richard Perham at the British Embassy in Conakry after being released
The company informed Guinean authorities that Richard and Paul had no role in operating the balloon, no knowledge of its technical contents, and no involvement in its flight or descent.
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They had not been briefed, trained, or given documentation. Their assignment was purely logistical: retrieving equipment under the understanding that all permissions had been granted.
After enduring months of court hearings and delays, the two men were finally freed on bail on April 11. But they remained stuck in Conakry, without their passports and unable to leave the country for another 42 days.
Paul Inch on his way out from Conakry prison
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'We had to literally fear for our lives each day. After we had been there for two months, the UK Ambassador walked us to the prison gate, believing we were finally being released. But a phone call to the prosecutor stopped it. We had to turn around and walk straight back in for another month. It was devastating,' says Richard Perham.
'This was meant to be a simple four-day job. Instead, it became 100 days trapped in a nightmare in which I missed the first steps and first words of my baby daughter, moments I can never get back.'
They return home today relieved – but also permanently changed by the experience.
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We're incredibly grateful to everyone who stood by us,' says Richard.
'We would not be here today without the tireless support of our MPs, Liz Saville Roberts and Carla Denyer, who stayed closely in touch with our families throughout.
"We're also deeply thankful to the British Embassy – especially Ambassadors Daniel Shepherd and John Marshall, and Deputy Head of Mission Mark Kelly – for their unwavering commitment.'
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