Latest news with #HMPGartree
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Ageing' HMP Gartree unsafe for inmates, watchdog says
Inspectors have said a prison in Leicestershire is struggling to provide a "safe and decent" environment for Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said on Wednesday the "ageing" HMP Gartree, near Market Harborough, had "deteriorating infrastructure", while repairs and maintenance were "inadequate".As well as issues including the heating, leaking roofs and broken showers, the watchdog raised concerns with healthcare provision, access to mental health services, an "influx" of drugs and illicit items, and support for Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it acknowledged "the challenges at HMP Gartree" and added that work was under way to address the IMB's concerns. In a report into its monitoring from December 2023 to November last year, the IMB said the building was "ageing" and the infrastructure "crumbling".It cited the example of legionellosis - a lung infection - being suspected in some showers, which resulted in the closure of an entire shower IMB also said kitchens were "unhygienic" due to essential repairs not taking place and equipment not being replaced. Inspectors said a range of "improvised" weapons continue to be discovered in cells, communal areas and areas outside the wing report said there had been an increase in drugs and illicit items in the prison fuelling "debt, bullying and violence" among April 2024, private firm Practice Plus Group (PPG) took over healthcare provision inside the IMB said the service was "understaffed", "inadequate" and noted a rise in complaints since the change of provider - but PPG told the BBC that the "transparent" way complaints and concerns are recorded had led to the change.A PPG spokesperson added it had "reduced reliance on agency staff" and "increased the number of patients with urgent mental health needs who are seen within 48 hours". 'Nothing gets done' IMB Gartree chair Steve Martin said: "The board is concerned that drug use is widespread, and drone activity continues to be reported, particularly at night."Additionally, despite claims by the Prison Service 12 months ago that the majority of the heating issues had been resolved, we remain dismayed at the lack of progress on necessary repairs to the fabric and infrastructure at HMP Gartree, which impacts on prisoners and staff alike."We raise the issue of a crumbling prison and inadequate healthcare every year, but nothing gets done."The IMB said funding had been secured for an incentivised drug-free unit, which will offer support to prisoners actively wishing to recover and desist from using also said it recognised the "hard work and professionalism" of staff and acknowledged a "continued drive" to provide a "consistent regime" at the MoJ spokesperson said: "This government inherited a prison system in crisis – overcrowded, with drugs and violence rife – and we fully acknowledge the challenges at HMP Gartree."Work is already under way to address the concerns raised, including improving the infrastructure by replacing the heating system and installing new systems to enhance water quality."The MoJ told the BBC that £500,000 had been invested in the prison's heating and extra staff had been hired to support the management of violent and self-harming added 400m drone no-fly zones had been introduced at all closed prisons in England and Wales.A new prison to house more than 1,700 prisoners is currently under construction on land near to HMP Gartree.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The villages on the doorstep of Britain's new 'super prisons': Fuming locals warn house prices will plunge because of new 1,700-inmate jails built to solve overcrowding crisis
Villagers near two planned 'super prisons' complain the developments are being 'railroaded' through by the government and are making it hard to sell their homes. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is spending £4.7billion to build a total of three new jails near existing ones in a bid to create 14,000 new places by 2031. One of the planned prisons is on green belt land north of HMP Wymott and HMP Garth in Chorley, Lancashire - where residents say drug-carrying drones already blight daily life. At another site, HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, builders hope to start the main construction phase later this year - after the previous secretary of state, Michael Gove, overruled local planners. While officials promise the new jail will create 600 jobs and inject millions into the local economy, residents complain it has been 'shoehorned' into 'scenic' countryside. Margaret Coy, 73, had long ridden her horse on the land when it was just a quiet bridleway flanked by green fields, but is now unable to access it after diggers began preparatory works. She told MailOnline: 'I think it's a waste of nice scenery to be honest. It's obviously been pushed through, so we haven't really got a say in it. 'They should be thinking of the normal people who use this land. We can't do that now because there are diggers there, which makes me very sad.' Jo, a 49-year-old district councillor, bought her house ten-years-ago due to its countryside views. 'Initially I was a member of the Gartree action group and we fought against the new prison, then obviously it went to appeal and Gove overruled it,' she said. 'I feel like we've just been railroaded over here, that's the only way to describe it. There used to be sheep all over and now we wake up to diggers. 'That is all owned by the MoJ and they rented it to farmers. I bought this house five years ago because it was next to all the fields and such a peaceful place to be. 'Now it's all diggers, it's horrendous. They're 8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday. I had to fight to stop them doing Saturday mornings. 'If that goes through and they start to, my life will be hell.' The existing HMP Gartree can hold 700 men, but the new site will house 1,700. 'We're going to have over 2,000 prisoners on our doorstep - more than three times the amount at the moment,' Jo continued. 'My other fear is if they change it to a category C. I think it would be worse because you don't get much hassle with a category B. 'But I've heard that category C can get really bad outside, with people waiting for them and trying to get drugs in. 'The MoJ aren't the greatest neighbours. All these prison officers turned up at 4.30am the other morning and were talking loudly. They woke everyone up. 'It splits the street as some people work there and the rest just live here.' Jane Huxley, a 71-year-old who lives in nearby Foxton, said the scale of the new jail would cause problems. 'It's not that there's a problem with having a prison in the neighbourhood - we'd have one for years - but this is huge and I have no idea how they're going to staff it,' she said. 'It's going to cause traffic problems too.' Diana Cook, 76 - a parish councillor in the village of Lubenham - said: 'If we really need the prisons, I appreciate they have got to go somewhere. But we told them this was the wrong place. 'It did not have sufficient access for building and operation.' Reece Richards, 42, who lives locally, raised concerns about the impact on property prices, claiming that people were struggling to sell their houses. 'No one wants a new prison. We've already got one - we don't need another,' he said. The pattern of government ministers overruling planners was repeated in Chorley, Lancashire, which is set to host a new 1,700-capacity prison alongside the existing HMP Wymott and HMP Garth. A previous refusal by the planning inspectorate was recently overturned by housing minister Angela Rayner. Myra McHugh, 82, is a keen bowler at Wymott Bowling Club - which will be knocked down and replaced with the new prison's entrance. She said: 'The main thing that really aggrieves me is it's gone to appeal several times, it's now on its final appeal I believe. 'On several of those appeals, we have been backed - we have had specialist surveyors down and they say the roads are not fit for all the traffic. 'Angela Rayner, after the last appeal when all the specialists had said ''no, the roads aren't fit'', she just went ''oh it'll be alright''. 'She's never been near the place, she doesn't know it. But she thinks it's going to be fine when all the experts say it's not. 'That's my main grievance because we've been fighting this for probably nearly three years now.' Local horse riders and dog walkers were upset about the loss of green space - with trees and greenery set to be ripped up as part of the plans. Dave Williams, 64, was tired and fed up with the planning process. Having lived on Wray Crescent for 20 years, he said: 'They've not considered locals whatsoever, no consideration. 'It's going to destroy part of the green belt, there's a multitude of not just the fauna, like animals and birds that use that land, cyclists, walkers. 'Through the Covid period I'd never seen so many people walking and cycling around here, never. 'It's going to take five years to construct, there are going to be larger than 40-tonners, 200 a day - one every 90 seconds.' He added: 'When you look around and see what the infrastructure is - they're talking about a prison where prisoners can actually be rehabilitated and get back into society. 'Look at what we've got around here, there's no trains, there's an hourly bus service into Chorley and Preston - so how are the prisoners going to get around?' Late last year, HMP Garth, an open prison, was described as 'like an airport' by prison inspector Charlie Taylor due to the volume of drugs being flown in by drone. One couple who live near the prison site, who asked not to be named, said people in the area were selling up to try to get away. Now, they say, they're stuck as they face a loss in value if they try to sell up. The mother-of-two, who has lived in the area for four years, said: 'It's very rural, and now I don't even know what we're going to have, but I've heard it's going to be three or four storeys. 'There's a lot of issues, my partner was working nights the other day, it was after nine and there were fireworks going off. 'It was like they'd set them off in our garden, they do that as a distraction, there's loud bangs, the dog's going mad. 'The speeding cars that speed around to the other side of the prison and set more off over there so they can send drones in a different way. It's for drug and phone drops.' Another horse rider in her late 50s, who asked not to be named, said she thought the death penalty should be brought back in to keep the prison population down. Parish councillor John Dalton, 61, said: 'I moved here 19 years ago, I knew the prisons were here, all the residents knew the prisons were here. 'We have no objection to living in this area with two prisons very close by, obviously the prisons are in an enclosed area, so we don't have a problem. 'This is one of the safest areas in Lancashire to live. You can leave your cars open, you can leave your front doors open - there's not a problem with there being two prisons here. 'The major problem with the third prison is the entrance to the prison. 'As anybody is aware of the area, it's very congested, very narrow - those are the major concerns of the residents, there's no concern over a new prison, it's the siting of the entrance to the prison.' The third prison will be located near HMP Grendon in the village of Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire. At a press conference last week, Shabana Mahmood said Britain could not simply 'build its way' out of the prison capacity crisis, as she revealed new rules aimed at freeing up space. This includes a standard 28-day 'recall' period for released prisoners who are locked up again for breaking the rules – even those who commit new offences. The Justice Secretary told a press conference last week that said Britain's prison capacity would not be solved only by building new jails Currently, freed inmates can be kept behind bars for the rest of their sentence if they are recalled. The new policy will free up 1,400 spaces in prisons amid the overcrowding crisis. Officials said if no action was taken, they would run out of space by November. But Ms Mahmood was accused of presiding over a 'recipe for the breakdown of law and order', while victims' groups voiced alarm at the move. Ms Mahmood repeated doom-laden warnings she first deployed last summer when she introduced a scheme allowing most inmates to be freed after serving just 40 per cent of their sentences, and which led to lags popping champagne corks outside prison gates. She said: 'The consequences of failing to act are unthinkable. If our prisons overflow, courts cancel trials, police halt their arrests, crime goes unpunished and we reach a total breakdown of law and order.' There were 13,600 recalled prisoners behind bars in March. About a fifth are sent back to jail because they have committed fresh crimes. Ms Mahmood said the 28-day recall period will apply to criminals serving sentences of between one and four years.
The Sun
16-05-2025
- The Sun
Dad who crushed daughter, 19, to death by running her over twice as she screamed in agony dies in prison
A DAD who crushed his teen daughter to death after he drove over her twice as she screamed in agony has died in prison. Lauren Malt, 19, was trying to protect her boyfriend from a crowbar attack carried out by dad Nigel Malt, 44, when he slammed his Mercedes into her. 3 3 The dad reversed over the teen outside the home she shared with her mum and younger siblings in Norfolk. He then stopped before driving forwards over Lauren as she screamed in agony. Malt was jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years in 2022 after being convicted of murder. The killer dad, whose minimum jail term was later raised to 22 years, was found dead at HMP Gartree in Leicestershire on April 29. His cause of his death has not yet been released. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has launched a probe, which is standard practice when an inmate dies in jail. Malt murdered Lauren outside the family home in January 2022. He had breached bail conditions imposed after he was arrested for assaulting his wife and instead drove to the shop where she worked. Malt also made 19 phone calls to her home on January 23 this year that went unanswered. The final call, which Lauren is believed to have picked up, lasted for one minute and six seconds with Malt arriving at the home shortly after. The court was told he rowed with his daughter and her boyfriend, who he tried to attack with a crowbar. "Consumed by anger", he then hopped in the black Mercedes and began to drive it "at speed" into Lauren. A horrified witness yelled "You've killed her, you've f***ing killed her" but Malt urged them not to call police and instead put Lauren in the passenger seat. He then drove his stricken daughter to the shop where his estranged wife worked after calling her to say their daughter was dead. After he was arrested at hospital, Malt was heard saying: 'My baby. It's my mistake that caused all this.' The teen was rushed to hospital where she medics found she had suffered a broken back, breast bone and ribs and traumatic injuries to her chest and abdomen. Sentencing, Judge Anthony Bate said Malt used his car as a "lethal weapon in an alcohol-fuelled rage in a residential street". He added: "She (Lauren) should have been safe in her father's company." 3
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Father who murdered his estranged daughter, 19, by running her over with his car is found dead in prison
A father who murdered his estranged daughter by running her over in his car has died in prison, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has said. Nigel Malt, 47, was jailed in 2022 for the killing of his 19-year-old daughter Lauren after he deliberately ran her over twice following a family row. The murderer died at category B prison HMP Gartree on April 29. A cause of death has not yet been released. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has launched an investigation into his death, as is standard after a prisoner dies in custody. Malt was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty in July 2022 of crushing Lauren to death in his car while 'totally consumed by anger'. The father, who was estranged from his wife and children, had already threatened her boyfriend with a crowbar outside her home in West Winch, Norfolk, on January 23 2022, where she lived with her mother and younger siblings. On the day of the tragedy, Malt had argued with his daughter before threatening her partner, Andrew Marnell, with the weapon. He then got into his car and reversed over his daughter, before then driving over her a second time. Afterwards, he put her body into the passenger seat and drove her to hospital in King's Lynn, where she was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination recorded that she died of significant traumatic injuries to her chest and abdomen. Prosecutors said said that after Malt 'failed in his bid to inflict violence' on Ms Malt's boyfriend and she told him to go home 'he was totally consumed with anger'. They added that the 'estrangement from his wife and family no doubt fuelled his anger'. Malt's wife, Karen, had reported him to police in April 2021 for assaulting her, the prosecutor said, with the defendant arrested and bailed at the time. On the evening Lauren was killed, Malt went to the shop where his wife worked, drove to her home and made repeated phone calls. 'The defendant's relationship with his family was broken and it was something he wasn't prepared to accept,' said the prosecutor. While at the shop where his wife was, he made 19 attempted calls to the landline of her home, where Lauren and her boyfriend were, between 6.25pm and 6.52pm. Malt's 'persistent' calls went unanswered until a final one which was, and lasted one minute and six seconds. Within two minutes of the call, he drove to the family home in Leete Way. After Malt ran over his daughter, he said 'don't get the police'. At trial, he denied murder and maintained Lauren's death was an accident, but was unanimously convicted. The Ministry of Justice and Prisons and Porbation Ombudsman have been contacted for comment.
