Latest news with #HMPHuntercombe
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
HMP Huntercombe 'particularly challenged' by drugs, say inspectors
A prison was "particularly challenged" by potent illicit drugs which found their way into inmates' hands, inspectors have Huntercombe was visited by Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), which said it was concerned by the number of prisoners who appeared to be under the influence of "known and unknown substances".The prison, in Nuffield, Oxfordshire, has capacity for 520 foreign nationals - most of whom are deported after their sentences have ended - and was said to be "generally safe".A Prison Service spokesperson said it acknowledged "there is more to be done" there to improve it. IMB, which assesses prisons, immigration removal centres and short-term holding facilities, said inspectors were "concerned about the level of illicit items and drugs" entering the said the jail saw a "significant increase" in drug taking in August and resources were reallocated at short notice to prison's hot water system was "not fit for purpose" and showers on the wings and in its gym were "unreliable and often out of order", inspectors "ageing" system was found to have caused "tremendous anxiety" because up to 70 prisoners, who have a limited time to wash, needed to wait for two working hot water problems and "failing" central heating were found to be issues by the IMB for the last five years but it said it was still "unclear when work will start" to fix said it would "continue to press and monitor this issue of poor infrastructure until work begins and a new functional system is in place". The Prison Service spokesperson added: "We welcome the IMB's recognition that HMP Huntercombe is generally safe and that staffing has improved significantly. "But we acknowledge there is more to be done and will carefully consider these findings." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
The Independent
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Boris Becker says he wouldn't have made it out of prison if he felt like a ‘victim'
Former tennis superstar Boris Becker has opened up on the 231 days he spent in prison, saying that it was a 'huge embarrassment' but that he doesn't 'feel sorry' for himself. The 57-year-old German, who can currently be seen in Netflix's Celebrity Bear Hunt, was jailed in October 2022 after being investigated for a number of financial irregularities. The three-time Wimbledon champion was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in April 2022 for hiding £2.5million of assets and loans to avoid paying debts. The German was declared bankrupt in June 2017, owing creditors almost £50 million over an unpaid loan of more than £3 million on his estate in Mallorca, Spain. Although he was sentenced to two and half years behind bars, Becker only served 8 months, firstly in HMP Wandsworth in south west London and then HMP Huntercombe in Oxfordshire. He was then deported to Germany in December 2022 and is yet to return to Wimbledon or the UK. Speaking to The Times, Becker has spoken about how he overcame his experience in prison. 'Of course, it's a huge embarrassment and of course you're shameful, but you cannot feel sorry for yourself,' says the tennis star. 'If you feel like a victim you're never going to make it out. I never felt like a victim and very early on I was trying to take responsibility for my actions, good and bad. I don't blame anybody,' he added. 'I'm responsible for my good decisions and for my bad decisions. More importantly for me is how you finish and I feel like I really came out better.' Becker also stated that he's 'not allowed' to talk about any plans for him to return to Wimbledon to commentate, having spent many years working for the BBC. In April 2024, he declared that he was 'working hard with the authorities' to return to the tennis club. During his absence from the 2022 Wimbledon tournament, Becker received on-air messages of support from his former colleagues including Sue Barker and John McEnroe. Becker was discharged from bankruptcy court in London after a judge found in May 2024 that he had done 'all that he reasonably could do' to repay creditors tens of millions of pounds. Becker fell far short of repaying his creditors in full, but Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Nicholas Briggs said it would be 'perverse' not to end the case given the efforts Becker made. 'On the spectrum of bankrupts who range from 'difficult as possible and doing everything to frustrate the trustee's inquiries' to 'co-operative, providing information and delivering up assets', Mr Becker clearly falls on the right side of the line," Briggs wrote.
