25-05-2025
Prison governor accused of beating and choking inmate
A prison governor has been accused of attacking and attempting to strangle an inmate at a jail with one of the highest rates of violence in England and Wales.
Richard Dowdell, 49, who was lead governor at HMP Swaleside in Sheerness, Kent, at the time of incident, has been charged with two offences after allegedly attacking Ryan Fay in October last year.
Mr Dowdell has been charged with assault by beating and intentional strangulation.
It is believed to be the first time in a decade that a governor has been charged with assault on a prisoner, and comes amid record levels of violence in jails, with overcrowding back at crisis levels.
Last week, Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced the early release of thousands of prisoners as little as a third of the way through their sentences in the biggest shake-up to sentencing for 30 years as part of efforts to reduce the burden.
HMP Swaleside is a high-security category B men's jail housing long-term prisoners including killers, rapists and serious violent offenders.
However, prison inspectorate reports suggest it has the highest rate of serious assaults against staff of any jail of its type and is struggling to stop an influx of drugs by organised gangs flying them in with drones. At one point, 56 per cent of prisoners were testing positive for drugs in random tests, according to inspectors.
Mr Dowdell denied the allegations against him when he appeared in the dock at Medway magistrates court earlier in May.
Representatives for Mr Dowdell are understood to maintain that he used proportionate and legitimate force during the incident.
Mr Fay is understood to have been sanctioned under prison rules for assault.
Robert Brown, the deputy district judge, was told the attack took place on Oct 13, on a wing at the high security prison, as Mr Fay was being taken back to his cell. A row broke out between the pair, which led to a stand-off, the court was told.
The case was adjourned and passed up to Maidstone Crown Court to be heard at a later date. Mr Dowdell is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on June 9. He was granted bail until then.
It comes as Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows the overall number of assaults on staff has hit record levels with 10,605 attacks last year, up 15 per cent from 2023 and equivalent to 29 a day.
At Swaleside, a report by inspectors in August last year found self harm and violence had increased since September 2023 with 'serious assaults, particularly on staff, continuing to be a cause for concern.'
There were also suggestions in a 2023 inspection report of violent tensions between staff and prisoners.
More than a quarter (27 per cent) of prisoners surveyed said they had been assaulted by staff, although the inspectors said they had been unable to corroborate 'this unusually high figure.'
Weapons amnesty
In 2019, the then governor of HMP Swaleside ordered a weapons amnesty so prisoners could hand in their homemade knives without being sanctioned as part of an attempt to prevent the inmates attacking each other with the weapons.
Professor Ian Acheson, a former governor and previously an adviser to the Government on extremism in jails, said the incident was symptomatic of the pressures being placed on overcrowded prisons.
'People doing an impossible job are pushed beyond their limits. Prison is inundated with drugs flown in by drones and this fuels very high levels of violence including serious assaults against staff,' he said.
'Some of these assaults are reportedly carried out on staff on detached duty who have been called in to prop up chronic shortages. They try to impose order and are targeted for doing so.'
Concerns have been voiced about shortages of experienced officers after an exodus of staff over the past decade. HM chief inspector Charlie Taylor has warned that the training regime for new recruits is insufficient to prepare them for the challenges of the role.
Earlier this month, prison governor Kerri Pegg, 42, was jailed for nine years after having an affair with a drug-dealing gangland boss at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire where she was in charge.
The MoJ said it could not comment about the alleged attack at HMP Swaleside while legal proceedings were underway.
