Feltham YOI gets 'worst in a decade' inspection reports

HM Prisons inspectorate’s reports into Feltham A, which houses young offenders aged between 15 and 18 and Feltham B, which holds men aged between 18 and 21, were so critical that justice campaigner the Howard League for Penal Reform has labelled them the worst it has seen in a decade.

In the reports, Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons, found that at Feltham A many inmates were frightened and had little confidence in staff to keep them safe.

There were on average two fights or assaults every day at Feltham A, which was inspected in January.

“Some of these were very serious and involved groups of young people in very violent, premeditated attacks on a single individual with a risk of very serious injury resulting,” said Hardwick.

His report also detailed how gang-related graffiti was “endemic” but did note that improvements had taken place at Feltham A.

The number of fights and assaults had reduced by 10 per cent in the 12 months prior to the inspection and there was promising work taking place to gather intelligence and manage gang-related activity.

The inspector's report into Feltham B was similarly scathing. Hardwick said it was one of the most concerning reports the inspectorate had published recently.

He said that conditions had “deteriorated” so significantly that it was time for some “radical thinking about its future”. Among his concerns were the high level of violence, self-harming and the use of extendable batons by staff on inmates. Hardwick was also concerned that batons had been drawn in front of young people in Feltham A.

In addition, four out of ten inmates in Feltham B, which was inspected in March, were locked up and inactive during the working day.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the reports highlighted why prison is not suitable for young people.

He said: “These are the worst inspection reports of their kind we have seen in a decade. If you want to see the effects of keeping hundreds of troubled boys cooped up in a prison, you need look no further than Feltham. This frightening, violent, ineffective and astoundingly costly institution should shame our politicians into a serious rethink of whether prison is ever a place for a child.

“Feltham is a place where troubled boys get more violent, not one where they stand a chance of rebuilding their lives.”

Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service (Noms), the arm of the Ministry of Justice that provides and commissions prison services, said: “This report reflects the serious concerns I have about the propensity for, and the level of, gang-related violence amongst young people sent to Feltham.”