EXCLUSIVE: James Timpson acknowledged the severity of the crisis gripping UK jails, with recent incidents involving inmates raising concerns about safety and security
Britain could see the introduction of US-style “supermax” prisons as a response to a wave of violent episodes among inmates, the prisons minister has announced.
Minister James Timpson declared “we shouldn’t rule anything out” when exploring the possibility of constructing high-security facilities akin to those in the US for incarcerating the most perilous criminals.
According to Sky, this intervention follows on the heels of a harrowing episode at HMP Belmarsh recently, where triple child murderer Axel Rudakubana is accused of dousing a prison officer with boiling water from a kettle – an incident now being probed by the police.
In another alarming event, Hashem Abedi – sibling of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi – is said to have assaulted three officers with hot cooking oil and “improvised knives”, thought to be made from a baking tray.
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Chatting on Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge directly from HMP Preston, Mr Timpson conceded that British prisons are in crisis and demanded immediate, strong action, reports the Express.
Flaying the conditions he’s inherited within the penitentiary system, he commented:
“We inherited a complete mess in the prison system. Violence is up, assaults on staff is up. But for me, we shouldn’t rule anything out.”
Timpson, who took over as prisons minister last year following his tenure as CEO of the Timpson Group, underscored the importance of engaging with prison workers. “What we need to do is to speak to our staff. They’re the experts at dealing with these offenders day in, day out.”
Mr Timpson has acknowledged that violence in prisons is rampant, linking it primarily to overcrowding and a lack of purposeful activity.
“The number of people when you have prisons are so full, and the people in there are not going to education or into purposeful activity… you get more violence and that is totally unacceptable,” he commented.
“Our staff turn up to work to help turn people. They want to turn people’s lives around. They didn’t turn up to work to get assaulted. It’s totally unacceptable.”
Amid plans for an extensive review of sentencing rules, Mr Timpson called attention to persistent challenges like drug dependency, homelessness, and mental health crises among those released from prisoners.
He pointed out: “80% of offending is reoffending. People are leaving places like HMP Preston addicted to drugs, nowhere to live, mental health problems – and that’s why they keep coming back.”
Confronted with questions about the prevalence of drug problems across all UK jails, the minister was adamant: “100%.”
He concluded: “If we want to keep the public safe, we need to do a lot more of the work in here and in the community. But also we need to build more prisons.”