An inmate was rushed to hospital with a facial injury after an attack at crisis-hit Parc prison. It comes as the privately-run Bridgend jail faces mounting pressure following a series of sudden deaths and reports of violence and rioting.
A spokeswoman for G4S, the private security giant that runs Parc, said: “Prison staff quickly responded to an incident yesterday evening (Monday) which required a prisoner to attend hospital.” She added that a prisoner suffered a facial injury and was taken to hospital by ambulance but his condition was not life-threatening. Although the firm denied the incident was a “stabbing”, it did not dispute that a weapon was used in the attack.
Last Tuesday the prison’s director Heather Whitehead left by mutual agreement following rioting at the jail, 10 sudden inmate deaths in just over three months, and allegations that drug-dealing, violence and corruption were out of control. She was replaced by Will Styles, who previously ran another G4S jail, HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire. G4S said the decision was “not in response to any one single incident”.
READ NEXT: Major police response after reports of armed robbery
DON’T MISS: Moment man hits neighbour in the face and calls him ‘Manchester bomber’ in vile attack
Ms Whitehead’s exit came after three prisoners were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries on May 31 following a fight at the jail. One of the inmates, Callum Thomas, was reportedly slashed with a flick knife to the face four times and left needing around 1,000 stitches. The brawl happened shortly before a riot involving around 20 prisoners. Seven days earlier, an inmate had been attacked by three prisoners in a row over drugs. The victim’s sister said he was “sliced through the hand and the top of the arm with a china cup, then smashed over the head with the china,” sustaining deep wounds to his arm.
Last Wednesday paramedics were called to Parc after two prisoners allegedly overdosed on an illegal drug — suspected to be spice — and experienced “severe breathing difficulties”. G4S told us that prison officers responded to two “suspected drug-related incidents”. One inmate was taken to hospital as a precaution while the other remained on-site to be assessed by medics.
Lesley Griffiths MS, the Labour cabinet secretary for social justice, was asked in the Senedd last week if she agreed with Plaid Cymru’s position that private companies should not be running prisons in Wales. Ms Griffiths replied that she did not believe “profits should feature in the running of prisons anywhere in the UK”. She said she would be making the case to the UK Government that justice should be devolved to Wales. “I’ve been in post around 10 or 11 weeks, and every week it seems to me there is something [happening at Parc] that concerns me, and the UK Government really need to get to grips with this,” she added.
Last month the Tory prisons minister Edward Argar said four of the recent sudden deaths at Parc were believed to be drug-related, four were not, and one was “potentially so”. Recent Parc employees have claimed the vast majority of drugs are brought in by staff. We reported claims that the recent riot happened because inmates “have had enough of G4S and how they’re being treated” and because “their friends had died and no one cares”. Families who have lost loved ones at Parc have widely criticised Mr Argar’s comments that the jail is “safe” and that there are no plans for staff to be routinely searched for drugs on their way into the prison. Grieving families marched outside the prison last month in a demonstration calling for G4S to be stripped of its £400million contract.
Police recently arrested a Parc employee on suspicion of smuggling in contraband. The 36-year-old man was the fourth person within two months to have been arrested in connection with illicit items or drugs allegedly brought into Parc. Although Mr Argar told Parliament that the contract “continues to perform well”, he did say the UK Government has issued an improvement notice on G4S for urgent action on Parc’s security.
G4S said the prisoner injured in the May 24 attack remained in the jail for treatment from Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board. And speaking about the violence from May 31, the firm’s spokesman said: “Our hardworking staff swiftly resolved one short-lived incident and a completely unrelated altercation between three prisoners on Friday. We have robust security measures in place to prevent contraband entering the prison and do random and intelligent-led searches.
“Frontline prison officers across the UK provide an essential public service often in very challenging environments. Our dedicated custody officers continue to care for prisoners in Parc to a high standard… We are actively tackling the multiple ways that drugs enter the prison from the wider community while continuously strengthening our security measures to protect prisoners from these dangerous substances.”
If you would like to speak to WalesOnline about an issue at Parc prison, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
