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The Guardian

Security officers restored order on Saturday at a prison in the central English city of Birmingham one day after an estimated 600 inmates seized control and launched a destructive rampage.
Authorities called Friday’s 13-hour takeover of HMP Birmingham the worst prison uprising in Britain since the 1990 riot at Strangeways in Manchester, which lasted 25 days and left one prisoner dead.
No staff members were ­injured during the Birmingham unrest but one prisoner remained hospitalised with a suspected broken jaw and eye socket.

Trouble flared after prisoners rushed a guard and stole his keys, giving them eventual access to all four wings of the Victorian-era prison in the country’s second-largest city. Inmates lit fires, set off fireworks, broke into guards’ offices to steal clubs and helmets, and smashed facilities.
A stream of security vans came and went yesterday. The Justice Ministry said at least 240 inmates were being transferred to other prisons across the country while more than 1,000 remaining would face greater restrictions on movement.
Riot squads were deployed to HMP Birmingham – also known as Winson Green – to tackle the disorder that lasted more than 12 hours. Specially trained prison guards, known as “Tornado” squads, from other parts of the country were backed up by about 25 riot police as they moved into the G4S-run jail, which has a capacity of 1,450 prisoners.

The trouble started at about 9am on Friday and spread from two to four wings by the evening, according to sources, with reports of prisoners burning and destroying their files.
Jeering and shouting could be heard into the evening from inside the jail, with smoke rising from the roof, apparently from fires lit inside the building.
Prisoners caught in the middle of the disturbance spoke of their fear they might be attacked by the other prisoners. One prisoner said others had tried unsuccessfully to force their way into his wing.
Speaking through his solicitor, the prisoner, who is on the jail’s G wing – known as the protected wing for inmates accused or convicted of sex offences – said: “The others have been trying to get in here. We’re terrified.”

Earlier on Friday evening, the managing director for G4S custodial and detention services, Jerry Petherick, said: “Our teams withdrew following a disturbance and sealed two wings, which include some administrative offices. The disturbance has since spread to two further wings. Additional officers have arrived on site and we have deployed canine units.”
The situation, in which keys giving access to residential prison areas were taken from an officer, will be investigated thoroughly, justice secretary Liz Truss said.
“I want to pay tribute to the bravery and ded­ication of the prison officers who resolved this disturbance,” Truss said. “Violence in our prisons will not be ­tolerated and those responsible will face the full force of the law.”

Prison affairs academic and blogger Alex Cavendish said an “inside informant” told him the trouble started with lights being broken and prisoners controlling fire hoses.
“The officers were then, as they are instructed to do, trying to get as many prisoners locked in their cells as possible to contain it,” he said. “While one of the officers was putting a prisoner in the cell, he was threatened with what appeared to be a used syringe.”
Cavendish said that while this officer was distracted by the threat, “another inmate came up behind, snatched the keys from his belt and snapped the security chain”. He said that once prisoners have control of the keys, protocol tells the officers to “withdraw to a place of safety” and said they “abandoned the wing” where the incident started.

The Victorian category B jail, which was built in 1849 and is close to the city centre, can hold 1,450 adult remand and sentenced male prisoners.
A former prisoner who was ­released in January said drugs were rife in the jail and there was a lack of respect between some staff and prisoners. The man, who declined to give his name, said each of the jail’s wings was arranged over four floors, with more than 100 prisoners per wing.
A spokesman for the Prison Governors’ Association said: “It would appear, on the face of it, that the private sector has now been infected with the same ­disease that has had such a debilitating impact on the running of public sector prisons: an erosion of respect and a disregard for ­authority which has emboldened prisoners across both the public and private sector.

“Any suggestion that this riot is evidence that the staffing levels in public sector prisons are not a factor, or an insignificant one, is too simplistic.”
The national chairman of the POA prison officers’ union, Mike Rolfe, said the incident was a “stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis”.
Last month, Truss, unveiled her plans for prison reform, which included a recruitment drive to add 2,500 officers to the frontline and “no-fly zones” to stop drones dropping drugs and other contraband into prisons.

The shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon, said the disturbances at the Birmingham jail were “hugely concerning”.
“This is only the latest in a number of disturbances across the prison estate,” he said. “The justice secretary is failing to get this crisis under control.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press


Birmingham riot shows Britain’s prison system ‘is in crisis’

Police officers in riot gear outside Winson Green prison in Birmingham on December 16, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Riot police outside HMP Birmingham, central England, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. Dozens of riot officers were sent into the prison Friday after inmates took control of several wings of the medium-security facility. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

Prison officers in riot gear arrive at Winson Green prison, run by security firm G4S, after a serious disturbance broke out, in Birmingham, Britain, December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Police officers stand outside Winson Green prison, run by security firm G4S, after a serious disturbance broke out, in Birmingham, Britain, December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Police officers and firemen stand outside Winson Green prison, run by security firm G4S, after a serious disturbance broke out, in Birmingham, Britain, December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Police officers in riot gear enter Winson Green prison, run by security firm G4S, after a serious disturbance broke out, in Birmingham, Britain, December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Prisoner transport vans arrive and depart from the entrance to HMP Birmingham in Winson Green, Birmingham, central England on December 17, 2016. British riot police, late Friday evening, regained control of a prison after more than 300 inmates took part in a "serious disturbance" that led to a partial lockdown. A specialist "Tornado Team", which handles prison riots, was sent in to deal with the incident at the privately run prison in Birmingham, central England. / AFP PHOTO / OLI SCARFF

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