HM Prison The Mount
 | |
| Location | Bovingdon, Hertfordshire |
|---|---|
| Security class | Adult Male/Category C |
| Population | 720 (as of January 2007) |
| Opened | 1987 |
| Managed by | HM Prison Services |
| Website | The Mount at justice.gov.uk |
HM Prison The Mount is a Category C men's prison, located on the outskirts of Bovingdon village in Hertfordshire, England. The Mount Prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
History
The Mount Prison was designed as a Category C Training prison built on the site of the former Bovingdon RAF station. However, when the establishment opened in 1987, it was used as a Young Offenders Institution for males aged 18 to 21. This has changed over the years however, and today the prison is used to hold Category C adult male prisoners.
In November 1994, two inmates escaped from The Mount in a violent break-out. The pair attacked a civilian instructor, tied him up and fled from the bricklaying workshop being held inside the prison. The instructor was taken to hospital suffering from a fractured skull.[1]
In February 2005, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons condemned The Mount Prison, claiming that the jail's drug problem was out of control and threatened security and safety of prisoners. Nearly half the inmates said they felt unsafe, 25% had been victims of bullying and another 44% said it was easy to get hold of illegal drugs, according to the inspection report. The inspection also found significant tensions amongst ethnic minorities held at the prison, and that the jail was dirty.[2]
In 2007, The Mount Prison went into a partnership with Hertfordshire Highways for inmates to repair damaged roadwork signs. The prison announced the contract for its offenders learning metalwork, welding and painting skills to repair the broken road signs, as part of training towards qualifications offered at the prison.[3]
In January 2013, the Ministry of Justice announced that an additional houseblock will be constructed at The Mount Prison, increasing the overall capacity of the gaol.[4]
In April 2015 a prisoner was stabbed with a shard of glass and almost bled to death.[5]
In summer 2016 the prison's Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said, "all the ingredients were in place for The Mount to suffer disorder such as has been experienced in other prisons – staff shortages, readily available drugs, mounting violence".[6]
In July 2017 riot trained staff were brought into Mount Prison to deal with a disturbance;[5] for a time prison staff lost control of two wings but order was later restored.[6] There was another incident the following day, 1 August when armed prisoners took control of Nash Wing and broke windows.[7]
The prison today
The Mount is a Category C prison for adult males. As of 31 August 2015, it had an operational capacity of 1,028.[8] The regime at the prison includes full- and part-time education, workshops, training courses, farms and gardens, and a works department. Other features include listener groups (community based project to keep juveniles out of prison), a job skills course, and prisoner driven drug-free meetings.
According to a report Mount Prison experiences severe staff shortages, which inmates' relatives maintain results in prisoners being locked in their cells over weekends. The Mount was given the second lowest rating out of four by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), which said performance was "of concern". In November 2016 the drugs problem was seemingly at its worst and many prisoners suffered serious health effects involving 70 emergency callouts during the month, mainly drug related. Spice is a "big concern" according to prison staff. Staff have left due to uncompetitive salaries, with many of the empty posts subsequently going unfilled. An IMB report said: “Experienced staff have left and not been fully replaced, so that at the end of February there were 24 vacancies out of a complement of 136 officers, and a high proportion of officers and managers had less than two years’ experience.”[6]
References
- ^ "Village fears as gunmen flee prison". Southern Daily Echo. 18 November 1994. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ Andalo, Debbie (9 February 2005). "Jail's drug problem 'out of control'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ "Broken road signs sent to prison". BBC. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ Danny Shaw (10 January 2013). "Seven prison closures in England announced". BBC. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
- ^ a b "HMP The Mount disturbance: Riot staff sent to tackle violence". BBC News. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ a b c Gregory, Julia (31 July 2017). "Incident 'resolved' after officers said to have lost control of two wings at prison". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ "HMP The Mount: Second day of trouble at Hertfordshire prison". BBC. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ "The Mount Prison contacts". Government of the United Kingdom. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
