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A PRISON, which prepares men for release, has been condemned for its “decrepit conditions, rising violence, self-harm and widespread illicit drug use.”
Conditions at HMP Rochester in Kent are so bad that HM Prisons Inspectorate has issued a formal “urgent notification” to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling for action.
The prison is the latest to be condemned after more than a decade of warnings from the Prison Officers’ Association and campaigners about worsening conditions in the prisons estate, including overcrowding, violence, drug abuse and staff shortages.
MARK FAIRHURST highlights the main issues facing officers in a long neglected service, and raised by front-line delegates at POA conference last week, including understaffing, violence, bullying and the ongoing denial of workers’ right to strike
