Bedford Prison Inmates “Effectively Control Jail”

Inmates have effectively taken control of Bedford Prison, a watchdog has warned. Inspectors found wings invested with rats and cockroaches and strewn with rubbish, the smell of drugs pervading some wings and prisoners ignoring rules. Bedford was found to have experienced more assaults on staff than any other prison in England and Wales, with 116 in the past six months.

The report stated: “The struggle to keep the prison clean is being lost and at times the amount of litter and rubbish lying around is disgusting. These are not appropriate conditions in which to detain prisoners in the 21st century.”

The chief inspector of prisons has triggered an urgent notification process at the jail, making Bedford the fourth prison to be subject to the recently introduced measure, after Exeter, Birmingham and Nottingham.

Mr Clarke said of HMP Bedford: “There was a dangerous lack of control in many parts of the prison, leading us to fear that there could all too easily be a complete breakdown in order and discipline.

“At times it felt as if prisoners were effectively in control, choosing when or if to comply with directions and consent to authority.”