HM Prison Birmingham

Numerous judicial executions by hanging took place at the prison until the abolition of capital punishment in the UK. The first was that of Henry Kimberley, on 17 March 1885, for the murder of Emma Palmer.[17] A total of 35 executions took place at Birmingham prison during the 20th century.[18] The last person ever to be hanged at the prison was a 20-year-old Jamaican named Oswald Augustus Grey. He was executed on 20 November 1962 after being convicted of the shooting death of newsagent Thomas Bates during the course of a robbery in Lee Bank Road on 3 June 1962.[19][20][21] Christopher Simcox, a double-murderer, was scheduled for execution at Birmingham prison on Tuesday, 17 March 1964, but was reprieved.

There was reportedly a buildup of frustration over prison conditions prior to the riot. Low staff numbers, poor healthcare and nutrition were cited as factors. Also, prisoners being on 'lockdown' in their cells all day was cited as a major contributing factor to the disturbance.[28]

On 16 December 2016, a prison officer was reportedly "rushed" by inmates leading to a rapid escalation of what prison officials described as "trouble".[29] According to a G4S statement, staff retreated from two of the prison's four wings, sealing the abandoned sections before withdrawing.[30] The disturbances, however, subsequently spread to the remaining two wings.[30] According to a different account of events told by a "prison affairs blogger" quoted by The Guardian, the breakdown in order began after inmates seized control of fire hoses and began breaking lights.[31] Prison staff attempted to lock down inmates in their cells, however, during the operation an officer's keys were stolen, whereupon security staff were ordered to evacuate the wing.[31] An injured prisoner was baited.[24]

A Prison Officers Association spokesman described the incident as, "another stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis".[32] Shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon said, “This is only the latest in a number of disturbances across the prison estate. The justice secretary is failing to get this crisis under control.”[33] Michael Spurr of National Offender Management Service Agency claimed drugs, overcrowding, and reduced staffing had put prisons under pressure.[34]

One inmate in the prison's G wing, which is reserved for sex offenders, reportedly informed his solicitor that, during the disturbance, rioting inmates had attempted to gain access to that section of the facility and that prisoners were "terrified" they would be attacked.[30]

On Friday evening, specialist riot squads from Her Majesty's Prison Service were dispatched to assume control of the situation due to the scale of the disturbance, which had grown to involve more than 600 inmates.[29] By late that day, prison officials were reportedly back in control of the facility.[29] 460 prisoners were moved to other prisons[34] and some caused problems at Hull Prison.[35][36] The Birmingham riot was described by one source as the worst prison disturbance in a B category prison in the United Kingdom since the 1990 Strangeways Prison riot.[29] The Birmingham riot caused about £2 million worth of damage.[25]

This is the third serious incident within under two months, Riots previously happened at Bedford Prison and Lewes Prison[33] and a subsequent riot happened at Swaleside Prison.

After the riot inspectors found violence and illegal drug use were still problematic. Some prisoners felt unsafe.[37] Prison wings damaged during the riot were not reopened until April 2017.[38] There was a further disturbance in September 2017[39] Prisoners refused to return to their cells and 28 were subsequently moved.[24]

6 prisoners died from January 2018 to late April 2018, one was from natural causes and the others are under investigation. 7 prisoners died during 2017.[24] One prisoner death was self-inflicted. The Howard League for Penal Reform maintains the figure for deaths is the joint highest in England and Wales in 2018, together with HMP Durham, and considers it "extremely concerning". Roger Swindells, of the Independent Monitoring Board for Birmingham Prison described problems including overcrowding, with prisoners facing cramped conditions in Victorian cells, also cockroach and rat infestations. There is a high rate of sickness among prison officers and the prison has trouble retaining staff.[40]

In August 2018 the government announced they were taking Birmingham prison over because it is in a state of crisis. Peter Clarke maintained some prisoners are afraid to leave their cells and described Birmingham Prison as, "the worst prison he had ever been to." Clarke maintained there was a "dramatic deterioration" in conditions after the 2016 riot and reported there was a lack of order, where violent people could act with "near impunity". Some staff locked themselves in their offices, and parts of the prison were filthy, with blood, vomit and rat droppings on the floor. Clarke described an, "abject failure" to manage and deliver the contract at Birmingham. Clarke wrote, "The inertia that seems to have gripped both those monitoring the contract and delivering it on the ground has led to one of Britain's leading jails slipping into a state of crisis that is remarkable even by the low standards we have seen all too frequently in recent years." In 2017 1,147 assaults including fights were recorded at the prison. This was higher than for any other prison in England or Wales that year and five times higher than 2012, the first complete year that G4S ran the prison.[41]

Prisoners effectively ran some wings, staff were afraid to leave their offices, inspectors and NHS staff felt unable to enter some wings due to large amounts of drugs in the atmosphere affecting them. Rory Stewart maintains more should be done to prevent drugs like spice getting into the prison as these drugs cause, “crazy aggressive behaviour”. Steve Gillan of the Prison Officers Association stated, “The secretary of state needs to resign and there now needs to be a full public inquiry into the prison system in England and Wales. We cannot continue like this. Government should now halt any other intention to privatise. The warning signs have been at Birmingham for all to see yet ministers have buried their heads in the sand and chosen to ignore it. They knew Birmingham was struggling before and after the riot [in December 2016] yet chose to do nothing.” Gillan maintained prisons were being privatised for ideological reasons.[42]

Clarke refers to the "disturbing case" of a troubled prisoner with personal hygiene problems who was "soaked" with water from a fire hose by other prisoners. Clarke said, "We struggle to understand how staff could have allowed this appalling bullying to take place." Inspectors found a further "distressed" prisoner who sat on "scruffy material on the springs of his bed" since the mattress was stolen three days before. Clarke maintains this indicates the, "day-to-day vulnerability" of some prisoners. Clarke maintained further, "It was often difficult to find officers, although we did find some asleep during prisoner lock-up periods," and added that "ineffective frontline management and leadership" were basic to the prison's problems.[41]

Prisoners did little to conceal use of psychoactive substances or trade in those substances and staff accepted the situation. Prisoners who had taken spice walked around like zombies. There had been three "likely" drug-related deaths since the previous inspection. It had been noted that spice and similar drugs were available at Birmingham Prison. Inspectors stated, "We witnessed many prisoners under the influence of drugs and some openly using and trafficking drugs around the prison. Incidents involving new psychoactive substances (NPS) were routine and we often smelt cannabis on the wings. Shockingly, staff were too often ambivalent and accepting of such incidents." Other findings were, the prison was "exceptionally violent and fundamentally unsafe", many prisoners and staff lived and worked in fear, frightened, vulnerable prisoners segregated themselves in locked cells but faeces and urine were thrown through their door panels, prisoners could misbehave, "with near impunity", many prisoners were living in, "squalor and little was done to adequately occupy them, leaving many simply to mill around on wings", Birmingham prison was "failing in its responsibility to protect the public by preparing prisoners adequately for release, including hundreds of sex offenders" Peter Clarke wants an independent analysis, "as to how HMP Birmingham descended into appalling, chaotic conditions." The Independent Monitoring Board for the prison stated part of the problem was that the prison reopened to soon after the December 2016 riot. This was because of, "commercial pressures" and increasing numbers of prisoners. Chair, Roger Swindells said, "Re-opening without CCTV on those wings, and with various services not fully functioning and with limited access to education facilities did not assist in provision of a safe stable environment for the men in the prison."[43]

Paul Newton, previously governor at Swaleside Prison will be the new governor, there will be 30 more staff, also the prison population will drop from 1,200 to 900. The Independent Monitoring Board wrote in May 2018, "put simply, the prison fails to provide a safe and decent environment on an almost daily basis". Notable concerns included violence, large scale prohibited drugs, also "regularly overcrowded and unfit living conditions", The board noted further, "toilets in cells with no screen, a generally dirty, poor environment, litter, objects in stairwells, broken windows, heating broken or excessive, broken showers, lack of kettles and even, on occasion, lack of kit and bedding and cockroaches ever present". Frances Crook of the Howard League for Penal Reform, was pleased about the news but feared prisoners would probably "be shipped out in the middle of the night" causing "even more overcrowding in other prisons".[41]