NORTHERN IRELAND’S main prison at Maghaberry has been described as one of the worst in the UK.
Prison inspectors who made an unannounced visit to the jail in January have called for 200 recommendations to be implemented, 11 of them urgently, particularly in relation to safety and welfare.
Maghaberry prison, which took over from the Maze, has been the subject of three critical reports in the past year. A new governor has taken over following a recent critical report ordered after a suicidal prisoner hanged himself despite being supposedly under the supervision of prison officers.
Maghaberry holds more than 800 inmates and is among the most expensive anywhere in Britain or Northern Ireland, costing more than £81,000 (nearly €94,000) per prisoner per year.
Chief inspector Dr Michael Maguire of the Criminal Justice Inspectors said the jail “has been found to be significantly underperforming in relation to what is expected of an effective UK prison in the 21st century”.
His report found that out of 169 inspections carried out throughout the UK in the last four years, it was one of only three that performed poorly in the critical area of safety.
Dr Maguire added: “Inspectors were also concerned at the lack of activity places to keep prisoners purposefully engaged which led to many men spending most of their days locked up without the opportunity to gain useful skills.
He said more could be done to increase the provision of education, training and offending behaviour programmes to assist prisoners to change their behaviour and reduce their likelihood of re-offending following release.” Referring to another inspection at the jail in 2006 he revealed that of 155 recommendations made then, 83 had not been implemented.
Paul Goggins, the direct rule minister in charge of justice, said he was “disappointed” at the report but pledged action to put things right.
Northern Ireland Prison Service director Robin Masefield said he accepted the criticisms adding that since the inspection in January, improvements had been made to the prison regime.
Alliance justice spokesman Dr Stephen Farry said: “There are strong reformist elements within the prison service. Our prisons are often given a much lower priority than other aspects of the criminal justice system such as policing. This clearly has to change.”
Sinn Féin’s Martina Anderson said the prison service needed thorough reform.