All we know as jail hit by sudden deaths faces mounting pressure (original) (raw)

Pressure is mounting on a Welsh prison hit by a series of sudden deaths and allegations of corruption. The UK Government is facing calls to strip private security giant G4S of its contract to run HMP Parc in Bridgend – the only privately-run jail in Wales – as anger grows.

On Tuesday we revealed Parc inmates Michael Horton, 19, and David Maggs, 73, had died that morning in separate incidents bringing the prison's sudden death toll to nine in less than three months. The cause of the latest two deaths is yet to be confirmed. Police are not treating them as suspicious but believe at least four of the previous deaths are linked to super-strength synthetic opioids called nitazenes.

WalesOnline has recently been contacted by dozens of Parc prisoners' families who make disturbing claims of rampant drug-dealing and violence in the jail as well as chronic understaffing and a lack of mental health support. Many former prisoners and staff have given similar accounts. MPs and MSs have criticised a lack of transparency over what action is being taken and some have called for the UK Government to take over the running of the prison.

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In the last couple of weeks alone the crisis has allegedly included one prisoner carrying out an extremely serious act of self-mutilation and another inmate having a mental health episode after being "bullied into giving sexual favours" in exchange for the psychoactive drug spice. A third prisoner's mother has transferred around £2,500 to strangers in an attempt to pay off her son's debt from a spice addiction. The debt has reportedly led drug-dealing inmates to put "three sheets on the head" of her son meaning that a prisoner who gives him a "battering" would receive payment of three paper sheets soaked in spice.

G4S has described its drug strategy as "comprehensive" and the Ministry of Justice has said it is "working with G4S" on the issues at Parc. But this has done little to reassure those with loved ones in the prison. One politician has described the deaths as "a national scandal" while another said: "These are human beings in the care of the state and they are dying."

Crisis did not come out of the blue

Ross Appleby

The first of the recent sudden deaths came on February 27 but the prison's problems go back much further. We reported on a series of controversies from the last few years including:

• The death of 29-year-old Ross Appleby from a reported spice overdose months after he was stabbed and robbed in his cell. His mother Claire accused G4S of failing to safeguard her son alleging a delayed emergency response and a "rife" flow of drugs into his wing.
• The trial of a former officer at the prison, Ruth Shmylo, who was accused of having an improper relationship with an inmate. She claimed she had been victimised after raising concerns over staff corruption and her colleagues spitting and pouring semen into the meals of inmates they didn't like. Ms Shmylo was found not guilty after her defence argued she should have been treated as a whistleblower.
• The death of an inmate whose kidney cancer was allowed to spread for months despite the prison being told he needed an operation.
• The suicide of a prisoner who was found hanged after a prison officer failed to remove from his cell an item he used to take his own life.
• A prisoner who was pronounced dead following what an ombudsman report called an "unacceptable" 20-minute delay for an emergency response after he was found unresponsive having overdosed.

One former staff member, who left Parc in January, told us: "The prison was ultimately run by the prisoners with officers being paid to bring in contraband items. The enhanced red band prisoners, who were able to roam, would then ferry these items across the prison." Another former employee claimed some of her colleagues would "turn a blind eye" to drugs being carried around the prison because they "didn't know what else to do", adding: "As soon as officers go in there they are conditioned to think it's the norm."

The nine deaths since February 27

Jason Hussey

All of the inmates who died suddenly at Parc since late February have been named. They are Michael Horton and David Maggs, who both died on May 7, Wayne Hay, who died on April 30, Cameron Lee Anthony, who died on March 19, Shay Liam Franklyn Andrews, who died on March 18, Justin Lewis, who died on March 16, Christopher Stokes, who died on March 9, and John Rose and Jason Hussey, who both died on February 27.

Inquest openings have given brief insights into some of those deaths. For example the death of 29-year-old Mr Lewis has been described as a hanging while drugs are believed to have been involved in the death of 23-year-old Mr Andrews.

The family of Jason Hussey, a 30-year-old dad-of-two, were shocked by his death. His sister Jessica said: "He was due out on April 1 and he was so excited to be coming out. He was going to the gym, he was working as a cleaner in the wing, and he was doing well. The night he died he called our dad and said: 'I love you Dad, I can't wait for all of us to be together.' That was at 8.30pm and apparently he was dead by 10pm. I can't get my head around it."

South Wales Police is treating two of the six deaths between February 27 and March 19 as non-suspicious but believes the other four to be drug-related. Tests identified nitazenes in connection with four deaths and spice in connection with two of those four. Nitazenes are synthetic opioids that can be up to 300 times stronger than heroin. Spice is designed to mimic cannabis but can leave users contorted in unnatural positions for hours.

'Out of control'

Sarah Murphy, Labour MS for Bridgend, spoke in the Senedd this week about WalesOnline's reporting of the latest two deaths at Parc. She said: "Each of the prisoners is, technically, my constituent and I am scheduled to meet with the prison governor shortly to discuss the previous seven deaths but it really does feel like something is very wrong... This really does feel like it's getting out of control."

Ms Murphy later told WalesOnline: "It's been my experience since I got elected that I've never been able to have a visit to the prison. I find it difficult to know what's going on in there. Sometimes I get emails from families saying prisoners are not getting the medication they should be having. Where is the responsibility and the accountability for the care of these people?" (Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board, which is responsible for medication in the prison, did not respond. G4S says it has never refused a meeting with an MP or MS.)

Until this week the Ministry of Justice had refused to comment on whether it was taking any action on the crisis beyond saying that it would not be "stepping in" on G4S' management. Even after the latest two deaths a spokesman for the MoJ would only say that it was "working with G4S".

"I find it unacceptable that nobody seems to want to take responsibility and provide any transparency on this," said Ms Murphy. "It feels near impossible to find out why so many people are dying. These are human beings in the care of the state and they are dying."

Stephen Crabb, the Tory MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, said the Welsh Affairs select committee – which he chairs – will be questioning Welsh prison governors in light of WalesOnline's reporting. He told us "big questions need to be asked" about how Parc is being run, adding: "The concerns being expressed by prisoners' families about drug-dealing, violence, and corruptions inside Parc are deeply concerning. It was disappointing that the UK prisons minister did not make an urgent statement to Parliament about the matter this week. Welsh MPs will continue to push for this. This is not a moment for the government and the private contractor to go quiet. We want to see evidence of an effective improvement plan being put in place with the maximum degree of transparency."

Plaid Cymru’s justice spokesperson Liz Saville-Roberts voiced her concern in the House of Commons over the deaths at Parc. "The Ministry of Justice says it won’t step in," she said. "A private prison in Wales is an unaccountable anomaly that fails everyone – victims and prisoners alike." She called for the "long-anticipated devolution of justice" to Wales.

Ruth Jones, a Labour MP on the Welsh Affairs select committee, told us: "The deaths at HMP Parc amount to a national scandal and we all know what would happen if this same pattern occurred at a prison in the constituency of any serving member of the government in Westminster." She added that "urgent action" was needed by the UK Government and G4S to prevent more deaths.

One Welsh Labour MP, who did not wish to be named, said the Prison and Probation Service should "step in and take the prison back from G4S" to get a grip of the crisis. And Adam Price, former leader of Plaid, has written to the Senedd's justice committee calling for G4S to be asked to appear before the committee "as a matter of urgency".

Watchdog 'concerned by the increase' in deaths

Prisons ombudsman Adrian Usher, who investigates deaths in custody, said: "At the time of writing we are investigating 13 deaths at HMP Parc. Two of these deaths sadly occurred on May 7. As I said in March I am saddened by this high number but I am now also concerned by the increase."

Ms Murphy, who is due to meet the prison governor in the coming days, would like to see more funding for healthcare and substance abuse support at Parc. When we asked the Welsh Government if this was being considered its spokesman replied: “Although the operational running of prisons in Wales is not devolved we work closely with HM Prison and Probation Service on areas where we do have responsibilities such as health and social care... An agreed set of actions is being taken forward to help mitigate the risk of future harm.”

G4S has managed Parc since the prison opened in 1997. In 2019 the firm was stripped of its contract to run HMP Birmingham after the chief inspector of prisons said the jail was the worst he had come across. In 2016 the firm lost its contract for Kent's Medway young offender institute after Panorama secretly filmed staff physically abusing children. There was another scandal for the contractor in 2021 when inspectors found some children at Oakhill in Milton Keynes had been locked in their rooms for up to 23 hours a day and that youths were exposed to excessive force.

Last June a report found Parc had 1,734 prisoners – significantly over its certified normal capacity of 1,559. And in March this year we revealed three people had been arrested in connection with drugs allegedly being smuggled into the prison. All have been released on bail or under investigation. It is understood this case is not linked to the investigation into recent deaths.

This week the mother of one young inmate at Parc told us he was confined to his cell for 23 hours a day and "the minute the door is opened he's got people offering him spice". She says he has accrued a debt to the prisoners who control the supply and faced threats of violence which have led to her transferring £2,500 to strangers' accounts in an attempt to stop him being attacked.

A G4S spokeswoman responded: “The safety of staff and prisoners is our priority and no form of bullying is tolerated. If a prisoner or relative raises a concern this triggers a series of safeguarding measures. [The prisoner] was offered a move to another unit which he declined." She added that prisoners with known substance misuse issues are offered "additional support".

The spokeswoman said: "As with every other prison in the country we work closely and effectively with the police and the Prison and Probation Service counter-corruption team to crack down on the small number [of staff] who may break the rules. HMP Parc’s senior team has carried out a number of recent searches. In accordance with standard protocol the team requested and received support from other prisons.

“All mental health support is based on an assessment and operates in the same way as it would in the community. In line with national policy prisoners at risk of self-harm or suicide are managed by a multi-disciplinary team and have a tailored support plan. We have a range of interventions in place for prisoners with less severe mental health issues.” She added that G4S' drug strategy includes "robust security measures, working with the police, and engaging substance misuse service providers and health partners to support those in our care".

G4S says it "frequently facilitates visits with stakeholders" at Parc. The operator pointed out that a 2022 report by the chief inspector of prisons said: "It has for a long time had a good reputation as a safe and decent prison, and I am pleased to report that it continues to operate successfully."

If you would like to speak to WalesOnline about an issue at Parc prison email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk