originally published:
8 November 2009

Dangerous prisoners were removed from one of Britain’s biggest jails just before an internal security audit, raising fears that the practice of “ghosting” inmates around the prison system may be more widespread than was acknowledged.

A Prison Service investigation is examining how difficult prisoners were transferred between London’s Wandsworth and Pentonville jails so that they could be kept out of the sight of inspectors, a practice revealed in the Observer on 18 October.

Now the probation union, Napo, says a separate inquiry has found that about half a dozen prisoners were moved from Brixton prison in south London earlier this year, just before it was subjected to an internal security audit by the Prison Service. The men were either category A – the most dangerous type of prisoner – or category E – judged to be the most likely to attempt to escape.

Security audits give prisons a mark out of 100 which affects how they are rated overall by the Prison Service. Reducing the number of category A or E prisoners would potentially boost the chances of the prison receiving a higher security audit score.

Five senior Prison Service employees are already being investigated for their alleged part in the switching of “difficult” prisoners at Wandsworth and Pentonville before inspections by teams reporting to the chief inspector of prisons, Dame Anne Owers.

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