Acacia Prison, Wooroloo, Australia
January 15, 2010 West Australian
Confiscated contraband which could include weapons, drugs and pornography is missing inside WA's biggest men's jail, prompting an internal investigation into the security breach. The Department of Corrective Services confirmed the contraband was found to be missing at privately-run Acacia Prison last week and that some had not been recovered. Corrective Services security director Simon Kincart said the department was confident the contraband, which was taken from a storage cabinet, would be found soon. The department refused to say what the contraband was and would not answer questions about whether prisoners or staff were suspects or whether the cabinet had been left unlocked. "Internal investigations are continuing and I'm not prepared to make any further comment which may risk compromising prison operations," Mr Kincart said. Shadow corrective services minister Paul Papalia said the incident was a serious security breach and highlighted the pressures from chronic overcrowding in WA jails. Corrective Services Minister Christian Porter said he was aware of the situation at Acacia and the department was investigating the matter. Serco Australia, which runs the jail, said it had nothing to add to the department's statement.

December 29, 2009 The Western Australian
A violent prisoner who assaulted four jail staff and was involved in a dozen other aggressive outbursts was allowed to stay in the general medium-security prison population, leaked emails from Acacia Prison reveal. The confidential emails from concerned workers to management claimed staff shortages were partly to blame for the unsafe working environment. The emails, obtained by  "The West Australian", said management should have put the violent prisoner on a close supervision order or under a specialist management regime. The staff indicated in some of the emails, written between September and this month, that individualised attention was increasingly difficult as staff were struggling with heavy workloads at the overcrowded jail. There is one less staff member now compared with when the prison had 150 fewer inmates. The staff said there had been 22 staff recruits since the additional inmates, but 23 had left or were on long-term leave. The emails said the violent prisoner's 16 aggressive incidents included him groping the jail's female chaplain. "We are all aware that we work in a prison, but allowing one prisoner to perpetrate four assaults in six months and still stay medium security needs to be addressed," a worker wrote. The staff claim that managers from Serco Australia, which could not be contacted yesterday, told them they wanted to keep the prisoner in the mainstream jail population to "normalise" him before he was moved to a country facility. Another guard said in an email that a lone female guard had to supervise 150 inmates during outdoor activity. The guard was concerned at the big number of prisoners and feared for her safety because the group included a prisoner who had continually threatened to rape and kill her. "Incidents of a threatening/confronting nature have resulted in staff securing themselves rather than controlling situations," the guard wrote. "Recent incidents reflect the sentiment of prisoners who are fully aware of the staff's lack of ability to contain the prisoners here in an emergency situation." Shadow corrective services minister Paul Papalia said it was important to discuss the problems because Serco Australia was likely to be considered for new jail contracts. Mr Papalia said staff shortages meant the prison was not achieving the number of organised activities required under its contract. The Community and Public Sector Union said there were continuing concerns about staff safety as prison populations increased, causing tensions in sleeping quarters and in places such as the kitchen and gym. Attorney-General Christian Porter said yesterday it was difficult to verify the accuracy of the staff claims but said: "I have asked the Department of Corrective Services to check each of these allegations thoroughly to see if they can be verified."

Ashfield Prison, Pucklechurch, UK
February 16, 2012 The Guardian
A huge increase in the use of force to restrain teenage boys at a privately run young offender institution has been sharply criticised by the chief inspector of prisons. Nick Hardwick says the nine-fold rise in the use of force in the past year at the Serco-run Ashfield young offender institution from an average of 17 times a month to 150 times a month is "extremely high". The chief inspector has warned the private prison managers at Ashfield, near Bristol, that force must only be used as a last resort where there is an immediate risk to life or limb and not simply to obtain compliance with staff instructions. But when the prison inspectors went into Ashfield last October they found that more than 40% of the teenage inmates had been restrained and the most frequent reason given in five out of the six preceding months was "failure to obey staff instructions". Penal reformers said the disclosure has "chilling echoes" of the death of 15-year-old Gareth Myatt, who died while being restrained at a Northamptonshire young offender institution in 2004. The inspection report on Ashfield published on Friday also says there are serious problems with the late delivery of offenders from court despite a new private escort company, GeoAmey, with inmates delivered from court to Ashfield on one recent occasion between 11pm and 3am. All new arrivals were also strip-searched even though few items of contraband were ever found. The inspectors say this practice should stop.

August 10, 2011 Gazette
Police were also called to Ashfield Young Offenders’ Institution in Pucklechurch following reports of disturbances there. Prison officers dealt with a "small scale incident of disobedience" involving several inmates according to a statement from Serco, the company which runs the unit. A spokesman said: "Some minor damage has been caused, but the situation has been contained and the centre is secure," a Serco spokesman said. Avon Fire and Rescue Service were called out at 7.49pm but were stood down as they were not required to attend the scene.

August 20, 2009 Public Finance
Children detained in prisons and young offenders institutions are exposed to such ‘dire conditions’ that they are living in ‘modern day dungeons’, according to a hard-hitting report by the Howard League for Penal Reform. The report, published on August 17, paints a picture of ‘extraordinary squalor and institutional brutality’, with children regularly denied access to showers, toilets and outside exercise areas. Detained children are also often subject to strip searches by adult staff and many institutions fail properly to undertake required assessments, plans and reviews. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League, said: ‘We keep children smelly and dirty, idle and frightened, bored with education and cooped up in modern-day dungeons. And we expect them miraculously to pupate into responsible citizens. In reality, these young people leave prison more damaged and more dangerous than when they first went in. It is frankly shocking that we treat children in this way in the twenty-first century.’ At Ashfield prison in Gloucestershire, which is run by Serco, children were routinely given bags to urinate in instead of being allowed toilets on their journey to the prison, the report found. At Castington jail in Northumberland, children were allowed showers only twice a week and seven young people suffered broken wrists after being handcuffed. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘Work is continuing on raising the quality of the services provided and developing new initiatives that will help further ensure positive outcomes for all the young people.’

April 13, 2009 This Is Bristol
The privately-run Ashfield Young Offenders Institution has more attacks than any other prison in the country, according to latest figures. The institution, near Pucklechurch, recorded more than 600 attacks on inmates in one year – the highest number of all the UK's 142 jails. Ashfield also had 126 assaults on prison officers, latest figures released by the National Offender Management Service show. But Serco, the firm which runs Ashfield, said the figures to July 2008 were high because it recorded every incident, including minor skirmishes, while other prisons only recorded the most serious attacks.

March 19, 2003
Premier's Ashfield "worst" prison in England and Wales. (News).  Plans to extend the role of private providers in prison services suffered a setback this month when a PFI jail for young offenders was described as the worst in the country.  An inspection found that conditions at Ashfield, near Bristol, were so bad that many inmates were frightened to leave their cells. Under pressure staff relied on inmates to act as "mini-officers" in the reception wing, and escort van drivers were used as officers on other wings.  Staff delegated responsibility to inmate orderlies to a worrying extent that went as far as "role reversal". Martin Narey, the director-general of the Prison Service, described privately run Ashfield as the worst prison in England and Wales "by some measure".  But he added: "The introduction of the private sector into the running of prisons has brought immense benefits. My best prison is probably a private-sector prison."  Ashfield is a 44m [pounds sterling] prison holding up to 400 sentenced young offenders aged between 15 and 21. It is run by Premier Custodial Services, a joint venture company owned 50% by Serco Ltd and 50% by Wackenhut Corrections (UK) Ltd, under a 25-year PFI contract.  The criticism came only days after the chancellor, Gordon Brown, said there should be "no principled objection" to further extending the private sector's role in prison management. The failings in Premier's operation of Ashfield were exposed in an inspection report by Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons. Describing her report as "depressing" she found that bullying was rife and that many inmates were "afraid to leave their cells".  A spot-check revealed that nearly half of the inmates remained in their cells during the day, and less than a quarter were in education. Owers said a central problem was the poor quality and low morale of staff because of the inadequate salaries paid by the company.  She also criticised the company for its unwillingness to do anything not in the contract. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 5 February, Narey said that Premier has lost around 2m [pounds sterling] in revenues so far.  It is the second time that Premier has been warned over its performance at Ashfield in recent years. In December 2001, the company was issued with an improvement notice for noncompliance with the PFI contract. At the time it had the most reported incidents of self-harm in the 15-17-year age group of any young offenders establishment in the UK.  Under the terms of Premier's contract--and normal under PFI deals in the prison sector--the banks that financed the prison's construction decide whether they choose another private operator or allow the public sector to take over.  Local Northavon MP Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat) said the private sector had failed to deliver on even the most basic aspects of the contract. "It is time that the Prison Service took the management of Ashfield back under its control," he said.

February 5, 2003
The reputation of the private sector as a manager of prisons suffered a blow yesterday when the government's Youth Justice Board announced it was withdrawing all sentenced juveniles from the first privately run young offenders' institution.  The board announced its phased withdrawal of 172 young offenders after the chief inspector of prisons published a scathing report on conditions at the Ashfield young offenders' institution near Bristol .  Anne Owers said Premier Prison Services, Ashfield's operator, failed to provide "the minimum requirements of a safe environment".  Describing her report as "probably the most depressing" she has issued in the 18 months she has been in post, Ms Owers found that bullying was not addressed and that many young people were "afraid to leave their cells". A spot-check during her inspection revealed that nearly half of the young inmates remained in their cells during the core day, and less than a quarter were in education.  There was no effective resettlement strategy.  Ms Owers said one of the main underlying problems at Ashfield was the poor quality and low morale of staff because of inadequate salaries paid by the operator.  Some officers at Ashfield had not undergone an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, which is meant to provide better protection against pedophiles.  The Prison Officers' Association, which has always been opposed to privatisation, called for Ashfield to be taken immediately into public ownership.  Brian Caton, the union's general secretary, said Ashfield provided evidence of the "immorality of running private prisons with the emphasis on making profit rather than running a good service on behalf of society".  Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the "utterly damning report" raised questions as to why the Prison Service had allowed such a situation to develop in the first place.  (Social Affairs Correspondent)

BBC
May 23, 2010  The Daily Telegraph
Under the scheme, the publicly-funded broadcaster handed over footage to inmates who earn just £30 a week rather than members of its own 23,000 staff. Convicts at a privately run Category B jail, the second-highest security level, transferred tapes of old television shows to computer to save them for posterity. Senior staff in the BBC’s archives department visited the jail to watch the work in progress while meetings were held to discuss a landmark deal for the prisoners to digitise all 1million hours of programmes in its vaults. Fearful about the controversy the scheme could cause, the BBC never discussed it publicly and even the broadcasting union, Bectu, was unaware of it. Details were obtained by this newspaper through a Freedom of Information request that took more than four months rather than the usual 20 working days. The BBC insists that it has not given any money to Serco, the private jail operator, for the secret scheme nor signed any contracts, following the pilot project last year. However emails disclosed by the corporation show that it had shown considerable interest in the innovative project proposed by Serco, which runs four prisons in England. The BBC owns more than 1m hours of historic content, some of it decades old and at risk of being lost. It employs 66 people to look after it, at a cost of £5m a year, in its Information and Archives department. The corporation estimates it would take 10 years to safely copy all 100m items in its collection into longer-lasting digital formats. In December 2008 it was approached by Serco to become involved in Artemis – Achieving Rehabilitation Through Establishing a Media Ingest Service – a new project for prisoners to transfer archive documents to computers. Serco said it would provide “high-quality employment” and the chance of an NVQ qualification for inmates and HMP Lowdham Grange, a 628-capacity jail near Nottingham all of whose inmates are serving at least four years. The firm said this would mean it could provide a “stable work force”. The BBC was told it would prove a “very cost-effective” way of digitising its archive, and several meetings were organised to discuss plans. Managers agreed to hand over 20 hours of old videos, including episodes of Horizon and Earth Story, so prisoners could transfer them to computer and also add “meta-data” – typed detailed descriptions of the footage to help producers search through it more easily. The British Library and National Archives also provided material for the pilot project. In September last year, five members of BBC staff visited the jail, where a production workshop had been built, and were reported to be “pleased” with what they saw of the prisoners’ work and enthusiasm. However David Crocker, the driving force behind the scheme at Serco, admitted: “The major concern was around the potential negative newspaper headlines that the BBC may attract.” The company did discuss the scheme with one newspaper and one trade magazine but made no reference to the BBC’s involvement. In November, Mr Crocker told the BBC: “I can’t thank you enough for finding a project for us to kick-start Artemis.” He said his staff were drawing up “terms of reference” and would then “cost the project” of a full-scale digitisation of the BBC’s archive. However no deals have yet been signed. The BBC said: “The BBC did hold discussions with Serco about their planned project to digitise archives. As part of this the BBC, alongside other organisations, provided some material for Serco to use as part of its feasibility study for the project. “No payment was made to Serco as part of this, nor was any guarantee or promise of work entered into. “The BBC has no plans to work with Serco to digitise its programme archive and has not come to any agreements nor signed any contracts with any firms about utilising the prison workforce on any project.”

Borallon Correctional Centre, Queensland, Australia
August 15, 2011 9 News
Queensland's opposition has asked the auditor-general to review the state government's handling of a jail tender it has described as "dodgy". The government announced last month it would temporarily mothball Borallon prison in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and transfer inmates to a new prison near Gatton due to be opened next year. Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed plans to convert the jail into immigration accommodation, however no final decision has yet been made. Security company Serco, which manages Borallon jail, has been awarded the contract to operate the new jail, Southern Queensland Correctional Centre at Spring Creek. The Liberal National Party (LNP) has labelled this a "dodgy deal". LNP corrective services spokesman John-Paul Langbroek said the party had referred the matter to the auditor-general. The auditor-general's office has confirmed it received the LNP's request but as of Monday morning, it was yet to view the details. Mr Langbroek argues the government did not conduct a proper tendering process. "The way this secret deal between Serco, who currently run the prison at Borallon, and the state government has been handled raises many questions," he said. "Under the normal tendering for service process, the contract for service delivery at the new Gatton prison should have been advertised and put to the market to ensure the best value for money was achieved. "This matter deserves due consideration and that's why I have written to the auditor-general seeking advice on whether this deal is in fact legal and meets the state government's own rules and guidelines."

Colnbrook Immigration Removal Center, Colnbrook, UK
August 5, 2011 The Guardian
Separate investigations into three deaths in immigration removal centres (IRC) in the past month have been launched by the police, amid growing concern about the treatment of detainees. The spate of deaths has caused alarm among critics of the government's detention policy, who warn that the system is at "breaking point" with poor healthcare putting people's lives at risk. Two men died from suspected heart attacks at Colnbrook near Heathrow airport and the third killed himself at the Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire on Tuesday. John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, who has two detention centres including Colnbrook in his constituency, said he feared there would be more deaths as the system struggled to cope with the number of people being detained. "The government is now detaining people on such a scale that the existing services are swamped," he said. "It is inevitable if we put the services under such relentless strain that there will be more deaths as a result … we are dealing with people who are extremely stressed and extremely vulnerable and the services are not able to cope and not able to guarantee their safety." The first man who died was Muhammad Shukat, 47, a Pakistani immigration detainee who collapsed at around 6am on 2 July. His roommate Abdul Khan says that in the hours before he died Shukat was groaning in agony, had very bad chest pains and was sweating profusely. Khan, 19, from Afghanistan, said he began raising the alarm around 6am and pressed the emergency button in the room 10 times in a frantic effort to get help. Khan claimed that on three occasions members of the centre's nursing team entered the room and found Shukat on the floor where he had collapsed. Khan said they put him back into bed, took his temperature and some medicine was administered, but did not call emergency assistance immediately. According to Khan, the nurses initially said that Shukat could go to see the centre's doctor at 8am. According to the London Ambulance Service, Colnbrook staff called an ambulance just before 7.20am. Attempts were made to resuscitate Shukat, but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Hillingdon Hospital. A postmortem found the provisional cause of death to be coronary heart disease. Shukat's body has been returned to Pakistan and his family are understood to have no concerns about the medical treatment he received. The second man to die at Colnbrook has not yet been named. According to the Metropolitan police he was 35 and was found dead in his cell at 10.30am last Sunday. London Ambulance Service officials pronounced him dead at the scene. "A postmortem held on 1 August found the cause of death to be a ruptured aorta. The death is being treated as unexplained," said a police spokesman. Colnbrook IRC is managed by Serco. In a statement to detainees about Shukat's death, deputy director at Colnbrook, Jenni Halliday, described her "deep regret" and extended her condolences. In a statement to detainees about the second Colnbrook death, Serco's contract manager, Michael Guy, informed detainees that a resident in the short-term holding facility had died and that the death was thought to be from natural causes. On Tuesday, a 35-year-old man hanged himself in the toilet block at Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire. A fellow detainee, who refused to give his name, said the man had been hours away from being deported and had become very anxious. "He was normally a very quiet person … but the pressure is too much for people in here." It is understood the man had only been at the centre for a few days before he died. The Home Office refused to give any more details saying his extended family had yet to be informed. Emma Ginn, from the campaign group Medical Justice, said the deaths had heightened concern about the poor healthcare on offer to those being kept in UK detention centres. "Based on medical evidence from many hundreds of detainees, Medical Justice has documented the disturbingly inadequate healthcare provision that often vulnerable immigration detainees are subjected to in Colnbrook and other immigration removal centres... [this] combined with the perilous and frightening conditions of detention, is a lethal cocktail, a disaster waiting to happen." The UK Border Agency declined to comment on the specific circumstances of each case. It said the police and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman always investigated deaths in immigration detention centres and it would be inappropriate to comment until these were complete. David Wood, director of criminality and detention at the UK Border Agency, said all detainees at immigration removal centres have access to health services seven days a week. "All detainees are seen by a nurse within two hours of arrival and are given an opportunity to see a GP within 24 hours," he added. "The health of all detainees is monitored closely, and the healthcare professionals are required to report cases where it is considered that a person's health is being affected by continued detention. "The UK takes its responsibilities seriously, which is why we consider every case on its individual merits and will continue to offer protection to those who need it. However, detention is an essential part of our controls on immigration in the UK." A groundbreaking ruling -- A man with severe mental illness was unlawfully locked up in a UK detention centre for five months and subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, according to a high court ruling. The man, a 34-year-old Indian national, was detained in Harmondsworth immigration removal centre between April and September last year. On Friday a judge ruled that his treatment amounted to a breach of article 3 of the European convention human rights. The man's lawyer said the ruling – thought to be the first of its kind – raised wider questions about how the government treats people with mental illnesses in the immigration and detention system. "The court's decision that my client suffered inhuman or degrading treatment at a UK detention facility sends a very loud and clear message to the authorities," said. "We would urge the minister to conduct a fundamental review into how people suffering from mental illness are treated in the immigration detention estate." The man, referred to as "S" in the ruling, had a history of serious ill treatment and abuse before arriving in the UK. He served time in prison for wounding and assault before being transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital until his discharge in April 2010. Following his release the UK Border Agency said there was "no evidence" he was mentally ill and he was detained in Harmondsworth where his health deteriorated and he began to have psychotic episodes and self harm. The high court intervened and he was released on bail. His lawyers said he had been living with his family since then and had fully complied with the conditions of bail set by the court. In the ruling judge David Elvin said: "S's pre-existing mental condition was both triggered and exacerbated by detention and that involved both a debasement and humiliation of S since it showed a serious lack of respect for his human dignity. It created a state in S's mind of real anguish and fear, through his hallucinations, which led him to self-harm frequently and to behave in a manner which was humiliating…" A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "We regularly review our detention policies and will look at the findings in this case to ensure lessons are learned. Detention is an essential part of our immigration control but we recognise the importance of ensuring it remains appropriate on a case by case basis."

June 22, 2009 Thaindian
The news that foreign criminals, including rapists and terrorists, are being treated to lavish cuisine as they wait to be deported, has not gone down with the taxpayers in Britain. There is an outrage among residents over money being spent on the preparation of mouthwatering dishes for 383 inmates, who are currently staying at a luxurious 47 million pounds Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Berkshire. The menu that these detainees are being offered includes oriental poached fish parcels, beef goulash and mint lamb stew. Each detainee is offered four choices for lunch and dinner, plus three vegetable options and a dessert. “The idea that these people should enjoy hotel-style standards of service and food is preposterous. Given the recession we’re living in, most people will think this type of arrangement is outrageous,” the Sun quoted Matthew Elliott, a local resident, as saying. Other delicacies offered to them include chicken chasseur, fish gumbo and beef and onion pie. They are handed a menu at the start of the week and asked to mark their choices for the next seven days - with food cooked to order. “Some of the dishes are so exotic they put Gordon Ramsay to shame. The grub’s certainly better than the local hotels. Now every foreign con wants to come here because the food is so good,” an official said. The scandal is the latest to hit the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Berkshire, which is run by a private firm ‘Serco’. Earlier it was reported how the detainees had access to Nintendo Wiis and plasma TVs.

June 2, 2009 The Independent
Allegations that asylum seekers are being bullied by immigration staff are not being properly investigated, a report into Britain's flagship immigration removal centre has found. The use of reasonable force to control detainees at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow Airport, had increased and was not always well managed, Anne Owers, the Chief Inspector of Prisons also found in a report published today. In the three months before the inspection, there had been 179 complaints ranging from bullying to poor food. Dame Anne said: "...we found little improvement at Colnbrook since our last visit... there was evidence of the centre taking inappropriate steps to manage some of the challenges; there were examples of separation being misused and the vulnerable persons unit was not fit for purpose." The centre, run by Serco, holds male detainees in the most secure facility in the detention estate. Dame Anne said: "A significant number of complaints, including allegations of staff bullying, were not adequately investigated and replies lacked detail." Dave Woods, head of criminality and detention at the UK Border Agency, said: "In the six months since HMCIP visited, safety, security and purposeful activity for detainees have improved significantly."

January 16, 2007 IC Coventry
Conditions in holding centres for immigration offenders awaiting deportation still need to be improved, the jails watchdog has said. Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers published reports on four immigration short-term holding facilities at Colnbrook near Heathrow Airport, Sandford House in Solihull, and Liverpool's Reliance House and John Lennon Airport. Inspectors found that detainees at Colnbrook spent unacceptably long periods locked in single rooms, and there was a lack of information and independent advice for people facing removal. But it had avoided some of the problems seen in other facilities because it was managed by the Immigration Removal Centre, offering access to healthcare facilities, welfare and race relations support, Ms Owers said. Staff at the three centres in Liverpool and Solihull - all run by Group 4 Securicor - needed more training in the care and protection of children, her report found. The facilities also required reorganising for a mixed population, it added. Ms Owers said: "Accommodation still remains inadequate in many centres and the needs of detainees in relation to healthcare, information and advice, and preparations for release are not yet sufficiently met." Home Office Minister Liam Byrne said: "I take very seriously the recommendations, and action plans responding in detail are currently being drawn up to ensure further improvements are made. "It is important to remember that non-residential short-term holding facilities are intended to accommodate people for very brief periods of time." Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "The inspector's report confirms what has been apparent for some time: that, for the Government, these people are out of sight and out of mind. "Any society should be ashamed when people are treated like this just because they are to be deported."

Doncaster Prison, South Yorkshire, UK
November 3, 2010 The Star
A DISGRACED prison officer who was handed a suicide note by an inmate put it in his manager's 'in tray' to be dealt with the next morning. By that time Shaun Flanagan, aged 26, was dead - just three days after being locked-up on a charge of driving while disqualified. An inquest at Doncaster Coroner's Court was told prison officer Russell Calladine admitted he was too frightened to enter the cell where Mr Flanagan hanged himself in June 2006. Instead, he waited until colleagues at HMP Doncaster arrived a few minutes later before helping to cut the prisoner's noose. It has taken more than four years for evidence about Mr Flanagan's last hours to be heard in public, by a jury of four women and three men. Mr Flanagan, of South Street, Highfields, was supposed to be checked in his cell every 30 minutes because he was detoxifying from drug addiction. But questions have been raised about the checks carried out by Mr Calladine, who has since been sacked.

July 23, 2010 The Star
PRISONER-on-prisoner violence has more than doubled in Doncaster Prison last year after bosses put all the young offenders together. The figures for assaults reported at the Marshgate jail soared to 412 in 2009, compared to 192 in 2008. The figure was more than three time the 2007 figure of 127. The revelation comes as figures obtained by The Star under the Freedom of Information Act revealed there were 1,149 attacks on prisoners by other inmates over the last three years. Lindholme Prison saw the fewest, with 156 over three years, with 47 in 2009, 57 in 2008 and 52 in 2007. Moorland recorded 262, with 85 last year, 86 in 2008 and 91 in 2007. A Ministry of Justice Spokesman said: "The rise on prisoner-on-prisoner assaults recorded at HMP Doncaster in 2009 was due to restructuring in the prison whereby its young offender population was relocated to a single block, rather than dispersed among the adult population. This resulted in a temporary spike in assaults and particularly fights among young offenders.

April 23, 2006 24 DASH
Prison officers are calling for all jail wardens to be better armed claiming they should be given metal batons in order to defend themselves from assault. The Prison Officers Association (POA) conference next month will vote on whether the extendable baton should be allowed in many more prisons. The union's national general secretary Brian Caton said he supported the proposals and predicted the motions would be passed. Currently, staff at private prisons such as Doncaster do not carry batons. "We would say that's wrong," Mr Caton said. "Prisoners in private prisons are no less violent, they're no less difficult. "You are twice as likely to be attacked in a private prison as in a public prison. Last July the Chief Inspector of Prisons warned that staff at a privately-run prison were being bullied by inmates." Anne Owers demanded urgent action after discovering unsafe conditions at Rye Hill jail, near Rugby in Warwickshire, which is run by GSL UK Ltd. Inexperienced officers were ignoring misbehaviour and evidence of contraband in order to "survive" on the wings, the report said.

April 12, 2006 Politics.Co.UK
The government has been forced to defend its use of private contractors to run Britain's prisons in the wake of a critical report from the chief inspector. Anne Owers says that while Doncaster is "by no means a bad local prison", where relationships with staff and inmates are generally good, physical conditions are "sometimes squalid". Many prisoners lack basics such as pillows, toilet seats and working televisions, some cells are dirty and covered in graffiti, and she highlights "institutional meanness" in making prisoners pay to change their account number which allows them to call home. In her report, Ms Owers notes the prison has good points, in particular in its resettlement of offenders and community re-entry facilities, but warns the problems were all in areas "not specifically mandated by the contract under which the prison is run". "There remains a concern that, in focusing on meeting their contractual obligations, prison managers had allowed important areas to slip below what was safe and decent; and indeed may have sought savings in precisely those areas," she said. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, seized upon today's report as an example of the "manifest failings of private prisons". "It exposes the fallacy promulgated by the Home Office that private prisons have helped to improve prison conditions, raised standards or fostered advances in the decent treatment of prisoners and staff. Doncaster shows that this is not the case," she said. "Unsurprisingly, the chief inspector draws attention to the fact that those areas in which the prison is failing are those in which it was not contractually obliged by the Home Office to meet particular standards."

April 12, 2006 The Mirror
DONCASTER prison has been described as "squalid" and showing signs of "institutional meanness" in a damning report by the jails' watchdog. Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers expressed concern that prison chiefs had let standards slip at the 800-inmate jail and made savings to meet Home Office contract targets. She claims the medium security jail, which is run by private company Serco - formerly known as Premier Prison Services - had deteriorated since it was last inspected in 2003. Her report said one example of "meanness" was charging inmates 50 pence to change family telephone numbers on the automated phone system, which was branded "particularly unfair" because of the shortage of paying jobs in the jail. The chief inspector said: "Respect was seriously undermined by the physical conditions in which many prisoners lived, which in some cases were squalid. Many prisoners lacked pillows, adequate mattresses, toilet seats, working televisions, notice-boards and places to store belongings. "Some cells, especially on the young prisoners' wing, were dirty and festooned with graffiti." First night cells were "squalid" with no hot water, "lumps of foam" as mattresses and "dirty" bedding, said the report. In other areas, bedding was "heavily soiled". Ms Owers also pointed out bullying problems were not properly addressed at the prison and only 29 per cent of young ethnic minority prisoners reported that staff treated them well. In 2003, Ms Owers said Doncaster was a good jail which needed to increase the amount of purposeful activities available - such as work or education - and improve first night facilities. On her return last November, she found it had not tackled these problems and had slipped back in a number of other areas. But, overall, she said Doncaster was "by no means a bad prison". Making 156 recommendations for improvement, Ms Owers said: "Our main concern was not only that managers had failed to tackle problems we pointed out in our last inspection, but that the prison had deteriorated in some important respects - all in areas not mandated in the prison's contract. Yorkshire and Humberside regional offender manager, Paul Wilson, said: "I am satisfied that Serco has responded quickly and appropriately to the inspectorate's recommendations and that the director and his staff are committed to continuous improvement of standards of offender management."

May 6, 2005 The Mirror
VALENTINE'S Day killer Paul Dyson slit his wrists and scrawled "Sorry" on his jail cell wall before admitting responsibility for his girlfriend Joanne Nelson's death. The former bouncer, charged earlier this week, smuggled a small blade into his prison. A guard found him slumped on the floor of his cell in the early hours. Doncaster Prison, where Dyson is being held, opened nine years ago and was Britain's first private jail. It is run by Premier Prisons, which is partly American owned. The jail has been hit by controversy in the past, with allegations of bullying and high numbers of suicides.

Dovegate Prison, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
August 14, 2010 The Sun
ONE of Damilola Taylor's killers is claiming £100,000 from prison bosses for failing to stop a lag from slicing off one of his ears. Evil Ricky Preddie, 23, was lured into his attacker's cell and hacked with a home-made knife after a row over a game of pool. Doctors could not sew the lug back on. Preddie is suing private firm Serco, which runs Dovecote Prison, Staffs. Last night Damilola's dad called the claim "outrageous". Richard, 62, said: "He doesn't deserve a penny. Ricky was attacked in prison because he remains as arrogant as ever. "If he had been sentenced properly - and by that I mean the death penalty - then he could only launch his claim in hell." A Serco spokesman said: "Mr Preddie made a complaint that we believe has no substance and have refuted."

January 26, 2010 Derby Telegraph
A FORMER prison officer has appeared in court accused of helping an inmate to escape from a Derbyshire jail. Andrea Clarke is also charged with harbouring an escaped prisoner and leaving a prohibited article for importation into prison. Clarke had been employed at the privately-run Dovegate Prison. But the charges relate to the escape of an inmate from Sudbury Prison, three miles away. The 36-year-old, of Burton, appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court yesterday but entered no plea. The case was committed to Derby Crown Court. Dovegate Prison, in Marchington, near Uttoxeter, is a category B prison run by Serco. A spokesman for HMP Dovegate said: "The individual concerned no longer works for Serco. We continue to fully co-operate with the police."

December 17, 2009 Liverpool Daily Post
A LIVERPOOL prison is among five in the country allowing its inmates to watch satellite television. More than 4,000 prisoners enjoy the privilege in private jails nationwide. Altcourse Prison, in Fazakerley, is among the contractor-run prisons allowing access to a “limited number” of satellite channels. The number of prisoners allowed to watch satellite varies according to behaviour. But Justice minister and city MP Maria Eagle revealed the number was currently around 4,070. The Garston MP was responding to a written question from Tory MP Philip Davies. She said no inmates in public sector jails have access to satellite in their quarters. But they do at Altcourse and other GS4-run prisons in South Wales and Warwickshire. The other private prisons offering satellite television are run by Serco in Staffordshire and Nottingham. Ms Eagle said: “In these establishments, satellite television in cells is generally only available to prisoners on the enhanced or standard level of the incentives and earned privileges scheme.” There are 84,500 prisoners in England and Wales, meaning around one in 20 has access to satellite TV.

December 8, 2009 Yorkshire Post
A JUDGE has urged a thorough investigation into how a dangerous criminal was able to use a mobile phone in prison to organise the punishment shooting of another man who might now lose a leg. Leyon Randall was in Dovegate Prison, Staffordshire, serving an indeterminate jail sentence for robbery, kidnap and firearms offences, at the time he arranged the shooting of Geovannie Meade in Leeds in May this year. Yesterday Randall and his brother Lloyd were both jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court after being convicted by a jury of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Meade. Judge Scott Wolstenholme said: "It is a very serious situation." It appeared Leyon Randall was able not only to communicate regularly via a mobile phone but to organise the "ruthless shooting from the comfort of his jail cell using a mobile phone he had had for weeks if not months". It was also suggested during the case that had been done with the connivance of officers at the jail. "That may be an outrageous lie but it is something I would have thought needs thoroughly investigating," the judge added. He said the shooting was carried out by Lloyd Randall because his brother believed Mr Meade was spending too much time with his girlfriend Amy Farnhill. The fact he was prepared to arrange such lethal violence to settle "petty scores" confirmed the view he was dangerous. It also showed a mobile phone in the wrong hands in prison could be a very dangerous weapon. Sentencing both to life, the judge ordered Leyon Randall, 29, to serve a minimum of eight years and Lloyd Randall, 29 of Recreation Street, Holbeck, Leeds to a minimum of seven years in jail. Both denied any involvement in the shooting. Susanna Holdsworth, 26, a care assistant, found guilty by the jury of perverting the course of justice, was jailed for two years. She gave Lloyd Randall an alibi for the time of the shooting. Farnhill, 18, was cleared of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The jury heard from David Dixon, prosecuting, that on May 9 Mr Meade was invited to Farnhill's address in Lingfield Gate, Moortown, Leeds, but as he arrived in the early hours he was approached by Lloyd Randall and another man, and was shot in the leg by Randall. He had surgery in hospital and further operations since but may still lose his leg. A spokesman for Serco which operates HMP Dovegate said they had worked with West Yorkshire Police in the case: "HMP Dovegate has a leading reputation for reducing and preventing the use of illicit mobile phones. This year alone we have confiscated 46 illegal phones from prisoners or visitors."

September 11, 2009 Burton Mail
A PRIVATE prison near Burton says it has taken action on failings surrounding the death of a prisoner last year. The inquest of Simon Coutts, who was found hanged in his cell at HMP Dovegate, in Marchington, in June last year, concluded yesterday at Stafford Coroner’s Court. The 29-year-old, originally from Manchester, was discovered by prison officers with a ligature around his neck, days after receiving a ‘dear John’ letter from his wife ending their relationship. Details of Coutts’ conviction or how long he was serving were not disclosed at the hearing. The inquest heard from DC Dave Johnstone, the investigating officer from Burton police, that Coutts used a sheet and a towel, wrapped together using electric cable as a ligature. This was fixed to a ligature point — consisting of a hook attached to a small wooden block stuck to the wall using a powerful adhesive glue — with shoe laces. DC Johnstone told the hearing that as well as the hook on the cell wall, there were also makeshift shelves attached, and a bird cage holding a budgerigar, which was permitted in the ‘therapeutic community’ (TC) which houses 200 of the prison’s 700 inmates. Eric Pearson, the investigating officer for prison owner Serco, had told the hearing the previous day that there had been ‘failings’ by prison staff, whom he believed had not carried out cell checks on the night of Coutts’ death. He said both the ligature point and toilet roll used to block the cell door’s glass window should have been spotted and removed if correct checks had been performed.

Dungavel Immigration Centre, Scotland
May 19, 2010 Morning Star
Concrete evidence of the Con-Dem government's contempt for the most vulnerable was already surfacing on Wednesday after one of their headline pledges was shown to be a farce. Anger erupted among human rights campaigners after it emerged that the coalition's announcement that it was committed to ending child detention for immigration purposes had already been severely undermined. Immigration Minister Damian Green boasted on Wednesday of the new government's quick progress that, "with immediate effect, children will no longer be detained overnight at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre. "This is something which many groups in Scotland have been calling for and we are now delivering this positive outcome." But it emerged that the detention of those children and their mothers would continue, as they are instead being transferred to the notorious Yarl's Wood Immigration Centre in Bedfordshire. And Scottish Education Secretary Mike Russell wrote to new Home Secretary Theresa May on Wednesday detailing his "strong concerns" when he found out that, on Monday, Pakistani woman Sehar Shebaz and her eight-month-old daughter Wanya were taken into Dungavel. The two are due to be moved to Yarl's Wood. Glasgow MSP Anne McLaughlin said: "The House of Commons has been highly critical of child detention in Yarl's Wood and we must see this practice brought to an end across the UK as soon as possible." Yarl's Wood made the headlines earlier this year after women, many of whom are rape and torture survivors, went on hunger strike against the alleged inhumane treatment they were suffering at the hands of the centre's staff, who are employed by security giant Serco. Black Women's Rape Action Project co-ordinator Cristel Amiss said the pledge to end child detention should be extended to mothers, pointing out that the trauma of a mother and child being separated causes suicidal feelings in mothers and symptoms such as nightmares and bed-wetting in children. She said there was no evidence that detention of mothers and children was necessary as the UK Border Agency itself has admitted that there is no risk of absconding. "No mother wants to rip her child out of school and put them through lying low somewhere - it doesn't happen." Ms Amiss also highlighted that Britain was a signatory to the UN Convention for Refugees, but "successive governments have dismantled that to the point where Britain does not give protection and safety, particularly for those who are the most vulnerable. "Women have told us they had to seek asylum and had to come to Britain because Britain has been involved in promoting wars they have fled and providing arms for rebel forces." The Home Office insisted that detention would continue while a review was carried out into alternatives. End Child Detention Now spokeswoman Esme Madil said: "We see absolutely no reason to delay this while the review is taking place. "Immigration detention should have ended immediately."

May 18, 2005 BBC
Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said provision for children at the Dungavel immigration detention centre in Lanarkshire was "inadequate". Ms Owers also attacked the "seriously deficient" protection of children at Tinsley House near Gatwick. Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said detention must be carried out with humanity and dignity. Ms Owers said the Dungavel centre, which holds failed asylum seekers before deportation, had failed to implement recommendations made during a visit two years earlier. She said she was "extremely concerned" about children at the centre, and in all the immigration removal centres she had inspected. "Obviously the detention of children is a very sensitive matter which should be exceptional and only for a very short period," she told BBC News. "The problem was that in neither of those centres were there proper independent procedures in place so that the welfare needs of those children could be properly identified and met, and so that any serious concerns could be raised quickly." Dungavel House is Scotland's only immigration removal centre. On Tinsley House, Ms Owers said there was no dedicated child protection officer, and inadequate criminal record checks on staff. The privately-run centre was also attacked for weak complaints and race relations procedures. Linda Fabiani, deputy convener of the Scottish Parliament's cross-party group on refugees, condemned the "disgraceful" provision of care for children at Dungavel. "This report is a damning indictment of the centre and the Scottish Executive's policy on the handling of asylum seekers," the Scottish National Party MSP said. "The executive must now tell the Home Office that it is not acceptable that these children are being failed on Scottish soil and demand action now." The Scottish Socialist Party MSP, Rosie Kane, said: "Dungavel detention centre is Scotland's national disgrace. "The detention of innocent men, women and children on Scottish soil is an abuse of human rights, of the right under international law to seek asylum. "The detention of children is absolutely barbaric."

An investigation has been launched after a man was found dead at the Dungavel immigration centre.  The Home Office confirmed that there was a death on Friday night, but refused to give any further details.  It is understood that the death at the Lanarkshire centre is not being treated as suspicious.  Human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar claimed that the man had committed suicide after he was moved from a centre in west London following a riot.  There was a disturbance at Harmondsworth earlier this month after a 31-year-old detainee was found hanged.  (BBC, July 25, 2004)

Elmley Prison, Kent, UK
May 24, 2010  Kent News
Four people, including a prison guard, have been sentenced for conspiracy to supply drugs and mobile phones to convicts. The drugs had a prison ‘street value’ of around £17,000 in HMP Elmley prison, and the judge described the crimes as "very serious offences, as drugs and mobile phones are a form of currency within prisons which can destroy prison life". Prisoner Darren Byrne, 30, of HMP Elmley, received eight years imprisonment for his role as ringleader in the conspiracy. At Maidstone Crown Court Judge Gold said: "You were at the hub of this conspiracy, orchestrating it all from within the prison walls". The court heard how officers had found a mobile phone and Sim card in Byrne's cell and the phone revealed a series of text messages between him and Carly Morris revealing key information about the smuggling operation. Morris, 25, from Dover, formerly a Serco court security employee working at Canterbury Crown Court, was given a total of five years imprisonment for her role in the conspiracy. Judge Gold said Morris "had a responsibility to transport and guard prisoners and that she had abused her position of trust" by passing over drugs and mobile phones to prisoners to smuggle back into HMP Elmley.

June 3, 2009 Little Hampton Gazette
A former prison worker has been remanded on bail after appearing in court charged with trying to smuggle drugs into a Kent prison. Carly Joanne Morris, 24, who has left her post at Serco, was charged with conspiracy to supply drugs into Elmley Prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, along with three other people. Prison inmate Darren Paul Byrne, 29, Dino Lewis Gillet, 37, unemployed, of Canterbury Road, Westgate-on-Sea, and his wife, Sahra Naomi Gillet, 35, also unemployed and of the same address, also appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court for a preliminary hearing. All four are also charged with conveying prohibited articles into the prison. Morris, from Dover, and Mrs Gillet were remanded on bail. Mr Gillet and Byrne were remanded in custody until their next appearance at Maidstone Crown Court on June 15. Officers from the serious and organised crime unit within Kent Police's specialist operations directorate made the arrests following a joint investigation between Kent Police and HMP Elmley security department. More than 18 police officers were involved in the investigation and arrests and properties in Grange Road, Ramsgate, and Canterbury Road, Westgate-on-Sea, were searched. The arrests come after another former Serco worker was charged with trying to smuggle drugs into the jail last month.

May 14, 2009 BBC
A former prison worker has been charged with trying to smuggle drugs into a Kent jail. Kent Police charged Zoe Spenser-Campbell, 25, with conspiracy to supply controlled drugs into Elmley Prison on the Isle of Sheppey. The former Serco employee was charged alongside labourer Jason Howsam, 26, who lives at the same address in High Street, Herne Bay. A second man who was also arrested on Tuesday was released without charge. The arrests followed a joint investigation between the serious and organised crime unit within Kent Police's specialist operations directorate and HMP Elmley security department.

Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, Doncaster, England
April 25, 2011 The Independent
Juveniles in private prisons are at risk of serious injury or death through the use of illegal restraints, according to research by the penal reform charity the Howard League. Some privately run Secure Training Centres (STC) are using unlawful restraints which have resulted in bruising, broken bones and a number of deaths of under 18s in penal custody, according to researchers. The report from Howard League lawyers documents the daily violence the juveniles have faced while they have been in custody. A 15-year-old boy in a STC said in evidence given to a Howard League lawyer: "I had bruised shoulders from when one of the staff dragged me across the room and shoved me into the wall. I had bruising on my back from where I was slammed into the wall in my cell." The report reveals that there were 142 injuries to children recorded as a result of the restraint of boys in prisons between April 2008 and March 2009. Lord Carlile of Berriew QC is holding a series of public hearings in the House of Lords into the policies and practices of using force on children in custody. In an independent inquiry into the use of physical restraint in 2006, Lord Carlile recommended that it should never be used as punishment or to secure compliance. He added that the infliction of pain was not acceptable and may be unlawful. The report, Twisted: the Use of Force on Children in Custody, comes after the death of 14-year-old Adam Rickwood who was found hanging in his cell in 2004 after being restrained by staff at Hassockfield STC in County Durham. At a second inquest into his death, held at Easington earlier this year, a jury found that the unlawful use of force by staff had contributed to it. A secret manual published by the Ministry of Justice that was publicly disclosed after legal action in 2010 shows that staff were authorised to use pain-inflicting distraction techniques on the thumbs, ribs and noses of children. According to the Youth Justice Board, 6,904 incidents of restraint were reported between 2009-10 in England and Wales, 257 of which resulted in injury. However, the report highlights that statistics are likely to underestimate the extent to which physical restraint is used, as not all incidents are recorded. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League, said: "These shadowy private companies who profit from children being locked up have disguised their methods of painful holds on children for years. It is time we revealed what is really happening."

February 15, 2011 The Guardian
A high court challenge has been launched over the Ministry of Justice's refusal to identify hundreds of children who have been unlawfully restrained in privately run child jails using techniques that have since been banned. The Children's Rights Alliance for England (Crae) has applied for a judicial review of the refusal by the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, to identify and contact children who may have been unlawfully restrained in the privately run secure training centres. The legal battle follows the second inquest two weeks ago into the death of 14-year-old Adam Rickwood, found hanging in his room at Hassockfield secure training centre where he was on remand in 2006. The inquest concluded that there was a serious system failure which gave rise to an unlawful regime at the jail. The use of several "distraction'' restraint techniques, which involve inflicting pain with a severe blow to the nose or ribs, or by pulling back a child's thumb, were first suspended in 2007 before being banned in 2008. The use of physical restraint to control teenagers in child jails for the purposes of "good order and discipline" was also ruled to be unlawful by the court of appeal in the same year. Carolyne Willow of Crae said she believed that there may be hundreds, if not thousands, of children who have been unlawfully restrained in secure training centres since they first opened in 1998.

January 11, 2011 Evening-Chronicle
GUARDS at a privately-run young people’s unit acted illegally leading up to a teenager’s prison cell suicide, an inquest heard. Tragic Adam Rickwood was found hanging just hours after he was mistreated by warders. His mother Carol Pounder, told jurors she would be “locked up” if she had behaved towards her son the way authorities had in the moments leading up to his death. At a second hearing into the tragedy, following a High Court appeal, Durham’s Assistant Deputy Coroner Jeremy Freedman revealed previous jurors were not informed prison staff had used unorthodox methods to restrain Adam and were acting “unlawfully and illegally” on the evening of his death on August 9, 2004. The 14-year-old, from Burnley, was found hanged by his shoelaces in his cell by staff at the Serco-run Hassockfield secure training centre in Consett, while on remand for an alleged wounding charge. Hours before his death, at 6pm, he was involved in an altercation with staff who ordered him to return to his cell from the social area he was in. The order came after a note was passed to him by another inmate which contained “unflattering remarks” about a female member of staff. When Adam refused to go back to his cell and instead sat on the floor in the communal area, back-up was called and he was physically removed. Four officers restrained him – two holding his arms, one holding his head and one holding his legs. Adam was placed in his cell face down and, because the officer holding his head feared Adam was trying to bite his fingers, he employed a “nose distraction method” to control Adam’s behaviour – a painful manoeuvre which left his nose swollen and bruised. Mr Freedman, who is leading the second inquest into his death, said the previous jury had not been told “three important things”. He said: “When they removed Adam from the free association area, in these circumstances, it was unlawful and illegal. “Second, they weren’t told that the use of Physical Control in Care in taking him into his cell in these circumstances was, too, unlawful. “And thirdly, they weren’t told that the use of the nose distraction technique was in any circumstances unlawful and illegal.”

July 18, 2010 AP
Brutal techniques to restrain children held in private prisons have been made public after mounting pressure from children's rights groups. The Observer disclosed details of the techniques used to train staff in restraining young offenders in the country's four privately-run secure training centres. The secret manual, Physical Control in Care, was created by the HM Prison Service and approved by the Department of Justice in 2005. The government's Youth Justice Board (YJB) had initially fought the Information Commissioner's order to hand over the documents. When the Children's Rights Alliance (CRAE) called on the Justice Secretary to hold an independent judicial inquiry, YJB finally relented. The Observer revealed that control measures authorised for staff to use include "an inverted knuckle into the trainee's sternum and drive inward and upward," "alternate elbow strikes to the young person's ribs until a release is achieved," and "drive straight fingers into the young person's face, and then quickly drive the straightened fingers of the same hand downwards into the young person's groin area." The manual went so far as to warn staff that some techniques risk a "fracture to the skull" and "temporary or permanent blindness caused by rupture to eyeball or detached retina." One passage states in regard to administering a head-hold that "if breathing is compromised the situation ceases to be a restraint and becomes a medical emergency." Carolyne Willow, CRAE's national co-ordinator stated, "Until now, we've seen a compulsive reliance on secrecy and an absolute failure to face up publicly to the disgraceful and unlawful treatment of children the State officially describes as vulnerable." The campaign to make the information public came after the deaths of two children, Gareth Myatt, 15, and Adam Rickwood, 14, who died in the custody of Rainsbrook and Hassockfield secure training centres in 2004.

March 8, 2008 The Northern Echo
BRUTAL restraint techniques used before the suicide of a 14-year-old boy at a North-East secure unit are illegal and must be banned, MPs and peers will demand today. In a damning report, the Joint Human Rights Committee condemns the "state sanctioned infliction of pain against children" as young as 12, who misbehave in private prisons. The restraint techniques include hitting a child's nose from underneath - the restraint method used on Adam Rickwood by staff at the Serco-run Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, near Consett, County Durham. Six hours later, on August 9, 2004, Adam, from Burnley, Lancashire, became the youngest person to die in custody in Britain when he hanged himself from a curtain rail, using his shoelaces. Last night, Adam's mother, Carol Pounder, welcomed the report and said the treatment her son received should never have been allowed to take place. She said: "Sometimes you need to restrain a child to protect them from themselves, but there is a difference between restraining a child and beating a child. "What gives them the right to do these things to our children? If I had punched Adam in the nose and caused pain and bleeding at home, I would be taken to court. But because it happens behind closed doors nobody knows. "The best thing this Government could do is withdraw this distraction technique, not just put a suspension on it." Describing the so-called distraction techniques as unlawful under international human rights laws, the committee warns they have had "tragic results". Andrew Dismore, the committee's Labour chairman, said: "What is, in effect, state-sanctioned infliction of pain against children to ensure good order and discipline should not continue. "It must be absolutely clear that inflicting pain on children is never justified and the use of force is an absolute last resort, for use only when all alternatives have been demonstrably exhausted." The committee also condemns the Government for refusing to release the staff manual for restraining children, which means the full details of the hold techniques remain secret. As well as "nose distraction" - the upward chop to the septum used against Adam - the techniques include the "double basket", where the arms are crossed and held behind the back. In December, the Government agreed to suspend the use of both techniques after medical advice. Today's report demands their permanent removal from the manual. The report includes an extract from a note found in Adam's room after his death. The 14-year-old wrote: "When I calmed down, I asked them why they hit me in the nose and jumped on me. "They said it was because I wouldn't go in my room, so I said what gives them the right to hit a 14-year-old child in the nose, and they said it was restraint." The inquest into his death returned a verdict of suicide. It heard the officer who used the nose distraction technique on the boy later noticed it had drawn blood. The director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Francis Crook, said last night he was very pleased with the committee's opposition to the use of painful restraint. He said: "Treatment that would see a parent or teacher in front of social services is not only allowed in these child jails but positively encouraged by recent rule changes." A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Force is only ever used as a last resort. "However, some young people in secure training centres can be very violent and staff need appropriate and effective methods to contain and resolve dangerous situations. "The Youth Justice Board's Code of Practice on behaviour management makes it explicit that restrictive physical interventions must only be used as a last resort." Serco, which runs the centre, declined to comment.

Kilmarnock (Bowhouse), Scotland
July 3, 2011 Scotland on Sunday
A PRIVATE prison has been confirmed as the "softest" in Scotland with one in three inmates who break the rules escaping punishment. Kilmarnock prisoners committed more than 17,500 offences in the past five years, the highest of any adult prison in Scotland. The figures include almost 2,000 cases of assault, drug abuse and destruction of prison property. But statistics for punishments handed out show that a third escaped with a caution, no action or had their case dismissed. The same figures reveal Shotts has the toughest discipline. Despite having fewer cases of drugs and assaults than Kilmarnock, it only lets off 7 per cent of prisoners. Critics of Kilmarnock have claimed that, to save cash, it operates with fewer staff per prisoner, meaning inmates are effectively in control. Details of how Kilmarnock operates are difficult to extract because of strict confidentiality surrounding the private deal, which will cost taxpayers £130 million over 25 years. But the statistics on offences and punishments suggest staff are struggling to control its 550 inmates.

December 3, 2010 Kilmarnock Standard
A NURSE claimed he was ‘outed’ as gay by prison bosses during an investigation into homophobic bullying at HMP Kilmarnock. Steven Ross, from Coatbridge, has been at a tribunal this week. He lodged a grievance in December, 2008 against colleagues at the jail who he said made homophobic remarks. Mr Ross was sent on gardening leave in January, 2009 while the investigation was carried out. At an employment tribunal in Glasgow, before judge Shona MacLean, Mr Ross has lodged a claim against Serco, who run the Kilmarnock prison, claiming he was discriminated against on the grounds of his sexual orientation. Mr Ross told the tribunal that he was subjected to bullying and harassment by colleagues who made comments such as he took “fag breaks” and about him “eating fairy cakes”. Mr Ross, who worked as a mental health nurse at the prison, told the hearing someone asked if he could be trusted on the nightshift alone because he was gay. Mr Ross, represented by lawyer Louise Bain, also said he was asked if he was a ‘giver or a taker’. He described feeling isolated and said he could not sleep and had poor concentration. The tribunal heard that afterwards Mr Ross gave Iain Donnelly, the deputy director of custodial health at the prison, names of those who allegedly made the comments and also witnesses. However, in February, during a conversation with Mr Donnelly, Mr Ross was shocked to learn 38 people had been interviewed. Mr Ross, who appeared upset and close to tears, said: “I couldn’t believe Iain Donnelly had outed me to so many people in the prison. I could not believe he had done this, I was devastated.” He added: “I felt that my human rights had been violated by this man.”

August 5, 2010 STV
A prisoner who died in a privately-run jail after complaining of chest pains was told he had indigestion, an inquiry has heard. William Scott, 58, told other inmates at Kilmarnock prison that he had been feeling increasingly unwell before his death in September 2009. His son Darren, 33, who was also an inmate at the Serco-operated prison, said his father was looking grey and had reported chest pains shortly before his body was discovered in his cell. But Mr Scott said his father was informed he probably had indigestion, a fatal accident inquiry heard at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court. Prison nurse Karen Smith, 50, said Mr Scott was "relaxed and cheerful" when he saw her on the evening before his death. Ms Smith said: "He told me he'd had indigestion and could he have something for it. I asked him how he knew it could be indigestion as it could have been other things." Mr Scott, of Ayr, told her he had a burning pain, the inquiry heard. Ms Smith added: "I dispensed Gaviscon and said if it didn't help to let me know." A prison officer suggested that Mr Scott might have asked when a doctor would be available, but Ms Smith said that she had “no recollection” of such a request. Ms Smith, a nurse for 30 years, admitted that she forgot to record details of the consultation on Mr Scott's medical records. She said she wrote on a Post-it note that Gaviscon had been dispensed but forgot to transfer it to his notes because of a later emergency at the prison. Lorna Grierson, 30, a prison custody officer, said she had looked in on Mr Scott when it was time to wake the prisoners but he was in his bed so she left him there. But later that morning Mr Scott's cell mate asked her to go and check on him. Ms Grierson said: "He appeared not to be breathing so I called the medical response." Other prison custody officers tried to revive Mr Scott without success. Ms Grierson admitted prison rules stated officers should get a verbal response from prisoners when waking them up in the morning. The inquiry has now ended and Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane will issue a formal determination at a later date.

July 28, 2010 Lynn News
Private sector firms which run prisons and maintain schools and hospitals may face closer scrutiny under Government proposals to make them more accountable to the public. The Scottish Government is considering broadening the scope of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws which give anyone the right to obtain information from publicly-funded bodies such as councils and hospitals about their activities. A 14-week Government consultation will seek views on whether more organisations that deliver public services should be covered by FOI legislation. Those being considered include the private prison contractors running Addiewell and Kilmarnock prisons and those which transport prisoners. The Government believes there are "strong grounds" for Glasgow Housing Association to be covered given "the level of interest that it attracts".

May 10, 2010 BBC
A man has died while on remand in Kilmarnock Prison, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has said. Paul Murdoch, who was 24, had been awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge after appearing at Ayr Sheriff Court in February. He died in the privately-run jail on Saturday. The SPS said his family had been informed. A fatal accident inquiry into the death of Mr Murdoch will be held at a later date.

February 10, 2010 Evening Times
Two inmates at Scotland’s first private jail were involved in a late-night disturbance causing damage to a prison wing. Emergency services were put on stand-by at HMP Kilmarnock in Ayrshire after trouble flared around 8.30pm and lasted several hours. Police were alerted and an ambulance team were standing by at the privately run facility. Two inmates were said to be unhappy about being in Kilmarnock and sparked a disturbance. Damage was cause to Bravo wing and at one stage prison officers were forced to withdraw. The inmates tried to encourage others to get involved but their attempts failed. An investigation into the incident is expected to get under way later today. A prison source said: “Two prisoners tried to get a bit heavy with the staff and caused a disturbance which went on for several hours. “Staff had temporarily to withdraw but the situation was then dealt with and the prison returned to normal within a few hours.” Although emergency services were on the scene, no one is believed to have been injured.

September 9, 2009 BBC
Scotland's Information Commissioner has ordered the release of key financial data from a £50m PFI contract for Kilmarnock jail. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and the private jail's operator had resisted giving the information to the union Unison. They argued it would substantially prejudice the contractor's commercial interests. Unison said it was "a major victory for the public's right to know". The prison is operated by Serco on behalf of the Scottish Prison Service. The SPS said it was "currently considering its response". Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion said the significance of the financial model data had diminished substantially since the 25-year contract was signed in November 1997. Unison's Scottish organiser Dave Watson said the union had long argued there was too much secrecy around PFI and Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts. "Too often the public is denied information about the costs of hospital, school and prison contracts on the grounds of commercial prejudice or commercial confidentiality," he said. "This decision is extremely important and should help pave the way for greater access to information about all PFI/PPP contracts." Unison had also requested the Full Business Case (FBC) for the Kilmarnock Prison, but Mr Dunion accepted this was not held. Mr Watson added: "The fact that there is no Full Business Case for the prison speaks volumes about the way public funding has been wasted on PFI/PPP. "The public was always told these projects would deliver value for money but has seen these claims unravel spectacularly over the years. "The figures have frequently been manipulated, or withheld, or in this case, were not even calculated beforehand in any meaningful way."

May 24, 2009 Sunday Mail
A ROOKIE guard has been awarded almost £120,000 for stress she suffered in a prison riot. Ann Hinshelwood says prisoners battled with warders when they did not get milk and cornflakes for breakfast. The 40-year-old was trapped behind a glass partition and forced to watch the riot unfold, which she claims caused her post-traumatic stress disorder. She said: "A lot of prisoners didn't get the milk and breakfast they were entitled to and they were bawling and shouting." Hinshelwood also says her training was so bad she had to ask inmates how to lock their cells. Once she even locked prisoners out of their cells by mistake because she did not know how to use the keys properly. Hinshelwood added: "I didn't know what I was doing and didn't have anyone to help me. I didn't have a clue. "I felt inadequate and stupid because I didn't know the routine and prisoners were trying to tell me what to do." Hinshelwood joined HMP Bowhouse in Kilmarnock as a guard having been a prison office clerk. She was trained from textbooks and, during the sevenweek course, had no practical experience. The riot escalated after fellow custody officer Mark Ritchie challenged an inmate to a fight. The riot was finally brought under control by a response team. Hinshelwood has been on sick leave for the last eight years since she was caught in the middle of the riot in 2001. She launched the claim against private prison operators Premier Custodial Group for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and stress. Hinshelwood, of Strathaven, Lanarkshire, was awarded £116,210 last week at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court after a four-year legal battle. The award was based on her past and future loss of earnings. The court was told that Hinshelwood had been singled out for promotion and would have been earning upwards of £30,000 a year by now. She has also launched a separate claim for legal costs and, if successful, Premier may be forced to pay out a further £50,000. In his judgment, Sheriff Colin Mackay blamed Ritchie and his bosses for the events which led to her suffering the trauma. He said: "It was the duty of Mark Ritchie to take reasonable care for the safety of fellow members of staff. It was his duty not to get involved in fights with prisoners. In each and all of these duties he failed. "His employers at the time are liable for his fault and negligence." The Kilmarnock prison is regarded as a soft option by many hardened cons. It has been dubbed the "Killie Hilton" because it has facilities such as a recording studio and sports hall. All cells have central heating and inmates are allowed DVD players and TVs. A spokesman for HMP Bowhouse said yesterday: "We are studying the judgment and will decide what further legal action to take."

May 22, 2009 Irvine Herald
AN Irvine recycling firm has been ordered to halt using PRISONERS to sort rubbish from homes across North Ayrshire. The order comes from the local authority after it emerged a load of waste – including confidential letters and bank statements – had been handed over to the jail in Kilmarnock to be sorted by cons. The move sparked fears the prisoners could steal people’s identities as they sorted through bags of waste paper. It was feared the work – at the private prison’s industries unit – would leave the public open to fraud or intimidation because many people fail to shred their waste paper. This week the council said they were not aware of the deal between Irvine based Lowmac Alloys and the nick. A spokesman said only one load had gone to the jail and it had been recovered. He added: “Lowmac have been instructed not to do this again. “This is a joint contract between the company, ourselves and South Ayrshire Council.”

May 21, 2009 Ardrossan Herald
The AUTHORITIES are investigating the prison death of a Saltcoats man. Steven Gibb, of Auchenharvie Road, was found dead in his cell on Saturday. The 27-year-old was seven months into a four-and-a-half-year sentence at HM Prison Kilmarnock. The Scottish Prison Service released a brief statement indicating that next of kin had been informed and that a fatal accident inquiry would be held. The cause of death has not yet been established but members of his family told the Herald they suspect he may have suffered a heart attack. Mr Gibb, who was serving his first prison sentence, had been taking medicine for anxiety.

April 20, 2009 BBC
Workers at Scotland's first private jail have called on ministers to hold an independent inquiry into the prison. The design, construction, financing and managing of Kilmarnock needs to be urgently looked into, according to a petition being discussed by MSPs. Holyrood's petitions committee is discussing a call by William Buntain "on behalf of staff at HMP Kilmarnock". Kilmarnock, which opened in 1999, is operated by Serco on behalf of the Scottish Prison Service. Mr Buntain raised health and safety concerns, including that Kilmarnock Prison employees did not have the same level of access to Pava spray, which he described as "pepper spray", in the event of a major incident. Shortly after coming to power, the SNP scrapped plans for a private £100m prison to replace Low Moss near Bishopbriggs, instead saying it would be run by the Scottish Prison Service. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said at the time prisons should be owned and operated by the public sector.

April 5, 2009 Sunday Mail
THREE wardens at a private jail have been suspended after an inmate's cell was left unlocked overnight. The incident at Kilmarnock's Bowhouse Prison is being treated as a major security breach although no prisoners escaped. Derek Turner, of the Prison Officers Association, said: "This is a very serious offence. If a prisoner had left his cell in the night he could have taken a member of staff hostage, got access to keys and opened up the whole jail . "But when a prisoner has been left compromised during the night, that is a more serious issue. People could lose their jobs over this." Two officers who finished their shift at 10pm on Monday are said to have failed to lock the cell when they shut down the rest of the prisoners for the night. And a guard who was on nightshift was accused of failing to spot the door was open when he was doing his rounds. All three have been told to stay at home while an investigation is carried out. The blunder wasn't discovered until Tuesday morning when the dayshift came in. The inmate whose cell was left unlocked was also told by prison bosses that if he had stepped outside his cell he would have been charged with trying to escape. A source at Bowhouse, run by service firm Serco, said: "It was fortunate the lad whose cell was left unlocked was nearing his parole hearing or there could have been chaos. "A lifer wouldn't have thought twice about leaving his cell and there could have been real problems." The Scottish Prison Service said: "Disciplinary matters at HMP Kilmarnock are a matter for the contractor. But we will be interested in any outcome." Hmp Kilmarnock said: "Three members of staff are suspended. An investigation is underway."

January 25, 2009 Sunday Mail
A PRISON doctor fired over claims he caused an inmate to fail a drugs test has been offered his job back. Dr Hamid Kopal won an apology from bosses at Scotland's only private jail after an internal inquest found he was wrongly dismissed. But the doctor could refuse to go back and sue Bowhouse Prison for more than £100,000. A prison insider said: "This is a major own goal for the jail. They've had to admit they were wrong and do a U-turn. "Dr Kopal could decide they've made his position impossible and sue them. "He is a doctor with a professional reputation to protect so it would be for a lot of money." Dr Kopal was booted out as prison medic at the Kilmarnock prison, which is run by private firm Serco. A con had failed a drugs test and blamed pills prescribed by Dr Kopal. No record of the prescription for high-strength painkillers could be found. When it turned up later, Italian-born Dr Kopal, 52, was accused of trying to cover up the mistake and fired. But he claimed bosses wanted him out because he criticised medical care standards at the prison. He said he was not called immediately when inmate Andrew Sorley complained of being ill. Sorley died in hospital of meningitis last year. The doctor also clashed with bosses over attempts to cut costs by reducing medication prescribed to prisoners. The insider said: "He's a good doctor and inmates even launched a petition to get him back." Dr Kopal, of Stewarton, Ayrshire, said: "I have been reinstated and I'm not prepared to say anything else." Serco said: "This is an ongoing staff issue so we cannot comment."

November 30, 2008 Sunday Mail
A PRISON doctor has been sacked over claims he caused a con to fail a drugs test. Hamid Kopal is accused of failing to record high-strength painkillers he prescribed - then trying to cover it up. He insists he is the innocent victim of a witch-hunt because he complained about the standard of medical care. Kopal, 52, claimed he was not called immediately when prisoner Andrew Sorley complained of being ill. He died of meningitis in June. The medic has now launched an appeal against Serco, who run Kilmarnock's Bowhouse Prison. A friend said: "He's a good doctor and cares about his patients but the prison authorities just want to run the place as cheaply as possible." Serco bosses claim Italian-born Kopal did not record prescribing painkillers to an inmate, who later failed a drugs test. The doctor insisted records were up to date but a note of the prescription was later found in the prisoner's file. A jail source said: "The doctor made a mistake but it's covering up the mistake that is the problem." Bowhouse said: "This issue is under investigation." Kopal, of Stewarton, Ayrshire, said: "I can't say anything because I have to have a meeting with the prison authorities."

July 18, 2008 Sunday Herald
A PRISONER died from suspected meningitis after pleas for medical help from his cell were overlooked by warders at Kilmarnock Prison, a Fatal Accident Inquiry is likely to hear. Andrew Sorley had previously fallen into a coma with the disease and it will be claimed he knew the symptoms. As he begged to be taken to hospital, it is alleged that staff at Scotland's only private jail dismissed his claims, saying he was "at it". Medics did not attend to Sorley until 13 hours after his initial calls for help and he later died at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow on June 20. The death, which will be the subject of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI), raises questions about public health issues and contagion in prisons. Fellow inmates say Sorley, serving two years for carrying two knives in public, was heard banging on the door of his cell pleading for help. Prisoners later tried to revive him after he had collapsed on the floor of his cell. Prisoner Peter Simpson told the Sunday Herald that warders checked on Sorley three times during the night but he did not receive medical help until 9am. Simpson, serving six years for stabbing a man who had shot him in an earlier attack, said he desperately tried to help Sorley in his cell the next morning. Sorley's medical records were not sent with the patient to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, and as a result diagnosis was delayed, Simpson claims. Figures from the Scottish Prison Service reveal that HMP Kilmarnock has a higher than average number of deaths in custody in Scotland, the Sunday Herald can exclusively reveal. The UK has the highest level of deaths in custody in Europe. Prisoners are entitled to prompt medical attention and care under prison rule 33 and the European Convention on Human Rights. Simpson said Sorley had complained of feeling unwell as early as 8pm on the evening of Monday, June 16. He claims: "It is also known that prison staff were aware of Drew's medical status as a head-injured person and that he had previously been in a coma as a result of meningitis. "Drew appeared in some distress. He appeared completely disorientated and needed to lean on the walls to steady himself. It was as if he was drunk. "Drew was by this time lying on the floor of his cell and a prisoner was present when Drew told an officer that he knew what was wrong with him. He told the officer that he had suffered from meningitis in the past and said the last time he had experienced symptoms like this, his family called an ambulance and Drew fell into a coma for three days. Simpson claimed staff said they would see what they could do, but as the officer walked back to the D wing with the prisoner, it is alleged that the second prisoner was told Drew was "at it", and "he was probably suffering from the flu and was only looking for tablets". A month before he died, it is alleged Sorley complained to prison authorities and submitted a formal medical complaint claiming he was being denied access to proper medical care. A Scottish government spokesman said: "The justice secretary Kenny McAskill has repeatedly said that we will put public safety, not private profit, at the heart of our coherent prisons policy." The Crown Office declined to disclose how many FAIs had been held from deaths at Kilmarnock prison, or the total number of FAIs for all prisons in Scotland. Serco, the private company that runs HMP Kilmarnock, confirmed there is a nurse or qualified paramedic on each night shift. A spokeswoman said: "We are not in a position to comment on the cause of death. We are waiting for the post mortem results. "We can confirm that our prison officers have first aid training, but cannot confirm that all the officers working that night had first aid training. A trained nurse was on duty that night. We are running our own internal inquiry into the death of Andrew Sorley." She refused to confirm or deny any of the details of the incident.

June 8, 2008 Sunday Mail
BOSSES at Scotland's only private jail are being taken to court after a con lost his thumb in the jail's workshop. Barry O'Pray claims they are to blame for his finger being severed by a circular saw. Serco - who run Bowhouse jail near Kilmarnock - have been charged with failing to provide adequate training and supervision for inmates. It is the first time a jail has been taken to court by the Health and Safety Executive for putting prisoners at risk. If the criminal action is successful, it is likely O'Pray will sue the jail. Serco said: "We will be defending the charges vigorously." It is thought Serco will argue O'Pray deliberately injured himself to get compensation and took painkillers before his thumb was sliced off in January 2007. They will claim he was heard on the phone after the incident saying: "It's sorted out." O'Pray - who has a string of convictions for various offences, including dishonesty - was taken to hospital but surgeons could not save his thumb. The trial will take place at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in September. Last night, O'Pray, who is in his 40s, could not be contacted for comment. A woman who now lives in his former council flat in Crosshouse, Kilmarnock, said: "The police are never away from the door looking for him. I had to write to them to say he no longer lives here." Bowhouse opened nine years ago and has been hit by a string of security and safety breaches. Remand prisoner David Martin, 20, was jailed in March for at least 24 years for killing another inmate in the jail's hospital wing last year. Prison wardens were slammed for not helping the victim while he was attacked. Last year, two senior officers were suspended - one for a relationship with a con and the other for allegedly taking bets on when an inmate with cancer would die. Two years ago, the prison was sued for £200,000 by former guard Ann Hinshelwood, who claimed she was so badly trained she locked inmates out of their cells by mistake. Seven men also committed suicide in the prison between 1999 and 2005. But an inspector recently praised Bowhouse for its accommodation and prisoners' treatment. The Government pay £130million over 25 years to have the prison run privately. It has been dubbed the Killie Hilton due to facilities such as a recording studio, gym, sports hall and football pitches. All cells have central heating and inmates are allowed their own DVD players and TVs.

April 27, 2008 Sunday Mail
A PRISONER was caught hiding a contraband mobile phone up his backside - when warders dialled the number. The cheeky inmate had no option but to surrender the handset when staff heard his ring tone. A jail insider said: "They had long suspected he had a phone but couldn't work out where he kept it. "They somehow got hold of the number and decided there was only one way of establishing if it was his. "When it rang he was bouncing off the walls and confessed." The incident at Kilmarnock jail last week comes amid revelations that Scotland's jails are flooded with illicit mobiles. Last year, 748 were found - up from 568 in 2006 and just 26 in 2002. Mobiles allow inmates to conduct crime unchecked from behind bars.

March 20, 2008 BBC
A man who murdered a fellow inmate in a "horrific" prison attack has been sentenced to at least 24 years in jail. David Martin was captured on CCTV in June 2007 as he kicked and stamped on Michael Cameron at Kilmarnock Prison. The judge said questions would be asked about why prison staff had failed to intervene, but Serco - which runs the private jail - defended its procedures. The sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh also covered Martin's killing of Gilbert Grierson in March 2006. Martin was sentenced to life after admitting murdering Mr Cameron and was told he would have to serve a minimum of 24 years before he could apply for parole. That sentence also encompasses his period of punishment for killing Mr Grierson. The 20-year-old had previously admitted culpable homicide by killing Mr Grierson, 46, with knives, scissors, a frying pan and a bottle and setting his home in Irvine on fire. His attack on Mr Cameron happened three months after Martin was remanded for killing Mr Grierson, who was his mother's former boyfriend. The incident, in Kilmarnock Prison's health wing, also saw Martin pour boiling water over his victim. Mr Cameron was on remand at the time, accused of rape. A prison officer witnessed the murder but did not intervene until re-enforcements arrived. Under prison protocol a total of three custody officers should restrain any one prisoner. Martin's lawyer, Bill McVicar, described his client as a damaged individual who had a life of breathtaking deprivation. But the judge, Lord Matthews, said Martin's background was not an excuse for his actions. "You are no stranger to violence and it will be difficult to forget the CCTV images showing what you did to Mr Cameron," he said. "I do not know what kind of warped morality made you think it was appropriate to act in that manner. "No doubt questions will be asked and I know they are already being asked about the fact that this happened in prison while staff were watching." 'Tragic occurrence' -- Serco spokesman Michael Clarke said: "There were four prisoners in the healthcare unit in a ward and there was one prison officer and one nurse in the immediate area when this horrific attack erupted. "He quite rightly called for re-enforcements before entering the ward to stop the incident and within a couple of minutes extra staff had arrived." Figures released last month by the Scottish Government showed a total of 225 prisoners had been assaulted at HMP Kilmarnock in the past seven years. Last year, 49 assaults took place - a record number.

February 22, 2008 BBC
The company running Scotland's only private jail will review the case of an inmate murdered by a fellow prisoner, but said there was no staff shortage. David Martin, 20, kicked and stamped on Michael Cameron and poured boiling water over his head, in an attack captured on CCTV. A prison officer and a nurse witnessed the attack, but the warder could not intervene until reinforcements arrived. Prison operator Serco told BBC Scotland that staff took the correct action. At the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday, Martin, on remand for murder at the time of the prison incident, admitted murdering Cameron. Another prisoner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was involved on the attack on Cameron on 16 June, 2006. The victim was on remand at the time of the attack, which took place in a four-bed cell in Kilmarnock Prison's health care wing. Serco spokesman Michael Clarke told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that Kilmarnock was a "safe" prison. "It is, however, holding some violent and unpredictable men," he said. Lessons learned -- "Although we do as much as we possibly can to minimise the chances of violence in the prison, given the nature of the people we are looking after there, we cannot guarantee that there will never be any violent incidents." Mr Clarke added: "You wouldn't have enough staff everywhere in the prison to deal with anything breaking out anywhere, because the prison is quiet at night and there was an unprovoked, unforeseeable attack in the health care unit. "Staff were called from other parts of the prison and arrived very quickly." The incident, he added, would be looked at again and assessment procedures on the supply of kettles to prisoners reviewed, to see if lessons could be learned.

February 21,  2008 BBC
A killer has admitted murdering a fellow inmate in a prison cell while on remand at HMP Kilmarnock. David Martin, 20, kicked and stamped on Michael Cameron and poured boiling water over his head, in an attack captured on CCTV. A prison officer and a nurse witnessed the attack. The warder could not intervene until reinforcements arrived. Martin was on remand for murder at the time but the Crown accepted his plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide. Another prisoner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was involved on the attack on Mr Cameron on 16 June, 2006 in a four-bed cell in HMP Kilmarnock's health wing. Mr Cameron was on remand at the time. Prison protocol -- Paul McBride QC said prison officer Craig Brennan wanted to stop the attack but was ordered by a superior not to enter the cell until reinforcements arrived. Mr Brennan's boss was concerned for the safety of his staff. Prison protocol dictates three custody officers should restrain any one prisoner. Mr McBride said after Martin had been restrained he attacked Mr Cameron again. He said the accident and emergency doctor who attended to Mr Cameron at Crosshouse Hospital had rarely seen injuries of such severity. HMP Kilmarnock is Scotland's only private prison. Serco, which runs the prison, said: "Our condolences go to Mr Cameron's family for their tragic loss. "We pay tribute to the bravery of our staff who showed real courage in restraining Martin and providing medical assistance to Mr Cameron." Figures released on Wednesday by the Scottish government showed a total of 225 prisoners had been assaulted at HMP Kilmarnock in the past seven years. Last year, 49 assaults took place - a record number.

January 6, 2008 Scotland on Sunday
SCOTLAND’S flagship private jail has emerged as the most violent in the country in a damning report by the chief inspector of prisons. Kilmarnock - which has been vaunted by the government as a blueprint for modern prisons - had the highest number of attacks on warders and the most fireraising incidents of any jail in Scotland. The report by Clive Fairweather - which has been seen by Scotland on Sunday - also reveals that Kilmarnock has the worst staff turnover in the prison service, and that a culture of fear exists among warders. Fairweather’s safety and crime prevention report reveals that in 12 months up to March 1 this year, 21 fires had been started at Kilmarnock and there were 29 assaults on staff - the highest for both categories in the prison service. It shows that prisoner discipline is the worst in any Scottish jail and that violence among inmates is rife. The report, says: "The prison was operating 13 staff under complement at the time of inspection, which was adding considerable pressure to an already difficult staffing situation." Fairweather added: "Custody officers claimed that staffing levels could at times be dangerously low, especially in ‘A’ wing and at weekends. They said that two members of staff had been assaulted over the past year, while there had also been a large number of less serious incidents. "We sensed generally that staff seemed to be even more concerned about safety than they had been a year ago (and being under complement could also have contributed to this). Examples were cited where it was impossible to arrange relief cover for toilet breaks, meaning that prisoners were left unsupervised, except by CCTV, during these periods." The findings of last month’s two-day inspection - the third since Kilmarnock opened in 1999 - are certain to embarrass ministers, who three weeks ago announced controversial plans to build a further three private jails in Scotland. Two anonymous letters, written by concerned staff at the jail and passed to Scotland on Sunday, will also add pressure on the Scottish Executive to scrap the strategy. Critics of the programme say privately operated prisons are most likely to try to save money by cutting back on staff, despite the risk that poses to warders and prisoners alike. Commercial confidentiality means the operators of private jails do not have to reveal their staffing levels. One prison officer claims in his letter that "the only reason that staff have not been seriously injured is because of the goodwill of the prisoners". It goes on: "When staff object or refuse to open wings [containing 60-80 prisoners] alone, they are pressurised by management. There are quite a lot of staff relatively new to the prison and they feel that their jobs are under threat if they do not comply. "I know for a fact that there is not enough staff to monitor all the cameras. There are two members of staff in this area to answer two telephones, operate electronic doors, communicate with radio users and deal with all alarms. It is not surprising that staff have no time to monitor wings or worksheds. "Staff feel that there have never been enough staff in the prison but this has become worse than ever and we feel that urgent action has to be taken." The other prison officer writes: "Staff shortages occur on a day-to-day basis throughout the prison. Staff regularly phone in sick due to stress. Everything the prisoners request they receive - televisions, DVDs, Game Boys, guitars, music centres, ghetto blasters. The phrase ‘inmates taking over the asylum’ comes to mind. It is about time an investigation into Kilmarnock was carried out." The revelations have angered opposition politicians and the prison officers’ union, who have branded Kilmarnock an "explosion waiting to happen". Derek Turner, assistant secretary of the Prison Officers Association Scotland, said: "A lot of things mentioned as being of concern in last year’s report have not been addressed. When you look at the number of custody officers it is no wonder that there are so many assaults against them." Michael Matheson, the SNP’s deputy justice spokesman, said: "What is extremely concerning is that the situation at Kilmarnock, which was bad last year in terms of assaults among prisoners and against staff, appears to have deteriorated further. "Given the extremely serious nature of a number of these findings, [the jail’s operators] Premier Prisons have got a lot of explaining to do. I want to have answers quickly as to what they propose to do to address the problem. It appears to be a prison that is going from bad to worse." A spokesman for Premier Prisons said: "Clive Fairweather’s report makes it clear that Kilmarnock continues to excel in many areas. There have been major reductions in staff turnover. People will use Kilmarnock as a stick to beat the Scottish Executive over the head with regards to privatisation. But they are adopting this policy so someone at the top must think that it is a good idea."

December 13, 2007 BBC
A prisoner has been found dead in his cell at Scotland's private prison, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has said. Stewart McBlain, 67, was remanded in custody on Monday and taken to HM Prison Kilmarnock while awaiting trial. Prison officers found him dead in his cell on Wednesday. It is understood he hanged himself. A spokesman for the SPS said: "Police and next of kin have now been informed and a fatal accident inquiry will be held in due course."

September 5, 3007 The Herald
Low-paid prison officers employed in the private sector are more vulnerable to the temptation of corruption, according to Kenny MacAskill. The Justice Secretary told MSPs yesterday that is one of the reasons why he does not want to see private companies running prisons. He said the only way corporations can run prisons more cheaply than the public sector is by having lower wages for staff, compromising security and morale. Appearing before Holyrood's Justice Committee, the Justice Minister disclosed the wide gulf in prisoner-warder ratios between the public sector and Kilmarnock Prison, with 4500 staff for a prison population of more than 7000, while the Ayrshire prison has 200 staff for 550 inmates. Mr MacAskill said some of that was because of the design of old prisons, and that the only saving from the private sector provision of prisons is in the wage bill: "I believe the prison officers in Scotland do an excellent job in very difficult circumstance, and I think we have to reward and treat them fairly. "I believe any strategy seeking to reduce what they are paid would not only damage them, it would damage security in our prisons." His appearance before the committee came days after the minister promised a radical shift in prison policy.

August 19, 2007 Sunday Mail
TWO senior prison officers have been suspended - one over her relationship with a con and another for allegedly taking bets on when an inmate with cancer would die. HMP Bowhouse in Kilmarnock - Scotland's only private prison - has been rocked by investigations into Wendy Hopkins and colleague Robert Crawford. Hopkins was suspended amid claims of an "inappropriate relationship" with prisoner David Goldie after she allegedly secured a job at the jail to be close to him. Crawford was sent home after being accused of running a book on when an alleged sex offender with cancer would die. Both officers deny the claims. Jail bosses told Hopkins, 28, to leave last Friday following an anonymous tip-off about her alleged closeness to Goldie before gathering their own "intelligence". Claims include she smuggled a mobile phone into his cell. But the probe will centre round a tip-off she applied for the job to be close to Goldie after he was sent there to serve a sentence for assault. An insider said: "They were said to have been in a relationship before he was banged up. "It's really bizarre - nobody has ever heard of anything like it before. "The gossip is that they were an item and when he got banged up she got herself a job here so they could be together. "There is CCTV everywhere in here so it isn't exactly the sort of thing that could be kept hidden. "She has been accused of smuggling stuff into him but bosses are staying really tight-lipped about it." At her home near Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire, the prison officer admitted she knew Goldie but denied they were in a relationship. She said: "I have been suspended but I don't even know why. "All they said was that they have received intelligence about me. Some people in the prison don't like me. I don't know what I'm supposed to have done. I am waiting for an interview. I'm gobsmacked by this." Last night a spokesman for Serco, the private firm which operates the prison, said: "As soon as this came to our attention we took action. "If there was an inappropriate relationship then that cannot be tolerated and now the disciplinary process must run its course." Goldie was transferred from Bowhouse to Greenock Prison the day before Hopkins was suspended. Insiders claim the move was linked to the probe but Hopkins said: "He was transferred because he was fighting." Prison chiefs are also investigating claims that Hopkins' colleague Crawford ran a sick sweepstake on when a terminally ill inmate would die. The prisoner is a cancer sufferer on remand as he waits to be charged with sex offences. Crawford faces disciplinary action. A prison insider said: "As in every prison, all suspected sex offenders are reviled but this bloke is on his way out and it is being taken very seriously. "Crawford was told to leave a week past Friday. He's a popular guy and everyone was shocked. But if he was caught doing this it has to go down as a bit of a stupid error. "This does the profession no good at all." At his home in a converted stable block near Kilmarnock, Crawford declined to comment. A spokesman for HM Prison Kilmarnock Bowhouse said: "An employee has been suspended pending a disciplinary investigation. It is very disappointing." The prison is dubbed the "Killie Hilton" because of soft conditions. Inmates have been given Setanta SPL football games for free and there are DVD players, TVs and videos in every cell. There are also personal trainers, gyms and officers bring inmates papers and milk in the morning.

May 26, 2007 The Scotsman
THE new Nationalist government is studying radical plans to nationalise Scotland's only privately-run prison, The Scotsman can reveal. Kenny MacAskill, the cabinet secretary for justice, has asked Executive civil servants urgently to tell him what it would cost to bring the controversial jail into the public ownership. The plan, which has been confirmed by John Swinney, the cabinet secretary for finance, comes after moves by the new government to stop the building of two new private prisons in Scotland. Mr MacAskill is looking at ways of preventing the proposed 700-capacity prison on the site of the existing Low Moss jail, near Bishopbriggs, from being run by the private sector. He has asked officials how much it would cost to buy out the contract for the Addiewell jail being built in West Lothian. Now he and his colleagues have gone a step further, asking civil servants if they can abolish private jails altogether - a longstanding policy of the SNP. The confirmation of the policy came from Mr Swinney. When asked by The Scotsman whether the SNP would try to take Kilmarnock into the Scottish Prison Service, he replied: "We have to look at what options are available to us and that's what we will do." Asked whether they would reverse the policy of the previous Labour/Lib Dem administration which supported the use of Kilmarnock as value for money, he added: "That's where I get into the ground where I would have to unpick existing arrangements." Mr MacAskill was unavailable to comment. An Executive spokeswoman confirmed that the new ministers were against private prisons. She said: "The new government has set out its commitment to a publicly-owned and run prison service." Derek Turner, the assistant secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, said: "We welcome any attempt by the SNP government to bring private prisons into the public sector." Last night, Labour, which had backed private prisons when in government, refused to reiterate its support for the policy. Margaret Curran, Labour's justice spokeswoman, said only: "Any SNP plans to bring these services back under direct public control will be scrutinised in depth by Scottish Labour. "What will be vital is that they are delivering the best possible value for the public pound, without compromising standards of delivery."

September 18, 2006 The Scotsman
A PRISON officer at Scotland's only private jail has resigned after failing a drugs test. The 32-year-old was tested after being suspected of taking the prescription tranquiliser Benzodiazepine at Kilmarnock prison. A spokesman for Serco, the jail's operator, said he resigned before action was taken against him.

August 11, 2005 BBC
Nationalist MSP Alex Neil has called on the Scottish Executive to come clean over the cost of running Scotland's only privately operated prison. The executive has always refused to give information about the cost of Kilmarnock Prison, saying that it was commercially confidential. The Scottish National Party MSP's own research suggested it costs £17,602 per prisoner per year at Kilmarnock. But that cost did not include mortgage costs for the prison building, he said. Mr Neil said: "I am writing to the auditor general for Scotland to ask him to carry out a truly independent inquiry into the costs of Kilmarnock Prison and to compare these on a like-for-like basis with the costs of running our publicly-run prisons in Scotland. He added: "Furthermore the secrecy surrounding the contract to run Kilmarnock Prison needs to be ended. "This is public money which is being wasted on a private prison, which as well as being costly to run has one of the worst performing records of any prison in Scotland."

August 6, 2005 Daily Record
A PRISON officer who claimed he was forced out of his job by smokers has lost his unfair dismissal case. Barry Cochrane said he had to resign after Kilmarnock Prison bosses failed to stop staff and inmates smoking in designated fume-free areas. The 34-year-old said prisoners and officers regularly ignored the no-smoking policy - and chiefs at the private jail turned a blind eye. The tribunal heard 97 per cent of the prison population smoke but are only allowed to light up in certain areas Cochrane, from Irvine, Ayrshire, said when he caught a prisoner smoking in the library with a woman warden, she told him: 'There are worse things a prisoner could do than smoking a cigarette.' Premier Prisons said they planned to put in an extractor system and ensure the no-smoking policy was more strictly enforced but Cochrane left before the grievance procedure ended.

June 30, 2006 The Scotsman
TWO teenage prisoners have been sent for trial charged with murdering an inmate at Scotland's only private jail. David Martin, 19, and Andrew Kiltie, 18, are accused of punching, kicking and stamping Michael Cameron, 21, to death at Kilmarnock prison on 16 June.

June 18, 2006 BBC
A 21-year-old prisoner has died following a disturbance at the privately-run Kilmarnock prison. Michael Cameron from North Ayrshire was taken to Crosshouse Hospital with serious injuries at about 2330 BST on Friday but died on Saturday morning. Two other prisoners, aged 18 and 19, have been arrested in connection with the death and are due to appear at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Monday. A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal's office.

June 18, 2006 Sunday Mail
A MURDER investigation was launched yesterday after a prisoner was beaten to death in Kilmarnock jail. The 21-year-old victim, a remand prisoner, was attacked in the hospital wing of the maximum security private prison late on Friday night. He was taken to Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, where he later died from multiple injuries. Two teenage prisoners were arrested yesterday and charged with his murder. Both are expected to appear at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court tomorrow on the murder charge. A police spokeswoman confirmed last night: "A 21-year-old man has died following an incident within HM Prison Kilmarnock. The prisoner sustained serious injuries following a disturbance at around 11.20pm on Friday. "A report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal. "Two men aged 18 and 19 have been arrested and are presently detained in custody in connection with the death." Police said that the dead man would not be identified until relatives had been informed.

September 14, 2005 The Herald
RELIANCE, the private security firm criticised over a series of prisoner escapes, has lost the multi-million pound contract for tagging offenders in Scotland. The initial £14m deal was awarded to Reliance Monitoring in January 2002 before being extended for a further 12 months, worth £8m, earlier this year. However, Serco, the com-pany which runs Scotland's only private prison, has now been awarded preferred bidder status for the tender to operate electronic monitoring on teenage and adult offenders from next April until 2011. The Scottish Executive is expected to make an official announcement next month. Critics believe the monitoring firm lost favour after its sister company, Reliance Custodial Services, took over prisoner escort responsibilities in April 2004. Just days into the seven-year £126m contract's roll-out, the firm allowed a number of prisoners to escape, including James McCormick, a convicted killer who was aged 17. The decision to award the contract to Serco is also expected to prove controversial. Serco owns Premier Custodial Services, the firm which runs Kilmarnock prison, and was rebuked earlier this year following claims of staff shortages and negligence. A BBC reporter found evidence that warders failed to carry out suicide checks, despite six suicides at the jail in a five-year period. The programme also claimed that officers failed to report offences, including heroin use, which would attract a fine, to protect the income of the jail's operator. The screening of Prison Undercover: The Real Story led to three staff being removed from their duties and an internal investigation by Premier. A fatal accident inquiry earlier this year into the suicide of an inmate at the prison in 2002 was highly critical of failures to monitor him. Premier said a number of improvements had already been introduced.

August 11, 2005 BBC
Nationalist MSP Alex Neil has called on the Scottish Executive to come clean over the cost of running Scotland's only privately operated prison. The executive has always refused to give information about the cost of Kilmarnock Prison, saying that it was commercially confidential. The Scottish National Party MSP's own research suggested it costs £17,602 per prisoner per year at Kilmarnock. But that cost did not include mortgage costs for the prison building, he said. Mr Neil said: "I am writing to the auditor general for Scotland to ask him to carry out a truly independent inquiry into the costs of Kilmarnock Prison and to compare these on a like-for-like basis with the costs of running our publicly-run prisons in Scotland. He added: "Furthermore the secrecy surrounding the contract to run Kilmarnock Prison needs to be ended. "This is public money which is being wasted on a private prison, which as well as being costly to run has one of the worst performing records of any prison in Scotland."

August 6, 2005 Daily Record
A PRISON officer who claimed he was forced out of his job by smokers has lost his unfair dismissal case. Barry Cochrane said he had to resign after Kilmarnock Prison bosses failed to stop staff and inmates smoking in designated fume-free areas. The 34-year-old said prisoners and officers regularly ignored the no-smoking policy - and chiefs at the private jail turned a blind eye. The tribunal heard 97 per cent of the prison population smoke but are only allowed to light up in certain areas Cochrane, from Irvine, Ayrshire, said when he caught a prisoner smoking in the library with a woman warden, she told him: 'There are worse things a prisoner could do than smoking a cigarette.' Premier Prisons said they planned to put in an extractor system and ensure the no-smoking policy was more strictly enforced but Cochrane left before the grievance procedure ended.

August 11, 2005 BBC
Nationalist MSP Alex Neil has called on the Scottish Executive to come clean over the cost of running Scotland's only privately operated prison. The executive has always refused to give information about the cost of Kilmarnock Prison, saying that it was commercially confidential. The Scottish National Party MSP's own research suggested it costs £17,602 per prisoner per year at Kilmarnock. But that cost did not include mortgage costs for the prison building, he said. Mr Neil said: "I am writing to the auditor general for Scotland to ask him to carry out a truly independent inquiry into the costs of Kilmarnock Prison and to compare these on a like-for-like basis with the costs of running our publicly-run prisons in Scotland. He added: "Furthermore the secrecy surrounding the contract to run Kilmarnock Prison needs to be ended. "This is public money which is being wasted on a private prison, which as well as being costly to run has one of the worst performing records of any prison in Scotland."

August 6, 2005 Daily Record
A PRISON officer who claimed he was forced out of his job by smokers has lost his unfair dismissal case. Barry Cochrane said he had to resign after Kilmarnock Prison bosses failed to stop staff and inmates smoking in designated fume-free areas. The 34-year-old said prisoners and officers regularly ignored the no-smoking policy - and chiefs at the private jail turned a blind eye. The tribunal heard 97 per cent of the prison population smoke but are only allowed to light up in certain areas Cochrane, from Irvine, Ayrshire, said when he caught a prisoner smoking in the library with a woman warden, she told him: 'There are worse things a prisoner could do than smoking a cigarette.' Premier Prisons said they planned to put in an extractor system and ensure the no-smoking policy was more strictly enforced but Cochrane left before the grievance procedure ended.

July 21, 2005 Daily Record
A PRISON officer claims he was forced to quit his job because he was constantly subjected to passive smoking.  Barry Cochrane, 34, said bosses at Kilmarnock Prison failed to enforce their smoking policy, leaving him exposed to tobacco fumes.  He claimed his health suffered and he had no option but to walk out.  Mr Cochrane is now suing Scotland's only private prison, claiming constructive and unfair dismissal.  A tribunal in Glasgow yesterday heard that 97 per cent of inmates smoked, but it was only allowed in certain parts of the Ayrshire jail.  Mr Cochrane, from Irvine, claimed prisoners often lit up elsewhere, with staff turning a blind eye. He also said other officers defied the rules.  Mr Cochrane added: 'I got headaches, sore eyes, stress due to grief from prisoners.

May 21, 2005 BBC
A prison guard suspended over allegations that he disguised himself as an inmate to try to get methadone has resigned. The 22-year-old was working at Kilmarnock Prison in Ayrshire, Scotland's only private jail. He is alleged to have gone with a group of prisoners who were due to receive the heroin substitute. Jail operators Premier Custodial Services said inquiries into the incident would continue. It is understood the officer was stopped by a nurse before he reached the head of the queue and claimed his actions had been intended as a joke. He was immediately suspended from duty. Kilmarnock Prison was embroiled in controversy earlier this year when three members of staff were removed from normal duties after an undercover BBC investigation claimed that staff ignored heroin abuse and failed to monitor vulnerable inmates.

May 20, 2005 BBC
A guard has been suspended after claims that he disguised himself as a prisoner and joined a queue for methadone at Scotland's private prison. He is alleged to have gone with a group of prisoners who were due to receive the heroin substitute at Kilmarnock Prison in Ayrshire. The 22-year-old was stopped before he reached the head of the queue. He claimed his actions had been intended as a joke but was immediately suspended from duty. A spokesman for the operators, Premier Custodial Services, confirmed that a member of staff had been suspended following "allegations of a breach of disciplinary procedure". Kilmarnock Prison was embroiled in controversy earlier this year when three members of staff were removed from normal duties after claims of malpractice in an undercover BBC investigation. Prison chiefs launched an inquiry into allegations that staff ignored heroin abuse and failed to monitor vulnerable inmates despite six suicides at the jail in the past five years.

May 1, 2005 Sunday Mail
A PRISONER has won £1500 compensation from jail bosses - for slicing his thumb in a prison workshop. Now Andrew Halliday, 48, is suing them again - for letting him fall out of his bunk bed. Halliday, 48, who is blind in one eye, is complaining that they made him sleep in a top bunk.  Controversial £130million Kilmarnock Prison came under fire after a BBC documentary led to three staff being removed from duty. The report said prison officers missed suicide checks on vulnerable inmates. Seven men have killed themselves at the prison since 1999.

April 26, 2005 Evening Times
CHILDREN are regularly held in Scotland's only private jail, a report revealed today. Last year five youngsters aged 15 spent up to a week in Kilmarnock Prison, although not at the same time. Andrew McLellan, Chief Inspector of Prisons, who published the report, said there were good reasons to believe children should not be kept in adult jails. He added: "Whenever I find children under 16 in a prison I condemn it. "There is no reason to believe they are not treated properly, but there are very good reasons to believe children should not be in prison. Prison is no place for a child." Last year Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson commissioned research to investigate the problem and the Executive has vowed to increase the number of secure unit places by 40. The report also found that Kilmarnock, which is run by Premier Prisons and has had a controversial history since it opened in 1999, had lower staffing levels and a higher turnover of officers than Scottish Prison Service jails. It also noted educational opportunities were "impoverished" and criticised the standard of food. The lack of proper provision for basic education for adult inmates was very serious, said Mr McLellan and, despite a budget considerably greater than that in SPS prisons, the food was not good. Staffing at the jail was "considerably less than at other large jails". The report said: "Kilmarnock has a total number of staff which is 80 to 120 less than the total number of staff at Edinburgh or Perth prisons, which are frequently compared to Kilmarnock in terms of size and function."

April 26, 2005 BBC
Management at Kilmarnock Prison should take "urgent steps" to provide better numeracy and literacy courses for inmates, a report has said.  The chief inspector of prisons, Dr Andrew McLellan, also said that staffing at Scotland's only private jail remained a matter of concern.  Last month three members of staff at the Ayrshire prison, which is run by Premier Custodial Services, were removed from normal duties after claims of malpractice in an undercover BBC investigation. Prison chiefs launched an inquiry into allegations that staff turned a blind eye to heroin abuse and failed to monitor vulnerable inmates despite six suicides at the jail in the past five years. Premier Prison Services also hit the headlines recently after it was blamed at a fatal accident inquiry for the suicide of a vulnerable prisoner in the jail.  Dr McLellan also expressed concern about the "high proportion" of inexperienced employees. On the issue of educating offenders, Dr McLellan said: "The provision of learning is impoverished - the lack of proper provision for basic education in reading, writing and counting is very serious." The current failure to deliver basic skills of numeracy and literacy during the day should be addressed as a "matter of urgency". The BBC documentary filmed officers turning a blind eye to drugs and alcohol use. It also found some prisoners on suicide watch were not checked regularly. The Prison Officers Association Scotland, which is not recognised at Kilmarnock, said the BBC's Real Story documentary "appeared to uncover significant failings" at the jail. Last month a sheriff ruled that James Barclay, 30, was able to hang himself at Kilmarnock Prison because of the failure of guards to keep watch on the "at risk" inmate. The remand prisoner died on 11 January, 2002, at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, after he was found hanging in his cell the previous day.

April 24, 2005 Sunday Herald
CALLS for Scotland’s chief inspector of prisons to resign have been made ahead of the long-awaited publication of a report into Kilmarnock jail. Senior prison sources have told the Sunday Herald that the inspection report by Dr Andrew McLellan will “largely praise” HMP Bowhouse, the country’s only private prison, despite allegations that staff have been falsifying documents to show that suicide watches had been carried out when they had not. The allegations were raised in an undercover BBC documentary last month that led to three staff being removed from duty and prompted an investigation by the jail’s operator, Premier Custodial Services. In addition to the claims that warders failed to carry out suicide checks, despite six suicides at the jail in five years, the programme alleged that staff refused to report offences which would attract a fine for Premier. McLellan, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland, inspected the prison in October last year, the week before the BBC began filming . But despite growing pressure on him to re-inspect the prison and investigate the allegations, McLellan refused to do so. Alex Neil, the nationalist MSP for Central Scotland, who called for a police investigation after the BBC programme was screened, condemned McLellan’s refusal to go back into the jail and the decision to release the report inside Kilmarnock prison. He said: “The chief inspector of prisons is in danger of becoming a cheerleader for Premier, rather than an independent entity. “If this report is glowing, it will give evidence of a co- ordinated conspiracy to hide the facts about Kilmarnock prison. McLellan has already shown that he is not up to the job. He sat on this report for weeks and should resign.”

March 24, 2005 Scotsman
A CONVICTED murderer claimed to a court yesterday that the carrying of knives by inmates of Scotland’s only private jail was "commonplace". James O’Rourke, 34, made the allegation as he was jailed for eight years for stabbing a senior manager at Kilmarnock Prison and, in a separate incident, wounding a Reliance security guard in a court. Gary Allan, O’Rourke’s counsel, told the judge, Lady Paton, that severe criticisms had been levelled recently at Kilmarnock Prison’s management, adding: "The instructions I have is that the place is a shambles and that the carrying of knives among prisoners is commonplace." The High Court in Edinburgh heard yesterday that in June last year, when O’Rourke was being held in Kilmarnock Prison, he assaulted Michael Guy, the assistant prison director, and stabbed him with a piece of metal. It was said that O’Rourke had blamed Mr Guy for the withdrawal of privileges and for being kept in solitary confinement. The attack on Allan Dickson, a Reliance officer, took place on 23 November in Parliament House, Edinburgh, where the Court of Criminal Appeal was hearing an appeal by O’Rourke against his murder conviction. It was ultimately rejected. Judge Paton said she took into account that O’Rourke had pleaded guilty to the two assaults, but added: "Officers carrying out duties in connection with the administration of justice are entitled to the protection of the courts." On Tuesday, the management of Kilmarnock Prison was criticised by a sheriff at an inquiry into the death of an inmate who hanged himself in his cell. Earlier this month, a BBC documentary alleged that staff at the prison ignored drug abuse and failed to monitor vulnerable inmates.

March 23, 2005 Daily Record
A SHERIFF yesterday slammed Scotland's only private prison after an inmate hanged himself while on suicide watch. James Barclay, 30, was found dying in his cell at Kilmarnock Prison in January 2002. Kilmarnock sheriff Colin McKay's fatal accident inquiry report blamed the death on the officers who were on duty - and owners Premier Prison Services. He said rules for prisoners on suicide watch were 'routinely ignored' and 'there were no systems in place to alert senior management to these failures'. Sheriff McKay added: 'When the failures were patent, management ignored them. 'The prison guards simply failed to comply with a specific requirement of their shift.' The two guards blamed, Kevin Beck and Gordon Kelso, have since been sacked. Last night, SNP MSP Alex Neil said: 'The Scottish Prison Service should immediately bring the jail under direct control.'

March 20, 2005 Sunday Herald
THE crisis surrounding Kilmarnock Prison deepened last night after demands were made for a police investigation into the running of Scotland’s only private jail. Nationalist MSP Alex Neil, a fierce critic of the prison since it opened in 1999, called for the chief constable of Strathclyde police, Willie Rae, to order an investigation into allegations raised earlier this month in an undercover BBC documentary. The allegations included drug trafficking, drug abuse and the falsifying of information relating to suicide watches. Neil has written to Rae demanding to know what action will be taken “with a view to bringing the perpetrators of any crime within Kilmarnock Prison to justice”. He is also to submit a parliamentary question this week to Lord Advocate Colin Boyd, Scotland’s senior law officer, to request his assistance in launching a criminal investigation into claims that prison staff tampered with jail records showing they had been carrying out suicide watches when they had not. Neil, SNP MSP for Central Scotland, said: “Falsifying records on suicide watch is a criminal offence. I want the police to investigate that and bring those responsible of wrongdoing to justice. Whoever authorised the falsifying of records has committed a criminal offence in my view.” A BBC reporter found evidence that warders failed to carry out suicide checks , despite six suicides at the jail in five years. The programme also claimed that officers failed to report offences – including heroin use – which would attract a fine, to protect the income of the jail’s operator, Premier Custodial Services.

March 16, 2005 Scotsman
CALLS for the immediate suspension of a private firm’s contract to run Kilmarnock prison were rejected by Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, yesterday. Three members of staff have been removed from normal duties after allegations of malpractice in an undercover BBC report. Prison chiefs have launched an inquiry into claims that staff at Scotland’s only private jail turned a blind eye to heroin abuse and failed to monitor vulnerable inmates - despite six suicides there in the past five years. Alex Neil, an SNP MSP for Central Scotland, called for the immediate suspension of Premier Custodial Services’ contract to run the jail. "The BBC documentary totally vindicates all the allegations I have been making for six years that the management of this prison is disastrous," he said. Kenny MacAskill, the SNP’s justice spokesman, said the documentary dealt a serious blow to Executive plans for at least one more private prison. "They should bring all of our prison service back into public control," he said. The BBC journalist Steve Allen, who worked as a prison officer at the jail, said he filmed evidence of officers falsifying paperwork to show suicide watches had been undertaken when they had not. Last night Phil Edwards, the chief operating officer for Premier Custodial Group, admitted the footage was "disturbing" and showed "unacceptable behaviour" by prison guards. But speaking on BBC Scotland’s Newsnight Scotland he insisted the company encourages all prison guards to report drug use.

March 14, 2005 Scotsman
LOTHIANS MSP Fiona Hyslop today called for plans to create a privately built and run prison in West Lothian to be scrapped following the shocking revelations of a TV documentary. Ms Hyslop said the Scottish Executive should abandon proposals for the controversial prison near Addiewell after a BBC programme last week highlighted a series of failures at a private Ayrshire facility. The 700-cell prison in the Lothians is expected to be completed by 2007 at a cost of £65 million. An undercover reporter for Real Story filmed officers at Kilmarnock allegedly turning a blind eye to the use of drugs and alcohol. The programme also claimed that warders failed to carry out suicide checks and cell searches - despite six suicides in the past five years. Scottish Prison Service spokesman Tom Fox voiced "real concerns" about the allegations, while the Prison Officers’ Association said it had been making similar accusations since Scotland’s only privately-run jail opened. Ms Hyslop said: "Private prisons fail the public, fail the officers and fail the prisoners who are at risk of self harm. "I hope the Executive takes on board the revelations and takes steps to rule out the private sector managing at the prison in Addiewell."

March 13, 2005 Scotsman
THE former chief inspector of prisons has launched a blistering attack on ministers, accusing them of failing to take action to prevent suicides in Scotland’s only private jail. Clive Fairweather said he was "shocked" the Scottish Executive had not ordered inspectors into Kilmarnock Prison after a BBC documentary alleged that staff failed to carry out suicide watches. Two years ago, as a direct result of a television programme which revealed young offenders taking drugs on the controversial Airborne Initiative, the Executive sent a social work inspection team into the boot camp immediately. A year later it closed Airborne down. Premier Custodial Group, which runs Kilmarnock Prison, has launched an internal investigation but Fairweather said that was insufficient. Fairweather, who lost his job as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland after criticising the country’s jails, said: " If a documentary like this indicates that suicide watches are being falsified, there must surely be immediate action by the authorities, or do ministers not feel that there’s any urgency because it’s only prisoners’ lives?" Fairweather singled out justice minister Cathy Jamieson and her deputy, Hugh Henry, for criticism. An Executive spokeswoman said the current prisons inspector, Dr Andrew McLellan, carried out an inspection at Kilmarnock just days before the BBC investigation began. She added: "He takes the allegations seriously but he thinks the right thing to do is complete and publish his report in the spring."

March 10, 2005 IRR News
Campaign groups calling for a public inquiry into the treatment of immigration detainees have revealed that thirty-five cases of alleged assault have been referred to solicitors. The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC), the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF), and the Campaign To Stop Arbitrary Detentions at Yarl's Wood (SADY) have revealed details of over thirty-five cases referred to four solicitors' firms (Birnberg Peirce & Co, Hickman & Rose, Christian Khan, Harrison Bundey). Most of the cases involve allegations of abuse at the airport or in transit to the airport. In at least six of the thirty-five cases, the detainee was eventually removed. Two female victims of these 'successful' removals say they needed hospital treatment in their country of origin, as a result of injuries sustained in the deportation process. At a press conference held outside the Home Office on the day after the BBC broadcast Asylum Undercover (a disturbing television programme showing detention custody officers abusing detainees and boasting about assaults) NCADC, CARF and SADY called for a full public inquiry into the conditions of immigration detention in the UK. The Asylum Undercover investigation centred on Oakington Reception Centre and 'in-country escorting' of detainees, exposing the abuse of asylum seekers behind the closed doors of the immigration 'detention estate'. In one of the most shocking parts of the programme, a custody officer described 'taping up' the skirt of an obviously scared female asylum seeker who was defecating through fear during her deportation. (The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that refusal to allow a detainee who has soiled herself to change her clothes is inhuman and degrading treatment) Global Solutions Ltd (GSL), formerly Group 4, which runs Oakington Reception Centre, commented in a press release after the programme that there was 'shock and dismay throughout our company at the scenes of racist and abusive language and behaviour by some staff at Oakington detention centre and in-country escorting'. The company said it was now carrying out a full investigation with the assistance of a team of former senior police officers. It was also conducting a review of management and supervisory systems, recruitment, vetting, training and monitoring. 'If there are systemic or individual failings, they will be addressed,' it stated. 'Furthermore, if these investigations reveal that any offence has been committed by any of our staff, the police will be notified.' GSL and Group 4 have come under the spot-light before. In 1998, during the trial of nine men following a disturbance, detention officers at Campsfield (then run by Group 4) were found to have lied and destroyed property at the centre and then blamed detainees. Group 4 also ran Yarl's Wood Removal Centre, Bedford, which, in February 2002, was burnt down during a disturbance triggered by the restraint of a Nigerian female detainee. And, in December 2003, Yarl's Wood was the subject of a Daily Mirror report which exposed racism and abuse at the centre. In the subsequent inquiry into the Daily Mirror allegations, Prisons Ombudsman Stephen Shaw said 'these were startling and hugely worrying allegations. If true, they would have called into question not just the management of Yarl's Wood ... but the fitness of the contractor (GSL) to run any removal centre ... in this country'. He found that most of the things alleged in the article had happened, but decided that there was 'not a culture of abuse, racism and violence'. However he did recommend that the Home Office investigate the allegations about mistreatment of detainees. Emma Ginn, of NCADC, told IRR News: 'Stephen Shaw is now conducting a third inquiry into a GSL run removal/reception centre. When will the government learn? GSL appears to have retained its contracts to run Yarl's Wood, Tinsley House, Campsfield House, and Oakington. It was awarded a huge contract, of undisclosed value, to design, build and manage a 750-bed Accommodation Centre at Bicester, just thirty days after publication of the inquiry into the Mirror allegations. GSL was also a partner in the design and build of Yarl's Wood, which was described in the Prison Ombudsman inquiry into the fire, as "astonishingly flimsy" and "not fit for the purpose". This does not fill us with great confidence.'

March 10, 2005 The Herald
MINISTERS were urged last night to ban the private sector from staffing Scottish prisons after a BBC documentary claimed that the Premier group's running of Kilmarnock jail amounted to a catalogue of neglect. Premier, which has managed Scotland's only private prison to date since 1999, confirmed yesterday that it also wanted to build and run a new 700-cell jail at Low Moss, near Kirkintilloch. However, after secret filming at Kilmarnock suggested over-stretched staff were ignoring heroin use and failing to carry out suicide watches, the SNP said Premier's 25-year deal there should be terminated and future work kept in the public sector. Kenny MacAskill, SNP justice spokesman, said: "Rather than follow a failed Tory policy, the Scottish Executive should bring all of our prison service back into public control now. Public safety is too important an issue to be at the whim of private profit." Premier's per capita spending on prisoners is less than half that of the public sector, mainly because of the heavy use of electronic security. The row renewed the pressure on Cathy Jamieson, justice minister, who was under attack for much of last year over Reliance's botched start to the privatised prisoner escort service. According to the documentary, Prison Undercover – the Real Story, staff at Kilmarnock were put in charge of large numbers of violent prisoners with little training or back-up. They were also said to have ignored offences which meant fines for Premier and could have jeopardised pay rises; turned a blind eye to drug abuse to curry favour with inmates; and failed to conduct suicide watches, despite six suicides in five years. The prison's director also failed to ask for details when told that staff had falsified suicide watch logs.

March 9, 2005 Scotsman
THREE prison officers have been suspended from normal duties at Scotland’s only private prison amid allegations that staff failed to carry out suicide watches despite seven deaths in the last six years , it emerged last night. A BBC investigation, Prison Undercover: The Real Story, into Kilmarnock prison also claimed officers turned a blind eye to drug taking, and allowed prisoners wide screen satellite televisions and Playstations in their cells. The programme to be aired tonight shows staff allegedly falsifying suicide watch forms in the prison when checks have been missed. The staff claim checks are skipped because of staffing shortages. Relatives of those who died were said to be "horrified" at the evidence. Myra Mulholland, the sister of one inmate who has died there in the last six years, told the BBC: "It is not just a record you are falsifying, it is people’s lives you are playing with, people who could die as a result of this." Since opening six years ago seven prisoners have killed themselves. Two Premier officers were sacked in 2002 after checks were missed and a prisoner found hanged. Premier Custodial Group, the company running the prison, was unavailable for comment last night. In a statement issued to the BBC, the firm said Kilmarnock was a "well run and safe" prison where staff and prisoner relations were good. "Premier treats any alleged breach of procedure very seriously," the statement said.

March 5, 2005 Sunday Mail
A BBC reporter posing as a prison officer ended up battling convicts in a jail riot. Using the name Steve Allen and false references he landed a job at Scotland's only private prison at Kilmarnock. The reporter from BBC's Real Story worked at the jail for three months and gathered hundreds of hours of film from secret cameras. Prison officers are allegedly heard making brutal comments about prisoners who have killed themselves and those on suicide watch. The prison has been repeatedly rapped at recent fatal accident inquiries into suicides. In the film, warders are allegedly heard encouraging violence and falsifying logs. The one-hour documentary, to be shown on BBC1 at 9pm on Wednesday, is expected to reveal huge security breaches and poor conditions for staff and inmates. A BBC spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm that our reporter was involved in a riot and he fulfilled his duties as a prison officer.' SNP shadow justice minister Kenny McAskill demanded a full public inquiry into the £130million privatised prison run by Premier Security. And Derek Turner, of the Scottish Prison Officers Association, said: 'A public inquiry into this place is long overdue.' Premier said: 'We have commenced an investigation based on some of allegations already raised by the BBC.'

January 14, 2005 Ayrshire.co.uk
A 40-year-old man has been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with an alleged indecent assault on a teenager inside Kilmarnock Prison. It’s understood that the 17-year-old ‘victim’, who has learning difficulties, was allegedly attacked in the private prison’s medical wing.

January 9, 2005 Sunday Mail
 CLAIMS that a teenager with learning difficulties was raped in Scotland's private prison are being investigated. The 17-year-old was allegedly grabbed, gagged and attacked in the medical wing of Kilmarnock Prison last month. A police spokeswoman said: 'A 40-year-old man is the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal in connection with an alleged indecent assault on a 17-year-old at Kilmarnock Prison.' Insiders say prisoner rape is rife among drug dealers in the jail, where murderers, rapists and paedophiles have CD players and colour TVs in their cells. There have been other attacks at the jail. Two warders were charged last month for sexually assaulting a female member of staff. Last year two managers were sacked - one for sexual harassment of a female member of staff, the other for theft. And a female tutor was sacked for allegedly having an 'inappropriate relationship' with a prisoner.

December 12, 2004 Sunday Mail
TWO warders at Scotland's only private prison have been suspended after being accused of sex offences against a female colleague. Stephen Blake, 35, and Jim Hume, 43, who were in charge of the jail workshop, were escorted from Kilmarnock Prison. It is alleged that the pair were involved in an incident on November 24 at the controversial £130million PFI prison run by Premier Security Services. It is understood a distressed female staff member made a complaint and called police. It is the latest controversy at the jail, where cons get a number of controversial 'perks'. There have also been a number of dismissals.

December 10, 2004 Evening Times
PRISON chiefs were today probing a riot at Scotland's only private jail last night when up to 40 inmates went on the rampage.  Several small fires were lit, a communal room was destroyed and attempts were made to flood the prison in Kilmarnock during the incident. Thousands of pounds of damage is thought to have been caused after electrical equipment, including televisions, were smashed. Rebel prisoners only failed to flood the jail after frantic staff switched off water supplies. The riot happened when prisoners refused to return to their cells in E wing, which houses short-term inmates who are serving less than four years for repeat offences such as theft and minor assaults.  The riot happened six months after five prisoners appeared in court charged with causing a major disturbance during which an officer was injured.

November 28, 2004 Sunday Mail
A PROBE is underway at Scotland's only private prison after two staff were suspended. Two Kilmarnock jail workshop employees are being investigated by police and prison chiefs following an incident of 'inappropriate behaviour'. A spokesman for Premier Prison Services confirmed two staff were suspended on Friday afternoon following a 'one-off incident' but denied claims it was drugs-related.

November 19, 2004 IC Ayshire
A SHERIFF has condemned Scotland's only private jail for breaches of rules and staff shortages after the suicide of a vulnerable prisoner. Sheriff Thomas Croan said it was the “good fortune” of an assistant director at Kilmarnock Prison that she has escaped personal responsibility for Gordon Mulholland's death. He also criticised the failure to keep Mr Mulholland’s personal records with him, which would have alerted staff that he was on suicide watch. He had already vowed to kill himself, saying it “only took a couple of minutes”. Ironically, the only individual to be praised by Sheriff Croan was a prisoner who cut down his fellow inmate’s hanging body and tried to revive him, as the warder who falsely claimed to have checked on him stood by in hysterics. Erica Prueffer, who was then assistant director of health care at Kilmarnock Prison, sent him to the prison wing instead of returning him to the health centre where he had been kept under observation, despite rules stating a case conference should have been held first. Prison officer Donna McNeill admitted falsifying a log by claiming she made a half-hourly check on Mr Mulholland at around the time he hanged himself after being left alone for about an hour. Ms McNeil, who underwent refresher training two weeks before the death, was in hysterics and made no attempt to revive Mr Mulholland. She was eventually asked to leave while others, including prisoner Brian Rees, took over.

October 4, 2004 Daily Record
VITAL security doors at Scotland's only private prison don't shut properly, the Record can reveal. Sliding doors used to seal wings at Kilmarnock jail have had to be filed down after wardens had trouble locking them. Bosses have called in engineers to fix the problem, but work won't start until next year. A jail insider said yesterday: 'To think we can't lock security doors properly is ridiculous. We've got some of the worst criminals in Scotland here.' The source blamed subsidence at the £130million prison for making some wing doors jam instead of closing fully. Stevenson claimed: 'This is a botched job from when the prison was built - as with so many PFI-funded projects.' The American company who run the jail, Premier Prison Services, have hired structural engineers to find away to repair the damage and prevent more problems. Two years ago, it emerged that the prison had received£700,000 in subsidies from the taxpayer while Premier Prison Services were making huge profits. Kilmarnock also has the worst discipline record of all Scots jails. There were 3634 recorded offences and serious rule infringements at the prison in 2001.The next worst jail, Perth, had 1475.

October 3, 2004 Sunday Mail
A GREEDY prison warder has been forced to quit after being caught nicking dozens of chocolate bars from the cons' subsidised tuck shop. Chocoholic Colin Duff, 55, was rumbled after being captured on CCTV cameras installed after bosses launched a probe into missing treats such as Mars Bars. Shamed Duff resigned after being called in by bosses at troubled Kilmarnock Prison. An insider at the jail - dubbed the Killie Hilton because of the cushy lifestyle led by prisoners - said: 'We knew the prison was full of thieves but we thought they were behind bars.' Last night, at his home in Crosshouse, Ayrshire, Duff said: 'I don't want to talk about it. I have nothing to say.' Two weeks ago, the Sunday Mail revealed two warders were under investigation over prisoners' jewellery that had gone missing. A probe is under way over an alleged £20,000 theft of prisoners' effects.

September 24, 2004 IC Ayrshire
AN INMATE at Kilmarnock Prison told Bowhouse staff he knew that he was going to die, an inquiry heard last week. Stuart Williams, 44, was already under medical supervision when he was found unconscious in his cell just three days into a five month sentence. He was taken by ambulance to Crosshouse Hospital where doctors were unable to save him. He died from fluid in the lungs and toxic effects of the drug dihydrocodeine, although it emerged he already had a heart condition.

September 18, 2004 Sunday Mail
SCOTLAND'S only private jail is fined £17,000 every time a prisoner is violent or is caught with drugs. The discovery of a mobile phone attracts an £8000 fine. But critics fear the penalties imposed on Premier Security Services, who manage Kilmarnock Jail, may stop them exposing rule-breaking. Last week, the Sunday Mail revealed the prison has been dubbed the 'Killie Hilton' as prisoners get pay-per-view Setanta TV and newspapers and milk is delivered to cells. West of Scotland MSP Bruce McFee warned: 'The operators may be discouraged from being zealous over drugs and weapons because of restrictions in their contract.' Premier, who make £1million a year from the jail, said: 'We have a requirement to report a multitude of activities and are diligent in ensuring this is done.'

September 12, 2004 Sunday Mail
Inmates at Scotland's only private prison have been given free Setanta TV.  Ordinary punters who want to watch live Scottish Premier League football on the satellite channel pay £450 a year. But at cushy Kilmarnock Prison - dubbed the Killie Hilton - inmates can watch for free in one of eight viewing suites. The deal was thrashed out at a meeting of the Prisoner Information and Activities Committee between managers and inmates.  Cons were told they could get free milk and a free paper delivered to their cells by warders each morning. A senior officer told the Sunday Mail: 'If people knew what goes on in here they would be queuing up to get in. What goes on in here really is an insult to law-abiding Scots. We're supposed to quietly place the milk and papers at the sink areas for when they get up for their breakfast and we're not allowed to wake them up.'  The prison pays around £1000 a month for Setanta.  The senior officer said: 'It's sickening to think hardened criminals are treated better than war heroes and pensioners who can't even afford to properly heat their homes, never mind subscribe to Setanta.  'There aren't many warders who can afford Setanta in their own homes either.' Managers from Premier Prison Services, who run the jail, hold meetings with inmates about conditions every week.  Critics believe Premier have given too many rights to prisoners because they want to avoid the huge Government fines imposed on them if there are riots.  According to insiders, an internal investigation is underway over the alleged disappearance of £30,000 worth of prisoners' jewellery and personal effects following the sacking of two warders.

KILMARNOCK'S private prison - the only one in Scotland - has had a troubled and violent history since it opened in 1999.  In the last two years alone there has been a constant stream of reports of turmoil at the jail.  July 2004 - Raymond Talent, 47, of Rutherglen, near Glasgow, choked to death on his vomit in the prison.  June 2004 - Killer James O'Rourke stabbed a prison boss in the stomach.  February 2004 - Claims are made that sex offenders in the jail's H-block are swapping child porn on CDs.  January 2004 - Inmates go berserk and smash up their cells, forcing warders to call in negotiators to restore calm.  January 2003 - Prisoners set fire to a pool table and refuse to return to their cells during a protest.  January 2003 - Four warders are hospitalised after an attack by a convict.  March 2002 - Prisoner David Ballantyne, 22, attacks another inmate with a hammer in a vicious assault.  (The Mirror, August 11, 2004)

Two ex-prison officers from Scotland's only private jail have been sentenced for planting heroin on an inmate.  David Allen, 44, of East Kilbride, a former supervisor at Kilmarnock Prison, was jailed for two years for attempting to pervert the course of justice.  He was sentenced alongside John Robertson, 26, of Auhinleck, Ayrshire, who received 300 hours' community service for helping to plant the drugs.  (BBC, August 10, 2004)

A SHERIFF has condemned Scotland's only private prison over gaps in the medical records of a prisoner found dead in his cell.  In his written report following a fatal accident inquiry in Kilmarnock, Sheriff Seith Ireland said there should be a system to ensure the accuracy of records was audited so that errors could be identified.  Raymond Talent, 47,of Rutherglen, near Glasgow, choked to death on his vomit at Kilmarnock prison.  Talent, who was taking medication for epilepsy, had not been examined by a medical officer after his transfer to Kilmarnock from Barlinnie. He had also been givem methadone but this had not been entered on his medical records.  Sheriff Ireland said the Scottish Executive and Premier Prison Services, who run the jail, should ensure staff are 'advised of the importance of meticulous record-keeping'.  (Daily Record, July 19, 2004)

AN East Kilbride prison officer could find himself behind bars after being convicted by a High Court jury of attempting to pervert the course of justice.  St Leonards man David Allen, 44, was accused, along with Ayrshire colleague John Robertson, of hiding heroin in the belongings of Steven Little at Kilmarnock's Bowhouse Prison -- which is Scotland's only private jail -- and putting the prisoner at risk of prosecution.  Allen denied the charge but on Tuesday 26-year-old Robertson, of Auchinleck, dramatically changed his plea to guilty, claiming 'Dai' Allen, who was his supervising officer, had ordered him to stash the drug in a bag of medication belonging to Little.  A short time later the jury at the High Court in Kilmarnock retired to consider the evidence and returned with a verdict on Allen of guilty.  (Court Reporter, July 14, 2004)

PRISON officers at Scotland's only private jail planted drugs on an inmate, a court heard yesterday.  Warder James Callaghan claimed that his boss told him to hand over a suspected heroin wrap found on a prisoner at Kilmarnock's Bowhouse jail.  Supervisor Dai Allen said it "could be used to get another inmate or con with", the High Court at Kilmarnock heard.  A package found later during a cell search looked "very similar" to the wrap seized by Allen, said Mr Callaghan.  When asked if it had been planted, another warder, John Robertson, "grinned ear to ear", he claimed. Allen, 44, and Robertson, 26, are accused of hiding heroin in prisoner Steven Little's belongings, then ordering a search of his cell at the jail in September 2002.  (The Mirror, July 8, 2004)

FIVE prisoners at Scotland's only private jail have appeared in court charged with causing a major disturbance in which an officer was injured.  Derek Thomson, 41, James Cowan, 27, Kenneth Duffield, 24, Craig Scoular, 23, and George Ralph, 21, deny throwing chairs and TV sets at staff at Kilmarnock Prison on January 9.  They also deny wrecking property, including setting fire to rubbish bins, and Cowan denies throwing a TV set and injuring prison officer Paul Kennedy. All five face trial at a later date.  (Evening Times, July 1, 2004)

Lowdham Grange Prison, England
May 23, 2010  The Daily Telegraph
Under the scheme, the publicly-funded broadcaster handed over footage to inmates who earn just £30 a week rather than members of its own 23,000 staff. Convicts at a privately run Category B jail, the second-highest security level, transferred tapes of old television shows to computer to save them for posterity. Senior staff in the BBC’s archives department visited the jail to watch the work in progress while meetings were held to discuss a landmark deal for the prisoners to digitise all 1million hours of programmes in its vaults. Fearful about the controversy the scheme could cause, the BBC never discussed it publicly and even the broadcasting union, Bectu, was unaware of it. Details were obtained by this newspaper through a Freedom of Information request that took more than four months rather than the usual 20 working days. The BBC insists that it has not given any money to Serco, the private jail operator, for the secret scheme nor signed any contracts, following the pilot project last year. However emails disclosed by the corporation show that it had shown considerable interest in the innovative project proposed by Serco, which runs four prisons in England. The BBC owns more than 1m hours of historic content, some of it decades old and at risk of being lost. It employs 66 people to look after it, at a cost of £5m a year, in its Information and Archives department. The corporation estimates it would take 10 years to safely copy all 100m items in its collection into longer-lasting digital formats. In December 2008 it was approached by Serco to become involved in Artemis – Achieving Rehabilitation Through Establishing a Media Ingest Service – a new project for prisoners to transfer archive documents to computers. Serco said it would provide “high-quality employment” and the chance of an NVQ qualification for inmates and HMP Lowdham Grange, a 628-capacity jail near Nottingham all of whose inmates are serving at least four years. The firm said this would mean it could provide a “stable work force”. The BBC was told it would prove a “very cost-effective” way of digitising its archive, and several meetings were organised to discuss plans. Managers agreed to hand over 20 hours of old videos, including episodes of Horizon and Earth Story, so prisoners could transfer them to computer and also add “meta-data” – typed detailed descriptions of the footage to help producers search through it more easily. The British Library and National Archives also provided material for the pilot project. In September last year, five members of BBC staff visited the jail, where a production workshop had been built, and were reported to be “pleased” with what they saw of the prisoners’ work and enthusiasm. However David Crocker, the driving force behind the scheme at Serco, admitted: “The major concern was around the potential negative newspaper headlines that the BBC may attract.” The company did discuss the scheme with one newspaper and one trade magazine but made no reference to the BBC’s involvement. In November, Mr Crocker told the BBC: “I can’t thank you enough for finding a project for us to kick-start Artemis.” He said his staff were drawing up “terms of reference” and would then “cost the project” of a full-scale digitisation of the BBC’s archive. However no deals have yet been signed. The BBC said: “The BBC did hold discussions with Serco about their planned project to digitise archives. As part of this the BBC, alongside other organisations, provided some material for Serco to use as part of its feasibility study for the project. “No payment was made to Serco as part of this, nor was any guarantee or promise of work entered into. “The BBC has no plans to work with Serco to digitise its programme archive and has not come to any agreements nor signed any contracts with any firms about utilising the prison workforce on any project.”

December 17, 2009 Liverpool Daily Post
A LIVERPOOL prison is among five in the country allowing its inmates to watch satellite television. More than 4,000 prisoners enjoy the privilege in private jails nationwide. Altcourse Prison, in Fazakerley, is among the contractor-run prisons allowing access to a “limited number” of satellite channels. The number of prisoners allowed to watch satellite varies according to behaviour. But Justice minister and city MP Maria Eagle revealed the number was currently around 4,070. The Garston MP was responding to a written question from Tory MP Philip Davies. She said no inmates in public sector jails have access to satellite in their quarters. But they do at Altcourse and other GS4-run prisons in South Wales and Warwickshire. The other private prisons offering satellite television are run by Serco in Staffordshire and Nottingham. Ms Eagle said: “In these establishments, satellite television in cells is generally only available to prisoners on the enhanced or standard level of the incentives and earned privileges scheme.” There are 84,500 prisoners in England and Wales, meaning around one in 20 has access to satellite TV.

March 28, 2005 Nottingham Evening Post
An investigation has been launched after a man was found hanged in his prison cell. The discovery of Thomas Maughan's body at Lowdham Grange Prison was made by officers on a routine check at 11.45pm on Saturday. He was pronounced dead shortly after midnight, the Home Office said. A spokeswoman for the prison service said: " A staff patrol found him hanging from his cell's toilet door. "They tried CPR and paramedics continued when they arrived, but he was pronounced dead at 12.20am." The 45-year-old, from Sheffield, was jailed for six years in 2003 for burglary. Premier Custodial Group spokesman David Bandey said: "I can confirm he was found dead. It will now go to a full inquiry." In January, a report by the Prison Reform Trust called Private Punishment: Who Profits? said private prisons like Lowdham - one of ten in the country - were missing key targets on reducing serious assaults, drugs and 'purposeful activity' among inmates.

Maribyrnoug Detention Centre, Maribyrnoug, Australia
January 20, 2012 The Herald Sun
THE Melbourne immigration detention centre, which holds killers, drug dealers and failed asylum seekers, has had 25 escapees in three years. Seventeen fugitives, including drug dealers, are still on the run. Most were on overstayed or cancelled visas, and are awaiting deportation. The revolving door at Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre has forced three internal security reviews that recommended significant changes. Now, red-faced services provider Serco is scrambling to extend electric fences and add what immigration department officials describe as "additional anti-climb measures". One source said changes to "soften" the centre's image after 2005, which eventually led to an electric fence replacing razor wire, meant easier escape routes. The source said the centre was not a prison but Serco had not given staff what was needed to manage trouble-makers or felons.

July 8, 2011 Herald Sun
In a major security breach, three men awaiting deportation effortlessly opened doors and internal gates on their way to scaling the centre's perimeter fence. One was armed with a 45cm double-sided blade believed to have been smuggled inside. The breakout, in the early hours of Monday, has enraged departmental chiefs and left red-faced security provider Serco facing an estimated $1 million fine. The Immigration Department said the three were Vietnamese nationals detained for overstaying visas. One failed to climb the fence, injuring his hand. His accomplices succeeded, only to be recaptured 30 minutes later by police dogs after the alarm was raised. All three are back in detention. The Herald Sun believes the escapees told authorities a security officer gave them swipe cards and impressions of padlock keys. Sources said the incident highlighted a growing "prison culture" in the centre, which is also home to detainees with convictions including murder and drug crimes. The department would not confirm or deny that keys and swipes were used, citing "operational reasons". But it has ordered an investigation and demanded an explanation from Serco. The foreign-owned company is paid about $1 billion to run the nation's detention centres. Serco recently brought in dozens of foreign staff, mostly from the UK, to staff its centres amid the rising numbers of boat arrivals.

January 9, 2011 Sunday Herald Sun
A SECURITY firm may be fined over the escape of an Italian national from the Maribyrnong Detention Centre. A source told the Sunday Herald Sun the detainee scaled a high wall on New Year's Eve using a rope made of bedsheets. A spokesman from the Immigration Department said an investigation had begun to see if the escape was a result of "lax standards" by the centre operator, Serco. "We're awaiting an urgent report from Serco explaining the details of the guarding and security at the time," the spokesman said. "There are clauses in our contract, which so far we haven't used, that fines can be imposed for lax standards and we'll be looking closely at that. It shouldn't be happening." Thirty-five detainees have escaped from Serco-operated facilities in the past 12 months. Twenty-three have been recaptured. "We have a contract in place to ensure that Serco provides the service we require," he said. "They are required to provide secure detention services. Any escape is unacceptable and the contract has provisions for fines. "We're waiting on the details of what they say happened to work out what we can do to improve standards."

October 6, 2010 The Age
An Indonesian man who overstayed his visa has sparked a police hunt by escaping from the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne's west last night, says the immigration department. The man, believed to be in his 30s, fled the facility about 8.45pm last night after being taken into custody on September 21 during an operation to find people who had overstayed their visas. A spokeswoman said for the immigration department said an investigation would be launched into how the man fled the facility, which is managed by private company SERCO. "Victorian police have been notified and the detention service provider has commenced a full investigation into the incident," said the spokeswoman. "The department will work actively with the detention services provider to investigate systems, procedures and infrastructure that are currently in place." SERCO is required to prepare a report for the department explaining the circumstances of the disappearance. The man is the second person to escape from the centre in recent months, with a Cambodian national fleeing while on a recreational visit to a nearby ten-pin bowling centre in early August. He managed to evade two security officers who accompanied him on the excursion.

August 3, 2010 The Age
A Cambodian national locked up for overstaying his visa is on the run after escaping from security officers during a trip to a bowling alley in Melbourne's west. The man, who was being held at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre, was taken to the Highpoint AMF Bowling centre in Maribyrnong on Saturday with another inmate and two security officers as part of an organised excursion. After bowling a few frames and eating some fast food, the man fled from the centre about 11.15am and hailed a taxi, a caller to Radio 3AW's Rumour File said today. He remains on the run despite a large-scale search involving Victoria Police. A Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman this morning confirmed the man's escape, and said an investigation had been launched into his disappearance. "The man originally from Cambodia and another client were being escorted by two detention service private officers when the man ran off," he said. "Extra ... staff were immediately called to the scene but the man was unable to be relocated. Victoria Police were notified and the department has called for a full report into the incident from (the private security contractor) Serco." The caller to 3AW said the man was captured on CCTV camera hailing a cab outside the bowling alley. "No resource was spared looking for the light-footed escapee, last seen wearing a pair of two-toned, talcum powder-filled, non-marking soled shoes with the number six on the back of them," he said. "Going back over the CCTV footage the client had hailed a cab, changed a few lanes and was last seen heading in an easterly direction." The Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman said he could not release the man's identity or age for privacy reasons. He said clients at immigration detention centres were regularly taken on excursions. "Detention centres are not prisons so its important to provide clients with recreational opportunities for their welfare," he said. "The department continues to look for him. Vic Police have been notified."

June 3, 2010 9 News
Two managers have been sacked and two others have been transferred following the escape of six people from Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. Nine people initially escaped from the complex in Sydney's southwest in the early hours of Tuesday, May 25. Three were detained by police as they escaped, but six others, all Chinese nationals, remain at large. Serco, the UK-based security company that manages the centre, undertook a "comprehensive investigation" following the escape, Serco spokeswoman Emma Needham said in a statement. "Serco has dismissed two employees today and redeployed two others following an internal investigation into last week's escapes from Villawood," she said. "In order to take the management of the centre forward and deliver the transformation required, changes to a number of positions were necessary." The company faces fines and sanctions imposed by the federal government following the escape. Immigration Minister Chris Evans has ordered an investigation into the breakout, the latest in a series of escapes from Villawood. Serco also manages security at the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne's western suburbs. It came under fire after a Chinese national slipped away from two Serco security staff while on a visit to the Melbourne Aquarium in March.

April 2, 2010 The Age
A CHINESE man has embarrassed his private security minders by escaping from immigration detention while on an excursion at the Aquarium in central Melbourne. The man, who was waiting to be sent back to China, escaped while in the supervised care of officers from SERCO, a private firm that receives $70 million a year to manage Australia's detention facilities. Immigration Minister Chris Evans yesterday called for a detailed explanation of the circumstances surrounding the incident that comes on the heels of controversial escapes from Sydney's Villawood detention centre. It is believed the man slipped away on March 24 during a routine group excursion from the Maribyrnong Detention Centre, where he was being held. Melbourne police were immediately alerted. The man is the fourth Chinese national to escape from SERCO's custody in the past week. Only days ago three Chinese scaled a high-security fence at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre. They have not been seen since. A spokeswoman for the minister said escapes were not acceptable and that SERCO was contractually obliged to guarantee the detention of unlawful non-citizens. SERCO faces heavy fines under its contract with the federal government if it fails to present a plausible explanation for the lapses. Although the man was not considered dangerous, he was due for removal to China for breaches of visa conditions. It is believed several officers were at the Aquarium, but they failed to notice the man slip into a large crowd at the tourist attraction. He was with other detainees from the Maribyrnong centre. It is believed he had been detained several times by immigration compliance officers for breaching his visa conditions before being taken into custody. An Immigration Department spokesman said detainees were held under administrative law and were not subject to criminal punishment. Detainees were provided with regular excursions under duty-of-care requirements. Senator Evans has already ordered an inquiry into security at Villawood where SERCO has sacked 10 staff over security breaches.

Melbourne Immigration Transit Accomodation Facility, Broadmeadows, Ausltralia
November 15, 2010 ABC
Overcrowding has been blamed for a violent brawl involving about 50 children at a Melbourne detention facility. The Immigration Department does not call it a detention centre, but the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation facility in Broadmeadows is one of the sites the department uses to hold hundreds of unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum in Australia. Last week there were 43 boys there, but another 98 were flown in from Christmas Island on the weekend. On Sunday night tensions flared up and police were called in to stop what the department says was a series of scuffles involving 50 mostly Afghan detainees. Seven people suffered minor injuries in the brawl and one is still in hospital. The department says police and the detention contractor, Serco, are investigating the fight and charges may be laid against those involved. Refugee advocate Nicole Mousley, who visited the centre a week ago, says the brawl was probably the result of overcrowding. "From what I saw, I don't think that centre is equipped to deal with that many boys," she said. "The common room is not designed to hold that many people. "The boys were telling me they were a bit concerned about the new people coming and weren't sure what was going to happen once everybody got there. "The boys actually told me they thought they would be kept separate from the new arrivals for a while. "So if the new arrivals have been put in straight away and expected to share the common area, I think then maybe some of the boys who have been there previously have been a bit surprised by that." The Broadmeadows centre is one of several which the Federal Government recently expanded. 'Pressure cooker' -- Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says the violence is a sign the Government's asylum seeker policies are failing. "We have now more than 5,000 people in detention across the country. We have more than 75 per cent of those people having been in detention now for more than three months," he said. "When you have an all-time record of people arriving illegally by boat, all piling into detention centres and creating the pressure-cooker environment we are seeing, then it is inevitable these violent incidents and many more will follow, regrettably." Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan says he is concerned by the situation. "We are concerned about ensuring the centre remains in order, remains calm and that we are in control, which we are," he said. "These are all young men, all minors under the age of 18 who were involved in the disturbance. It was a series of scuffles. We believe focusing around access to computers, but we've still really to get to the bottom of that." Mr Logan says the capacity of the centre is 150 and he is confident it can comfortably house that many. He denies there are inadequate facilities for the 136 boys now there. "We are confident Serco, the detention services provider, is able to manage the accommodation and the good order of the centre," he said.

May 15, 2010 Sidney Morning Herald
Three people have been taken to hospital after up to 30 teenage asylum seekers brawled at a Melbourne accommodation centre. The fight broke out at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation facility in Broadmeadows at 9.30pm (AEST) on Friday after an argument between two groups got out of control. A Department of Immigration spokesperson said staff had the brawl under control before police arrived. Two teenagers who suffered cuts to their upper bodies have been released from hospital. Another is waiting to be treated. The facility houses family groups and unaccompanied minors. Police are investigating the incident while the private contractor which runs the centre, Serco, is also investigating. The immigration department says the facility, which holds 50 people, remains calm. The spokesperson would not reveal the nationalities of the teenagers in the brawl.

Mount Eden Prison, Mount Eden, New Zealand
April 27, 2012 New Zealand Herald
Private prison operators Serco have failed to meet several key performance measures since taking over running the Mt Eden Corrections Facility, a Corrections Department report shows. The report, released under the Official Information Act, shows two wrongful releases and one wrongful imprisonment in the eight months since the Mt Eden facility was handed to the British-based company. It was fined $150,000 when Aaron Stephen Forden, a prisoner dubbed "Houdini", escaped earlier this year. All of the incidents are listed as zero tolerance areas under Corrections Departments standards. Corrections chief executive Ray Smith told Radio New Zealand Serco's failure to meet several performance measures was "less than we expect". "We have been actively working with Serco to ensure that improvements are achieved." Other results showed an 82 per cent completion rate on random drug tests at the facility - 17 per cent short of the standard required. Targets for prisoner management plans and telephone call monitoring were not reached. However, random drug testing showed only a three per cent return of positive samples. The Public Service Association said the results showed the failure of privatising prisons. National Secretary Richard Wagstaff said Serco had jeopardised public safety by allowing wrongful releases and escapes. "The department may be trying to write these off as 'teething problems' but they are no such thing - these are core procedures that should be right from the start. "This report shows Serco is failing in its number one priority - to keep the public safe." Mr Wagstaff said the report showed the "folly" of opening another private prison at Wiri.

April 27, 2012 Scoop
National’s prison privatisation plan needs serious rethinking after failing to meet basic performance requirements at Mt Eden prison, Labour says. Labour’s Justice Sector Spokesperson Charles Chauvel says that the Government’s plans to privatise up to a quarter of New Zealand’s prison capacity will worsen the already dangerous failure to meet requirements. “Figures out today reveal worrying trends in Serco’s management of the Mt Eden Corrections Facility over the last eight months “Of particular concern are failures to meet drug testing and offender management plan targets, wrongful releases, and an escape from custody. “Coincidentally I visited Mt Eden yesterday, as well as the state-run Paremoremo and Auckland Women’s prisons. “While there is much positive work being done by the staff at each of them, one of the obvious realities is that a level playing field does not operate between the public and private sectors. Many of the state-run institutions have to cope with legacy facilities and procedures, which Serco is unburdened by. “In light of that – and especially since, under National Serco’s slice of the corrections pie will double once the new Wiri Prison is built next year, and up to a quarter of all inmates in the system will be under their control – the public has a right to expect Serco’s performance targets to be met.

February 21, 2012 Northern Advocate
Private prison operator Serco has been fined $150,000 after a prison dubbed "Houdini" escaped from the new Mt Eden Corrections facility. Aaron Stephen Forden, originally from Whangarei, broke into a service way and fled the prison complex last October, having famously escaped from the old Mt Eden Prison in 2008. Forden was recaptured a week later and is being dealt with by the courts. The Department of Corrections said in a statement that improvements had been made to the security of the facility since the escape following a joint review into the escape.

October 19, 2011 3 News
Two staff at Mt Eden Prison have been suspended after notorious escapee Aaron Forden broke out of the jail on October 10. Forden, dubbed "Houdini" for his serial escapes from custody, was recaptured in Auckland on Monday after a week on the run. Forden was the first inmate to break out of the new Mt Eden Corrections Facility, working with another prisoner to flee through a service way. The second inmate was recaptured but Forden got away, in a suspected waiting vehicle. The privately-managed prison is run by British-based company Serco, which could face a hefty fine over the escape. Serco Asia Pacific spokesman Paul Shaw confirmed to NZ Newswire that two prison staff had been suspended "pending the outcome of investigations". He said he was unable to comment further on the suspensions while the investigations were ongoing.

October 18, 2011 Stuff
''Houdini'' jail-breaker Aaron Forden spent seven days ''laying low'' with the help of associates, after escaping from Auckland's Mt Eden prison last week, police say. The 30-year-old was arrested just before 7pm last night at a residential address in Silverdale. Police also arrested a 24-year-old female living at the property and charged her with being an accessory after the fact. Auckland Police Detective Sergeant Iain Chapman says the week-long hunt for Forden included visits to various members of his family and friends. Known for dying his hair and changing his looks while on the run, Forden's appearance was unchanged this time.

October 12, 2011 Northern Advocate
A man with the ability to change his appearance like a chameleon to evade capture could be headed for familiar territory - Northland. Police are warning members of the public they should not approach 30-year-old Aaron Forden, who is considered unpredictable and dangerous, after he escaped from the new Mount Eden Corrections Facility on Monday. The notorious escape artist is the first person to escape from the new $218 million private prison. Whangarei Detective Steve Chamberlain said Forden had family and criminal links in Northland and that anyone who spotted him in the region should contact police immediately.

October 10, 2011 3 News
Private prison operator SERCO faces a $150,000 fine after the man nicknamed “Houdini” escaped from its custody. Aaron Forden scaled the perimeter fence of Mt Eden Corrections Facility early this morning. He was pursued by a police dog, but got away in a waiting car. Forden used knotted bed sheets to escape from Mt Eden Prison in 2008. “I would consider him to be unpredictable and therefore dangerous and that members of the public should not approach him,” says Detective Sergeant Iain Chapman. “But it’s only with assistance from the public and his associates that we will catch him.” Forden is known to change his appearance to avoid capture.

August 10, 2011 Stuff
Auckland's Mt Eden prison operator Serco has been accused of bribing inmates with bigger helpings of food and televisions in their cells to encourage them to behave. The prison officers' union, the Corrections Association, said that in addition to larger meals, Serco served dessert every night, unheard of in the State prison system, Radio New Zealand reported. Association president Beven Hanlon said the "luxuries" allowed the private prison operator to get by with a skeleton crew but guards were feeling vulnerable and leaving on a daily basis. Serco said in a statement the televisions must be paid for by the inmates and the quantities of food served and the number of officers employed were both appropriate.

June 1, 2011 Radio NZ
New Zealand's only private prison will begin housing inmates from Wednesday but concern has already been expressed about staffing levels. British company Serco is running the new Mount Eden jail for at least the next six years. The company's contract with the Government doesn't stipulate minimum staffing and the main prison guards union is worried the staff-to-inmate ratio won't be right. Corrections Association president Bevan Hanlon says the approximately 960 inmates were handled by 427 prison guards under public management but that number has dropped to 200 under private management. Serco rejects the figures, though is refusing to say exactly how many staff it has for reasons of security and commercial sensitivity.

New South Wales
March 27, 2009 The Australian
THE research director of a British-based group that is expected to bid for contracts to operate two jails in NSW has backed privatised facilities in which inmates have keys to their cells and are on a first-name basis with their jailers. Gary Sturgess, research director of the Serco Group, will tell a NSW parliamentary inquiry today that decency, not efficiency, is the main reason to privatise jails. He says overseas experience shows that prisoners enjoy more privileges -- including being given the keys to their own cells -- in correctional systems where private and public providers compete. Prisoners in these systems spend more time out of their cells and have far greater interaction with their jailers -- with whom they are frequently on first-name terms -- than in systems where public providers face no competition, Mr Sturgess says. The results are safer jails and lower rates of reoffending. Serco is expected to bid for the contracts to operate Cessnock prison, in the Hunter Valley, and Parklea prison, in western Sydney, when the jails are privatised this year. The company already operates one jail in Victoria and one in Western Australia. The decision by NSW Premier Nathan Rees to privatise the two prisons has aroused heated opposition from public sector unions and the Greens, and is opposed by a minority of MPs in the Labor caucus. The privatisation of the jails is being driven by Prisons Minister John Robertson, who led the campaign against power privatisation as a union leader. Mr Sturgess's submission to the upper house inquiry links private jail services in Britain to the "decency agenda" pursued by former British prime minister Tony Blair. "Contract prisons in the UK are more humane, partly because government demanded a higher standard when writing the original contracts, partly because price was not allowed to dominate the procurement process, and partly because the political and policy environment at the time when the market was first established was focused on the quality of prison life," the submission from Serco argues. As NSW cabinet chief under former Liberal premier Nick Greiner between 1988 and 1992, Mr Sturgess drove a reform agenda that included the corporatisation of government enterprises such as the railways and electricity transmission. He told The Australian yesterday the British experience showed governments could use competition in prison services as a way to set higher standards, not just to get better value for money. "It gives a government an opportunity to say, 'What kind of prisons do we want here?'," Mr Sturgess said. He said the inmates in low- and medium-security prisons in Britain had been allowed to hold duplicate keys to their own cells, which improved both efficiency and decency. "If (the warder) is the only one with a key, then every time a prisoner wants to go in and out of their cell you've got to send somebody to look at it," he said. "This way, the inmate has the dignity of having private space and a greater sense of security." The higher proportion of women officers in private jails had changed the atmosphere. "The difference is that if you've got a prison full of males, with all the testosterone pumping around, people will attempt to man up," he said. "You're not going to get any credit for assaulting a woman." While such arguments will confound critics of prison privatisation on the Left, Mr Sturgess, as a stalwart of NSW politics, knows another obstacle will be the tough-on-crime stand of the major parties. "The objective has got to be to reduce the cycle of reoffending," Mr Sturgess said. "If the consequence of failing to address quality issues is that we do not break the cycle of reoffending, we're actually increasing the crime problem."

Northern Immigration Detention Facility, Darwin, Australia
November 18, 2011 AAP
SECURITY company Serco has been asked to explain why a refugee was locked in isolation after he suffered an electric shock while scaling a fence at a Darwin detention centre. The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Immigration Detention Network is conducting an extensive inquiry into the effect of detention on detainees, in the wake of a series of detention centre riots. Serco, which has a contract with the federal government to run the centres, was questioned today over a refugee being locked in a room by guards for more than an hour, after he suffered an electric shock while climbing a fence at Darwin's Northern Immigration Detention Centre on November 15. The man, who was declared a refugee a year ago and was awaiting security clearance, was reportedly attempting to see friends in another compound, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told the inquiry in Melbourne. Ms Hanson-Young said he was only taken to hospital after he collapsed, then was again locked up in isolation after he returned. "In this scenario, which is a real scenario, who made the decision that this man was to be locked up on his own?" Senator Hanson-Young asked Serco managing director Chris Manning. Mr Manning told her he would look into the incident and report back to the committee on his findings. Senator Hanson-Young also asked him about concerns raised in a recent report by health and safety authority Comcare over underqualified staff working at immigration detention centres. "You don't have a client to staff ratio," she said of the contract the security firm has with the government. Mr Manning told her staffing levels were reviewed regularly. "They are based on a number of factors ... if there are safety issues then we would take a view on whether more staff were required," he said.

August 31, 2011 The Age
Asylum seekers are not to blame for two fires at Darwin's immigration detention centre, the immigration department says. A spokesman said most of those involved in today's fires were Indonesian boat crew also being held at the Northern Immigration Detention Centre. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the Indonesians were protesting against the refusal to let them celebrate the end of Ramadan. "There were issues about how they were going to celebrate Eid with the end of Ramadan and that was apparently rejected by Serco (the centre's manager) or Immigration and that's been the straw that broke the camel's back," he said. "There's a lot of tensions with the Indonesians anyway because they're waiting months and sometimes a year and longer before they're actually charged." He said the fires were not started by asylum seekers.

July 26, 2011 Herald Sun
ABOUT 20 asylum seekers are staging a peaceful protest and hunger strike on the roof of a detention centre in Darwin, immigration officials have confirmed. About 10 men climbed on to the roof of the Northern Immigration Detention Centre on the Stuart Highway on Sunday but the number increased to 21 by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Department of Immigration told AAP. That number had dropped to 20 by 5.30pm (CST) and the situation was described as "fluid in nature". He said Serco, the security company that manages the centre, had engaged detainees individually and as a group since the weekend, negotiating with them to come down. He confirmed the detainees were "engaged in voluntary starvation" and said Serco would continue to monitor the situation and the welfare of the detainees. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. .End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, claimed managers at the centre on Sunday threatened to forcibly remove the rooftop protesters and take them to jail, before more people joined the protest. Mr Rintoul told AAP a further 60 Afghan asylum seekers were participating in a hunger strike inside the centre, but the immigration spokesman said the number of asylum seekers inside engaged in voluntary starvation was closer to 15 or 20.

July 19, 2011 AAP
A ROOF-TOP protest at the Northern Immigration Detention Centre in Darwin has gone into its fifth day, with asylum seekers refusing to come down. A Department of Immigration spokesman said three men climbed onto the roof of the centre late Friday. He said five men were on the roof yesterday morning. This morning, the spokesman confirmed, a small group of men of Iranian and Iraqi origin were still on the roof at 9am (CST). "The situation is fluid," he said.

July 17, 2011 ABC
A group of asylum seekers have spent days on the roof of Darwin's immigration detention centre protesting over the length of times their claims are taking to process. Three Iranian asylum seekers have been on the roof of the Northern Immigration Detention Centre since Friday night. Their fellow detainees say the protestors have been in detention for up to 17 months waiting for their asylum applications to be assessed. They are holding a sign written on a sheet appealing for their release, saying that "keeping them in a cage" for so long is more cruel than the way cattle are treated in the live export trade to Indonesia. The Immigration Department says the centre manager, Serco, is talking with the protesters to try to get them to come down.

February 4, 2011 The Age
INTERPRETERS for asylum seekers on Christmas Island have been working without accreditation or translating experience. A Melbourne interpreter said unqualified staff were ill-equipped to deal with asylum seekers' issues dispassionately. ''Some of the interpreters are not competent because they are not actually interpreters,'' the source, who had worked on Christmas Island, said. ''It's not up to Immigration. They are desperate. The number of clients has gone up and demand is shocking.'' For certain dialects, the interpreter said, it was impossible to meet demand from the pool of trained professionals within Australia. The comments follow a report by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Allan Asher, which found asylum seekers had been assigned interpreters who did not speak their language and were recording incorrect information on their asylum claims. Amnesty International Australia said the problems were common to detention centres in Darwin and at Curtin in Western Australia.

October 20, 2010 International Business Times
Federal authorities confirmed on Thursday that an investigation is underway on alleged security loopholes in Darwin's immigration facilities following the lapses that occurred last month, which was punctuated by a peaceful protest of detained immigrants who sprung out from the centre. An Immigration Department spokesman admitted that the Northern Territory Licensing Commission is conducting an inquiry on Serco, which was tasked by the department to provide for security on the detention facilities. The same official told AAP that Serco is delegating some of its responsibilities to MSS Security though he stressed that the Immigration Department has ensured that the security firm was duly reminded to only employ trained and licensed personnel and comply with all relevant laws. The spokesman also revealed that some former MSS Security employees were facing compliance actions and Serco has been cooperative so far with the ongoing investigation, which came following series of incidents in the past few months where asylum seekers rioted in the facilities, vandalised the centre and staged a protest action after breaking out of detention. Meanwhile, federal opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison warned that the government would be made responsible if allegations of unlicensed workers were made to man the immigration centre were proven true. Mr Morrison told ABC that the government cannot put the entire blame on security contractors since it has the ultimate responsibility as he stressed that "the government must ensure that that licensed operators are only ever used in the care and supervision of people who are being detained by the state."

September 1, 2010 ABC
The asylum seekers pushed through two electric fences to break out of the facility. The Department of Immigration has not said how the men were able to get out of the centre, which has two electric fences. But a refugee advocate says a member of staff may have helped the asylum seekers escape from the centre early this morning. Pamela Kerr from the Asylum Centre Resource Centre in Melbourne, who came to Darwin to visit the asylum seekers on Tuesday, says she thinks a detention staffer let them out. "It's my understanding that the men didn't break out of the centre, that somebody with a heart opened the door and let them out," she said. "There are very mixed feelings amongst the people staffing our detention centres." The stand-off lasted seven-and-a-half hours before dozens of police officers broke up the peaceful protest. The asylum seekers did not resist when they were searched and led into police vans, to be taken to the watch-house in the CBD. Before the protest ended one of the asylum seekers threw journalists a message in a bottle pleading for protection. It was ripped as police tried to take the note from journalists. "Help me please. I came here for protection, not detention," the note read. "Even the foreign forces are helpless and not safe in Afghanistan. Have mercy please, Australian people." Break-out -- The asylum seekers escaped the facility about 6:30am (ACST). The group gathered outside the centre's perimeter fence next to the busy Stuart Highway. Five men involved in the protest were taken to hospital. One man is suffering chest pains, three are being treated for heat exhaustion, while the other man is being treated for an existing foot injury. It does not appear any of the injuries were sustained during the breakout. Ms Kerr says the men are Shiah Muslims, a minority group often targeted on account of their religion. She says the men fear they will be killed if they are sent back to Afghanistan. During the protest the asylum seekers held signs that read: "Please help us", "Show us mercy", and "We are homeless, defenceless and we seek protection". Two of the asylum seekers told the ABC they were from Afghanistan and had been waiting up to nine months in detention. They said they arrived by boat and had since been refused refugee status in Australia. "Nine months we [are] here because that's why I want to go out to talk with you, all of the population of Australia. I need your help," one said. "My children aren't safe in this place. We don't know where is our family." Company may face fine -- Immigration Minister Chris Evans says the private company that runs the Darwin centre, Serco, may be fined for breach of contract after this morning's breakout. He says it appears the asylum seekers may have taken advantage of a change to procedures after Indonesian men charged with people smuggling rioted on the weekend. "Under the contract we can fine them for failure to perform to acceptable standards. I would say though that they are under a lot of pressure given the numbers in detention currently," he said. Senator Evans says asylum seekers could also face criminal charges relating to the incident. Serco is refusing to say how detainees managed to break out this morning and says it will not be making any public statements. 'Pressure-cooker situation' -- Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says the Government's policies have created overcrowded detention centres. "What we are seeing up in Darwin is of great concern," he said. "This is a pressure-cooker situation." He says the Opposition has sought a briefing on the incident, but the Government has refused the request. "What all this is symptomatic of is a detention network which has been pushed to complete breaking point," he said. "There are more than 4,100 people who are now being detained by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship as a result of Labor's failed policies. "This is the highest number of people being detained by the department in our history." A riot, also involving up to 100 people, broke out at the Darwin centre over the weekend. The immigration department says the weekend protest began when two men climbed a tree and refused to come down and escalated to involve the majority of the Indonesian crew members being detained in the centre for alleged people smuggling.

August 30, 2010 The Age
DOZENS of Indonesian detainees rioted at Darwin's immigration detention centre early yesterday to protest against their treatment, which includes mandatory jail sentences of up to 20 years. Almost all of the detainees are poor fishermen duped by ruthless people smugglers to steer asylum seeker boats into Australian waters. Their anger and frustration erupted into violence after two men climbed a tree inside a compound at the centre where 97 Indonesians are being held. When they refused to climb down, other detainees joined the protest which grew worse at about 8am (Darwin time) when rioters set fire to rubbish and mattresses they had piled in the grounds. For several hours 12 detainees refused to leave the roofs of demountable buildings, from where they yelled abuse. Some were brandishing two-metre long poles, which they used to stop security guards climbing up. At one point a metal chair was thrown from a roof. Screaming and banging could be heard from behind two high wire fences that surround the centre, which is in the grounds of the Coonawarra Naval Base, on Darwin's outskirts. Police eventually talked the detainees down and the situation was brought under control by mid-morning. At the height of the disturbance, Afghan asylum seekers were evacuated from an adjoining compound. An Immigration official said no one was seriously hurt. Investigators will view security footage before considering whether to lay charges. An official confirmed that the Indonesians were protesting about their legal treatment. Lawyers and several Northern Territory judges have described as an injustice the way the crews of asylum seeker boats are treated as people smugglers. Most of the real smugglers who paid the Indonesian crewmen a few hundred dollars to steer the boats remain in Indonesia where people smuggling laws do not exist. In most cases, the crew were told they would be quickly sent back to Indonesia after arriving in Australia and were shocked to learn they instead face long periods in an Australian jail.

August 13, 2010 Northern Territory News
SEVERAL asylum seekers and security staff were rushed to hospital after a fight broke out over internet usage in a Darwin detention centre. The 10 detainees and two security guards suffered cuts and bruises in the brawl. Earlier media reports said one of the guards had a broken arm. But Immigration Department spokesman Bill Power said: "That's not true. He said a guard has suffered a bruised arm. Police were called for back-up when an argument between an Afghan man and an Indonesian man escalated at the Northern Immigration Detention Facility in Berrimah about 1.40am on Wednesday. Two small groups started fighting while at least 100 people from the compounds southern blocks looked on. Up to four police officers and St John Ambulance attended the centre. But police said the disturbance calmed down when the officers arrived. Immigration confirmed on Friday the argument started over the use of the internet. "It was basically a small argument that got out of control," Mr Power said. Security company Serco has the $45 million department contract to look after more than 450 people in the detention centre and the detainees in alternative accommodations in Darwin. The fight comes two weeks after a Burmese detainee of the centre, in his 30s, claimed a security guard had assaulted him when he refused to take headache tablets. Immigration rejected the version of the incident, describing it as an "altercation". Mr Bill said the department asked Serco to investigate the latest fight. "We are always concerned when people take violent actions and we will look at it in our own way," he said. "The Department asked Serco to conduct an investigation into this matter."

New South Wales Government
March 27, 2009 The Australian
THE research director of a British-based group that is expected to bid for contracts to operate two jails in NSW has backed privatised facilities in which inmates have keys to their cells and are on a first-name basis with their jailers. Gary Sturgess, research director of the Serco Group, will tell a NSW parliamentary inquiry today that decency, not efficiency, is the main reason to privatise jails. He says overseas experience shows that prisoners enjoy more privileges -- including being given the keys to their own cells -- in correctional systems where private and public providers compete. Prisoners in these systems spend more time out of their cells and have far greater interaction with their jailers -- with whom they are frequently on first-name terms -- than in systems where public providers face no competition, Mr Sturgess says. The results are safer jails and lower rates of reoffending. Serco is expected to bid for the contracts to operate Cessnock prison, in the Hunter Valley, and Parklea prison, in western Sydney, when the jails are privatised this year. The company already operates one jail in Victoria and one in Western Australia. The decision by NSW Premier Nathan Rees to privatise the two prisons has aroused heated opposition from public sector unions and the Greens, and is opposed by a minority of MPs in the Labor caucus. The privatisation of the jails is being driven by Prisons Minister John Robertson, who led the campaign against power privatisation as a union leader. Mr Sturgess's submission to the upper house inquiry links private jail services in Britain to the "decency agenda" pursued by former British prime minister Tony Blair. "Contract prisons in the UK are more humane, partly because government demanded a higher standard when writing the original contracts, partly because price was not allowed to dominate the procurement process, and partly because the political and policy environment at the time when the market was first established was focused on the quality of prison life," the submission from Serco argues. As NSW cabinet chief under former Liberal premier Nick Greiner between 1988 and 1992, Mr Sturgess drove a reform agenda that included the corporatisation of government enterprises such as the railways and electricity transmission. He told The Australian yesterday the British experience showed governments could use competition in prison services as a way to set higher standards, not just to get better value for money. "It gives a government an opportunity to say, 'What kind of prisons do we want here?'," Mr Sturgess said. He said the inmates in low- and medium-security prisons in Britain had been allowed to hold duplicate keys to their own cells, which improved both efficiency and decency. "If (the warder) is the only one with a key, then every time a prisoner wants to go in and out of their cell you've got to send somebody to look at it," he said. "This way, the inmate has the dignity of having private space and a greater sense of security." The higher proportion of women officers in private jails had changed the atmosphere. "The difference is that if you've got a prison full of males, with all the testosterone pumping around, people will attempt to man up," he said. "You're not going to get any credit for assaulting a woman." While such arguments will confound critics of prison privatisation on the Left, Mr Sturgess, as a stalwart of NSW politics, knows another obstacle will be the tough-on-crime stand of the major parties. "The objective has got to be to reduce the cycle of reoffending," Mr Sturgess said. "If the consequence of failing to address quality issues is that we do not break the cycle of reoffending, we're actually increasing the crime problem."

Nottinghamshire Prison
December 17, 2009 Liverpool Daily Post
A LIVERPOOL prison is among five in the country allowing its inmates to watch satellite television. More than 4,000 prisoners enjoy the privilege in private jails nationwide. Altcourse Prison, in Fazakerley, is among the contractor-run prisons allowing access to a “limited number” of satellite channels. The number of prisoners allowed to watch satellite varies according to behaviour. But Justice minister and city MP Maria Eagle revealed the number was currently around 4,070. The Garston MP was responding to a written question from Tory MP Philip Davies. She said no inmates in public sector jails have access to satellite in their quarters. But they do at Altcourse and other GS4-run prisons in South Wales and Warwickshire. The other private prisons offering satellite television are run by Serco in Staffordshire and Nottingham. Ms Eagle said: “In these establishments, satellite television in cells is generally only available to prisoners on the enhanced or standard level of the incentives and earned privileges scheme.” There are 84,500 prisoners in England and Wales, meaning around one in 20 has access to satellite TV.

Inmates at a Nottinghamshire prison have too little to do, according to a new report.  An unannounced inspection was carried out at privately-run Lowdham Grange by the Prison Inspectorate in March.  The study also said low staffing levels identified four years ago are still a problem.  Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said the prison is generally doing a good job and is "managing some difficult prisoners well".  But she said: "They must provide more purposeful activity for the prisoners because that is very important."  She said the prison has "a low staffing level, inexperienced staff and a high staff turnover", but added the prison does have control of its prisoners.  (BBC, June 23, 2004)

Pontville Immigration Detention Center, Pontville, Tasmania
November 7, 2011 ABC News
A Tasmanian Liberal Senator has slammed the sacking of security guards at an immigration detention centre in southern Tasmania. Eric Abetz says 36 people have been dismissed from the Pontville facility, north of Hobart, which is currently housing about 200 male detainees. He says the Federal Government promised the centre would create much needed jobs in the area and it is yet another broken promise. "Tasmanians were promised lots of jobs and that it would be of real benefit to the Tasmanian community." "Today we have witnessed 36 people losing their employment and the Tasmanian people have a right to feel betrayed," he said. Serco, the centre's managers, insist staffing levels are adequate. A spokesman says the security guards were contractors employed on a temporary basis, while surveillance systems were brought online.

Premier Prisons, UK
August 7, 2006 Sharewatch
Support services company Serco Group PLC confirmed today it has held talks with potential investors over the possible sale of its investments in some of its private finance initiative (PFI) projects. The company, which was responding to media reports, said it would retain management of the PFI projects and the associated long-term service contracts in the event of any sale. It added there was no certainty that any deals will be agreed. Serco is talking about selling the majority of its PFI equity investments to I2, the joint venture fund set up by Barclays Private Equity and SG Corporate & Investment Banking, according to the Financial Times. Serco plans to dispose of seven of its 11 PFI equity investments, which are understood to be worth more than 70 mln stg, the newspaper reported. It is understood the investments up for sale include Serco\'s equity in the Joint Services Command and Staff College, a flagship PFI project, and the company\'s equity stake in Premier Prisons, the private prisons and correctional services contractor, although Serco\'s involvement in those projects would continue.

June 12, 2003
Support services group Serco has taken Wackenhut Correction Corporation (WCC) to court over the future of Premier Custodial Group, their joint-owned subsidiary The court action began just days after Group 4 sold its interest in WCC back to the company.  The companies are in dispute over the future of Premier's UK operations following the take-over of Wackenhut, WCC's parent company by Group 4 earlier this year. The action began on 6 May the court is expected to reach its decision by the end of the month.  Serco is claiming that the take-over, which had placed the 57% of WCC formerly owned by Wackenhut under Group 4's control, triggered a clause in the original contract agreement which allows it to buy out WCC's half of the company at 90% of fair market value.  A Serco spokesman said: "As far as we are concerned, Group 4's buy-out of Wackenhut Corporation triggered the shareholder's agreement and we are intending to exercise that."  Premier has won three PFI contracts to build and run prisons, making it one of the largest players in the PFI corrections market, along with the Sodexho-owned United Kingdom Detention Services and Group 4's own Global Solutions Limited.  (Public Private Finance)

Prisoner Tagging, Scotland & UK
July 7, 2007 Daily Mail
Alarming failures in the way that terror suspects are kept under surveillance by electronic tagging have been revealed. Staff working for the company responsible for maintaining a round-the-clock watch on individuals linked to terrorism have no idea who they are monitoring. And the system itself frequently crashes - sometimes, it is claimed for as long as eight hours at a time. As security chiefs continued their investigations into the terror threat following the failed London and Glasgow airport bombing attacks, it emerged that: •The 'eye' which monitors the tagged suspects relies on the mobile phone network operated by O2 - making it vulnerable to a complete crash whenever the phone system goes down. •The system is rendered useless when some offenders take a bath - allowing them to use it as an excuse for avoiding detection. •Anonymity orders set by courts mean that terror suspects are referred to by staff as the "Alphabet Men' - Mr A or Mr B - keeping their real identity a secret from those monitoring their movements. •Offenders can remove the metal tag by melting it with a cigarette lighter. Last night the Justice Ministry pledged a change in 'operational procedures' in response to what it described as 'very serious allegations', while Opposition MPs demanded a Commons statement. The BBC's Panorama programme will reveal its own investigation into the tagging system, after an undercover reporter got a job at the Norwich headquarters of Serco, which has the £100million contract to run the Government's Home Detention Scheme. Serco is also responsible for keeping track of a number of the 17 terrorism suspects subject to control orders imposed by British courts as an emergency measure after the Government found it impossible to hold them without trial. At any one time, 2,700 criminals are supposed to be closely monitored under the tagging regime to ensure they do not leave home during curfew hours, which are usually between 7pm and 7am. The Mail on Sunday has separately been told that one network failure, rendering the tagging system unworkable in large parts of the country, lasted for eight hours after the O2 signal went down. Last night Serco denied the failure lasted that long, saying it had lasted for 'no more than an hour'. Offenders who abuse the tagging system also have aget out<$$> ready-made excuse - because the tags do not work in the bath. If an alarm signals that the subject has absconded, Serco staff who phone up his or her home address to check up are often told that the missing person is 'in the bath', where the system may not work. The company said that this only occurred if the bath was made of cast iron. But most older baths common in rented properties are made of cast iron. Panorama reporter Irene Kyme kept a diary of her time working for Serco, which has 29,000 employees in the UK and dozens of multi- million contracts with Whitehall departments and councils. The diary is not included in the programme to be shown on Tuesday but has been disclosed to The Mail on Sunday. Her entry for February 21 reads: "One of my team-mates took a call from O2 today who told her all of the network in the country might go down temporarily. This would mean losing contact with all of the [electronic tagging] boxes in the country. Her entry for the next day says: "I had assumed this [network failure] had not happened because I heard no more about it. "But today we all received several calls from subjects [tag wearers] saying their boxes had rung a couple of times and then stopped." On March 5 Kyme wrote: "More O2 signal problems tonight. We were given a pile of papers with hundreds of postcodes that had serious outages where we could not monitor the boxes. It was because O2 was doing engineering work all over the country. "I would have thought they would have arranged for a back-up system if they knew they could not rely on the O2 mobile phone signal." According to Kyme, the network was down for eight hours between 10pm and 6am. Serco, however, says the cut-out lasted for 'no more than an hour'. Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell, a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "People who come before the courts should not be handed over as a commodity to private companies that run private prisons, private prison vehicles or electronic tagging and whose motive is profit. "There is clearly something wrong with the electronic tagging system which needs to be looked at urgently by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. "I shall be raising this with the Select Committee. Whether it's somebody in breach of an ASBO or somebody more serious like a potential terrorist suspect, we particularly need to know whether any of those tagged can induce a malfunction. "This would be worrying at any time, but concerns have been heightened by the failed terrorist attacks of the past week." A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "These are very serious allegations and any failures will be thoroughly investigated. Officials will be working with contractors to ensure that lessons are learned, with changes made to operational procedures where appropriate." A Serco spokesman said: "We regret that the BBC over the course of five months have repeatedly refused to make their material available to us so we can address any issues that arise. "We will investigate the matters they raise and where necessary take action. If the BBC has identified areas for improvement, we will of course act on this." He added: "Even if the phone signal does go down, there are back-up systems to make sure that contact and monitoring is maintained. "As soon as the connection is restored, all the information about the offender's whereabouts during the period in question will be automatically downloaded to the control centre."

December 5, 2005 The Sun
A CRIMINAL was allowed to roam free after a second blunder by a jail tagging firm. Justin Keefe, 25, was meant to have been contacted at home and have a tag fitted after being released early from jail. But nobody got in touch - even after his mum phoned ASKING them to monitor him. The mistake has been blamed on Premier Monitoring Services - slammed for failing to keep tabs on jewellery raider Peter Williams. He had torn off a tag meant to monitor his movements before a robbery in Nottingham in which an accomplice shot dead jeweller Marian Bates. Williams, 19, was later jailed for life for his part in the murder. The latest gaffe came days after Home Office vowed there would not be a repeat. Keefe, from Streetly, West Midlands, who was jailed for eight months for two offences of affray, said: "It seems that nobody can even be bothered to tag me." Premier claim the blunder happened because private prison firm UKDS failed to fax them to say Keefe was being released. UKDS deny doing anything wrong. The Home Office is investigating.

September 19, 2005 The Herald
THE private security firm set to take over the electronic tagging of prisoners in Scotland has been censured for its failings in monitoring a teenager convicted of the murder of a jeweller while under its supervision. Serco, which runs Scotland's only private prison, has been awarded preferred-bidder status for the tender to operate electronic tagging on teenage and adult offenders north of the border for five years from April. However, the electronic tagging firm Premier Monitoring, which is owned by Serco, displayed an "inadequate understanding of its responsibilities", according to an official report into the murder of Marian Bates, a Nottingham jeweller who was killed two years ago. Mrs Bates, 64, was shot dead in her family shop as she tried to shield her daughter Xanthe from armed robbers in September 2003. Peter Williams, now 19, was a cocaine addict who had been in trouble with the law since the age of 11 for offences including burglary and indecent assault. He had been released from a young offenders' institution on licence just 20 days before the murder of Mrs Bates. An official report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation into the killing found probation workers and Premier Monitoring made a catalogue of errors in their supervision of Williams. He had breached his curfew order at least six times, and even removed the electronic tag that was supposed to restrict his movements, yet little was done. However, Premier failed to inform his youth offending team of this until the morning of Mrs Bates's murder, by which time he had removed the tag completely. Serco, which also owns Premier Custodial Services, operator of Kilmarnock Prison, is set to take over the contract for tagging offenders in Scotland from Reliance, the private security firm. Premier was criticised earlier this year amid claims of staff shortages and negligence at HMP Kilmarnock.

Prisoner Transport, UK
January 12, 2012 This Is Local London
POLICE are looking for a man who escaped from a security van window as he was being driven to Belmarsh. Tyran Reid, 33, had just appeared at Greenwich Magistrates’ Court and was being driven back to prison in a Serco-Wincanton van on January 6 when he escaped at 4.10pm. Whilst the van was stationary in traffic in Woolwich Road at a junction with Fingal Street, Greenwich, Reid managed to slip through a skylight window.

October 16, 2011 BBC
More than 25,000 cab journeys have taken place since August, Serco said. The Ministry of Justice has admitted a private security firm is using black cabs to take prison inmates to court. The firm, Serco, has a seven-year deal - with a further three-year option - worth up to £420m. But the company has been forced to transport inmates in London and east England in cabs after their computerised booking system failed. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer said he would raise the issue with Home Secretary Theresa May. 'Extraordinarily expensive' -- Mr Mercer said he was worried about the cost of hiring cabs, and the perception defendants were being driven around in luxury. "I just think it is ridiculous that a security company such as Serco misjudges things so badly that prisoners are moved to and fro in black taxis," he said.

January 15, 2011 The Sun
THREE private security guards were arrested over claims prisoners were sold cocaine - at TWO sprawling courts. The two men and a woman were nicked in swoops hours apart, not thought to be linked. They were suspended by security firm Serco and are on police bail. Cops, Serco and the Prison Service launched a joint operation after "intelligence" was picked up alleging cocaine sales. It is understood the continuing probe also focuses on whether other contraband - including mobiles and SIM cards - was also being supplied.

January 13, 2011 Streatham Guardian
The escape of a dangerous prisoner from a Wimbledon court has sparked an investigation – as magistrates voiced concerns about security at the building. Private security firm Serco, which is contracted to escort prisoners appearing at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, has said it will examine how he was able to climb out of the dock to go on the run for 11 days before handing himself in to the police in Battersea on Friday. The man, who was not handcuffed when he appeared in the locked dock last Monday after his arrest in Wandsworth, climbed on to a bench before hauling himself over a plastic wall that supposedly sealed the dock from the rest of court number one. The escape of the 21-year-old from West Norwood prompted police appeals, in which the public were told he was dangerous and should not be approached. He had just been told he was to be kept in custody for two months before facing three charges of robbery, allegedly stealing cash and electrical equipment in Merton and Wandsworth last year, and one of carrying a bladed weapon. One magistrate at the Alexandra Road court said they heard there was not enough security in the court building on the day of the escape. They said: “If he was on the loose I would have to dive under the table.”

May 28, 2010 London Evening Standard
A CROWN court security officer has been jailed for six years for supplying defendants in his cells with drugs and mobile phones which they could later sell in prison. Daniel Birkett, 30, would provide the prisoners with cannabis, cocaine and pay-as-you-go phones, which they would hide in their clothes or internally before returning to HMP Wandsworth. Birkett received up to £150 a time for these exchanges at Blackfriars crown court holding cells. Inner London crown court heard that mobile phones are a "vital commodity" in prisons and change hands for up to £500. Inmates use them to keep up criminality behind bars and potentially to intimidate witnesses. Drugs can be sold in prison for three times their street value. Birkett, who worked for security firm Serco, was caught last December after another security officer found wraps of drugs in a defendant's waistband. A further search revealed two hollowed batteries concealed in his body containing 10 more wraps of drugs. All the security staff's lockers were searched and drugs and a large tub of Vaseline were found in Birkett's locker, as well as two mobile phones. Birkett, who admitted charges of conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs and to convey a list B article (the phones), claimed that he was "frightened of the prisoners" and that they had threatened to hurt his family if he told police or refused to co-operate. However, Judge Roger Chapple said Birkett, of North Woolwich, had entered the conspiracy "willfully and for financial gain".

May 11, 2009 BBC
A prison van driver has been cleared of murdering a woman who was dancing in front of his vehicle. Andrew Curtis was also cleared of the manslaughter of Nyaraui Benjamin. Ms Benjamin, described as "eccentric" and prone to dancing in traffic, was trapped under the van in Brixton, south-west London, in April 2008. Mr Curtis, 49, told the Old Bailey that Miss Benjamin's death had been an accident, as he could not see her after she moved his windscreen wiper. During the trial he said: "If she was in front of my vehicle, as we now know, I could not see her and I did not see her." Judge Martin Stephens said it had been a "most difficult and unusual case" for everyone involved.

May 7, 2009 Hounslow Guardian
A scarfaced prisoner who escaped from court after duping guards by telling them he was desperate for the toilet has handed himself in. Roger Buckingham appeared at Isleworth Crown Court charged with a string of offences. These included a serious assault and car theft and was warned he could be jailed if convicted. But soon after appearing in front of a judge, the 26-year-old fled. He spent less than 24 hours on the run before handing himself to HMS Wormwood Scrubs yesterday morning and taken back into custody. On Tuesday Buckingham fooled prison guards by begging them to let him use the toilet before they left the court, and then escaped on foot at around 4.20pm. Buckingham faced charges of aggravated vehicle theft, taking a vehicle without consent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, another charge of theft and attempting to steal a car, all in February. It is not known how Buckingham fled from prison guards. Police launched a London wide appeal for Buckingham, who has three scars across his face and cops warned members of the public he could be dangerous. A spokesman for Serco, which transports prisoners to and from court, said: “We can confirm that a prisoner who was in the care of our court escort service escaped from Isleworth Crown Court. “We are working closely with the Metropolitan Police and the court authorities to ensure that this individual is returned to custody as quickly as possible. “This incident is regrettable and we will conduct a full investigation into how it occurred.” Serco refused to comment on how Buckingham gave its guards the slip. A Ministry of Justice spokesman confirmed it was investigating the circumstances which led to Buckingham’s escape.

April 29, 2009 Bromley Times
A PRISON van driver ran over and killed a woman in "a moment of complete madness" after she started dancing in the street, a court heard. Andrew Curtis, 49, of The Ridge, Orpington, edged forward into Naomi Benjamin, 34, until she slipped and fell under the wheels of the vehicle on April 22 last year. He then drove over her body, twisting her head until her neck was broken and dragging her 10 metres along the road, jurors were told at his murder trial at the Old Bailey this week. Horrified witnesses surrounded the driver and beat on the sides of the van in anger after the incident in Brixton. Bystander Susan Fraser, giving evidence on Tuesday, said: "She was in front of the prison van dancing, waving [her] arms around and shouting. There was a lot of action going on. "The prison van eventually moved forwards and Naomi moved backwards. The van moved forwards again and almost touched her. She was obstructing the vehicle, she was shouting but I couldn't understand any words." She then jumped up and pulled the passenger windscreen wiper down before tumbling to the floor. Ms Fraser added: "That was when the prison van escalated. She fell under the wheel and the van continued moving up the hill and she was underneath it. I was in shock. "I remained there until she was run over and I made my way towards the van. "There was an immediate rush of people towards the van, screaming and shouting at the van to stop. "It was very nasty. Things got a bit nasty." Curtis, who had worked for Serco for six years, was transporting prisoners from a court in Westminster to Brixton prison during rush hour. He had stopped at the traffic lights outside the KFC in the middle of the three-lane carriageway heading southbound on Brixton Road. Prosecutor Simon Denison said: "She was killed suddenly and utterly needlessly by this defendant in a moment of complete madness. "She slipped and fell in front of the centre of the van. You may think he must have realised what had happened but quite incredibly he continued to drive the van forward and he went over her." The victim was still alive when the first paramedic arrived but by the time she could be moved from under the vehicle she was dead. Describing Ms Benjamin, Mr Denison said: "She was well known in the community, a local character. She was often dressed in brightly coloured clothes. She was outgoing and a loud person. Unfortunately she was often drunk." The trial continues.

March 30, 2009 The Sun
AN arsonist was on the run last night after escaping from jail by clinging to the underside of a prison van. Frenchman Julien Chautard, 39, was among ten lags who had just arrived at Pentonville jail. Chautard, who was starting a seven-year stretch at the North London prison after being convicted on Friday, crept under the van belonging to security firm Serco while the others filed into a reception area. A source said: “The van went into the prison’s secure area, then they unloaded the prisoners. “Normally as prisoners come off the vehicle and into the building there is somebody who searches and escorts them — but there wasn’t this time.. “Chautard didn’t go into the building and the van left. “When the van was checked afterwards they found foot prints and finger hold marks on the underside.”

January 16, 2009 BBC
A man facing assault and burglary charges who went on the run after a prison van was stopped by an armed man has been recaptured. Wayne Joseph Connor, 20, fled when the van was stopped a short distance from Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London on Monday. A Serco van was forced to pull over by two men, one of them with a shotgun. Police said Connor was arrested at the Clumber Park Hotel in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Shortly after midnight detectives from the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police along with officers from Nottinghamshire Police entered the hotel room and arrested Connor. He had been missing since Monday when the Serco van was stopped near the Clockhouse Roundabout in Feltham at about 0730 GMT. Two men, one of them armed with a shotgun, threatened the security staff before driving off with Connor. He had been due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court accused of three charges of assault and three of burglary.

January 12, 2009 BBC
A suspected burglar escaped when an armed man held up a prison van carrying him to court. The Serco van was forced to pull over and two men wearing balaclavas smashed the driver's window and threatened him with shotgun. Prisoner Wayne Connor, 20, was driven away after the raid, a short distance from Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London. No shots were fired and the driver has been treated for cuts and bruises. Mr Connor has been charged with racially aggravated burglary and two counts of actual bodily harm. An unknown number of other offenders were also being transported, but were secured at the scene, police said. Prisoner transfer -- Police investigating the raid on Monday morning have cordoned off several streets near Bedfont Road. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Local officers and London Ambulance Service attended. "The driver of the van is believed to have been assaulted. "He was taken by London Ambulance Service to hospital and is in a stable condition." The van was driving suspects from Feltham Young Offenders' Institution to Woolwich Crown Court, said a spokesman for Serco, the private firm contracted to provide prisoner transfers. Another member of staff was unhurt during the incident.

December 23, 2008 New Ham Recorder
A "DANGEROUS" sex offender has escaped from court, prompting a warning from police not to approach him. Paul Reid, 32, formerly of Haldane Road, East Ham, is a convicted rapist and burglar. He was sentenced to two years in jail for indecent assault at Inner London Crown Court last week. He was at the same court on Monday for an appeal hearing when he escaped while in the custody of a private security firm which moves prisoners. It is at least the third time Reid has managed to flee from custody. In September 2001 he vaulted the dock at Snaresbrook crown Court and made good his escape through the judge's chambers. He was arrested next day in East Ham. Two months earlier he was handed a six month sentence for an earlier escape from Redbridge Court. In July 1997 Reid was caged for six years after a jury found him guilty of beating and raping a 16-year-old girl in Ilford Police said Reid is known to frequent the Plaistow neighbourhoods. He is black, 5ft 10in tall and muscular. He was last seen wearing a black fleece jacket and blue jeans. A spokesman for private security company Serco, responsible fro transferring prisoners, said: "This incident is regrettable and we will conduct a full investigation into how it occurred. "We are working closely with the Metropolitan Police and the court authorities to ensure that this individual is returned to custody as quickly as possible.

October 17, 2008 BBC
A prison van driver has denied murdering a woman who was killed when she was knocked down by the vehicle in south-west London. Andrew Curtis, 48, from Orpington, south-east London, is charged with the murder of Nyaraui Benjamin, 34. Ms Benjamin was knocked down and trapped under the van carrying 11 prisoners in Brixton Road on 22 April. Mr Curtis, who worked for Serco Court Escort Services, was granted bail by the Old Bailey to face trial in April.

April 22, 2008 BBC
A woman has died after being trapped under a prison van in south London, the Metropolitan police have said. The victim, aged about 30, was hit as the van turned from Acre Lane into Brixton Hill at 1735 BST on Tuesday. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the van has been arrested in connection with the incident. The vehicle involved was a Serco van transporting 11 prisoners. All of its passengers were accounted for and no-one was injured. 'Heartfelt sympathies' The driver is being held in custody at a south London police station. A Serco spokesman said: "I can confirm that one of our prison escort vans was involved in a fatal incident earlier today outside Brixton Town Hall. "We would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family of the woman who has lost her life in this tragic accident." The incident is being investigated by the Met's collision investigation unit.

Scherger Detention Center
Queensland, Australia
Serco
December 3, 2011 The Age
A QUEENSLAND psychiatrist says the remote Scherger detention centre is ''waiting for disaster'' and ''tragedy is very likely to occur'' because asylum seekers can't get adequate health services. Dr Bruce Gynther, of the Cairns health service, told a parliamentary inquiry the psychiatric care being offered at the former airbase in Weipa, 800 kilometres from Cairns, was ''really suboptimal''. Detention centres should be close to hospitals, where sick detainees can be admitted within 24 hours, he said. He also questioned the need to detain asylum seekers. Afghan Meqdad Hussein, 20, committed suicide at Scherger in March. Despite the federal government's recent policy shift to move more boat arrivals out of detention and into the community, Scherger will expand from housing 320 to 600 asylum seekers, the private operator Serco said yesterday. The Labor Party will debate asylum policy at its national conference today, with Labor for Refugees arguing mandatory detention should be restricted to 90 days. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said Dr Gynther had confirmed that the Scherger centre was compromising mental health services in the community and indigenous population.

October 24, 2011 The Cairns Post
A TENSE stand-off remains between Tamil asylum seekers and security guards at the Scherger Immigration Detention Centre after a fight which resulted in two detainees and a guard being taken to hospital. A Department of Immigration spokesman said one of the detainees remained in hospital with broken teeth and a suspected broken nose. The incident coincides with the news three more suspected asylum-seeker boats were intercepted off the northwest Australian coast at the weekend. The department spokesman confirmed the fight at Scherger, near Weipa, started about 2pm on Saturday. It lasted for three hours and involved about 100 asylum seekers angry at the Serco security staff. Ambulances and more security guards were called in to contain the fight. "The centre was calm by about 5pm," he said. "We understand the past 24 hours has remained calm, and we will await a report from Serco this week before making any further comment." The Refugee Action Coalition is demanding the removal of a Serco guard alleged to have started the fight. The group’s spokesman Ian Rintoul said yesterday reports from inside the centre claimed a Serco officer assaulted the Tamil asylum seeker in the internet room, leaving the man with several broken teeth and a suspected broken nose. "The refugees get allotted time slots for the internet use and have cards for those slots," Mr Rintoul said. "It’s common for the detainees to swap their slots. "When this guy had tried to go into the internet room with someone else’s card the guard had assaulted him." Mr Rintoul also said reports from inside the centre indicated the Serco guard had been involved in earlier altercations with two other asylum seekers; one Tamil and one Afghan. "We are extremely concerned that this incident could become a full-on confrontation," Mr Rintoul said.

July 22, 2011 The Australian
THE unrest at immigration detention centres has spread to the newest mainland facility, with asylum-seekers starting a hunger strike at Scherger. The protest began yesterday at the converted Cape York air force base near Weipa in Queensland, with 60 Afghan Hazara men refusing to eat. The flare-up follows two nights of protests at the detention centre on Christmas Island during which asylum-seekers set buildings and mattresses on fire. The Australian Federal Police had to be called in to halt the destruction, using beanbag bullets and teargas. The Australian understands that 43 of the men demonstrating at Scherger have had their claims for asylum rejected by the Immigration Merit Review process. Others have been waiting months for a decision. The men were distressed and desperate, a friend told The Australian. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said there was no deadline for the protest to finish. "If there was hope, nobody would hunger strike," he said. "Life is wasting away there, and they see Scherger as a dead-end." Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition said many of the men had been in detention for between 18 and 22 months. The process of reviewing refugee claims was flawed, he said. "There is no accountability and no transparency, yet these decision-makers are making life-and-death decisions for the asylum-seekers and their families." There are 540 detainees held at the facility, which was originally designed as a six-month stopgap for 300 men. Scherger's capacity has since been increased to 596, and its lifespan as a detention centre has been extended. A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship said the centre was calm. "We can confirm that about 50 detainees are sitting peacefully in an outdoor common area of the Scherger detention centre," the spokesman said. "The department and the detention services provider (Serco) are engaging with the detainees, and food and water are available."

Serco
Companies Use Immigration Crackdown to Turn a Profit: Expose on immigration by Nina Bernstein at the New York Times, September 28, 2011

April 27, 2012 New Zealand Herald
Private prison operators Serco have failed to meet several key performance measures since taking over running the Mt Eden Corrections Facility, a Corrections Department report shows. The report, released under the Official Information Act, shows two wrongful releases and one wrongful imprisonment in the eight months since the Mt Eden facility was handed to the British-based company. It was fined $150,000 when Aaron Stephen Forden, a prisoner dubbed "Houdini", escaped earlier this year. All of the incidents are listed as zero tolerance areas under Corrections Departments standards. Corrections chief executive Ray Smith told Radio New Zealand Serco's failure to meet several performance measures was "less than we expect". "We have been actively working with Serco to ensure that improvements are achieved." Other results showed an 82 per cent completion rate on random drug tests at the facility - 17 per cent short of the standard required. Targets for prisoner management plans and telephone call monitoring were not reached. However, random drug testing showed only a three per cent return of positive samples. The Public Service Association said the results showed the failure of privatising prisons. National Secretary Richard Wagstaff said Serco had jeopardised public safety by allowing wrongful releases and escapes. "The department may be trying to write these off as 'teething problems' but they are no such thing - these are core procedures that should be right from the start. "This report shows Serco is failing in its number one priority - to keep the public safe." Mr Wagstaff said the report showed the "folly" of opening another private prison at Wiri.

April 27, 2012 Scoop
National’s prison privatisation plan needs serious rethinking after failing to meet basic performance requirements at Mt Eden prison, Labour says. Labour’s Justice Sector Spokesperson Charles Chauvel says that the Government’s plans to privatise up to a quarter of New Zealand’s prison capacity will worsen the already dangerous failure to meet requirements. “Figures out today reveal worrying trends in Serco’s management of the Mt Eden Corrections Facility over the last eight months “Of particular concern are failures to meet drug testing and offender management plan targets, wrongful releases, and an escape from custody. “Coincidentally I visited Mt Eden yesterday, as well as the state-run Paremoremo and Auckland Women’s prisons. “While there is much positive work being done by the staff at each of them, one of the obvious realities is that a level playing field does not operate between the public and private sectors. Many of the state-run institutions have to cope with legacy facilities and procedures, which Serco is unburdened by. “In light of that – and especially since, under National Serco’s slice of the corrections pie will double once the new Wiri Prison is built next year, and up to a quarter of all inmates in the system will be under their control – the public has a right to expect Serco’s performance targets to be met.

March 1, 2012 STV
Scotland's first private prison has been criticised by inspectors for the "limited" activities provided for inmates. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Brigadier Hugh Monro has now called for improvements in the work and education programmes at HMP Kilmarnock. He also called for the overall standard of healthcare at the facility to be reviewed. The latest inspection report claimed out-of-cell activities at the jail were "limited and lack stimulation". It said "too few prisoners" attended the workshops, and that "too few prisoners also attend education and the educational facility is under-utilised". The report complained that "large numbers of prisoners are not engaged in purposeful activity". It also stated that access to activities was not good enough, with only 40% of prisoners out of the house blocks during the day. Just 200 prisoners were taking part in work during the latest inspection, and Brig Monro said: "I was not satisfied that the quality of work was sufficiently good. In some workshops some prisoners have no work to do and spend much of the time drinking tea or watching other prisoners who do have work allocated to them." Brig Monro recommended that access to work, vocational training and education at the jail is improved, and the quality of education and work should also be better. The report described the education programme as "limited and under-developed". It added: "Low numbers of prisoners access education programmes. A total of 139 prisoners out of a prison population of approximately 640 regularly attend education classes. This represents only 22% of the prison population." Brig Monro accepted there were "good points in the prison's healthcare provision, not least the mental health area, smoking cessation, dental treatment and alcohol programme".

November 23, 2011 The Age
THE multinational company that runs Australia's immigration detention network has been fined $15 million for failing in its duty of care to asylum seekers and underperformance . The immigration department has told a federal parliamentary inquiry it had docked $14.8 million from monthly payments to SERCO between March 2010 and June 2011 because of poor management of the detention centres, and docked another $215,000 from SERCO's contract to run immigration housing centres. SERCO was paid $375 million to run immigration centres last year, and $101 million in the three months to October 2011. The secretive contract the federal government signed with SERCO withholds payment for audited ''abatements'' each month. Escapes, failure to secure perimeter fences, not providing activities or reporting major incidents, not giving access to visitors, interpreters or legal representatives, poor building conditions and food safety can trigger fee reductions. The penalty is limited by the contract to 5 per cent of SERCO's monthly fee. The $15 million fine, revealed in written submissions to the inquiry, is therefore near the upper limit of what the Immigration Department would have been contractually able to penalise SERCO in a period plagued by riots, fires, suicides and escalating detainee self harm.

November 18, 2011 AAP
SECURITY company Serco has been asked to explain why a refugee was locked in isolation after he suffered an electric shock while scaling a fence at a Darwin detention centre. The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Immigration Detention Network is conducting an extensive inquiry into the effect of detention on detainees, in the wake of a series of detention centre riots. Serco, which has a contract with the federal government to run the centres, was questioned today over a refugee being locked in a room by guards for more than an hour, after he suffered an electric shock while climbing a fence at Darwin's Northern Immigration Detention Centre on November 15. The man, who was declared a refugee a year ago and was awaiting security clearance, was reportedly attempting to see friends in another compound, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told the inquiry in Melbourne. Ms Hanson-Young said he was only taken to hospital after he collapsed, then was again locked up in isolation after he returned. "In this scenario, which is a real scenario, who made the decision that this man was to be locked up on his own?" Senator Hanson-Young asked Serco managing director Chris Manning. Mr Manning told her he would look into the incident and report back to the committee on his findings. Senator Hanson-Young also asked him about concerns raised in a recent report by health and safety authority Comcare over underqualified staff working at immigration detention centres. "You don't have a client to staff ratio," she said of the contract the security firm has with the government. Mr Manning told her staffing levels were reviewed regularly. "They are based on a number of factors ... if there are safety issues then we would take a view on whether more staff were required," he said.

October 16, 2011 BBC
More than 25,000 cab journeys have taken place since August, Serco said. The Ministry of Justice has admitted a private security firm is using black cabs to take prison inmates to court. The firm, Serco, has a seven-year deal - with a further three-year option - worth up to £420m. But the company has been forced to transport inmates in London and east England in cabs after their computerised booking system failed. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer said he would raise the issue with Home Secretary Theresa May. 'Extraordinarily expensive' -- Mr Mercer said he was worried about the cost of hiring cabs, and the perception defendants were being driven around in luxury. "I just think it is ridiculous that a security company such as Serco misjudges things so badly that prisoners are moved to and fro in black taxis," he said.

October 10, 2011 3 News
Private prison operator SERCO faces a $150,000 fine after the man nicknamed “Houdini” escaped from its custody. Aaron Forden scaled the perimeter fence of Mt Eden Corrections Facility early this morning. He was pursued by a police dog, but got away in a waiting car. Forden used knotted bed sheets to escape from Mt Eden Prison in 2008. “I would consider him to be unpredictable and therefore dangerous and that members of the public should not approach him,” says Detective Sergeant Iain Chapman. “But it’s only with assistance from the public and his associates that we will catch him.” Forden is known to change his appearance to avoid capture.

August 25, 2011 The West Australian
A former Serco employee at Curtin Detention Centre says treatment of detainees by some staff members was "outrageously brutal" and they were bullied constantly. Seven asylum seekers were flown from Curtin and put in isolation on Christmas Island on Tuesday night because of increased tensions at the remote centre, 40km from Derby. The Immigration Department confirmed two men tried to escape on Friday. They climbed an internal fence but did not get past the electric perimeter fence. A spokeswoman denied the men were injured in the incident and said they were not among three detainees denied treatment at Broome Hospital on Tuesday for speaking to a member of the public in a waiting room. The former employee, who recently resigned and asked not to be named, spoke of growing tensions at Curtin where there were three staff who had "no training, no idea and no perceived intention to provide any welfare" to detainees. "The fact two Serco guards have committed suicided since April is evidence that not everyone can live with this on their conscience," they said. An elderly Afghan man who had asked in July to be moved to a single room because he believed he "smelled" - a problem attributed to mental health issues - was manhandled by staff. They claimed a department case manager and Serco welfare officer called the man a liar after a short interview and, as he tried to leave the room, two "burly" Serco guards shoved him to the ground. He spent four days in hospital with back injuries, the former employee said. Employees were scared to talk to anyone outside the centre about such incidents, particularly the media, for fear of being identified or sacked. "The expulsion of the Serco man at Christmas Island recently and the sacking of the mental health nurse from Darwin last week is evidence that it is a real threat," they said. Habib, 28, an Afghan asylum seeker released in July after 15 months in detention, fears for friends inside. He said some staff were uncaring and detainees were scared to speak out in case it affected their status. Many were depressed after waiting many months for interviews. The immigration spokeswoman rejected claims detainees were treated badly. "We require that our staff and Serco staff treat detainees with dignity and respect," she said. There were complaint processes and allegations were always investigated. She said there were no recent complaints of mistreatment.

August 19, 2011 The Age
A MENTAL health nurse has been sacked from a Darwin detention centre for saying she believes mandatory detention contributes to mental illness in asylum seekers. A letter sent by her employer, International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), and obtained by The Age, says her job was terminated last Friday after Serco detention centre managers and Immigration Department staff complained that she was ''expressing negative political opinions'' about detention. The federal government's Detention Health Advisory Group, the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses and the Australian Psychological Society yesterday called for mandatory detention to be abandoned. Their call came after documents submitted to a parliamentary inquiry showed high levels of self-harm, with 213 detainees treated for self-inflicted injuries and 700 for ''voluntary starvation'' in the first six months of this year. The chairwoman of the advisory group, Professor Louise Newman, said she was concerned that a political view could be held against a health worker. IHMS spokeswoman Melissa Lysaght said last night that staff were entitled to political opinions but needed to work in a team environment. ''In fact, that is not a reason for terminating someone, because everyone is entitled to a political opinion,'' Ms Lysaght said. ''In hindsight, the phrasing of the letter was incorrect.'' She said the woman had been sacked for professional standards reasons, after working there for two weeks. Amanda Gordon, of the Australian Psychological Society, said yesterday there was clear scientific evidence of the harm caused by indefinite detention, which ''exacerbates trauma, and creates mental illness, in contravention of the government's own commitment to reduce it''. Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton said yesterday his attack on the mandatory detention policy at the AMA's parliamentary dinner this week had been prompted by ''terrible stories'' being reported by paediatricians and psychiatrists who went inside detention centres. Dr Paul Bauert, director of paediatrics at the Royal Darwin Hospital, said children as young as four and five had been caught up in hunger strikes that their parents were involved in, and were treated at his hospital. ''They weren't eating and required intravenous and gastric drips,'' he said.

August 17, 2011 IT News
Australia's Department of Immigration has blamed IT systems for delays in turning over detailed information on serious incidents recorded at detention centres to a parliamentary inquiry. The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Immigration Detention Network, established 16 June and convened for the first time last night, received 597 pages of data [pdf] from the department on incidents recorded at detention facilities since January 2008. It had sought from the department copies of all incident reports filed by immigration facility managers Serco and health services provider International Health and Medical Services (IHMS). The department said it had received 9157 incident reports from Serco between 1 October 2009 and the 30 June 2011. These were recorded in a Compliance, Case Management, Detention and Settlement (CCMDS) portal. The department also received 1869 reports from G4S, a firm that managed detention centres before Serco was contracted. G4S incidents were recorded in a "legacy system" called the Immigration Services Information System (ISIS). The department claimed there was no quick way of accessing incident reports, such as use of a batch process for extraction. "It would take a departmental officer approximately 919 hours of work (this is equivalent to around 25 weeks of work for a full time officer) to extract all reports from the system as each report needs to be extracted individually," the department said. Instead, the department produced a spreadsheet that aggregated every incident recorded according to tags such as "escape", "voluntary starvation" and "self-harm". The department said that getting to IHMS incident reports prior to January 2010 was difficult because they were not electronically recorded at this time. Alleged abuse against staff -- The committee had also sought detailed data on actions taken by Serco for incidents where the contractor's or department's staff had been allegedly abused or threatened "by detainees or other persons within the Detention Network". Department figures showed Serco recorded 871 instances of "alleged or observed inappropriate behaviour... towards Serco staff" until 30 June this year. "Action taken by Serco in relation to these incidents are recorded in multiple systems depending upon the nature of the incident," the department noted. "The very detailed information sought in the [committee's] question is not readily available in consolidated form and it would be a major task to collect and assemble it. "In order to report on the outcome for each incident, the department would need to manually interrogate these systems. "The department estimates that this would take a departmental officer an average of 30 minutes for each incident. This equates to approximately 58 working days." Figures that were released by the department showed the number of detainees hospitalised, treated for starvation and injuries from self-harm.

August 11, 2011 ABC
The report details a system unable to respond to serious threats like April's riots in Sydney's Villawood detention centre. ABC1's Lateline has been given exclusive access to a wide-ranging report delivered by Comcare, the Federal Government's workplace safety agency. It paints a picture of systemic under-training of staff and a lack of preparation to deal with the constant threat of violence, protests and self-harm. The revelations come as yet another boat carrying 100 asylum seekers arrives on Christmas Island, adding to overcrowding at the detention centre there. The Comcare report is scathing about overcrowding issues set to worsen with the new arrivals. Once inside the detention centre the latest arrivals face a system that places them and their guards in danger, according to the Comcare report. The report identifies five major failures by the Department of Immigration across the detention centre network: •There is no risk management process, despite the highly volatile environment. •There is no plan to alter staffing levels to deal with dramatic fluctuations in detainee numbers. •Staff are not trained to the point where they are confident and competent in their jobs. •There is no effective written plan to deal with critical incidents like riots and suicide attempts. •And no steps are taken to manage detainees' religious and cultural needs, detainees are roomed together even when there's a history of extreme violence between their ethnic groups in their homes countries. The Federal Opposition obtained the report under freedom of information. "There are system-wide failures in the detention network and I think that's what this report bares out, and I think it totally justifies the Coalition's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the detention network," Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said. The report details a system unable to respond to serious threats to life and limb like April's riots in Sydney's Villawood detention centre. "There were clear indicators (that Villawood staff advise were present at the time) that the riots were reasonably foreseeable. Despite the apparent clear indications, no critical incident plans were in place for staff to follow, should such a situation occur," the report said. The report backs up claims made by guards at detention centres that proper training is not provided. "Basically, from what I've seen, the new recruits were just basically put on the floor, no training whatsoever, they were being told that they would be trained as they were," a Serco guard said. Serco is the company which runs the detention network on behalf of the Immigration Department. The lack of training has led to serious ramifications identified in the Comcare report, which details how Serco staff are thrown into situations of extreme risk with little idea of how to respond. "Serco staff provided information about the level of serious assaults on staff, witnessing the deaths of detainees and the distress of having to deal with it. Staff also advised of feeling inadequately trained and the lack of instruction and supervision/support during times of critical incidents," the report said. 'Damning report' Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the report is damning. "They don't have access it seems in this report [to] a clear plan for dealing with self-harm and suicide, the report is very damning of a lack of management and management plans for incidents, and so they are left to their own devices," she said. "This report is quite damning [in] that there is a culture of non-disclosure, a culture of secrecy, total lack of transparency and what we see is we don't know how many cases of self-harm there are, how many incidents that have had to be escalated to different levels." But Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan says Comcare has "ignored and made errors" in terms of the training the department is doing "around cultural awareness, training around detention operations and training of case managers". Lateline recently obtained a log of incidents in the Christmas Island detention centre detailing up to 12 incidents of self-harm or attempted suicide per day. The Comcare report suggests the number could be higher, as could other dangerous events: "... there is (a) level of under-reporting of notifiable incidents in accordance with s68 of the OHS Act." Mr Logan rejects the suggestion that there is under-reporting of incidents in the immigration detention network. "What in fact there have been at times is where there have been serious incidents that have occurred is we have had to wait for the full medical report, the legal report, any police investigation into that incident before it's been brought to Comcare's attention," Mr Logan said. Comcare told Lateline it has identified a number of potential breaches by the Immigration Department of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It says the department has got until Monday week to respond, or face the possibility of a $250,000 fine. The report also details attempts by the Immigration Department to hamper investigations into its safety performance. Mr Logan rejects any suggestion there was a lack of cooperation by the department. "We would reject any suggestion that we did not cooperate with Comcare. I think there may have been some miscommunication on a couple of occasions," Mr Logan said. A parliamentary inquiry will look into the immigration detention centre network next Tuesday.

July 13, 2011 The Australian
THE company running Australia's immigration detention centres is incurring unsustainable fines from the Department of Immigration for breaches of its $712 million contract, according to a leaked email from Serco's senior operations manager at the Christmas Island detention centre. An escape on July 1 -- about three months after Australian Federal Police were sent to bolster the security at the centre and insist that electric perimeter fences be switched on -- is the latest in a string of breaches that will cost Serco dearly. The company last week appointed a full-time security manager to prevent further escapes. Guards are now stationed on the perimeter of the centre under beach umbrellas on 12-hour shifts, complaining it is too hot and that shade falls on the other side of the fence for several hours each day. Serco's senior operations manager for the detention centre, Steve Southgate, addressed colleagues about continued breaches in an email last Monday. "We can no longer remain where we are," he said. "We are getting fined for things that should have been completed. We are getting fined for not paying attention to the detail. We are getting fined for not doing what we have said we will do. We need to change our culture to a proactive culture and get ourselves out of this reactive blame culture." Mr Southgate arrived on the island after mass breakouts, unrest and rioting in March that led to the AFP taking over the centre temporarily. Those incidents are likely to have resulted in substantial fines -- called abatements -- for Serco, though the firm's contract stipulates that fines are capped at 5 per cent of whatever the company gets paid that month for running the centre where the breaches occurred. The 5 per cent cap does not apply if the breaches are deemed "significant or continuous".

May 30, 2011 TangataWhenua.com
Not only is Serco’s contract commercial in confidence, it has now been revealed the detention centre operator receives little scrutiny from the Department of Immigration, reports Adam Brereton from Canberra. Not only is the $1 billion contract awarded to detention centre operator Serco beyond the reach of public scrutiny, but Senate Estimates hearings today revealed that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship collects scant data on breaches and has limited knowledge and oversight of staff training levels. In what was a stellar confirmation of the Greens’ reputation as Senate watchdogs, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young doggedly pressed DIAC assistant secretary Fiona Lynch-Magor over allegations that Serco has been posting untrained and inexperienced guards to Australia’s overcrowded detention centres, with surprising results. When asked by Hanson-Young, the DIAC official was unable to list the number of times Serco had breached the “management and service” provision of the contract, relating to detention centre operations, because the contract “doesn’t record specific breaches per incident”, instead measuring Serco’s performance under a “series of abatements that apply to certain metrics”. The abatements, issued as retrospective fines, have been occurring on Lynch-Magor’s admission “since the beginning of the contract”, but are “not recorded in a recordable number”. “Systemic” breaches trigger “continuous failure” under the contract, which has a multiplier effect on the abatement issued. Senator Hanson-Young appeared increasingly frustrated with Lynch-Magor’s answers, which became more circuitous as the questioning continued. When asked whether a failure to train staff properly could be considered a breach, she replied that Serco was “required to undertake all the training we require them to do”, and listed Certificate 2 requirements for centre chefs and guards. Lynch-Magor told the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs that DIAC had requested Serco prove their staff were properly trained “earlier this week”, and had received an immediate response. When Senator Hanson-Young asked the number of staff who “were asked to leave”, she was told that wasn’t information the department usually requested from Serco. “So the department doesn’t know how many untrained staff have been on the ground… as of earlier this week?” the Senator replied. The assembled DIAC officials assured Senator Hanson-Young they “have ongoing monitoring of the Serco contract” — a contract manager in each facility, plus centre and national level monitoring, and “would expect Serco to respond immediately.” “You’re telling me you have no record of how many times the contract supervisors have had to request staff be removed?” Senator Hanson-Young asked. DIAC asked the question be put on notice, ending that line of enquiry. When queried about public disclosure, DIAC explained that those parts of the Serco contract that were outside public scrutiny were justified — centre maps, operational details, and commercial performance indicators. The Senator didn’t buy it. “So the list of items that could qualify as a breach of the contract are not public, and the department doesn’t audit the list of breaches — what breaches happen, how many breaches happen — at what stage is there any type of transparency?” she asked. By this stage Lynch-Magor was feeling the heat. She told the Standing Committee the abatements regime is audited and can be quantified. Serco’s abatements regime is a “performance metric” assessed against a number of criteria, compiled by DIAC monthly — individual breaches aren’t collated — and there is no ticking or crossing. It’s not a system where “five particular events occurred and that added up to the number five”, Lynch-Magor said. “And where is that publicly disclosed?” Senator Hanson-Young asked. “It’s not publicly disclosed,” Lynch-Magor confessed. “So the contract whereby the list of requirements that Serco has to fulfill is not for public disclosure, the possible items that would qualify as a breach is not publicly disclosed, the performance of whether they are actually upholding or breaching that service delivery performance is not publicly disclosed — where in this process is there the public interest and transparency of this contract?” Lynch-Magor made a noise much like the last puff of air being expelled from a balloon. “It doesn’t exist, does it? If it’s up to Senate Estimates, well we need to see those things tabled,” the Senator added. “It might be worth noting Senator that we have an extensive process of internal and external auditors,” Lynch-Magor added. “I think I’ve made my point,” Senator Hanson-Young concluded. The Federal Opposition is currently seeking the support of the independents and Greens to conduct a broad-based inquiry into immigration detention.

May 25, 2011 ABC
The Immigration Department says riots at the Christmas Island and Villawood detention centres are estimated to have caused about $9 million in damage. A number of buildings were destroyed during violent protests at both centres earlier this year. Department spokeswoman Fiona Lynch-Magor told a Senate hearing the company that runs the centres, Serco, will make an insurance claim for the damage. "We've made some early assessments of what we think those costs will be with our insurer," she said. "But Serco will be pursuing the insurance with their own insurer." The Immigration Department also says there were not enough federal police on Christmas Island to arrest asylum seekers who escaped from the detention centre during protests earlier this year. A large group of asylum seekers broke through the detention centre fence during the riots and the Senate hearing heard they were offered a lift back to the detention centre. Department spokeswoman Jackie Wilson says it was not possible to arrest the group. "The numbers of police on the island and the need to secure the airport as a priority did not enable us to have sufficient AFP on the island to do that," she said. "We were trying to do it in a peaceful way which required working with the clients rather than using AFP, which were being used for another purpose at the time." The Opposition says the lack of federal police left the island in a vulnerable position. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says it backs his argument for a parliamentary inquiry into the detention network. "[It's] very concerning that there were not sufficient police on the island when things broke out," he said. "What makes [this] worse is the department confirmed that the number and type of incidents were escalating and getting more serious, which was a clear indication that things were ... [the] temperature was rising and things were getting out of hand." The Government has already established a number of inquiries into the detention network.

May 25, 2011 The Daily Telegraph
THE contrast in lifestyle could not be more stark. The man in charge of Australia's detention centres lives in this Sydney Harbour waterfront apartment - a world away from detainees living in overcrowded conditions just 30km away at the Villawood detention centre. David Campbell, the boss of Serco, lives in the $2.5 million three-bedroom apartment at McMahons Point. With estimates the highly-secretive Serco will make $1 billion from running detention centres until 2014, it is expected, with bonuses, that Mr Campbell's salary will only rise. Locals said apartments in the block featured only the best finishes: Spanish stone on the kitchen floors, eucalyptus granite on benchtops, stone-finished bathrooms and myrtle-veneer finishes for kitchens. Mr Campbell does not own the property, but local sources said a typical rent for the apartment would be $2000 a week. The apartment block is heavily secured - at the same time our detention centres have suffered some well-publicised breaches in recent months. A report this month by Amnesty International suggested that overcrowding at the Serco-run detention centres was a problem. Even Serco admitted that with boat people arriving in record numbers, there were "significant pressures on the operation of detention facilities". But the only boat people Mr Campbell is likely to see at his McMahons Point pad are the yachtie and motor cruiser set, with eight marina berths exclusively used by residents. And there is no sign he will have to vacate his luxury quarters in the near future.

May 12, 2011 The Australian
The Gillard government has secretly doubled the fee paid to global prisons contractor Serco, which will now charge taxpayers $712 million to manage the nation's immigration detention network. Government tender records reveal that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship secretly increased the contract price in November last year, barely 11 months after publicly announcing the cost to be $367m. Serco, which manages government prisons in Australia, Britain, the US, Europe and New Zealand, has also been fined several times for breaching contract conditions. The Immigration Department yesterday refused to say how or when Serco had breached its contract, or how much the department had penalised the company by withholding contract payments. "We can't got into detail on the total amount of any fines imposed, as this information is considered commercial-in-confidence," a department spokesman said. "Disclosure of such details has the potential to damage the commercial reputation of the detention services provider. "The contract provides for the contractor to be penalised where it is proven that lax work practices or incompetence have resulted in negligence and contributed to loss and damage of commonwealth assets." During Serco's management, asylum-seekers recently set fire to detention centres on Christmas Island and at Villawood, in Sydney, where they have staged regular rooftop protests and hunger strikes. Nine Chinese nationals escaped from Villawood last year. This week's budget papers reveal that the Gillard government has also granted Serco legal and financial indemnities. Serco is responsible for insuring the Immigration Department against loss and damage, or any personal liability claims arising from its management of detention centres, but the government has agreed that Serco will be liable to pay only $75m, on top of any insurance payouts. "What this means is that in the course of negotiating the contract, the commonwealth has agreed to meet any additional liability beyond $75m in the event of certain circumstances," the department's spokesman said. "This is consistent with previous detention service provider contracts, and for Serco to achieve unlimited liability in all circumstances would result in additional contract costs. "Such a decision was taken to ensure value for money and was subject to a full risk assessment." The spokesman confirmed that the contract price had blown out to $712m because Serco had been handed extra facilities to manage and needed to recruit more staff. The government has opened four detention centres: the high-security Curtin facility and a lower-security family centre at Leonora in Western Australia; Scherger in Queensland's Cape York; and Inverbrackie in South Australia. A Serco spokeswoman said yesterday the government did not allow it to discuss any conditions of its contract. "We don't give staffing numbers for our sites due to security reasons," she said. Serco won the five-year contract in 2009, taking over from rival provider G4S. In a statement to the British stock exchange, Serco revealed that the contract "may be extended for a further four years" -- a detail left out of the Immigration Department's public announcement.

May 6, 2011 Big Pond
A Christmas Island detention centre guard has accused management of a series of cover-ups. The guard said Serco, a private company that runs Australia's detention centres, was keeping the immigration department in the dark about the problems it faces at its facilities. Choosing to remain anonymous, he told ABC television on Thursday a management officer shredded a report detailing an incident in which he was attacked. 'You might get an unruly detainee, and Immigration will say Oh no, you can't do anything, you can't touch him' even if he pushes you, shoves ya, you just look at him,' the guard said. 'If you write him up, sometimes it goes into Bin 13 - and that's it.' He said Bin 13 was code among staff for the shredder. Asked if such cover-ups were a regular occurrence, he replied: 'I'd say so.' The man also accused Serco of inflating staff numbers and having guards on the rosters that didn't exist. 'Yep, they're not on the island, but they're on the roster.' The guard said he and his colleagues sometimes would go to work drunk, but were never punished because of the worker shortage. The ABC broadcast statements from two other Serco guards who agreed staff numbers were low. One said that during a riot in February, there had been 15 guards watching over 2500 detainees. Serco has been contacted for comment. The cover-up claims come as Immigration Minister Chris Bowen was forced to rebuke his department for not alerting him to the discovery of a homemade bomb at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre. He conceded he should have been alerted when the primitive device was found in March, just a month before a riot and major fire broke out, damaging nine buildings.

April 19, 2011 ABC Radio Australia News
New allegations have surfaced that staff at Australia's Christmas Island detention centre are being pressured not to report troublesome incidents. Kaye Bernard from the Christmas Island Workers union claims the company that manages the facility, Serco, has instructed workers not to report incidents, including self-harm. Ms Bernard claims it's because the company doesn't want to be fined by the Government if its found to have breached its contractual obligations. "They've certainly instructed some of our members that they will not, that they will not tolerate them reporting incidents as they are required to do over the contract with DIAC and if you do report incidents you get a window seat, you get flown off the island," she said. In a statement Serco has strongly denied the allegation.

March 2, 2011 ABC
The company in charge of Australia's detention facilities has been fined for a series of escapes by detainees. The Immigration Department claims Serco has breached the contract conditions to run the detention centres, with almost 50 detainees escaping since June 2009 and 35 still on the run. The fines are reported to exceed $4 million, but the Government has refused to comment. Yesterday Opposition spokesman Scott Morrison said an escape from Sydney's Villawood detention centre was a sign of a system in crisis. On Tuesday morning a Fijian national being held at the facility after his visa had been cancelled managed to escape. Six other men also attempted to flee the centre but were stopped by staff. The department ordered an investigation into the escape.

February 19, 2011 ABC
The Immigration Department says there are 16 people still missing from the country's detention centres after they escaped during the past year. The Department says there has been 41 escapes from detention centres across the country between July 2010 and January this year. Twenty-five people have been found but officials have no idea where the remaining 16 are. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Immigration says the Government considers any escapes from detention to be unacceptable. She says the company contracted to run the centres, Serco, has been fined for several escapes, saying the breakouts have been a breach of the contract conditions. The Government says if further action is required against Serco, it will not hesitate to act. It says the number of escapes has decreased significantly compared to 10 years ago.

November 1, 2010 BBC
Outsourcing group Serco has abandoned plans to pass on the impact of government spending cuts to suppliers. Serco, which carries out a host of government contracts, had asked its largest suppliers to pay a 2.5% rebate. The company said it now wished to "apologise unreservedly" to its suppliers, and had retracted letters asking for the rebate. The government is reported to have been angered by Serco seeking rebates from its suppliers, but has yet to comment. Serco upbeat despite cuts drive Serco operates a number of public sector contracts on behalf of the government and local authorities. These include running four prisons including Doncaster, the maintenance of a number of RAF bases including Brize Norton, and the operation of London's Docklands Light Railway. Shares in the firm were down 6% in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 index.

October 20, 2010 International Business Times
Federal authorities confirmed on Thursday that an investigation is underway on alleged security loopholes in Darwin's immigration facilities following the lapses that occurred last month, which was punctuated by a peaceful protest of detained immigrants who sprung out from the centre. An Immigration Department spokesman admitted that the Northern Territory Licensing Commission is conducting an inquiry on Serco, which was tasked by the department to provide for security on the detention facilities. The same official told AAP that Serco is delegating some of its responsibilities to MSS Security though he stressed that the Immigration Department has ensured that the security firm was duly reminded to only employ trained and licensed personnel and comply with all relevant laws. The spokesman also revealed that some former MSS Security employees were facing compliance actions and Serco has been cooperative so far with the ongoing investigation, which came following series of incidents in the past few months where asylum seekers rioted in the facilities, vandalised the centre and staged a protest action after breaking out of detention. Meanwhile, federal opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison warned that the government would be made responsible if allegations of unlicensed workers were made to man the immigration centre were proven true. Mr Morrison told ABC that the government cannot put the entire blame on security contractors since it has the ultimate responsibility as he stressed that "the government must ensure that that licensed operators are only ever used in the care and supervision of people who are being detained by the state."

September 28, 2010 Fairfield City Champion
REFUGEE advocates say the company contracted to run Villawood Detention Centre broke a promise to Tamil detainees a day after the detainees agreed to end a rooftop protest. The detainees climbed onto the roof of the centre's stage three building last Monday after a Fijian man who had earlier been on the roof fell to his death. The detainees had stayed on top of the building until the following night, threatening to jump unless the Immigration Department agreed to refer their claims for asylum to United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR. Advocate Sara Nathan said the group had peacefully ended its protest after assurances by the contractor, Serco, that they would not be moved to high security detention. "This was a request made prior to them coming [down] and was instrumental in concluding the stand-off," she said. "A department officer present at the time also instructed the contractor not to punish any of the protesters, and that was agreed." Less than 48 hours later, the detainees were moved to stage one detention, where Ms Nathan said there was no natural light and no showers, toilets or doors on bedrooms. A Serco spokeswoman referred all questions on the running of the centre to the department. A department spokesman said it could not comment on the running of the centre, but that Serco was preparing a report into the incident. The department confirmed last week a second rooftop protest at the centre by a group of five men and four women also ended peacefully.

May 23, 2010  The Daily Telegraph
Under the scheme, the publicly-funded broadcaster handed over footage to inmates who earn just £30 a week rather than members of its own 23,000 staff. Convicts at a privately run Category B jail, the second-highest security level, transferred tapes of old television shows to computer to save them for posterity. Senior staff in the BBC’s archives department visited the jail to watch the work in progress while meetings were held to discuss a landmark deal for the prisoners to digitise all 1million hours of programmes in its vaults. Fearful about the controversy the scheme could cause, the BBC never discussed it publicly and even the broadcasting union, Bectu, was unaware of it. Details were obtained by this newspaper through a Freedom of Information request that took more than four months rather than the usual 20 working days. The BBC insists that it has not given any money to Serco, the private jail operator, for the secret scheme nor signed any contracts, following the pilot project last year. However emails disclosed by the corporation show that it had shown considerable interest in the innovative project proposed by Serco, which runs four prisons in England. The BBC owns more than 1m hours of historic content, some of it decades old and at risk of being lost. It employs 66 people to look after it, at a cost of £5m a year, in its Information and Archives department. The corporation estimates it would take 10 years to safely copy all 100m items in its collection into longer-lasting digital formats. In December 2008 it was approached by Serco to become involved in Artemis – Achieving Rehabilitation Through Establishing a Media Ingest Service – a new project for prisoners to transfer archive documents to computers. Serco said it would provide “high-quality employment” and the chance of an NVQ qualification for inmates and HMP Lowdham Grange, a 628-capacity jail near Nottingham all of whose inmates are serving at least four years. The firm said this would mean it could provide a “stable work force”. The BBC was told it would prove a “very cost-effective” way of digitising its archive, and several meetings were organised to discuss plans. Managers agreed to hand over 20 hours of old videos, including episodes of Horizon and Earth Story, so prisoners could transfer them to computer and also add “meta-data” – typed detailed descriptions of the footage to help producers search through it more easily. The British Library and National Archives also provided material for the pilot project. In September last year, five members of BBC staff visited the jail, where a production workshop had been built, and were reported to be “pleased” with what they saw of the prisoners’ work and enthusiasm. However David Crocker, the driving force behind the scheme at Serco, admitted: “The major concern was around the potential negative newspaper headlines that the BBC may attract.” The company did discuss the scheme with one newspaper and one trade magazine but made no reference to the BBC’s involvement. In November, Mr Crocker told the BBC: “I can’t thank you enough for finding a project for us to kick-start Artemis.” He said his staff were drawing up “terms of reference” and would then “cost the project” of a full-scale digitisation of the BBC’s archive. However no deals have yet been signed. The BBC said: “The BBC did hold discussions with Serco about their planned project to digitise archives. As part of this the BBC, alongside other organisations, provided some material for Serco to use as part of its feasibility study for the project. “No payment was made to Serco as part of this, nor was any guarantee or promise of work entered into. “The BBC has no plans to work with Serco to digitise its programme archive and has not come to any agreements nor signed any contracts with any firms about utilising the prison workforce on any project.”

May 16, 2010 Northern Territory News
A CHINESE woman was still on the run last night - two days after she escaped detention from a Darwin motel. The Immigration Department confirmed the woman slipped away from the motel on Thursday morning and is yet to be found. The same firm, Serco, that allowed eight people to flee from Sydney's Villawood detention centre, is being blamed for her escape. A source told the Sunday Territorian that federal police had detained the woman and a Chinese man at Darwin airport after the pair allegedly arrived from a Bali flight with fake passports. The source said the woman had to be rushed to hospital when she panicked and swallowed a ring at the airport. She was allegedly left unattended at the hospital before she was moved to the Darwin motel and put into the care of security guards. The man is still believed to be in detention.

May 13, 2010 London Evening Standard
Docklands Light Railway operator Serco has been fined £450,000 after it failed to stop a train which hit and killed a man who had fallen off a platform. Robert Carter, 34, stumbled on to the lines at All Saints station following a late-night argument with another passenger, Paul Green. Mr Green telephoned police to say Mr Carter had a knife and had fallen on to the track. Officers asked the DLR control room to check if someone was on the lines, but this was treated as an “informal request” rather than an actual report, Southwark Crown Court was told. A control room operator failed to see Mr Carter on the track and did not halt the trains, which are automatic and do not have an actual driver. Shortly afterwards another member of the control room staff saw a police officer on All Saints station's CCTV waving his arms above his head. This operator immediately pressed an emergency plunger to halt an oncoming train but it was too late. The wheels struck Mr Carter, who suffered serious injuries and died in hospital. Serco was also ordered to pay £43,773 costs. It was found guilty last month, under health and safety regulations, of failing to ensure its automatic trains did not hit people who were on the tracks. Judge Deborah Taylor, passing sentence yesterday, said: “Serco fell considerably below what was required of it.” Procedures were “not robust or comprehensive enough” in dealing with incidents of human error. But the judge said it was clear that Serco “took safety seriously “ and there was “no suggestion profit was put before safety”. David Travers, QC, prosecuting for the Office of Rail Regulation, said Mr Carter was involved in an altercation with another passenger at All Saints. “After he fell, it would appear that Mr Carter was unable or unwilling to move — whether through injuries from the fall, intoxication or for some other reason is unknown,” said Mr Travers. “DLR staff looked at the station on their CCTV monitors, which are not suitable for seeing if anyone is on the track, and failed to see Mr Carter. The train which killed Mr Carter could have been stopped before reaching the station.” Jurors were played a recording of the British Transport Police call to the DLR control centre, in which line controller Paul Day was heard to say: “There's certainly no one on the track.” Stephen Moody, for Serco, said it had made several changes since the incident and improved safety procedures. It denied one count of failing to comply with its health and safety duties.

March 12, 2010 BBC
A custody officer has been charged with conspiring to supply drugs and smuggle phones into jails by handing them to prisoners at Inner London Crown Court. Former Serco employee Alan Redmond, 24, was held by the London Prison Anti-Corruption Team (LPACT) on 10 December after a long-running inquiry. Mr Redmond, of Elephant and Castle, south London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court earlier in the week. He is also accused of misconduct and is due at Southwark Crown Court on 13 May. Hayley Turner, 30, of Chislehurst, Kent, and Jonathan Lawlor, 28, of no fixed address, have been charged alongside Mr Redmond with conspiring to supply drugs and conspiracy to smuggle prohibited articles into prison. Another woman, 30, has also arrested in connection with the investigation but no charges have made. A spokesman for Serco said Mr Redmond no longer worked for the company. "I can confirm a former member of Serco staff appeared in court. "This is now a police matter and we are co-operating fully with the relevant authorities."

March 10, 2010 Luton Today
A group of detainees who claim they suffered 'inhumane and degrading treatment' while at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are suing the Home Office. The 11 women have employed Leigh Day & Co solicitors to seek damages from the government and Serco, the private security company which runs the Clapham detention centre. The women, who are still detained and are on hunger strike, allege that their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and their rights not to be tortured, suffer inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment were all breached by employees of Serco. The breach occurred when around 70 women gathered peacefully to present a petition against the conditions and treatment at the centre to representatives of the UK Borders Agency. The Times & Citizen reported on February 11 that detainees were locked in a corridor by Serco employees for about eight hours with little ventilation and without the use of lavatories and medical treatment. Frances Swaine, partner and head of the human rights department at the law firm said: "My clients have told me that the corridor soon became highly unpleasant and unsanitary. "Women with existing medical conditions including HIV, asthma and sickle cell anaemia were being denied their medication and treatment leading to a severe deterioration in their health. "Other women became unwell, some hyperventilated and others collapsed." She added: "Some women called for an ambulance on their mobile phones, but later found out they were denied entry to the detention centre. "This is one very serious incident, but having read their petition and talked to the women I was appalled to discover the general poor treatment and conditions they are expected to live in on a daily basis." Leigh Day & Co is now seeking a declaration to the effect that the detainees rights were violated, and appropriate damages from Serco and the Home Office. A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "The well-being of detainees is of paramount concern to the UK Border Agency, which is why all detainees were monitored by healthcare staff - as well as members of the Independent Monitoring Board – throughout the protest."

January 9, 2010 Echo News
A FORMER airport worker has been jailed for a year for his part in a £4million jewellery heist. Tom Baisden, 28, who worked for Serco at a warehouse which stored goods coming through Southend Airport, initially pretended to have been beaten and tied up by robbers Gary Maughan and Joseph Xenofondos. But Baisden was, in fact, an inside man who planned the theft of the Cartier jewels with the two men and helped them carry it out on May 21, 2001. But Baisden was given a reduced sentence because he confessed to the robbery at Southend Airport seven years after it took place. A former drug addict, Baisden appeared in the 2007 show Jamie’s Chef, where TV chef Jamie Oliver tried to help people turn their lives around. Baisden said he was inspired to hand himself in after appearing on the show. He confessed to the crime and then co-operated with police and the Crown Prosecution Service to give evidence against his co-conspirators at a trial last autumn. In August 2008, he admitted stealing a box of bracelets worth £13,958 on April 20, 2001, and conspiring to steal between April 19, 2001, and May 22, 2001. Baisden also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, on May 22, 2001, by giving a false witness statement to police, stating he had been the victim of a robbery. At Southend Crown Court yesterday, Judge John Lodge gave Baisden a four-month sentence for the theft, 13 months for the conspiracy and eight months for perverting the course of justice to run consecutively. He will serve half in custody and half released on licence.

December 13, 2009 Telegraph
The Rev Canon James Rosenthal, dressed in a red robe with a long white beard and holding a bishop's mitre and crook, was refused entry by guards at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire. After gently protesting that he was not a threat, he started to bless the £300 worth of gifts donated by congregations of several London churches. But after an unedifying stand off, the security guards then called the police on the visitor, who was accompanied by one of Britain's most distinguished clerics. Mr Rosental, who is the Anglican church’s leading expert on St Nicholas, said he was “extremely disappointed” that 35 boys and girls at the centre were denied a pre-arranged visit by the patron saint of children and the imprisoned. "St Nick has never been turned away from anywhere before," he said. "So I was extremely disappointed not to be able to hand deliver the gifts to the children detained at Yarl's Wood. I hope the kids realise that they will be firmly in my prayers." Mr Rosental is writing a formal letter of complaint to the centre about how it handled the visit and the heavy-handed tactics employed by the guards who patrol the perimeter fence. Serco, a private security company that operates Yarl’s Wood, referred questions to the Home Office. A spokesman said that only people subject to stringent security checks can be allowed into the detention centre and there can be no exceptions. But the St Nicholas Society, of which Mr Rosental is patron, said that Serco did not respond to numerous requests before teh visit earlier this month to discuss how a handover of presents could be carried out and also refused requests to provide details about the 35 children in the centre so they could receive appropriate presents. Serco also refused permission for the two clerics to enter the centre to visit two refugee families later the same day, as it had previously agreed. They were handed letters from Dawn Elaine, contracts manager at Yarl's Mr Rosental said: "If this is how visitors are treated, I shudder to imagine what else transpires inside Yarl's Wood.” He was accompanied on the trip earlier this month by the Rev Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, canon theologian at Westminster Abbey. He said: "This was about bringing a moment of joy to kids locked up in a deplorable situation. I can't help but contrast the smiles and wonderment on the faces of the children St Nicholas visited at a local primary school with the sad fate of those kids who will be locked up in Yarl's Wood over Christmas." The presents were eventually loaded into an unmarked van by staff who refused to provide a name, number or receipt for the gifts. Mr Rosental asked one "guard" his name and the man said "write down 'Father Christmas'".

September 4, 2009 Morning Star
Leaders of the prison officers' union have accused the government of "corruption at the highest levels" for colluding with privateers to sell off Britain's jails. Prison Officers Association (POA) general secretary Brian Caton made the damning accusation as he exposed exclusively to the Morning Star the defection to security privateer Serco of the head of a public-sector bid to run Buckley Hall jail near Rochdale. Former prison governor Steve Hall, who had been appointed by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to lead the bid, was revealed to have taken up a position with the huge multinational despite government rules insisting that civil servants must "put the obligations of public service above your own personal interests." Mr Caton declared that the government "wants to auction off the prison service and is fully aware that civil servants like Steve Hall take the information that they have gathered and defect to the private sector. "This is corruption at the highest levels," he stressed. "This is not first time this has happened and it comes despite Justice Minister Jack Straw giving us an absolute assurance that it would not happen again," Mr Caton added. The Civil Service code explicitly states that government workers "must not misuse your official position, for example by using information required in the course of your official duties to further your private interests." But Mr Caton insisted that NOMS director of human resources Robin Wilkinson had admitted that Mr Hall, who was appointed by the head of the government's public-service bids unit Colin McConnell, had done exactly that. Calling on NOMS director Phil Wheatley, Mr Wilkinson and Mr McConnell to all resign, Mr Caton said that "the POA believes that this affair represents a conspiracy to act in a corrupt manner and we will be demanding that an independent inquiry should be conducted by the police - that's how serious this is." The revelation comes just days after the POA announced that its members had voted by a crushing four to one to strike against the government's drive to sell off the Prison Service and hand jails over to private security firms such as Serco. Mr Caton pointed out that Buckley Hall prison had to be renationalised after its previous experience with privatisation proved a failure. "Of 11 private prisons in Britain, 10 are in the bottom quarter of the government's prison performance league - that's how bad they are," he asserted. "Privatisation is about driving down standards and paying prison officers less because all these companies care about is profits," Mr Caton added. "It is an insult to our members at Buckley Hall, who gave information to Steve Hall to support the bid to keep the jail in the public sector, that he has now stuffed that information into a briefcase and taken it to Serco." Mike Nolan, president of Civil Service union PCS prison service group, emphasised that such a breach of the Civil Service code was "undoubtably immoral. "This has happened a few times, but what is worse is that prison managers are actually being targeted by the private-sector companies that want to take over prisons - and Serco in particular is now riddled with them," he added. Serco and the Ministry of Justice had not responded to requests for information as the Morning Star went to press.

May 4, 2009 The Telegraph
Tom Riall admits he broke the speed limit but says he did not realise how fast he was travelling. Mr Riall was photographed doing 102mph in his 2.7 litre Volvo on a 70mph stretch of the A11 as he travelled to a business meeting. Mr Riall, 49, a former soldier, is chief executive of Serco, which oversees more than 5,000 cameras on Britain's roads. He is due to appear before magistrates in Sudbury, Suffolk, on Wednesday, where it is understood he will plead guilty to driving with excessive speed. Anyone caught doing more than 100mph faces a driving ban of up to two years and a £2,500 fine. There is also the option of taking a "speed awareness" class to reduce the length of the disqualification. Mr Riall, who earns around £150,000 a year, fully admits he broke the speed limit. "I was travelling from my home to a business meeting on a clear A-road and I was unaware of my speed. "I regret driving at this speed and will ensure I mitigate it in future. "In my job, I understand the consequences of speed and want to apologise to the court", he said outside his home in Reading, Berkshire. Road safety campaigners have reacted angrily to the confession. "We're concerned a driver doing 102mph claims to be unaware of his speed – what sort of message does this put out to other road users?", said Claire Armstrong, of the Safe Speed campaign group. "A man who makes his income from speed cameras should know better." In 2008 Serco led an anti-speeding campaign called Safe Drive Stay Alive, which was backed by the Government. Mr Riall said at the time: "In courts and prisons we see the direct consequences of reckless and dangerous driving every single day. "For far too many young people it ends with a prison sentence – but for the families left behind the pain lasts much longer. "Serco is delighted to support Safe Drive Stay Alive because we want to help bring about change for the young drivers and all those whose lives are affected." There are around 8,000 speed cameras on Britain's roads, which generate about £100 million every year in fines.

April 29, 2009 Bromley Times
A PRISON van driver ran over and killed a woman in "a moment of complete madness" after she started dancing in the street, a court heard. Andrew Curtis, 49, of The Ridge, Orpington, edged forward into Naomi Benjamin, 34, until she slipped and fell under the wheels of the vehicle on April 22 last year. He then drove over her body, twisting her head until her neck was broken and dragging her 10 metres along the road, jurors were told at his murder trial at the Old Bailey this week. Horrified witnesses surrounded the driver and beat on the sides of the van in anger after the incident in Brixton. Bystander Susan Fraser, giving evidence on Tuesday, said: "She was in front of the prison van dancing, waving [her] arms around and shouting. There was a lot of action going on. "The prison van eventually moved forwards and Naomi moved backwards. The van moved forwards again and almost touched her. She was obstructing the vehicle, she was shouting but I couldn't understand any words." She then jumped up and pulled the passenger windscreen wiper down before tumbling to the floor. Ms Fraser added: "That was when the prison van escalated. She fell under the wheel and the van continued moving up the hill and she was underneath it. I was in shock. "I remained there until she was run over and I made my way towards the van. "There was an immediate rush of people towards the van, screaming and shouting at the van to stop. "It was very nasty. Things got a bit nasty." Curtis, who had worked for Serco for six years, was transporting prisoners from a court in Westminster to Brixton prison during rush hour. He had stopped at the traffic lights outside the KFC in the middle of the three-lane carriageway heading southbound on Brixton Road. Prosecutor Simon Denison said: "She was killed suddenly and utterly needlessly by this defendant in a moment of complete madness. "She slipped and fell in front of the centre of the van. You may think he must have realised what had happened but quite incredibly he continued to drive the van forward and he went over her." The victim was still alive when the first paramedic arrived but by the time she could be moved from under the vehicle she was dead. Describing Ms Benjamin, Mr Denison said: "She was well known in the community, a local character. She was often dressed in brightly coloured clothes. She was outgoing and a loud person. Unfortunately she was often drunk." The trial continues.

April 26, 2009 The Independent
Children held in the infamous Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre are being denied urgent medical treatment, handled violently and left at risk of serious harm, a damning report by the Children's Commissioner for England will say tomorrow. Sir Al Aynsley-Green's investigation paints a shocking picture of neglect and even cruelty towards children trapped within the centre's razor-wired walls, and finds "substantial evidence that detention is harmful and damaging to children and young people". Since opening in 2001, the Bedfordshire detention centre has been plagued by hunger strikes, self-harm incidents, a suicide and riots. It was severely damaged by fire during disturbances in 2002. Despite repeated scandals – and the damning findings of this report – planning permission was given last month to double the centre's capacity from 405 places to nearly 900. Around 2,000 children a year are held in immigration centres – half in Yarl's Wood, which has been run by a private company, Serco, since 2007. The experience they described is prison in all but name. Politicians, immigration experts and doctors last night called for an end to the detention of children and for urgent measures to ensure other detainees are treated humanely. The report, based on the most recent inspection by Sir Al, reveals that basic safeguards for children in Yarl's Wood are failing. Welfare issues raising "serious concern" were ignored, with children forced to remain in custody even when they were seriously ill or in danger from parents with mental health problems, the report says. It also criticises the "scant regard to basic welfare needs" during arrest and transportation to the centre. Key meetings between social services, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Yarl's Wood staff designed to discuss the welfare implications of keeping a child locked up for more than 28 days dwelt instead on PR and legal concerns. The commissioner calls for an urgent review to "ensure the best interests of the child are central to decisions on detention". The UKBA claims that steps have now been taken to protect children since the inspection last May, but Lisa Nandy, policy adviser at The Children's Society, disputes this. "The agency has not made the improvements necessary to safeguard these children," she said. "The Secretary of State for Children must intervene immediately as this report exposes serious child protection risks which have not been adequately addressed." The commissioner found that seriously ill children were denied hospital treatment, while bureaucracy substantially delayed others with critical conditions from getting to hospital. A baby with pneumonia and a teenager with severe mental health problems were among those affected. Despite being the main detention centre for children, no one on the Yarl's Wood health team has child health qualifications, the report says. Sir Al found major healthcare shortcomings at the centre, describing safeguards, records and professionalism as inadequate and below NHS standards. He reports that two children with sickle cell disease were not allowed to bring their penicillin with them when they were seized from their homes. As a result they became seriously ill and required urgent treatment. Instead of being referred to hospital for intravenous fluids and antibiotics they were simply given paracetamol. Under the NHS this would be categorised as a life-threatening "Serious Untoward Incident". Children suffering from serious medical conditions and the mentally ill were routinely kept in detention despite guidelines stating clearly they should not be. One diabetic child had three emergency treatments in the 24 days she was detained – including two occasions where her blood sugar left her "un-rousable" – but was still not released. An eight-month-old baby with asthma was neither released nor given an inhaler. Immunisations were denied to children documented as needing them, creating a health risk. One child was even given the wrong vaccine, while the centre's policy for preventing malaria was described as containing "serious errors" and being "unacceptably poor". Doctors working for Medical Justice, an organisation that provides voluntary medical assistance for Yarl's Wood families, insist there is wider evidence of medical abuse beyond the commissioner's report. They say they have documented evidence of a child under 12 being given his mother's anti-depressant drugs on removal; of a young person in severe pain with sickle cell disease being denied painkillers because he was unable to walk to the clinic to receive them in person; and of children contracting severe malaria on being returned to their home country because they were refused suitable preventative medicine. Paediatrician Dr Fred Martineau said: "The detention of children, whether newborn babies or adolescents, almost invariably causes them physical or emotional suffering. Doctors from Medical Justice regularly see the effects of this, ranging from a failure to give immunisations against potentially fatal diseases, through to clinical depression ...The only way of preventing this harm is to end their detention." Healthcare at Yarl's Wood has long been a problem, with outbreaks of vomiting bugs and chickenpox common. The centre was last night understood to be in the middle of yet another chickenpox quarantine. The report describes the ordeal of "dawn raids" – where up to 20 officers arrive to seize families in the early hours of the morning. Children repeatedly reported being treated with violence, including being dragged on the floor and thrown to the ground. Young people told how traumatised they were by the experience, noting that officers seemed to be laughing at them and "taking pleasure in the family's distress". The study said: "In a large majority of cases, children reported that officers' behaviour had been aggressive, rude and, on a few occasions, violent." Children were even watched by officers of the opposite sex while they dressed, which the report called "an unacceptable safeguarding risk which must be addressed immediately". They also had to watch parents being handcuffed and heavily restrained – a direct flouting of UKBA guidelines. One mother, so distressed at being handcuffed in front of her family and thrown into a caged van, tried to hang herself with her son's shoelaces. Caged prison vans are routinely used to transport children to the centre near Bedford, despite promises that people carriers would be used for families. Children were denied toilet breaks or food and drink. The vans, the report says, are "stained with urine and vomit". The commissioner also expressed concern at the increase in the length of time for which children are being held, which threatens their mental well-being. Last week, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, told MPs: "Detention is a final option and is only used for the shortest period necessary." But the Children's Commissioner says: "The average length of time children and young people are being detained is increasing, and, crucially, the decision to detain them is neither being used as a last resort nor for the shortest period of time as required by Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child." In conclusion, Sir Al calls for an end to the detention of children. "Each year in the UK, we detain around 2,000 children for administrative purposes. This has to end," he said. His call was echoed by the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who said: "The incarceration of thousands of children accused of no crime, often for months on end, is inhumane. The treatment of these vulnerable children in Yarl's Wood is a shameful indictment of the Government's failed immigration policy." The Border and Immigration minister Phil Woolas said: "If people refuse to go home then detention becomes a necessity. We don't want to split up families, so we hold children with their parents, and while they are in our care we treat them with sensitivity and compassion." Taken away: 'They came for us at night' -- Dominic Mwafulirwa trembles at the words "Yarl's Wood". The eight-year-old was asleep when six guards wrenched him and his mother, Cecilia, 35, from their Swansea home in the early hours three months ago. They had arrived in the UK from Malawi when Dominic was a year old. Cecilia, who had run away from an abusive husband, started a new life in Wales, where Dominic excelled at school. That life ended abruptly when the men arrived. "Dominic didn't say a word from the time they came until we were locked up," Cecilia says. "It was hard to keep his spirits up. When I asked him why he wasn't going to the school at Yarl's Wood, he said: 'What's the point? We're not learning anything.' He refused to wash and started smashing things. He's still really angry and confused. "We spent 50 days in that place. I lost 20kg. I'm a sickle cell patient and by the end of the 50 days my haemoglobin was too low. I'm really anaemic and they knew I had depression. They changed my medication and they threatened to take my son away." Cecilia and Dominic have been out of Yarl's Wood since the end of March. They have yet to find out whether they will be allowed to stay in the UK.

March 27, 2009 The Australian
THE research director of a British-based group that is expected to bid for contracts to operate two jails in NSW has backed privatised facilities in which inmates have keys to their cells and are on a first-name basis with their jailers. Gary Sturgess, research director of the Serco Group, will tell a NSW parliamentary inquiry today that decency, not efficiency, is the main reason to privatise jails. He says overseas experience shows that prisoners enjoy more privileges -- including being given the keys to their own cells -- in correctional systems where private and public providers compete. Prisoners in these systems spend more time out of their cells and have far greater interaction with their jailers -- with whom they are frequently on first-name terms -- than in systems where public providers face no competition, Mr Sturgess says. The results are safer jails and lower rates of reoffending. Serco is expected to bid for the contracts to operate Cessnock prison, in the Hunter Valley, and Parklea prison, in western Sydney, when the jails are privatised this year. The company already operates one jail in Victoria and one in Western Australia. The decision by NSW Premier Nathan Rees to privatise the two prisons has aroused heated opposition from public sector unions and the Greens, and is opposed by a minority of MPs in the Labor caucus. The privatisation of the jails is being driven by Prisons Minister John Robertson, who led the campaign against power privatisation as a union leader. Mr Sturgess's submission to the upper house inquiry links private jail services in Britain to the "decency agenda" pursued by former British prime minister Tony Blair. "Contract prisons in the UK are more humane, partly because government demanded a higher standard when writing the original contracts, partly because price was not allowed to dominate the procurement process, and partly because the political and policy environment at the time when the market was first established was focused on the quality of prison life," the submission from Serco argues. As NSW cabinet chief under former Liberal premier Nick Greiner between 1988 and 1992, Mr Sturgess drove a reform agenda that included the corporatisation of government enterprises such as the railways and electricity transmission. He told The Australian yesterday the British experience showed governments could use competition in prison services as a way to set higher standards, not just to get better value for money. "It gives a government an opportunity to say, 'What kind of prisons do we want here?'," Mr Sturgess said. He said the inmates in low- and medium-security prisons in Britain had been allowed to hold duplicate keys to their own cells, which improved both efficiency and decency. "If (the warder) is the only one with a key, then every time a prisoner wants to go in and out of their cell you've got to send somebody to look at it," he said. "This way, the inmate has the dignity of having private space and a greater sense of security." The higher proportion of women officers in private jails had changed the atmosphere. "The difference is that if you've got a prison full of males, with all the testosterone pumping around, people will attempt to man up," he said. "You're not going to get any credit for assaulting a woman." While such arguments will confound critics of prison privatisation on the Left, Mr Sturgess, as a stalwart of NSW politics, knows another obstacle will be the tough-on-crime stand of the major parties. "The objective has got to be to reduce the cycle of reoffending," Mr Sturgess said. "If the consequence of failing to address quality issues is that we do not break the cycle of reoffending, we're actually increasing the crime problem."

March 6, 2009 The Examiner
THE father of a Government MP who accepted a $2000 donation from a private prison operator is a lobbyist for another company bidding to run two more NSW jails listed for privatisation. Leo McLeay, whose son Paul also chaired a committee that reviewed private prison contracts, appears on the NSW Premier's Department lobbyist register as a consultant for Enhance Corporate. Enhance lists Serco as a client. Serco, a multinational that runs a jail in Western Australia, has lodged an expression of interest with the NSW Government to run Parklea and Cessnock jails. But both Leo McLeay, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, and Serco say Enhance Corporate is not involved in lobbying for the jails contract. A spokeswoman for Serco, Emma Needham, said the company had engaged another lobbying firm, Government Relations Australia, for the contract. "We are not using Enhance on this project," Ms Needham told the Herald. "Our most recent relationship with them was earlier this year. They were advising us on transport issues. That work concluded earlier this week." Mr McLeay confirmed he had worked with Serco but "on a small scoping study". He said: "It is completely unrelated to prisons." According to a list posted by the NSW Department of Commerce, four other companies have also tendered for the contract. They are GSL Australia, Management and Training Corporation, the London-based Sodexo and GEO Group Australia, which donated $45,000 to the Labor Party before the state election in 2007 and which Paul McLeay said had paid for a table at one of his fund-raising dinners. Leo McLeay's firm lists several blue-chip corporations and organisations as clients in NSW, including Cisco Systems, Lend Lease, United Group, the Australian Rugby League and the Law Society. The executive director of the group is the former Queensland deputy premier, Jim Elder, who quit politics in late 2000 after being caught up in an electoral fraud scandal. An associate director is Chris Ellison, the former justice minister for the Howard government. Meanwhile, NSW prison officers will begin overtime bans at Long Bay jail this morning, with staff at Parklea, Grafton and other prisons expected to impose similar bans over the weekend. The officers are angry about comments made last week by Ron Woodham, the Corrective Services Commissioner, to an upper house inquiry into the proposed privatisation of Cessnock and Parklea jails, in which he accused them of the "manipulation" of overtime rosters. "Commissioner Woodham has repeatedly claimed that prison officers are chasing overtime, when the reality is the prisons rely on overtime because of low staff levels," said the chairman of the Prison Officers Vocational Branch, Matt Bindley.

Southern Queensland Correctional Center, Spring Creek, Queensland, Australia
August 15, 2011 9 News
Queensland's opposition has asked the auditor-general to review the state government's handling of a jail tender it has described as "dodgy". The government announced last month it would temporarily mothball Borallon prison in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and transfer inmates to a new prison near Gatton due to be opened next year. Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed plans to convert the jail into immigration accommodation, however no final decision has yet been made. Security company Serco, which manages Borallon jail, has been awarded the contract to operate the new jail, Southern Queensland Correctional Centre at Spring Creek. The Liberal National Party (LNP) has labelled this a "dodgy deal". LNP corrective services spokesman John-Paul Langbroek said the party had referred the matter to the auditor-general. The auditor-general's office has confirmed it received the LNP's request but as of Monday morning, it was yet to view the details. Mr Langbroek argues the government did not conduct a proper tendering process. "The way this secret deal between Serco, who currently run the prison at Borallon, and the state government has been handled raises many questions," he said. "Under the normal tendering for service process, the contract for service delivery at the new Gatton prison should have been advertised and put to the market to ensure the best value for money was achieved. "This matter deserves due consideration and that's why I have written to the auditor-general seeking advice on whether this deal is in fact legal and meets the state government's own rules and guidelines."

Southwark Crown Court, United Kingdom
April 13, 2012 Yellow Advertiser Today
A FORMER custody officer has been jailed for her part in a plot to smuggle drugs into Chelmsford Prison. Leanne Bakarr, 37, of Tyas Road, Victoria Dock, was sentenced to two years and 10 months at Southwark Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to supply cannabis. Her five co-conspirators received more than three-and-a-half years imprisonment between them. Bakarr, who was employed at Thames Magistrates’ Court as a Serco prisoner custody officer, handed cannabis to prisoner Dane Dacas in his cell during a court appearance on June 2 last year while he was on remand at Chelmsford Prison. Dacas, 20, of no fixed abode, secreted the drugs and returned to Chelmsford Prison, where they were recovered by officials. He was sentenced to three months on Tuesday. Stephen Anderson, 25, and Niaya Brewster, 21, who are serving prisoners at Chelmsford, had tasked family members Natalie Anderson, 29, and Joshua Owens, 21, to purchase the drugs and liaise with Bakarr, before passing them onto her, along with payment for her criminality.

Villawood Detention Centre, Sydney, Australia
Companies Use Immigration Crackdown to Turn a Profit: Expose on immigration by Nina Bernstein at the New York Times, September 28, 2011

December 12, 2011 The Daily Telegraph
RIOTING asylum seekers have caused almost $20 million in damage to immigration detention centres - nearly double original estimates. New Department of Immigration figures show five riots at Villawood in Sydney, Christmas Island and Darwin have cost an estimated $17.6 million - and that could rise. The most damage was caused at Villawood with the repair bill reaching $9.271 million. While insurance will cover much of the costs, the government revealed it would be liable for the first $1 million of each claim, or 10 per cent of the total bill. According to documents released last Friday night, the cost of the Christmas Island riot in March is now estimated at $5.05 million - double the original figure of $2.5 million. The government claimed the subsequent riots at Villawood, when inmates set fire to several buildings a month later, will cost 50 per cent more than the $6 million originally estimated. There were two riots also at Darwin and another at Christmas Island. "The total cost of estimated damage across all five events as of October 14, 2011, is $17,636,366," the department said. "This estimate is likely to change as quotations for repairs are obtained and works undertaken." The revised costs follow the release of an independent report last week which suggested overcrowding was the cause of the tension and unrest and the trigger for the riots. But, it found no fault with the Department of Immigration or the detention centre operator, Serco. A spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said, "This government's contracts with Serco require it to have full private insurance cover of its facilities, which is why the costs to the Commonwealth relating to damage caused at detention centres are so low. "In its hypocritical hysteria, the Coalition seems to have forgotten its record of passing on the costs of detention riots to the taxpayer: they had four detention centre riots in a single month - December 2002 - at a cost of many millions."

November 30, 2011 The Age
THE Immigration Department was warned severe overcrowding at the detention centre on Christmas Island would cause a serious incident five months before riots broke out there. That is the finding of an independent inquiry into the Christmas Island and Villawood riots, by former public servants Allan Hawke and Helen Williams. Released yesterday, the report said the failure of the department to brief Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on the warning until March 2011 was ''highly regrettable''. The report has described conditions on Christmas Island before the riots as ''severely compromised'' - with failing sewerage systems, a ''precarious'' supply of water and access to toilets and education under stress. Detainee numbers had leapt to 2530 on the island. Knowledge Consulting warned in October 2010 that safety was compromised, accommodation was unsuitable and detainees had no meaningful activities. A freeze on processing Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum claims a year earlier caused a backlog and ''significant impact on the detention network''. The inquiry found that adding to this explosive mix was an influx of middle-class Iranian asylum seekers ''who had higher expectations of service and lower tolerance for any perceived slowness in processing or inconsistency in decision-making or failure to achieve a positive result''. Riots on Christmas Island, sparked on March 11, caused $2.5 million in damages, while riots at Villawood in Sydney a month later cost $6 million. Serco, the private company that runs the detention network, was warned of the planned mass escape and riot on Christmas Island four days earlier, but a teleconference with the Immigration Department in Canberra dismissed an informant's warning. The report blamed both riots in part on the detention network's inability to manage a core group of angry asylum seekers who had been rejected. It said 80 of the 100 detainees identified as taking part in the Christmas Island riot had received initial rejections and were waiting for a review. Thirteen of the 19 charged had been rejected as refugees at the first interview. Of the nine detainees charged over the Villawood riot, all had received a negative primary decision. The report called for the contract with Serco to be revised to improve security and co-ordination with police.

October 26, 2011 The Age
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has denied that a Sri Lankan man who died in an apparent suicide attempt at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre overnight had been cleared of being a security threat. Mr Bowen said the man was still being investigated by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation pending his release from detention and his "ongoing links with various organisations was being assessed". Mr Bowen said the Immigration Department had not yet been able to contact the man's next of kin, a brother in Sri Lanka. He confirmed the Tamil man, who was in his mid-20s, had asked to leave the centre for a religious festival, and that his request had been denied. However, he could not say if it was the department, or the detention centre's managers, Serco, who had communicated the news to him. Mr Bowen said the mans death was a tragedy and he expressed condolences for his family.

October 6, 2011 Sydney Morning Herald
NSW police have slammed security management at the Villawood detention centre, with a senior officer revealing he had warned of problems before the April riots, but he was told ''it would never happen''. A parliamentary inquiry was also told immigration staff and the private management company Serco were left without police help on the night riots turned ugly, because NSW Police said it was not their jurisdiction and the Australian Federal Police said they did not have the resources. Fire caused millions of dollars damage during 11-day riots involving around 100 detainees.  The inquiry heard of complete confusion among immigration and Serco managers as the violence broke out on April 20, and that Serco was unaware that NSW Police had no legal authority to enter the premises. The Assistant Commissioner, Frank Mennilli, told politicians Villawood was not secure, was not appropriate for difficult asylum seekers and he was concerned at Serco's role. State police had held a training scenario for Villawood staff in August 2010 where he attempted to raise the potential risk of a fire. ''I was told the scenario was unrealistic and would never happen,'' he said. On April 19, the day before the riots, at a meeting with the Immigration Department in Canberra, Mr Mennilli again raised concerns about Villawood, including his belief police didn't have legal authority to enter the detention centre and the ease with which detainees could climb on the roof. Despite this, Serco managers at Villawood said they were unaware before the night of April 20 that NSW Police would not assist. ''The levels of violence witnessed on that night … were not contemplated when we signed the contract in 2009,'' Serco's managing director, Chris Manning, said. Mr Mennilli criticised the Immigration Department for moving suspected ring leaders from the March Christmas Island riots to Villawood, where there had been three escapes from the Blaxland compound. ''I don't believe the Villawood detention facility has the capability to be secure,'' he said.

October 5, 2011 Big Pond
The private security firm at Sydney's Villawood detention centre believed NSW police would step in to control rioting detainees, an inquiry has heard. But when contacted by Serco NSW police didn't seem sure of their role and referred the matter to federal police based in Canberra, the parliamentary inquiry into Australia's immigration detention network heard. A regional manager at Serco told the inquiry in Sydney he was not aware of any 'ambiguity' about the role of NSW police in restoring order and had expected their help once the situation escalated. On the evening of April 20 this year, more than 100 detainees at Villawood began rioting and climbing onto the roof, forcing Serco staff to retreat. During the next 11 days of unrest, buildings were set alight and destroyed. Speaking at the inquiry, Serco's manager at Villawood at the time, John Hayes, said he believed Serco could 'seek the assistance of the NSW police' if things got out of hand. But when Mr Hayes spoke to the NSW police on the night of the incident, they said there were 'jurisdictional issues' about Villawood being on commonwealth land and he should contact the Australian Federal Police (AFP). 'When this all turned sour, it was still your belief that the NSW police would be able to act, and they had a completely different view?' federal opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison asked. 'We had a really good working relationship with the NSW police prior to this incident, and I anticipated this would be the same during this incident,' Mr Hayes said. 'At the time of this incident I anticipated to get the assistance from the NSW police. I wasn't aware of any ambiguity.' When he spoke to the AFP a few hours later, Mr Hayes was told they 'didn't have the resources to carry out any intervention'. Mr Morrison said it was concerning that there was no clear plan of action shared between Serco, NSW Police, the AFP and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) about what to do in such a situation. 'That's not Serco's responsibility to ensure that those things are clarified,' Mr Morrison said. 'That's a government responsibility.' Serco's managing director Chris Manning said the firm had not anticipated the levels of violence that occurred during the riots when they took on the security contract in June 2009.

September 6, 2011 9 News
Staff ignored a detainee's attempts to negotiate and used relentless intimidation moments before he jumped to his death at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre, a coroner has been told. Psychiatrist Michael Diamond told Glebe Coroner's Court on Tuesday that the actions of staff had escalated the situation. Josefa Rauluni, 36, took his own life on the day he was due to be deported to his homeland. He told staff of Serco, the detention centre operator, they would have to "send his dead body back to Fiji in a box". Mr Diamond said that despite repeated threats to jump off a balcony, Mr Rauluni was met with "repetitive and confronting" statements, including that "one way or the other, you are going to the airport". "Those who were dealing with him lacked the training, expertise and ability to recognise what was playing out in front of them," said the psychiatrist, who is an expert in negotiating techniques. Mr Rauluni is one of three detainees presumed to have taken their own lives over a 10-week period, who are now the subject of a joint coronial investigation. The coroner will examine the welfare management of Mr Rauluni, 29-year-old Briton David Saunders and a 41-year-old Iraqi national Ahmad Al-Akabi. Mr Saunders and Mr Al-Akabi were each found hanging in shower cubicles on November 16 and December 8, respectively. In his report, partly based on a video recording of the incident with Mr Rauluni, Dr Diamond said the Serco officers weren't calm and their responses were ad hoc. "Different orders were communicated. There was no plan," he said. Mr Diamond said staff had recognised the seriousness of the situation because they had placed mattresses beneath the balcony, but there appeared to be "a perceived imperative to not miss the 1pm flight". "(This) added considerably to a sense of urgency that escalated the dangers inherent to the situation," he said. Dr Diamond concluded that communication between staff and Mr Raulini was rushed and involved repetitious coercion. "There was no opportunity for dialogue," he said. "The interaction was dominated by intimidation and signalling the use of force as the only capability of the Serco staff. "The conduct of the person in charge of the teams was confronting. The intimidation was relentless. "All these actions escalated the situation." Things were made worse, he said, when an officer from the Department of Immigration - who had a calming influence on Mr Raulini and had successfully engaged him - was disrupted on the orders of the Serco manager. The officer was encouraged to stop talking and was "unsupported and ignored". Not long after, Mr Raulini jumped head first from the balcony.

August 11, 2011 ABC
The report details a system unable to respond to serious threats like April's riots in Sydney's Villawood detention centre. ABC1's Lateline has been given exclusive access to a wide-ranging report delivered by Comcare, the Federal Government's workplace safety agency. It paints a picture of systemic under-training of staff and a lack of preparation to deal with the constant threat of violence, protests and self-harm. The revelations come as yet another boat carrying 100 asylum seekers arrives on Christmas Island, adding to overcrowding at the detention centre there. The Comcare report is scathing about overcrowding issues set to worsen with the new arrivals. Once inside the detention centre the latest arrivals face a system that places them and their guards in danger, according to the Comcare report. The report identifies five major failures by the Department of Immigration across the detention centre network: •There is no risk management process, despite the highly volatile environment. •There is no plan to alter staffing levels to deal with dramatic fluctuations in detainee numbers. •Staff are not trained to the point where they are confident and competent in their jobs. •There is no effective written plan to deal with critical incidents like riots and suicide attempts. •And no steps are taken to manage detainees' religious and cultural needs, detainees are roomed together even when there's a history of extreme violence between their ethnic groups in their homes countries. The Federal Opposition obtained the report under freedom of information. "There are system-wide failures in the detention network and I think that's what this report bares out, and I think it totally justifies the Coalition's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the detention network," Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said. The report details a system unable to respond to serious threats to life and limb like April's riots in Sydney's Villawood detention centre. "There were clear indicators (that Villawood staff advise were present at the time) that the riots were reasonably foreseeable. Despite the apparent clear indications, no critical incident plans were in place for staff to follow, should such a situation occur," the report said. The report backs up claims made by guards at detention centres that proper training is not provided. "Basically, from what I've seen, the new recruits were just basically put on the floor, no training whatsoever, they were being told that they would be trained as they were," a Serco guard said. Serco is the company which runs the detention network on behalf of the Immigration Department. The lack of training has led to serious ramifications identified in the Comcare report, which details how Serco staff are thrown into situations of extreme risk with little idea of how to respond. "Serco staff provided information about the level of serious assaults on staff, witnessing the deaths of detainees and the distress of having to deal with it. Staff also advised of feeling inadequately trained and the lack of instruction and supervision/support during times of critical incidents," the report said. 'Damning report' Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the report is damning. "They don't have access it seems in this report [to] a clear plan for dealing with self-harm and suicide, the report is very damning of a lack of management and management plans for incidents, and so they are left to their own devices," she said. "This report is quite damning [in] that there is a culture of non-disclosure, a culture of secrecy, total lack of transparency and what we see is we don't know how many cases of self-harm there are, how many incidents that have had to be escalated to different levels." But Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan says Comcare has "ignored and made errors" in terms of the training the department is doing "around cultural awareness, training around detention operations and training of case managers". Lateline recently obtained a log of incidents in the Christmas Island detention centre detailing up to 12 incidents of self-harm or attempted suicide per day. The Comcare report suggests the number could be higher, as could other dangerous events: "... there is (a) level of under-reporting of notifiable incidents in accordance with s68 of the OHS Act." Mr Logan rejects the suggestion that there is under-reporting of incidents in the immigration detention network. "What in fact there have been at times is where there have been serious incidents that have occurred is we have had to wait for the full medical report, the legal report, any police investigation into that incident before it's been brought to Comcare's attention," Mr Logan said. Comcare told Lateline it has identified a number of potential breaches by the Immigration Department of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It says the department has got until Monday week to respond, or face the possibility of a $250,000 fine. The report also details attempts by the Immigration Department to hamper investigations into its safety performance. Mr Logan rejects any suggestion there was a lack of cooperation by the department. "We would reject any suggestion that we did not cooperate with Comcare. I think there may have been some miscommunication on a couple of occasions," Mr Logan said. A parliamentary inquiry will look into the immigration detention centre network next Tuesday.

June 28, 2011 ABC
A witness has told an inquest into the suicide of a detainee at Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre that security staff had no training in dealing with detainees who were suicidal. Josefa Rauluni threw himself off a balcony at the centre in September last year, on the day he was due to be deported to Fiji. On the second day of the inquest state coroner Mary Jerram has heard staff employed by the centre's private operator, SERCO, knew Mr Raulini was distressed about his deportation. Duc Tran, a client services manager, said he overheard a conversation between staff over a security radio. He told the inquest he heard staff being instructed to keep an eye on Mr Raulini. Mr Tran said he thought Mr Raulini would cause a fuss to try to avoid his flight to Fiji. But the manager said he did not think the detainee would kill himself. Mr Tran also told the inquest he had not had any training to deal with detainees trying to escape or harm themselves.

June 27, 2011 AAP
A Fijian man due to be deported from a Sydney immigration detention centre told the department of immigration "send my dead body" the night before he jumped to his death, an inquest has heard. .Josefa Rauluni, 36, was due to be deported on September 20, 2010, when he jumped from a first-floor balcony railing at the Villawood Detention Centre that morning, Glebe Coroner's Court heard on Monday. Evidence would show that the night before he died, Mr Rauluni sent two faxes to the Ministerial Intervention Unit at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) saying, "If you want to send me to Fiji, then send my dead body", Naomi Sharp, counsel assisting NSW Deputy State Coroner Mary Jerram said in an opening statement. The inquest into Mr Rauluni's death is the first of three that will be held into the suicides of detainees who died at Villawood in a two-and-a-half month period late last year. "The fact that it appears that these type of deaths occurred at Villawood in two-and-a-half months gives rise to the question of whether there are systemic issues to be looked at," Ms Sharp said. Evidence would also show Mr Rauluni died from massive head injuries after he jumped headfirst onto the ground on the morning he was due to be deported, Ms Sharp said. Ms Sharp said the court would hear Mr Rauluni had previously expressed fear he would be jailed if deported to Fiji. On the morning he was due to be removed, Mr Rauluni refused to leave before climbing on to the balcony railing outside his dormitory and threatening to jump. The inquest was shown video footage of the moments leading up to Mr Rauluni's death. Mr Rauluni's brother and other relatives present at the inquest left court as the video was played after Magistrate Jerram warned the footage was disturbing. The court heard Mr Rauluni arrived in Australia on a tourist visa in November 2008 and took up residence in Griffith, NSW. After his visa expired, Mr Rauluni applied for a protection visa, which was refused by DIAC in August 2009. A subsequent appeal to the Refugee Review Tribunal and a request for ministerial intervention were refused and Mr Rauluni became an unlawful non-citizen in July 2010. He was arrested on August 17, 2010, before being detained at Villawood. Medical assessments showed Mr Rauluni had no suicidal tendencies or history of self-harm on his arrival at Villawood, the inquest heard. While in detention, he made further appeals for a review of the decision to deny him a protection visa, including two more requests for intervention from the minister. However, he was informed on September 17 that he would be deported back to Fiji the following Monday, September 20. Evidence would show Mr Rauluni was "shocked" when he was told the news, and "walked out of the interview room crying", Ms Sharp said. Ms Sharp said several issues may arise throughout the inquest, including the role of DIAC, Serco, the company contracted with running Villawood, and International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), the company that provides health services to the detention centre.

June 3, 2011 The Daily Telegraph
A SAFETY order was issued to the federal government less than three weeks before riots broke out at the Villawood detention centre, warning that sections of the facility posed a serious safety and security risk. The Improvement Notice issued by Comcare, and tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, also warned the detention centre at the time could not cope with transfers of potentially violent asylum seekers from Christmas Island. It said Villawood had a "lower level" of health and safety and security. It also discovered broken and missing security cameras and found Serco staff did not have proper training to deal with asylum seekers. "There are likely to be significant risk to health and safety associated with the relocation of the Christmas Island detainees to the Villawood IDF," the April 1 report warned. The release of the report came as parliament yesterday voted to begin a joint inquiry into mandatory detention and the Villawood and Christmas Island riots. The Comcare document raised concerns specifically about the transfer of 10 asylum seekers involved in Christmas Island riots to Villawood. But the government claimed that none of the detainees involved in the Christmas Island riots was involved in the riot at Villawood. Those transferred to Villawood were under lock and key at the western Sydney facility's high security Blaxland compound when the riot broke out in a neighbouring compound. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen's spokesman last night confirmed the Minister was aware of the issues raised by Comcare at the time. "The government only approved the transfer of the clients from Christmas Island after evidence was provided to Comcare that appropriate risk management measures were in place," he said. "These were in place by the allotted deadline, before the transfer occurred and well before the incidents at Villawood." Comcare had ordered the department to take action within three days to begin training staff and to repair the security and the safety breaches. Comcare deputy CEO Steve Kibble this week said that a follow-up investigation on May 24 found it was "generally" satisfied with the Immigration Department's response to fixing the problems. But opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said that the report should have been a "flashing light" for the government. "(The government) were warned not to proceed but they went ahead anyway," Mr Morrison said. "What disturbs me about this is that a department was forced to cut corners as pressure continued to mount from the government's failed border protection policies. It also shows the significant pressure the network was already under prior to the riots."

May 25, 2011 ABC
The Immigration Department says riots at the Christmas Island and Villawood detention centres are estimated to have caused about $9 million in damage. A number of buildings were destroyed during violent protests at both centres earlier this year. Department spokeswoman Fiona Lynch-Magor told a Senate hearing the company that runs the centres, Serco, will make an insurance claim for the damage. "We've made some early assessments of what we think those costs will be with our insurer," she said. "But Serco will be pursuing the insurance with their own insurer." The Immigration Department also says there were not enough federal police on Christmas Island to arrest asylum seekers who escaped from the detention centre during protests earlier this year. A large group of asylum seekers broke through the detention centre fence during the riots and the Senate hearing heard they were offered a lift back to the detention centre. Department spokeswoman Jackie Wilson says it was not possible to arrest the group. "The numbers of police on the island and the need to secure the airport as a priority did not enable us to have sufficient AFP on the island to do that," she said. "We were trying to do it in a peaceful way which required working with the clients rather than using AFP, which were being used for another purpose at the time." The Opposition says the lack of federal police left the island in a vulnerable position. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says it backs his argument for a parliamentary inquiry into the detention network. "[It's] very concerning that there were not sufficient police on the island when things broke out," he said. "What makes [this] worse is the department confirmed that the number and type of incidents were escalating and getting more serious, which was a clear indication that things were ... [the] temperature was rising and things were getting out of hand." The Government has already established a number of inquiries into the detention network.

May 25, 2011 The Age
AEROSOL cans have been banned across the immigration detention network after an attempt to build a home-made bomb at Villawood, and $9 million in damage from fires and riots. Meanwhile, Immigration Department head Andrew Metcalfe has accused UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay of being ill-informed about Australia's refugee swap deal with Malaysia. Ms Pillay, who will meet Prime Minister Julia Gillard today, has challenged the deal's legality. Mr Metcalfe told a Senate hearing yesterday he was "confident in the legal position we have".  Immigration Minister Chris Bowen met Ms Pillay yesterday, and told a caucus meeting she had "warmed" to his response. The committee has grilled immigration officials on the department's handling of a string of riots and fires in the detention network this year. Mr Bowen was embarrassed when he learnt of a home-made bomb in a radio interview. The committee was told detention centre operator Serco had informed the department of the "can of fly spray and a bottle of baby oil", discovered after a fire on March 19, and police were called, but the department failed to inform senior officials. Immigration secretary Andrew Metcalfe said this was "the wrong call", and he had apologised to Mr Bowen. An embarrassing 11-day standoff with three rooftop protesters at Villawood was resolved after Immigration deputy secretary John Moorhouse stood on a box and talked through a manhole to detainees hiding in a roof cavity. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the official's action was a "humiliation" and "sad farce". But Mr Metcalfe said Mr Moorhouse's unusual move avoided the use of force by police and deserved commendation.

May 20, 2011 The Daily Telegraph
A CRITICAL incident is being reported every two days in Villawood detention centre in what insiders claim is a system out of control. Documents revealed to federal parliament show the number of incidents across the entire detention network in the nine months to February totalled more than 3400. Of those, 850 were deemed critical incidents. According to protocols adopted by the company contracted to run the centres, Serco, critical incidents include assaults, bomb threats, chemical and biological threats, death, sexual assaults, riots, escape, hunger strikes, damage to facilities or protests. In Villawood alone, more than 140 critical incidents were reported over the period, averaging one every two days. A Serco insider said the figures were misleading because officers had to disclose everything that happened in the centres. The source, however, said crowded conditions at Villawood was causing unrest: "Are things out of control? They have been out of control for five years," the insider added.

April 25, 2011 The Age
DETENTION centres on both sides of the country were in turmoil last night, with three detainees maintaining a roof-top protest at Sydney's Villawood facility and hunger strikes under way at the Curtin Centre in Western Australia. The Sydney protesters - now in their sixth day on the roof at Villawood - claimed they are prepared to die unless their demands for asylum in Australia are met. One of the men, Majid Parhizkar, a 24-year-old Iranian, said the three were ''sick, hungry, cold, wet and dizzy'', having had nothing but water since last Wednesday. He said he would not come down until the Department of Immigration granted him a bridging visa that would allow him to stay in Australia with his mother, sister and brother. It was his second visa application rejection, 10 days ago, that prompted him to protest. The other two men - stateless Kurds Mehdi and Amir - want a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. A protest by refugee advocates has been planned for outside the gates of Villawood today. The unrest spread to Western Australia's Curtin Air Base detention centre over the weekend, and 16 refugee activists were arrested late yesterday afternoon while blocking the access road to the centre. Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, said a hunger strike and sit-in involving about 300 detainees was expected to escalate.

April 22, 2011 BBC
Australian police are questioning 22 people after a riot at an immigration detention centre in Sydney. About 100 people were involved in the riot, during which nine buildings at Villawood detention centre were torched. Officials said that the situation was now calm but a number of detainees remained on the roof. The government said the rioting was started by asylum-seekers who had had their visa applications rejected. Immigration officials said that 22 people had been moved from the facility to a prison as part of a criminal probe into the riot, which began on Wednesday night. "This sort of behaviour is absolutely unacceptable," Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said. "They will certainly feel the full force of the law." Villawood detention centre holds both irregular maritime arrivals - people arriving in Australia by boat to seek asylum - and people already on the Australian mainland who have violated their visas or had them cancelled. The riot there was the latest in a series of protests and suicides at Australian immigration detention facilities. In recent months the number of irregular maritime arrivals has increased, leading to overcrowding. Critics say the detainees - mainly from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq - are held in poor conditions and are unhappy with the length of time taken to process their applications. In February riot police were drafted in when detainees at Australia's offshore detention centre on Christmas Island rioted. The Australian government has recently announced the provision of more than 1,900 new beds for asylum seekers to ease crowding in detention centres.

April 20, 2011 The Australian
TWO asylum-seekers in Sydney's Villawood detention centre are on the roof of the facility staging a protest over the rejection of their visa applications. The 24- and 22-year-old detainees, an Iraqi and Iranian, and are understood to have been in immigration detention for the past 15 months. An Immigration Department spokesman said the department was working to end the standoff, with paramedics on site "as a precaution''. "The detention services provider (Serco) is engaging with the men and encouraging them end this action and come down immediately,'' the spokesman said. "Actions such as this will have no bearing on the outcome of a person's processing or the handling of their case.'' Another detainee inside the western Sydney facility said the pair climbed onto the rooftop about 5am this morning demanding reviews of their applications and more information on their rejections. The detainee told The Australian Online the men, who'd been twice rejected as refugees, were also on hunger strike and "very depressed''. He feared they would jump if their demands for more information on why they have been rejected and another review of the applications were not met. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said there was no doubt more of these incidents would occur within immigration facilities in coming months. "There is immense anxiety and uncertainly within the detainee population and the department is simply not giving these poor people enough information,'' Mr Rintoul said. "I think we can pretty much guarantee more protests and self harms.''

March 2, 2011 ABC
The company in charge of Australia's detention facilities has been fined for a series of escapes by detainees. The Immigration Department claims Serco has breached the contract conditions to run the detention centres, with almost 50 detainees escaping since June 2009 and 35 still on the run. The fines are reported to exceed $4 million, but the Government has refused to comment. Yesterday Opposition spokesman Scott Morrison said an escape from Sydney's Villawood detention centre was a sign of a system in crisis. On Tuesday morning a Fijian national being held at the facility after his visa had been cancelled managed to escape. Six other men also attempted to flee the centre but were stopped by staff. The department ordered an investigation into the escape.

March 1, 2011 Sydney Morning Herald
A detainee at Villawood escaped from the detention centre this morning, the Department of Immigration says. The man, a Fijian national, broke out from the centre run by security providers Serco about 4am, a department spokesman said. Six other men were prevented from leaving by security guards, he said.  “None of those involved were irregular maritime arrivals,” the spokesman said. Crying out for change -- The men had either overstayed their visas or had them cancelled for breaching visa conditions, he said. The spokesman did not provide details of the nature of the escape, but said that his department were calling for a “full investigation and report” into how it occurred and what security arrangements were in place.

December 9, 2010 The Age
A BRITISH man has become the third detainee to die in four months at Sydney's Villawood detention centre, prompting calls for a national inquiry into the facility. The 29-year-old man had been detained at Villawood since the middle of last month for breaching his visa conditions, and refugee advocates said he took his own life. He was found not breathing in his maximum-security compound about 3.20am yesterday, a spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship said. The man could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul said the man was believed to have taken his own life in the stage one area of the centre. ''This is the third death in three months at Villawood,'' he said. ''What on earth is someone being held for alleged violation of their student visa doing in the toxic environment of stage one?'' The man, who was understood to be wanted in Britain on serious criminal charges, was due to be deported. Mr Rintoul said he received a text message from another detainee saying the man took his life in a bathroom, although the Immigration Department refused to speculate, and said the death was a matter for coronial investigation. Deaths in custody have plagued the facility since September, with two apparent suicides sparking protests and hunger strikes.

November 30, 2010 ABC
The Immigration Department has confirmed there was a fight at the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney last night, at around the same time as a man escaped. Police were called to the centre around 9:00pm, after a roll call showed the 33-year-old was missing. A search of the area involving dog squad officers failed to find the escapee, who is from Belgium. The department's Sandi Logan says an investigation is underway. We're awaiting a full report from the detention services provider, SERCO, into the circumstances around the escape," he said. "We understand that there may have been a disturbance, at some time, near the time of the escape, whether that was associated with it or not, it's too early to speculate." Jamal Daoud from the Social Justice Network says he was told by other detainees the man ran off in front of security. "During the fight, he broke a window and he ran away. The people saw him physically run away," he said. "The security could not stop him running away, because they were outnumbered by people who were fighting. So they could not stop him." Mr Daoud says he was told that those fighting had been drinking alcohol.

November 18, 2010 Sidney Morning Herald
Seven immigration detainees involved in protests at the Villawood Detention Centre this week have been separated from the main population, the Immigration Department says. As well, the company Serco, which manages the Sydney centre, has been told to explain two recent deaths at the centre and the protests which followed them. Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan said Villawood was now calm, with order restored following protests and disturbances sparked by the suicide this week of Ahmad Al Akabi, a 41-year-old Iraqi whose asylum application had been rejected twice. Mr Al Akabi's death followed that of Josefa Rauluni, a 36-year-old Fijian detainee, at Villawood in September. "We have seven members of the group who were protesting or being non-compliant at the centre yesterday now separated from the main detention population," Mr Logan told reporters in Canberra on Thursday. "Our first priority is the safety of the centre, its detainees and the staff who work there. We will review the placement of the seven, whom we have removed from the general detainee population today."

November 17, 2010 Sidney Morning Herald
AN IRAQI asylum seeker who hanged himself at Villawood detention centre early yesterday ''begged'' the department of immigration to send him home. Ahmad al-Akabi, a 41-year-old father of three young daughters, had been held for more than a year, having been processed on Christmas Island after arriving in Australian waters by boat. His death comes just two months after a Fijian detainee, Josefa Rauluni, 36, committed suicide at Villawood. Mr Akabi is understood to have suffered severe depression in recent months and demanded to be returned to the Iraqi city of Karbala, where he had worked as a primary school teacher. A fellow Iraqi asylum seeker at Villawood who knew Mr Akabi told the Herald: ''He had become very upset and depressed and he told authorities, 'If you will not give me a protection visa then please let me go home now.'''

September 28, 2010 Fairfield City Champion
REFUGEE advocates say the company contracted to run Villawood Detention Centre broke a promise to Tamil detainees a day after the detainees agreed to end a rooftop protest. The detainees climbed onto the roof of the centre's stage three building last Monday after a Fijian man who had earlier been on the roof fell to his death. The detainees had stayed on top of the building until the following night, threatening to jump unless the Immigration Department agreed to refer their claims for asylum to United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR. Advocate Sara Nathan said the group had peacefully ended its protest after assurances by the contractor, Serco, that they would not be moved to high security detention. "This was a request made prior to them coming [down] and was instrumental in concluding the stand-off," she said. "A department officer present at the time also instructed the contractor not to punish any of the protesters, and that was agreed." Less than 48 hours later, the detainees were moved to stage one detention, where Ms Nathan said there was no natural light and no showers, toilets or doors on bedrooms. A Serco spokeswoman referred all questions on the running of the centre to the department. A department spokesman said it could not comment on the running of the centre, but that Serco was preparing a report into the incident. The department confirmed last week a second rooftop protest at the centre by a group of five men and four women also ended peacefully.

September 21, 2010 The Age
Eight asylum seekers ended a torturous 30-hour stand-off with Australian authorities after they climbed down from the roof of a Sydney immigration detention centre. Some of the asylum seekers had threatened to jump and kill themselves if the Immigration Department did not agree to review their refugee applications by 5pm today. Shortly before the deadline, an Iranian and an Iraqi ended their protest, descending from the roof, and a Sri Lankan followed them less than two hours later. Some of the initial group of 11 protesters had cut themselves on the arms and chest during the day, smearing blood on their bodies and a sign which read: "We need help and freedom". At times they cried, clinging to each other for support on the windy roof, and a fight broke out after one detainee who threatened to jump was forcibly restrained by the others. About a hundred onlookers, including children, watched as the man teetered at the edge. After spending a cold night on the roof, two of the men collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration as the day warmed to more than 23 degrees Celsius. Their desperate situation spread to the ground, with frustrated supporters protesting angrily outside the centre's barbed wire fence. Cars going by sounded their horns in support of the men's plight while others yelled: "Go on and jump". Several negotiators appealed to the men and large inflatable mattresses were placed at the foot of the building to cushion them should they jump or fall. A cherry-picker was also in place to bring the men down. At about 7.15pm, the eight remaining men started to leave the roof. Activists outside the centre cheered as the last asylum seeker waved and disappeared over the side of the building as he was taken down in a crane. The protest had started about 2pm yesterday after Josefa Rauluni, a 36-year-old Fijian man who was facing deportation, killed himself earlier in the day at the centre.

September 21, 2010 ABC
A group of asylum seekers protesting on top of Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre say they are prepared to stay there overnight. Tensions at Villawood have reached boiling point after a Fijian man, Josefa Rauluni, apparently threw himself off the roof of one of the buildings on Monday just hours before he was due to be deported. The Fijian was arrested in August after overstaying his visa. He had been working in Australia as a fruit picker. His cousins say that during his stay in Australia he had become associated with a pro-Fiji democracy movement and feared he would be jailed if he was returned to Fiji. Police and security guards are now in a stand-off with 11 detainees who have also taken to the roof of a building and are demanding to see an immigration officer. The group of detainees held a banner made from a bed sheet painted with the words "We need help and freedom". Sereana Naikelekele, a cousin of Mr Rauluni, said the Fijian had repeatedly warned Villawood Detention Centre officials and the Immigration Department that he would kill himself rather than be sent back to a country ruled by a military regime. "He actually said that he will kill himself if the Department of Immigration will send him back home," he said. "He said, 'They will take my dead body back home.'" Mr Rauluni's cousins also claimed officials at Villawood failed to properly supervise him after he was told that he was about to be deported, but Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan said Villawood staff followed procedures to deal with detainees threatening self-harm.

September 4, 2010 Green Left
A 21-year-old Tamil refugee has allegedly been the victim of an assault while in detention. Leela Krishna was recognised as a refugee by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in April this year, but is still held in Villawood detention centre. He was waiting for security clearance from ASIO before release. But, on August 21, he was allegedly assaulted in an isolation unit by a former professional kick boxer. The police are investigating the attack, and Serco — the private contractors who manage the centre — have placed Krishna in the “housing” component of Villawood. Australia’s current immigration policy means Krishna and hundreds of other refugees remain in Australia’s stressful — and often violent — detention centres, despite having been recognised as refugees by government agencies.

June 3, 2010 9 News
Two managers have been sacked and two others have been transferred following the escape of six people from Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. Nine people initially escaped from the complex in Sydney's southwest in the early hours of Tuesday, May 25. Three were detained by police as they escaped, but six others, all Chinese nationals, remain at large. Serco, the UK-based security company that manages the centre, undertook a "comprehensive investigation" following the escape, Serco spokeswoman Emma Needham said in a statement. "Serco has dismissed two employees today and redeployed two others following an internal investigation into last week's escapes from Villawood," she said. "In order to take the management of the centre forward and deliver the transformation required, changes to a number of positions were necessary." The company faces fines and sanctions imposed by the federal government following the escape. Immigration Minister Chris Evans has ordered an investigation into the breakout, the latest in a series of escapes from Villawood. Serco also manages security at the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne's western suburbs. It came under fire after a Chinese national slipped away from two Serco security staff while on a visit to the Melbourne Aquarium in March.

May 25, 2010 ABC News
The Immigration Department says six Chinese nationals are still on the run after escaping from Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney's south-west overnight. The men were among nine people to break out of the centre about 3:30am. Three were found shortly after but police are looking for the others. A spokeswoman for the department says the missing men were not illegal immigrants but were being detained because they had broken their visa conditions. The Federal Opposition says the latest escape is proof that the system has been pushed to breaking point. Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says at the beginning of this year, there were just over 300 people living in onshore detention centres. But he says that has jumped significantly. "We had over 1,100, based on figures released by the department in the last couple of days," he said. The Immigration Department says it will likely impose fines on the company it has contracted to run its detention centres in light of the escape. Last month a report commissioned by the Federal Government warned security at Villawood was inadequate. The Department says the centre has since increased staff, but it says the company in charge, Serco, can expect to be fined if the investigation finds incompetence is to blame for the escapes.

April 13, 2010 ABC
An interim report on security at Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre has recommended the boundaries of the facility be strengthened. The report is part of an urgent review ordered by the Federal Government after a number of detainees broke out of the facility last month. It is not being made public for security and operational reasons. But the ABC has been told one of the recommendations includes putting additional staff on duty around the perimeter of the facility. The company responsible for security at the detention centre, Serco, has already moved to address this concern. But Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says it is Immigration Minister Chris Evans, not Serco, who needs to guarantee the security of Villawood.

April 9, 2010 AAP
THREE Chinese men who escaped from Villawood Immigration Detention Centre 11 days ago are still on the run. The trio scaled a fence at the western Sydney facility at about 5am (AEDT) on March 29 and have not been seen since. They escaped despite extra staff being on duty at the facility due to a recent influx of 89 failed asylum seekers from Christmas Island. An Immigration Department spokesman said that the Chinese men - two of whom were visa overstayers and one an unauthorised air arrival - have not been recaptured. None of the men pose a danger to the community, the department says. It follows the escape of four other detainees from the centre, run by UK-based security firm Serco, in late February and early March. One detainee hid beneath a truck while another fled after being allowed out to pray at a nearby church. Ten Serco workers were sacked after that fiasco and the Immigration Department said on March 29 that the company may also be forced to fire further staff pending an inquiry into the latest escapes. A Serco spokeswoman said this week a report had gone to the department and that "remedial action" had been taken.

March 30, 2010 Canterberry-Bankstown Express
The refugees fled amid the drama surrounding the 89 failed asylum seekers who were transferred to Villawood at the weekend because Christmas Island detention centre was full. A security issue has also been raised at Villawood, where four other detainees have reportedly escaped in the past month. A total of eight people have escaped this year. Private security company SERCO, which manages security at the centre, has come under fire by Senator Chris Evans for the escapes. The company is reportedly paid $370 million over five years to manage Villawood and six other detention centres. He said he would order an urgent reviwe of security arrangements at the department. SERCO reportedly sacked 10 guards after the escapes at Villawood.

Yarl's Wood, Bedfordshire, England
July 17, 2011 Bedfordshire on Sunday
An officer at an immigration centre has been sacked after claims he got a detainee pregnant. The Serco employee, who worked at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Clapham, was dismissed on July 8. A spokesman for the firm, which has managed and operated the centre since April 2007, confirmed the member of staff’s misconduct was in connection with the case of a resident who became pregnant. In February, Bedfordshire on Sunday revealed that the officer had been suspended pending an internal and professional standards investigation. It is believed the employee was suspended on full pay from January. This week a spokesman for Serco confirmed the member of staff had been dismissed and added: “We expect the highest levels of professionalism from our staff at all times, and we do not tolerate misconduct.” He said there was a possibility the former employee may appeal against the dismissal but that they would be replaced. Over the last four and a half years, a total of nine detention custody officers working at the centre have been dismissed. There are currently 239 Serco staff there. Yarl’s Wood has been dogged in controversy since it opened in 2001.

February 14, 2011 BBC
An officer at an immigration detention centre in Bedfordshire has been suspended over an allegation he had a relationship with a detainee. The man, employed by Serco, worked at the Yarl's Wood Removal Centre near Bedford and was suspended in January. Serco said a staff member was suspended and faced internal and professional standards investigations. The Home Office said two people had been suspended over separate allegations but one was back at work.

June 14, 2010 The Guardian
Social workers failed to properly investigate a case of two five-year-old boys found engaging in sexual activity at Yarl's Wood detention centre and concerns an older child may have abused one of them, an official report found today. The independent review by Bedford and Central Bedfordshire safeguarding children boards also criticised police, the UK Borders Agency and Serco, which runs the centre. It said the case highlighted a gap in the regulation of services to children in immigration detention, with no single agency having enough overarching responsibility. The coalition government has pledged to end the practice of keeping children detention centres within the next few months. More than 1,000 children a year are held in such centres. Medical evidence, including a report from the Royal Colleges of paediatricians, GPs and psychiatrists, has found that the detention of children in the asylum system is linked to serious physical and psychological harm. The policy has been criticised by the government's inspectorate and the former children's commissioner for England.

May 26, 2010 BBC
Yarl's Wood was used to hold families before deportation Children are no longer to be detained in detention centres like Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire or Oakington in Cambridgeshire. The new government announced the end of the practice in the Queen's speech on Tuesday. Yarl's Wood has been the main removal centre holding women and families facing deportation for many years. Chief prisons inspector Dame Anne Owers said in March some children were being held at Yarl's Wood unnecessarily. And her report said half the centre's children were later released because they were either no longer facing removal or were being allowed to live normally while legal appeals were considered by the courts. Each year, about 2,000 children were held at the centre for an average of 15 days. There have been a number of protests at Yarl's Wood, including a hunger strike by women reported to be campaigning against their length of stay at the detention centre.

March 21, 2010 BBC
Women refusing food at a detention centre in Bedfordshire have started taking regular meals, a group said. A campaign group said women on hunger strike at Yarl's Wood immigration centre near Bedford had suspended it to avoid permanent damage to their health. They warned the strike would resume if no investigation is made of complaints, conditions and "arbitrary removals". The UK Border Agency denied there was a hunger strike, claiming that the women had used shops and vending machines. Black Women's Rape Action Project said the hunger strike had now been called off. Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said: "We have proof that 'food refusers' are regularly purchasing food from the shop and vending machines. Hearing into allegations -- "They have all been seen by doctors who have no concerns about their health. "Campaigning groups are being deliberately misled. "All the individuals involved have been found by us and independent judges to have no right to stay in the UK." An urgent High Court hearing has been ordered into claims of inhumane conditions at the detention centre. Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) said the case concerned the treatment of women and children involved in asylum and immigration claims. Serco, the private company that runs Yarl's Wood, has described the allegations of inhumane and degrading treatment as "unfounded and untrue".

March 18, 2010 Peterborough Today
A High Court judge has ordered an urgent hearing of a legal challenge to alleged "inhumane" conditions at Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire, lawyers said. Human rights pressure group Liberty was also given permission to intervene in the case. Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) said the case concerned the conditions in which women and children involved in asylum and immigration claims were being held at the detention centre. Mrs Justice Davies gave permission for an urgent hearing after seeing documents supporting the application for judicial review, said a PIL spokesman. The allegations include accusations that women and children have been subjected to racist slurs and held in squalid, prison-like conditions for between two weeks and one year without any indication as to when they might be released. Serco, the private company that runs Yarl's Wood, has described the allegations of inhumane and degrading treatment as "unfounded and untrue". PIL solicitor Jim Duffy said: "Serco and the Home Office will now be forced to explain in open court how the abuse and despair that these women and children have been forced to endure squares with national and international human rights standards. "Given the evidence of a systematic disregard for human dignity, it will be a tall order."

March 10, 2010 Luton Today
A group of detainees who claim they suffered 'inhumane and degrading treatment' while at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are suing the Home Office. The 11 women have employed Leigh Day & Co solicitors to seek damages from the government and Serco, the private security company which runs the Clapham detention centre. The women, who are still detained and are on hunger strike, allege that their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and their rights not to be tortured, suffer inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment were all breached by employees of Serco. The breach occurred when around 70 women gathered peacefully to present a petition against the conditions and treatment at the centre to representatives of the UK Borders Agency. The Times & Citizen reported on February 11 that detainees were locked in a corridor by Serco employees for about eight hours with little ventilation and without the use of lavatories and medical treatment. Frances Swaine, partner and head of the human rights department at the law firm said: "My clients have told me that the corridor soon became highly unpleasant and unsanitary. "Women with existing medical conditions including HIV, asthma and sickle cell anaemia were being denied their medication and treatment leading to a severe deterioration in their health. "Other women became unwell, some hyperventilated and others collapsed." She added: "Some women called for an ambulance on their mobile phones, but later found out they were denied entry to the detention centre. "This is one very serious incident, but having read their petition and talked to the women I was appalled to discover the general poor treatment and conditions they are expected to live in on a daily basis." Leigh Day & Co is now seeking a declaration to the effect that the detainees rights were violated, and appropriate damages from Serco and the Home Office. A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "The well-being of detainees is of paramount concern to the UK Border Agency, which is why all detainees were monitored by healthcare staff - as well as members of the Independent Monitoring Board – throughout the protest."

March 1, 2010 The Guardian
Lawyers are due to launch a legal challenge today on behalf of four women held at Yarl's Wood detention centre, claiming their incarceration amounts to "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment that breaches their human rights. The lawyers, who say they will submit the application at the high court in London, are applying for a judicial review of the government's detention policy, claiming it breaches articles 3, 5 and 8 of the European convention on human rights. "This disgraceful policy will now be the subject of legal challenge," said Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, which is bringing the action. "It is unlawful and we are calling, on behalf of our clients, for the policy to be struck down and for there to be an independent investigation." Serco, the private company that runs Yarl's Wood, has described allegations of inhumane and degrading treatment as "unfounded and untrue". The move comes amid an increasingly bitter row over the treatment of the women and children held at the Bedfordshire detention centre. Home Office minister Meg Hillier sent a letter to MPs last week denying claims by women at Yarl's Wood that they have been on hunger strike for three weeks. Hillier said that, although there are "a small number of detainees … refusing formal meals from the canteen, they are buying food from the centre's shop and vending machines and having food delivered by visitors". In her letter, Hillier said the women's health had been checked and there was no cause for concern. She also denied claims by detainees that they had been racially abused and assaulted during a protest last month. She said: "All the detainees are treated with dignity and respect ... I can assure you that there was no such behaviour by our staff." However, detainees, campaigners and some MPs have reacted angrily to her letter. On Friday, 34 women at Yarl's Wood issued a statement through the Black Women's Rape Action Project insisting they were still on hunger strike. The strike enters its fourth week today. "At no particular point in time have we gone to eat in the dining room, got food from the vending machines or at the shop," the women's statement said. They also stand by their claims that some of them were assaulted during the protest on 8 February and that others were called "black monkeys". Cristel Amiss, speaking on behalf of the women's project, said: "The government is falling on its face with its vain attempts to smear hunger strikers. We are in daily contact with hunger strikers and know that vacuous claims that women are treated with dignity and respect mean nothing in the face of overwhelming evidence of appalling conditions and abuse." Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP, criticised the government's reaction to the protest and said he had written to the chief inspector of prisons asking her to conduct an "urgent unannounced visit" to investigate the situation. John McDonnell, a Labour MP, has tabled an early day motion calling for an independent inquiry into the recent allegations of "violence, mistreatment and racist abuse" at the centre. "There are real concerns," he said, "and all we are asking the government to do is to look at these seriously and hold an independent inquiry. Instead, by turning a blind eye they are simply exacerbating the problems and this can lead to more serious problems like riots and the burning down of detention centres." Yesterday, the Observer reported that Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, and John Vine, the agency's chief inspector, are to be questioned by the home affairs select committee about the situation at Yarl's Wood. However, last night Hillier stood by her statement.

February 28, 2010 The Observer
Senior Home Office officials will be questioned this week over allegations that women inside Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre were assaulted by staff using riot shields. The Observer has gathered a series of testimonies from detainees inside the Bedfordshire centre who claimed they had witnessed women being beaten and injured during a disturbance this month. One image, taken inside Yarl's Wood on a mobile phone, reveals extensive bruising to a woman's shoulder and legs allegedly caused by staff during the incident on 8 February, days after dozens of asylum seekers instigated a hunger strike over the length of their detention. Another image shows injuries to a detainee's finger after a guard had allegedly slammed a window on her hand. On Tuesday, Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, and John Vine, the agency's chief inspector, are expected to be questioned by the home affairs select committee over the claims, which are denied by staff. Keith Vaz, chairman of the committee, said: "This evidence is extremely concerning. If the allegations are correct, then it may be appropriate for a police investigation. We are eager to establish what exactly is going on in Yarl's Wood." The hunger strike will enter its fourth week tomorrow. The allegations of abuse are being examined by London law firms Birnberg Peirce and Fisher Meredith. Jacqui McKenzie of Birnberg Peirce said: "I have spoken to a client of mine in Yarl's Wood and she has seen the bruising herself from the incident on 8 February. There is an atmosphere of real tension there." The images of the bruising show the injuries allegedly sustained during the incident by Denise McNeil, a 35-year-old Jamaican, who claims she was hit by staff and, since the disturbance, has been moved to London's Holloway prison. A Home Office spokesman said that observers from the centre's Independent Monitoring Board had been present during the incident and had seen no evidence to support the claims. He added that CCTV footage had revealed nothing. It is also understood that Bedfordshire police were called to the incident and monitored the situation without taking any action. A spokesman for Serco, the private firm that runs Yarl's Wood, last night dismissed the allegations as "unfounded and untrue". He added: "The incident on 8 February occurred because our staff intervened to prevent four women from continuing to bully other residents into missing meals." Participants in the hunger strike claim to have been held in a corridor for more than six hours. Several women claim to have fainted and one to have suffered an asthma attack before several detainees forced open an window and tried to escape before being confronted by guards. Meme Jallow, 26, from Gambia, who has been inside Yarl's Wood for seven months, said: "A girl called Denise was by the windows. One officer took her and hit her by the face." Another hunger striker, a 37-year-old from Nigeria who asked to remain anonymous for fear of her asylum case being unfairly reviewed, said: "The security went outside and used shields like they do when there is a war. That is what they used to smash one of the women who was outside." Adeola Omotosho, 44, from Nigeria, who was released from Yarl's Wood three days after the incident, yesterday described how she had been injured during the protest. "The officers closed the window against my finger. It was very painful and I was really bleeding heavily, but they still refused to open the window. So I called an ambulance, but it was not allowed to come in." Serco sources said that ambulance staff had been allowed on site during the protest but paramedics were not required because the most significant injury was Omotosho's fingernail injury. A spokesman denied shields had been used to hit or move women and said they had only been placed against the open window in order to "secure the area". Many detainees also complained they have suffered racist abuse, which the centre denies. Omotosho added: "Black monkeys is what they call us. They don't like us at all. They tell us to go back to our countries." Cristal Amiss from Black Women's Rape Action Project, which is supporting the detainees, said: "We have spoken to over 50 women and have heard entirely consistent reports of racist abuse, threats and other violence." Frances Swaine, head of the human rights department at London law firm Leigh Day, said: "The situation at Yarl's Wood has been getting progressively worse over the past few months, and shows no signs of improvement – and the hunger strike has brought to the fore the real issues." A number of the detainees said they had been traumatised by the incident, with a letter from one stating that three other women detainees had been caught trying to kill themselves.

February 24, 2010 BBC
An MP is demanding an inquiry into a hunger strike by women at a holding centre for immigrants in Bedfordshire. A dispute at Yarl's Wood Centre began three weeks ago when 50 women protested at being held for up to two years. Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington John McDonnell has tabled a House of Commons motion, calling on the Inspector of Prisons to hold an investigation. The MP wants an inquiry into reports of violence, mistreatment and "racist abuse" which the centre denies. Mr McDonnell claims some of the women involved in the protest were held in a hallway for more than five hours, denied access to toilets and water, and locked out in the cold. Independent monitors -- Fellow Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who represents Islington North, has called for a halt to any removals and deportations of the women involved while an inquiry is carried out. He has also signed the House of Commons motion. David Wood, director for criminality and detention, said: "All detainees are treated with dignity and respect, with access to legal advice and heath care facilities. "A small group of around 20 women are currently considered as food refusers. This means they have missed three consecutive meals in the canteen. "However, there are alternate food arrangements within the centre, such as shops and vending machines. "The well-being of detainees is of paramount concern to the UK Border Agency, which is why healthcare staff and independent monitors from the Independent Monitoring Board were at the scene to witness the women's protest. "The demonstration remained passive at all times and there was no use of force."

February 17, 2010 InTheNews
The children's commissioner has today issued a report on the treatment of children at an immigration detention centre, in which he says it is "no place for children". Sir Al Aynsley-Green, children's commissioner for England looked at the experiences of children in a progress report into conditions in which they are being held at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. In the report Sir Al said there were concerns that still needed to be addressed and said that increasingly children were being separated from their parents when being taken to the centre. The report, which contains recommendations for further improvement, follows up one published by the commissioner in 2009. Since last year's report, UKBA and SERCO, which manages Yarl's Wood, have shown a commitment to change procedures and improve conditions, the commissioner reported. Following the previous report the commissioner said he had seen an improved environment with a "less institutional feel", newly constructed classrooms, fewer prison style uniforms being worn, better facilities for feeding babies, a new complaints system and an end to transporting children to Yarl's Wood in caged vans. Despite these improvements the Sir Al said there was still more to be done, and said he was particularly concerned that there have also been reports of unacceptable delays in providing treatment. In one case, he reported, a mother informed a nurse at 11:20 GMT that her five-year-old child had fallen earlier in the playground. The child could not lift her arm and was not seen by a GP until 2:05 GMT the next day and went to A&E at 7:02 GMT; the child had a broken arm. Sir Al said: "It is the government's role rather than mine to decide whether a child should be removed from the UK but I want to make sure the process by which they are removed is humane. Yarl's Wood is no place for a child. "Ultimately, I would like to see a far faster process and an end to the detention of children in the asylum system. There needs to be more education about the alternatives to detention. But I recognise an end to child detention won't happen overnight and am working to improve the arrest and detention process by looking at it from the child's perspective." Following the Sir Al's report the Refugee Council said it was a "timely reminder" of the harm of detaining children. Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council said: "Children continue to be terrified by dawn raids, sometimes being separated from their parents, being removed from their houses without knowing what is going to happen to their things. "Perhaps most worrying is that some incidents of harm to children's physical and mental health are still not being properly treated or recorded. There can be no excuse for perfunctory examinations of children or dismissing behaviour such as a child wetting himself at nursery when he previously did not have this problem. "These are children we are talking about. It is unacceptable that they are detained at all. "The government must heed the commissioner’s words and end this abhorrent practice now."

February 9, 2010 Channel 4
A group of women being held at Yarl's Wood immigration centre are refusing food for a fifth day in protest over the length of detention and being separated from children. Yarl's Wood immigration centre near Bedford is the UK's main removal centre for women and families. It can hold 405 people in four wings. A hunger strike that started on Friday quickly spread. Some women, angry at being separated from their children, refused food. It is thought most of the women are Jamaican, Nigerian and Chinese, but others joined their protest. On Monday, day four of the hunger strike, a group of about 50 women tried to move around the centre and were locked in a corridor. The women say they were held there for hours on end without water or access to a toilet. They told campaigners some of them had fainted. Most of the women returned to their room without staff using force. But four women were taken away by police. They have reportedly been detained under the immigration act and are being handed over to the UK border agency. Police have refused to confirm the nationality of the women. Officers say this "peaceful protest" was "resolved" last night. But campaigners claim the hunger strike is not over. One of the woman on hunger strike inside the detention centre, Debo, told Channel 4 News they were hoping the action would force the immigration authorities to look into their situation. But she insisted the protest was peaceful: "We are not going to destroy anything, we are not going to fight". Cristel Amiss from the Black Women's Rape Action Project, which campaigns for foreign nationals who have fled rape, say she has spoken to two women inside Yarl's Wood who are part of the group of around 20 women sticking to their hunger strike. SERCO, which runs Yarl's Wood, says it needs to look at the lunch records to see how many detainees have refused food before it can confirm how many women remain on hunger strike.

December 13, 2009 Telegraph
The Rev Canon James Rosenthal, dressed in a red robe with a long white beard and holding a bishop's mitre and crook, was refused entry by guards at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire. After gently protesting that he was not a threat, he started to bless the £300 worth of gifts donated by congregations of several London churches. But after an unedifying stand off, the security guards then called the police on the visitor, who was accompanied by one of Britain's most distinguished clerics. Mr Rosental, who is the Anglican church’s leading expert on St Nicholas, said he was “extremely disappointed” that 35 boys and girls at the centre were denied a pre-arranged visit by the patron saint of children and the imprisoned. "St Nick has never been turned away from anywhere before," he said. "So I was extremely disappointed not to be able to hand deliver the gifts to the children detained at Yarl's Wood. I hope the kids realise that they will be firmly in my prayers." Mr Rosental is writing a formal letter of complaint to the centre about how it handled the visit and the heavy-handed tactics employed by the guards who patrol the perimeter fence. Serco, a private security company that operates Yarl’s Wood, referred questions to the Home Office. A spokesman said that only people subject to stringent security checks can be allowed into the detention centre and there can be no exceptions. But the St Nicholas Society, of which Mr Rosental is patron, said that Serco did not respond to numerous requests before teh visit earlier this month to discuss how a handover of presents could be carried out and also refused requests to provide details about the 35 children in the centre so they could receive appropriate presents. Serco also refused permission for the two clerics to enter the centre to visit two refugee families later the same day, as it had previously agreed. They were handed letters from Dawn Elaine, contracts manager at Yarl's Mr Rosental said: "If this is how visitors are treated, I shudder to imagine what else transpires inside Yarl's Wood.” He was accompanied on the trip earlier this month by the Rev Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, canon theologian at Westminster Abbey. He said: "This was about bringing a moment of joy to kids locked up in a deplorable situation. I can't help but contrast the smiles and wonderment on the faces of the children St Nicholas visited at a local primary school with the sad fate of those kids who will be locked up in Yarl's Wood over Christmas." The presents were eventually loaded into an unmarked van by staff who refused to provide a name, number or receipt for the gifts. Mr Rosental asked one "guard" his name and the man said "write down 'Father Christmas'".

December 10, 2009 Lutin Today
Children at the Yarl's Wood Detention Centre were visited by a pair of children's authors in a bid to highlight child detention in the UK. Beverley Naidoo, author of The Other Side of Truth and Baba's Gift, and illustrator Karin Littlewood met children at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) on Monday (7 December) to give a reading and art workshop. Mrs Littlewood said: "Whenever I go into schools, the children always say about the books and drawings, 'can I take this home with me?' "This is the first time that nobody has asked me that. "It made me think, where is home for these children?" "All you have to do is to think, if that was your family, if that was your sister or daughter or nephew, what would you feel about them being locked up?" On Wednesday (December 9) an open letter signed by children's authors, calling for an end to child detention was published in national newspaper The Guardian. Yarl's Wood, on the outskirts of Clapham, is the main centre in the UK with family accommodation. In May 2008 Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the children's commissioner, visited the site and found it to be below the standards expected by the NHS. On Thursday London's royal medical colleges issued a strongly worded briefing paper which called for an end to the detention of children. The paper claimed that "detention is unacceptable and should cease without delay." It also warned of the physical and psychological consequences of such treatment on the 1,000 children detained in IRCs every year. Mrs Naidoo said: "We have spent a morning with a group of delightful, thoughtful young people. "But this brings home the fact that our government should not be asking Serco to lock up innocent children when there are alternatives to detention. "It is done in our name and we should say a loud 'No'. "The UK has a fine tradition of offering refuge to those who need it, but I fear that the current climate of hostility to those who seek asylum here is threatening that tradition."

December 10, 2009 The Guardian
Detaining children in immigration centres puts them at risk of mental health problems, self-harm and even suicide, a coalition of royal medical colleges warns the government today. Around 1,000 children, mainly from asylum-seeking families awaiting deportation, are held in Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire every year, according to a joint report. The Royal Colleges of General Practitioners, Paediatrics and Child Health, and Psychiatrists, and the UK Faculty of Public Health are demanding an end to a practice which has been stopped in Australia and Sweden. By declaring that children are exposed to "significant harm" – a term used by the medical profession to trigger child protection procedures – doctors are challenging the integrity of the asylum system. Dr Nick Lessof, a consultant paediatrician at the Homerton hospital in east London, who has visited Yarl's Wood, said self-harm among children detained there was commonplace. He added that children also wrote suicide notes "that are not believed" by staff. The royal colleges called for the NHS to take over the direct medical care of children who it said were among the most vulnerable in the community. They claimed they were not being given the necessary childhood immunisations and staff had failed to recognise or treat promptly injuries, including in one case a broken arm. Health problems reported include "emotional and psychological regression, post-traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression and suicidal behaviour". Dr Philip Collins, a forensic adolescent psychiatrist at the Maudsley hospital in south London, said that children of asylum seekers were "uniquely at risk" of very high levels of mental health problems. "We are damaging the mental health of many of the children and young people who end up in a prison-like environment by the UK Border Agency." Dr Les Ashton, a GP working in a primary care service for asylum seekers in Leicester, said: "Numerous families have had their door broken down in the middle of the night and they have been terrified by the process. They come back having been released and they are then picked up again." Residential hostels, rather than immigration centres, should be provided to house families awaiting deportation, the doctors urged, citing successful schemes in Australia and Sweden. Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "It is vital that all children detained in the UK have access to a registered children's nurse who has the appropriate training and support to ensure their mental and physical health needs are met." Both the Children's Society and the organisation Bail for Immigration Detainees back the policy paper. Lisa Nandy, policy adviser at The Children's Society, said: "Many of the children we work with experience depression, bed-wetting, weight-loss and even self-harm." Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the children's commissioner for England, said: "It is time for this inhumane practice to end." Serco, the private company which runs Yarl's Wood immigration centre, declined to comment but David Wood, head of criminality and detention for the UK Border Agency, said: "Treating children with care and compassion is a priority. Families at Yarl's Wood should get the same level of care available on the NHS, and they do."

November 29, 2009 BBC
Many children whose parents are awaiting deportation from the UK are being held in immigration detention centres for too long, MPs have said. The home affairs select committee said it was "not acceptable" that some were being detained for up to two months. Chairman Keith Vaz said the children had "done nothing wrong" and should only ever be held as "a last resort". The government said treating children with "care and compassion" was a priority for the UK Border Agency. The committee's report says that nearly 1,000 children a year are detained in the UK while they and their families await removal from the country. On average, they spend more than a fortnight in detention, although periods of up to 61 days are not uncommon, it says. Earlier this year, children's commissioner for England Sir Al Aynsley-Green said the practice of holding children in detention should be ended altogether. 'Unlikely to abscond' - Mr Vaz referred to Yarl's Wood detention centre, in Bedfordshire, in particular, which has been heavily criticised in the past. He said that despite some recent improvements, such as a purpose-built school, it remained "essentially a prison" and "no place for a child". The committee said it was difficult to justify detaining families when they were very unlikely to abscond and in future the UK Border Agency should consider other alternatives such as electronic tagging. "It is not acceptable that we are detaining so many children for such long periods of time - these children have done nothing wrong, they should not be being punished," Mr Vaz said. "It must always be absolutely the last resort to keep a child detained for any length of time."

November 24, 2009 The Guardian
The brutal truth of child detention2,000 asylum seekers' kids a year are locked up, and the only beneficiaries seem to be firms running centres like Yarl's Wood. A report by the novelist Clare Sambrook of End Child Detention Now, which campaigns against the detention of 2,000 asylum seekers' children every year, asks the very reasonable question: who does this expensive incarceration benefit? Clearly not the children who, according to every study ever written on this issue, suffer acutely from being taken from their homes on the orders of the UK Border Agency and placed in a confined space for an indeterminate period. Many argue that society benefits because it is protected from the asylum seekers and their families. Sambrook wonders how that can be when there is no evidence that asylum seekers are likely to abscond. So who benefits? Clearly the private companies that run so much of this operation have a lot to gain. G4S, the company that operates Tinlsey House, one of three detention centres where last month 10-year-old Adeoti Ogunsola tried to strangle herself after being forcibly redetained, recently reported rising profits and growth in government business which had offset weakness in commercial sectors. As Sambrook reports: "Last year G4S handed chief executive Nick Buckles a £1.4m pay package. That's £3,835 every day. He owns £4m in G4S shares, tipped by the Daily Telegraph recently as, 'a solid buy for these uncertain times'." Someone else who may reasonably be said to benefit from this policy is Christopher Hyman, the chief executive of Serco, who also earns in the region of £3,000 a day. His company runs the notorious Yarl's Wood detention centre where children have been detained far beyond the 28-day with charge maximum allowed for terror suspects. "Traumatised child inmates, who must carry ID cards at all times, refer to Yarl's Wood as 'prison' and 'the camp'," says Sambrook. Among the indirect beneficiaries she also identifies John Reid, the former home secretary, who is paid £50,000 a year as a consultant to G4S for, among other things, hosting government and security industry breakfasts. Meanwhile children are suffering. The Lorek report in the peer review journal Child Abuse and Neglect says detained children experience "increased fear due to being suddenly placed in a facility resembling a prison … the abrupt loss of home, school friends and all that was familiar to them". Some exhibit "sexualised behaviour". Older children are so stressed they wet their bed and soil their pants. Who benefits from this expensive and harsh policy? Sambrook answers her own questions with this – " some extremely wealthy grownups".

October 13, 2009 The Guardian
Medical experts have found clear evidence that children held in UK immigration centres develop mental and physical health difficulties, according to a report published today. In the first study of its kind, a team of paediatricians and psychologists found 73% of children they examined had developed clinically significant emotional and behavioural problems since being detained. None had previously reported such problems. All those seen by a psychologist displayed symptoms of depression and anxiety and of being disoriented, confused and frightened by the experience. One child suffered the re-emergence of post-traumatic stress disorder, related to a previous war experience. The report raised serious concerns over child protection issues after finding that at least 12 of the children had been separated from a main carer, two placed in detention with an adult with whom they had never lived, and one mother and her 20-month-old baby separated for three weeks during an outbreak of chicken pox. The study, published in Child Abuse & Neglect: the International Journal, examined 24 children aged between three months and 17 years detained at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire, which is operated by Serco for the UK Border Agency.

June 19, 2009 BBC
A couple of days ago in Bedfordshire, uniformed immigration officers surrounded Melchior Singo as his screaming children looked on. They dragged him away as his wife Ethol tried to stop them, to talk to her husband, to keep the family together. Amid highly charged and chaotic scenes inside the Yarl's Wood detention centre on Wednesday afternoon, two officers were injured - one claims to have been bitten, another stabbed in the neck with a pen. Children were vomiting and weeping as a number of men were marched away. Ethol then took nine-year-old Olger and seven-year-old Renee into a side room and instructed them to pray. It was the dramatic end to a week when the desperation of those facing deportation boiled over. The Singo family is from Malawi. Their claims to stay in Britain have all but come to an end after living for the past five years in Leyland near Preston in Lancashire. They were active members of a local church and the children both attended the scout troop. Melchior worked at the local hospital; Ethol had a job in Tesco. Whatever the rights and wrongs of their residency application, the family has been shown support by people in Leyland. A church newsletter shows what can happen when people are asked to choose between friendship and the system: "The PPC and the monks think that it is our Christian duty to support them in their hour of need, and we know how many of you are concerned for them. There will be fund-raising events happening. As usual this Sunday we will attempt to talk to them through the computer." It seems clear that, this week, Melchior's resilience snapped. After staying with his family for over a month in Yarl's Wood, with the threat of imminent deportation hanging over them, he was among twenty detainees who took part in what is being described as a hunger strike. Ethol, who I spoke to last night, says it was a period of "fasting and praying", but it was undoubtedly a challenge to the system. There were demands from a number of the families held in the centre for better healthcare, but their decision to boycott the centre's canteen and to move their mattresses into the corridors looks to many like a protest borne of desperation. It was clearly a potentially dangerous situation for the staff at Yarl's Wood, too. Children and parents were sitting and lying around the centre and staff could not clean or go about their normal duties. They had tried to calm the situation with the offer of one-to-one meetings with any detainee who had a grievance or a problem about their treatment. However, a small number of protesters had convinced the rest that they should all stick together. Their sit-in would continue until someone from the Home Office addressed them as a group. According to Ethol, with the impasse continuing, the management from the private security firm Serco decided to take action just after lunch on Wednesday. "At about 2.15, twenty to thirty officers came in, rushing to where were sitting," she told me. "They were wearing black and white Serco uniforms. Someone was filming it all." Ethol was having her hair braided by another detainee and her two children were sitting playing cards when the operation began. "They saw it all happen. People were being sick everywhere, throwing up, crying and screaming. My children were really traumatised." The Home Office described the operation this way: "Officers separated a small number of detainees from the general population who were disrupting the normal operation of Yarls Wood. The separation was conducted by staff trained in conflict resolution. It was undertaken with the utmost sensitivity and there have been no injuries to detainees." Ethol and the children were escorted from Yarl's Wood that evening and taken by van to Kingsley House near Gatwick. They were apparently told that Melchior would join them shortly afterwards. In fact, he had been taken to Colnbrook near Heathrow. Ethol's attempts to contact her husband were rebuffed, one officer telling her that her husband was not allowed to make or accept any calls. I am told that the UK Border Agency later apologised for what it accepted was a mistake.

June 18, 2009 Guardian
At least 30 detainees at the Yarl's Wood detention centre have been on hunger strike since Monday in protest at poor conditions at the Bedfordshire site. Melchior Singo, 39, from Malawi, said people in the family unit had stopped eating in protest at the sub-standard healthcare and the detention of children. The action began on Monday. One detainee, Solomom Ojeheonmon, said: "Children, some of them as young as five months old, in this detention centre, are sick." In April, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the children's commissioner, said the government's policy of holding 2,000 children a year in removal centres could be harmful to their health. "The UK should not be detaining any child who has had an unsuccessful asylum claim," he said. Susanna Kushaba, from Uganda, raised concerns when her five-month-old baby developed a temperature. She claims staff ignored her and she was forced to dial 999 to gain medical attention. "I tried telling the staff and the staff were calling the healthcare but no one was coming." Dr Frank Arnold, clinical director of Medical Justice, said: "We are not at all surprised by these complaints." He said he agreed with MP Alistair Burt, who described Yarl's Wood as "beyond comprehension and decency".

April 26, 2009 The Independent
Children held in the infamous Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre are being denied urgent medical treatment, handled violently and left at risk of serious harm, a damning report by the Children's Commissioner for England will say tomorrow. Sir Al Aynsley-Green's investigation paints a shocking picture of neglect and even cruelty towards children trapped within the centre's razor-wired walls, and finds "substantial evidence that detention is harmful and damaging to children and young people". Since opening in 2001, the Bedfordshire detention centre has been plagued by hunger strikes, self-harm incidents, a suicide and riots. It was severely damaged by fire during disturbances in 2002. Despite repeated scandals – and the damning findings of this report – planning permission was given last month to double the centre's capacity from 405 places to nearly 900. Around 2,000 children a year are held in immigration centres – half in Yarl's Wood, which has been run by a private company, Serco, since 2007. The experience they described is prison in all but name. Politicians, immigration experts and doctors last night called for an end to the detention of children and for urgent measures to ensure other detainees are treated humanely. The report, based on the most recent inspection by Sir Al, reveals that basic safeguards for children in Yarl's Wood are failing. Welfare issues raising "serious concern" were ignored, with children forced to remain in custody even when they were seriously ill or in danger from parents with mental health problems, the report says. It also criticises the "scant regard to basic welfare needs" during arrest and transportation to the centre. Key meetings between social services, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Yarl's Wood staff designed to discuss the welfare implications of keeping a child locked up for more than 28 days dwelt instead on PR and legal concerns. The commissioner calls for an urgent review to "ensure the best interests of the child are central to decisions on detention". The UKBA claims that steps have now been taken to protect children since the inspection last May, but Lisa Nandy, policy adviser at The Children's Society, disputes this. "The agency has not made the improvements necessary to safeguard these children," she said. "The Secretary of State for Children must intervene immediately as this report exposes serious child protection risks which have not been adequately addressed." The commissioner found that seriously ill children were denied hospital treatment, while bureaucracy substantially delayed others with critical conditions from getting to hospital. A baby with pneumonia and a teenager with severe mental health problems were among those affected. Despite being the main detention centre for children, no one on the Yarl's Wood health team has child health qualifications, the report says. Sir Al found major healthcare shortcomings at the centre, describing safeguards, records and professionalism as inadequate and below NHS standards. He reports that two children with sickle cell disease were not allowed to bring their penicillin with them when they were seized from their homes. As a result they became seriously ill and required urgent treatment. Instead of being referred to hospital for intravenous fluids and antibiotics they were simply given paracetamol. Under the NHS this would be categorised as a life-threatening "Serious Untoward Incident". Children suffering from serious medical conditions and the mentally ill were routinely kept in detention despite guidelines stating clearly they should not be. One diabetic child had three emergency treatments in the 24 days she was detained – including two occasions where her blood sugar left her "un-rousable" – but was still not released. An eight-month-old baby with asthma was neither released nor given an inhaler. Immunisations were denied to children documented as needing them, creating a health risk. One child was even given the wrong vaccine, while the centre's policy for preventing malaria was described as containing "serious errors" and being "unacceptably poor". Doctors working for Medical Justice, an organisation that provides voluntary medical assistance for Yarl's Wood families, insist there is wider evidence of medical abuse beyond the commissioner's report. They say they have documented evidence of a child under 12 being given his mother's anti-depressant drugs on removal; of a young person in severe pain with sickle cell disease being denied painkillers because he was unable to walk to the clinic to receive them in person; and of children contracting severe malaria on being returned to their home country because they were refused suitable preventative medicine. Paediatrician Dr Fred Martineau said: "The detention of children, whether newborn babies or adolescents, almost invariably causes them physical or emotional suffering. Doctors from Medical Justice regularly see the effects of this, ranging from a failure to give immunisations against potentially fatal diseases, through to clinical depression ...The only way of preventing this harm is to end their detention." Healthcare at Yarl's Wood has long been a problem, with outbreaks of vomiting bugs and chickenpox common. The centre was last night understood to be in the middle of yet another chickenpox quarantine. The report describes the ordeal of "dawn raids" – where up to 20 officers arrive to seize families in the early hours of the morning. Children repeatedly reported being treated with violence, including being dragged on the floor and thrown to the ground. Young people told how traumatised they were by the experience, noting that officers seemed to be laughing at them and "taking pleasure in the family's distress". The study said: "In a large majority of cases, children reported that officers' behaviour had been aggressive, rude and, on a few occasions, violent." Children were even watched by officers of the opposite sex while they dressed, which the report called "an unacceptable safeguarding risk which must be addressed immediately". They also had to watch parents being handcuffed and heavily restrained – a direct flouting of UKBA guidelines. One mother, so distressed at being handcuffed in front of her family and thrown into a caged van, tried to hang herself with her son's shoelaces. Caged prison vans are routinely used to transport children to the centre near Bedford, despite promises that people carriers would be used for families. Children were denied toilet breaks or food and drink. The vans, the report says, are "stained with urine and vomit". The commissioner also expressed concern at the increase in the length of time for which children are being held, which threatens their mental well-being. Last week, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, told MPs: "Detention is a final option and is only used for the shortest period necessary." But the Children's Commissioner says: "The average length of time children and young people are being detained is increasing, and, crucially, the decision to detain them is neither being used as a last resort nor for the shortest period of time as required by Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child." In conclusion, Sir Al calls for an end to the detention of children. "Each year in the UK, we detain around 2,000 children for administrative purposes. This has to end," he said. His call was echoed by the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who said: "The incarceration of thousands of children accused of no crime, often for months on end, is inhumane. The treatment of these vulnerable children in Yarl's Wood is a shameful indictment of the Government's failed immigration policy." The Border and Immigration minister Phil Woolas said: "If people refuse to go home then detention becomes a necessity. We don't want to split up families, so we hold children with their parents, and while they are in our care we treat them with sensitivity and compassion." Taken away: 'They came for us at night' -- Dominic Mwafulirwa trembles at the words "Yarl's Wood". The eight-year-old was asleep when six guards wrenched him and his mother, Cecilia, 35, from their Swansea home in the early hours three months ago. They had arrived in the UK from Malawi when Dominic was a year old. Cecilia, who had run away from an abusive husband, started a new life in Wales, where Dominic excelled at school. That life ended abruptly when the men arrived. "Dominic didn't say a word from the time they came until we were locked up," Cecilia says. "It was hard to keep his spirits up. When I asked him why he wasn't going to the school at Yarl's Wood, he said: 'What's the point? We're not learning anything.' He refused to wash and started smashing things. He's still really angry and confused. "We spent 50 days in that place. I lost 20kg. I'm a sickle cell patient and by the end of the 50 days my haemoglobin was too low. I'm really anaemic and they knew I had depression. They changed my medication and they threatened to take my son away." Cecilia and Dominic have been out of Yarl's Wood since the end of March. They have yet to find out whether they will be allowed to stay in the UK.

November 5, 2008 Institute on Race Relations
A Kenyan asylum seeker held at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre had a vital self-help guide confiscated by staff days before a crucial deadline for her case. Mercy Wanjiku [1], who fled from torture in Kenya, had three days in which to prepare and submit papers for an oral judicial review and, without a lawyer, was dependent on the advice contained in the guide. The UK Border Agency has since said that there were no legal grounds for the confiscation, although Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre claims it has the right to remove it. Mercy said, 'What does it mean when the authorities can change the rules and deny me help to make my case to the Home Office? Are they aiming to deliberately sabotage our legal cases?' Mercy claims that she was forced to open her mail in front of Yarl's Wood staff on 8 October and that the Legal Action for Women's Self-help guide against detention and deportation was then confiscated. She says that a male member of staff told her that he was only following orders by informing her that it was 'illegal to have the book in here'. It was only after Mercy, with the help of Black Women's Rape Action Project (BWRAP), made an official complaint to the UK Border Agency and to Serco, the multi-national company who runs Yarl's Wood, sent letters to her MP and lodged a theft report with the local police, that the guide was returned. According to BWRAP, the UK Border Agency has since admitted that the guide was taken in direct contravention of the Detention Centre Rules and that there were no legal grounds upon which it could have been confiscated. BWRAP claims that hundreds of women have relied on the self-help guide to provide crucial information for their cases, having been forced to represent themselves as a result of cuts in legal aid funding. It says that sixty per cent of women in detention attend their appeal hearings without legal representation. Mercy had been a qualified nurse in Kenya where she had opened a clinic for young girls seeking protection from the threat of female genital mutilation. She claimed that as a result of her work she was kidnapped and tortured by the secretive Mungiki sect, who promote Kikuyu traditions including female genital mutilation, and that she was left for dead on a roadside before being discovered by passersby. Her claim was rejected by the authorities. As a result of publicity around Mercy's case, a deportation order against her has been postponed. A legal team has now agreed to look into making a fresh claim on her behalf. [1] This is not her real name, which has been changed in order to protect her identity.

October 1, 2008 Bedford Today
New operator still to address concerns over healthcare and over-long stays. Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre is inadequate in several key areas, according to a new report by its watchdog. The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Yarl's Wood has just published its findings from weekly unannounced visits over the last 12 months. The report expressed concerns over difficulties caused by a change of operator, inadequate healthcare and education, and women and families being detained for too long. The board was generally positive about changes which have been put into effect since Serco took over running the site 18 months ago. But it also said: "We do not feel it is overstating the case to say that this change in management has overshadowed the year: whilst we have welcomed many of the changes introduced by Serco, the transition has not been easy." It added: "After a lengthy bidding process, the results were announced in early January 2007. However Serco were not to take over control until April 26. The nearly four months following the bid were marked by extreme anxiety amongst staff about redundancies ... and a degree of lassitude and inertia on the part of management." Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Clapham has 405 detention spaces for women and families, although the Government is currently considering plans for expansion. In 2007, 2,920 women were detained at the centre, of whom 171 were there more than 180 days, and 21 stayed more than a year. The report said this was "totally unacceptable", as Yarl's Wood was not designed for long-term detention. The report added: "Leaving aside the psychological effects of the extreme anxiety involved in such lengthy, indeterminate periods of detention for women who, for the most part, have committed no criminal offence, our practical concern is that the centre is not adapted to long-stayers." The change of management had also adversely affected healthcare and mental health for detainees. This had improved since Serco had taken over the centre, but there were still deficiencies in the whole system. The report said: "Whilst adequate procedures appear to be in place for detecting mental health problems it does not appear that facilities for treatment and support are adequate. "This is not necessarily a criticism of the practitioners involved but a reflection of the fact that the mentally ill should not be detained." Patrick Hall, Labour MP for Bedford and Kempston, said: "There is a recurring theme in this report about how long people are being kept in detention. "It is true that in a minority of cases detention is necessary to enforce immigration laws. However this must be for no more than a few days or weeks, whereas some people are actually being locked up for months. "The Home Office must acknowledge and respond to this important criticism." Alistair Burt, Conservative MP for North-East Beds, said: "The process of changing the management was difficult. But some of the changes that Serco have made have helped the atmosphere at Yarl's Wood. "I remain concerned at some of the processes that bring detainees to Yarl's Wood and give officers a very difficult task. And the position of keeping children in detention remains a matter of very grave concern."

August 22, 2008 BBC
An immigration removal centre has wrongfully detained disabled children and transports families in metal cages, the prisons' inspectorate has found. HM Inspectorate of Prisons said children were detained for too long and left distressed and scared at the Yarl's Wood centre in Bedfordshire. But it said the centre had improved its conditions in several other areas. The UK Border Agency said most children were held "for a week or less" and it was committed to fair treatment. The report, following an inspection in February, said the average time children were held at the centre had risen from eight to 15 days in the last two years. Caged vans -- In a recent four-month period it found 83 children had been detained for over 28 days. It said: "An immigration removal centre can never be a suitable place for children and we were dismayed to find cases of disabled children being detained and some children spending large amounts of time incarcerated." The report also found there was inaccurate monitoring of how long children were being held for, inadequate education and after-school facilities, and some families had been transported to and from the centre in caged vans. The report says: "Despite the efforts of centre staff, prolonged detention was having a detrimental effect on the welfare and behaviour of children, whose fear and distress was strongly reflected in our children's interviews." It recommended: "Children should be detained only in exceptional circumstances and then only for the shortest time necessary. Length of cumulative detention should be clearly and accurately recorded." However the inspectorate did find there had been improvements in conditions in other areas. The report said security arrangements "were more proportionate" and "the centre was brighter and better decorated" than when it was last inspected. There had also been a new welfare officer appointed, the centre was safe and "there was little evidence of self harm". Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers congratulated the centre for the improvements but voiced concern over the plight of children there. She said: "Significant concerns remain, particularly the lack of activity for detainees, which is a failure that we have identified across the immigration detainee estate. "Even more worrying was the plight of children detained for increasing periods of time and with insufficient provision to meet their needs." The UK Border Agency defended its record on immigrant detentions and said it was soon to "adopt a legal duty to promote children's welfare". A spokesman told the BBC: "We're determined to treat children within our immigration system with fairness and compassion, that's why the majority stay in detention for a week or less. "Often children are only detained when their parents try to frustrate the removal process — detention then becomes necessary to maintain a robust but fair asylum system. "Those with no right to be in the UK must return home, and last year we removed a person every eight minutes." The Refugee Council, who campaign for immigrants' rights, described the report as "scathing". A spokeswoman told the BBC: "Yet again there is scathing criticism of the detention of children. "How much more evidence does the government need of the harm detaining children causes before it puts a stop to it once and for all?" A Yarl's Wood detainee's story -- The charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (Bid) said the consequences of being detained would have an impact on children that lasted long after they were released. A spokeswoman told the BBC: "The impact on their well-being as evidenced by their fear and distress noted by inspectors is simply unacceptable, and the legacy of this experience will last well beyond their period of incarceration." She added: "We call for an immediate end to the deplorable practice of detaining children, which we believe can never be justified." It is not the first time child welfare has been criticised at the centre. In July 2005 another HM Inspectorate of Prisons report found children were being "damaged" by their detention there. At the time, Ms Owers said an autistic girl of five had been held at Yarl's Wood and not eaten properly for four days and that education at the centre was "inadequate" and "depressing".

August 22, 2008 BBC
A report into an immigrant removal centre in Bedfordshire has condemned its treatment of children. The HM Inspectorate of Prisons report found the Yarl's Wood centre incarcerated children for too long, wrongfully detained disabled children, and had transported families in caged vans. Here is the experience of one woman who was recently held there with her husband and three children. When they came to get us, we were asleep. They came at 0400 and they took us, they put us in a van. They knocked at the door and I remember I didn't understand what was going on straight away, I thought it was the police. Then we realised. They told us we were illegal, that we had to come with them, they didn't tell us how long we'd be in the van or where we were going. They worried my husband would end up hurting himself, I think that's why they let us out. My first night there - it was just horrible, we couldn't sleep because it was all so new and terrible at the same time. I was at Yarl's Wood for one month. I don't know how to explain it, it's like being in prison. They gave us food, we had everything we needed but we were living within four walls and it is not a happy place. We had two interconnected rooms, with a little bathroom. I was there with my family - my three children and my husband. At the beginning, we were in shock because we weren't used to living like that. We are a respectable family, it was horrible to be taken into a prison. There were high walls, barbed wire - it was awful. But after a few days we began to get used to it. My children understood what had happened, they knew that we were in a kind of prison. Children can see everything, we couldn't lie to them. 'Shocked and depressed' I told them that it was only temporary, that we would eventually leave. There was a school, there was a place for them to play. They went to school during the day and spent the evenings with us. They cried so much at the beginning - especially the older one. But we told them it wouldn't be for ever. But my eldest girl has been a bit changed by the experience, she is sometimes scared. The younger ones, they've already forgotten. There are lots of families at Yarl's Wood, many with children. There were people from all over - Black, Latin American, Arabic. I wasn't able to communicate with people, I was like a robot when I was living inside. It was dark living there. When they told us we could leave I just couldn't believe it, I was mad with joy. I had lost hope. My children jumped for joy. When we arrived at Yarl's Wood my husband was diagnosed as suffering from depression. He became very ill - he didn't eat, he didn't sleep, he would stand upright through the night. We were so scared for him. My experience in Yarl's Wood hasn't changed how I see England or English people -- My daughter was terrified when she saw her father in that state. It made her very ill, they had to take her to the hospital outside the detention centre, twice, by ambulance. They worried my husband would end up hurting himself, I think that's why they let us out. I want to stay in England, with my husband and family. My experience in Yarl's Wood hasn't changed how I see England or English people. There are associations who have helped us, helped my husband find a job. My daughter is at school, and people look after her there. I know it's the law and that's why they put us away but I hope it will change one day.

July 1, 2008 The Independent
The government is investigating claims that a 26-year-old asylum-seeker from Cameroon was so badly assaulted during her forced removal on a British Airways flight that she has to use a wheelchair. Stephanie Toumi claims that British security guards kicked her in the back of the leg and held her head down for two hours on a flight from Heathrow to Brussels earlier this month. Her injuries were so serious that Belgian immigration officials refused to allow the escort team to fly her on to Cameroon, claims Toumi, who fled her home in March after being tortured and abused by a village chief. In April, the Home Office rejected Toumi's asylum claim and fast-tracked her case to Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire for an early removal flight from the UK on June 5. Toumi alleges she was assaulted by four Group 4 Securicor (G4S) guards when she approached BA staff on the plane to inquire about her luggage. She alleges: "The escorts threw themselves on me. One scraped me and I fell on my stomach, the other trapped my arms, twisting them behind and the other two put on handcuffs. I felt a very severe pain in my body and I wanted to twist my right foot to get up, but one of them totally paralysed this foot by giving me a sharp blow with his knee. "When they finished handcuffing me one of them caught hold of my hair to lift me up. I felt ill as I have never felt ill all my life." She alleges that when she started crying, the guards said: "Shut up." At Brussels airport, where the escort and the asylum-seeker were due to catch a flight to Cameroon, Belgian immigration officers noticed Toumi was now unable to walk unaided and informed the escorts they would have to take her back to the UK. An independent doctor's report found her injuries were due to the alleged assault. Toumi has lost the use of the wheelchair, so cannot make her way to the Yarl's Wood dining hall. Yesterday a report by the Independent Asylum Commission (IAC) called on the Home Office to only employ forced removals as a last resort and authorise "dawn raids" by immigration officers only in extreme circumstances. Eight months ago another woman was so badly injured during her removal that the Cameroon government refused her entry and sent her back to Britain. Beatrice Guessie, 29, returned to the UK in a wheelchair but the Home Office dismissed her allegations of abuse. Both women are bringing legal actions against the Home Office. Emma Ginn, of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, said that these kind of cases are "depressingly familiar". She added: "This story of a torture victim coming back injured and then denied appropriate care in detention is a shocking disgrace. It is one of hundreds we have documented. This is state-sanctioned abuse." A UK Border Agency (UKBA) spokesman said that the government treated all allegations of assault extremely seriously. "The UKBA expects the highest levels of integrity from those carrying out duties on our behalf. The majority of staff carry out their roles with professionalism and integrity. It is standard procedure where physical or racial abuse is alleged to refer the case to the police and UKBA for investigation." The spokesman added: "The UKBA is committed to ensuring removals are always carried out in the most sensitive way possible, treating those being removed with courtesy and dignity." In a separate statement, G4S Justice Services (UK) said: "Escorting detainees is a very sensitive task. G4S will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour. Any staff member found to have acted improperly would be dealt with under robust disciplinary procedures."

August 1, 2007 Bedford Today
An asylum seeker is on the run after giving her guards the slip on Tuesday as she was escorted from Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. Police confirmed on Wednesday afternoon they had been informed that a 32-year-old female had gone missing at 2.35pm. It is thought the woman is from Eritrea, and was being supervised by staff from security firm Serco when she absconded while being escorted for treatment at Bedford Hospital. A spokesman for the Border & Immigration Agency said: "We can confirm that a female has absconded from Yarl's Wood on Tuesday while being escorted to a hospital appointment. "When an individual has absconded we work closely with the police and other relevant agencies to locate them and take action as appropriate." Anyone with information is asked to contact Bedfordshire Police, in confidence, on 01234 841212. Alternatively call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111. Security at Yarl's Wood was taken over by Serco in May of this year, after previously being run by G4S - a firm better known by its old name of Group 4.

July 19, 2007 New Statesman
Some of the world's most vulnerable and abused women end up in the Yarl's Wood Detention Centre awaiting deportation. "Welcome," reads a sign in the waiting room at Yarl's Wood. "Bienvenido"; "Bienvenue"; "Will kommen". Under each word is a smiley face. It is an empty gesture, as in every other respect the sterile white space provides the antithesis of a welcome. Visitors are photographed and searched by uniformed guards and have their fingerprints taken. Just like the inmates (now only women and children, after the prison riots of 2002 which burned half of Britain's most notorious detention centre to the ground), visitors are made to feel like criminals, separated from the outside world by layers of bureaucracy. A report launched this month by the charity Medical Justice Network and backed by Lord Ramsbotham, former chief inspector of prisons, highlights extensive abuse of detainees at centres including Yarl's Wood. Entitled Beyond Comprehension and Decency, it is a shocking document, detailing the UK's systematic failure to respect the most basic human rights of some of the most vulnerable people in its care. Doctors working for the charity examined more than 500 detainees and the report focuses on 56 detailed case studies. Medical Justice found that more than 20 of these were survivors of torture or rape - in violation of the UN's, and the Home Office's own, guidelines, which state that torture victims should be held "only in very exceptional circumstances". The report also chronicles widespread "medical abuse" of detainees, who are not entitled to NHS treatment, despite often suffering terrible after-effects from illness or torture sustained in their home countries. Medical Justice recorded cases that, according to its small team of expert doctors and lawyers, illustrate "neglect, discrimination and abuse on a scale that is saddening and frightening". In addition to the 20 torture victims, they found that 33 of the 56 detainees spotlighted were depressed, self-harming or suicidal, three had had their HIV treatment disrupted, with potentially fatal results, and three had tuberculosis, which in two cases was not properly treated. Further case studies highlight even more serious abuses: just a few days after suffering a miscarriage, one woman was put into a holding room, even though she had been classified as in danger of self-harm, because she kept asking for her baby and saying she wanted to die. There was no health care available on site. Yarl's Wood is Britain's most documented detention centre, but there are nine others around the country, through which about 30,000 people in total pass each year (and roughly 2,000 of these are children, as the UK government, uniquely in Europe, retains the power to detain children indefinitely). Detainees are usually put into detention either upon arrival in Britain, or when they are waiting to be "removed" following the failure of an asylum application. A large proportion do not have legal representation. Few, despite Home Office guidelines to the contrary, get a thorough medical examination when they are first detained. The government subcontracts management of seven of the ten centres to private companies, including Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) and Serco, which, in turn, may subcontract health care services. Consequently, according to the Medical Justice doctor and torture expert Dr Frank Arnold, "the quality of medical care is dire, often resulting in actual harm due to failure to diagnose, refer and treat". This had been Sarah's experience. I met her in the large visiting hall, filled with little round tables and cheap foam armchairs. The smell of detergent and unwashed bodies hung in the air. After a few minutes, a set of thick doors opened and Sarah, a small, hunched figure, was brought in flanked by two guards. All around us, sad-faced women greeted their loved ones with tears and hugs. An outspoken and intelligent 45-year-old from Uganda, Sarah told me she had experienced beatings, rape and torture at the hands of the Ugandan army. She escaped to Britain, where she waited for eight years for a decision on her asylum case. In the year before her detention, she had been sleeping rough. She has both external and internal injuries as a result of rape and torture, and has difficulty walking. Since arriving at Yarl's Wood she has been vomiting bile. She had not been allowed out to attend an NHS scan booked before she was taken into detention. Her medicines, which she has to take several times a day, are held for "safekeeping" at the medical centre, a long and painful walk from her room. Detainees in Britain are systematically dehumanised, she told me. "Immigration think they are God. They do not believe in people. What is a human being to do?"

May 20, 2007 Observer
Hunger strikes, rioting and self-harm are now endemic in Britain's biggest detention centres as detainees become increasingly desperate about living in what they claim are deteriorating conditions. At Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire, more than 100 women are refusing to eat, and there have been recent reports of major disturbances at Lindholme, South Yorkshire, and at Colnbrook in Middlesex. Self-harm is particularly acute at Yarl's Wood, which reopened in September 2003 after half of it was gutted by fire during rioting in February 2002. It now houses hundreds of women, many of whom have attempted to claim asylum in Britain after fleeing war zones. Amid growing concern over Britain's overstretched asylum system, the campaign group Liberty will call tomorrow for the Home Secretary, John Reid, to order a public inquiry into the large-scale riot at Harmondsworth detention centre in west London last November. If Reid refuses, the group says that it intends to seek a judicial review of his decision on behalf of seven detainees it is representing - an unprecedented move that would see Britain's immigration system placed under scrutiny in the courts. 'Well-documented abuses at Harmondsworth detention centre sparked the disturbance in November,' said Liberty's legal officer, Alex Gask. 'These men deserve a public inquiry into the ill-treatment they faced; anything less could result in legal action.' The deteriorating situation in the detention centres has sparked a surge in self-harm, according to campaigners. Every other day detainees harm themselves to such a serious degree that they require medical treatment, according to the National Coalition of Anti Deportation Campaigns. Between April 2006 and March 2007 there were 199 attempts to self-harm that required medical treatment. An investigation last year into conditions at Yarl's Wood found 70 per cent of women at the centre had reported rape, nearly half had been detained for more than three months and 57 per cent had no legal representation. Conditions have not improved, according to campaigners. Assaults are said to be commonplace. One woman was stripped and thrown naked into a van taking her to the airport for deportation only for the pilot to refuse to allow her to fly as she had no clothes. The women also allege staff regularly refer to them as 'black monkey', 'nigger' and 'bitch'. They claim vital faxes from solicitors are going missing and information on basic legal rights is being withheld. Detainees also complain they are given days-old reheated food in which they have found hair, dirt and maggots. Campaigners are also concerned about conditions at Harmondsworth, where detainees rioted after being banned from watching news coverage of a damning report on the centre. The Liberty report, to be published tomorrow, contains a clutch of testimonies from detainees about the conditions in Harmondsworth before the riots. One man interviewed for the study told how he was taken to the centre's medical clinic suffering from a bad back. 'They just abandoned me,' the man said. 'There was no doctor and, when I asked where the doctor was, the detention officers laughed at me ... One of them stepped on the hem of my trousers to make me fall over. He then started laughing and called me a "fucking negro".' Solitary confinement as a punishment for speaking out at Harmondsworth is common, according to Liberty. 'If we made a complaint we would be given a warning,' one man known as 'K' told Liberty. 'If we were given three warnings, we would be put in an isolated cell. We were scared of making complaints against officers because we expected to be treated badly if we did. We were treated like pigs and very unfairly, as if we were serious criminals.' A spokesman for Kalyx, which runs Harmondsworth, declined to comment. Serco, which took over Yarl's Wood on 26 April, denied conditions had deteriorated and said that many of the detainees' original concerns had been addressed. A Serco spokesman said staff had been praised by the prisons inspector for their good relationship with detainees. 'We take any complaints seriously,' he said.

February 7, 2007 The Sun
GROUP 4 SECURICOR has lost the contract to run Bedfordshire’s Yarl’s Wood detention centre for asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. The Home Office awarded an £85million eight-year contract to SERCO - which runs the Docklands’ Light Railway. Denmark’s Group 4 Falck — who merged with Securicor two years ago — was probed over staff racism when the site was torched by rioting inmates in 2002. Group 4 Securicor shares fell 2.25p to 186.25 while Serco lost 6.5p to 402.5.