7% of inmates locked up for 23 hours
The increase in the number of people under the most restricted prison regime parallels a similar rise in assaults in jails last year. Prison bosses link much of the increased use of protection with gang feuds.
Last May, Prison Service director general Martin Donnellan said there were up to 22 criminal factions in some prisons. He said it was “a challenge” to manage them.
A Prison Service spokesman said protection prisoners were inmates “under threat or at risk”.
Figures provided to the Irish Examiner by the Prison Service show there were 730 prisoners (17% of the total population) on protection on Jul 13 last.
Of the 730, 334 — 7% of the prison population — were on restricted regimes, locked up for between 18 and 23 hours. This compares to 364 inmates on Nov 21 last.
Of the 334 on restricted regimes last July:
* 195 were on 23-hour lock up, compared to 178 in Nov 2011;
* Eight were on 22-23 hour lock up, compared to 51 in Nov 2011;
* 49 were on 20-22 hour lock up, compared to 47 in Nov 2011;
* 82 were on 18-20 hour lock up, compared to 88 in Nov 2011.
Midlands Prison had the highest number of inmates on protection, at 147, out of a population of 650.
The 147 excludes 99 sex offenders who, while categorised as protection prisoners, have their own wing. Mountjoy, with a population of 590, has 98 inmates on protection — 29 on 23-hour lock up.
Wheatfield, with 700 inmates, has 90 prisoners on protection, all on 23-hour lock up — the highest in the system. St Patrick’s Institution has 66 on protection (about 30%), out of 217 prisoners, the highest percentage.
Liam Herrick of the Irish Penal Reform Trust said that the number of inmates on protection was “indicative of the high levels of violence and intimidation” in jails.
“We do not underestimate the difficult challenge that the Prison Service faces in trying to strike a balance between protecting vulnerable prisoners and trying to provide a reasonable regime for everyone in custody.
“However, this challenge is made more difficult by overcrowding and doubling–up in cells, which often means that the only protection option available is to lock a prisoner in his or her cell for 20-23 hours per day.”
