Prisoners ‘must not be allowed to run their own wings’

PRISONERS must be denied control of their own wings in Northern Ireland jails, a cross community party insisted yesterday.

After a meeting a review team set up by the Government to examine conditions in Maghaberry Jail, Alliance deputy leader Eileen Bell said the community would not stomach a repeat of the situation in the Maze Prison where paramilitary groups ran their own wings.

The former North Down Assembly member said: “There is no desire within the wider community for a return to a situation where segregated prisoners claiming political status control the prison on the inside and prison officers simply control the perimeter.