Prison staff locked in jail for 45 minutes after hi-tech ‘glitch’

PRISON officers claim they were put at serious risk yesterday when they were locked in with prisoners after a hi-tech security system malfunctioned for 45 minutes.

The Prison Officers Association was outraged by the security breakdown, which they claim put those members locked in with prisoners at serious risk.

The claim was rejected by the Prison Service, which said, while the electronic security system was down for 45 minutes, prison staff were only locked in with prisoners for an extra ten or 15 minutes as the gates and doors were manually opened.