Dukes sought major expansion of Spike prison

Alan Dukes, the justice minister, pushed for a major expansion of Spike Island prison as part of rebuilding work in order to address a serious overcrowding problem in the country’s prisons.

It followed a serious riot at Spike in 1985.

State papers from 1986 show Mr Dukes sought cabinet approval to reconstruct and develop Fort Mitchel to provide more than 300 prison places, despite the fact the prison had only been opened a year earlier on the basis it would be “for as short a term as possible”.