Concerns over HMP Lowdham Grange as deaths in custody reach four in a year, an Independent Monitoring Board reveals

Concerns have been raised over HMP Lowdham Grange as the number of deaths in custody have reached four in a year, an independent report has revealed.

The Independent Monitoring Board found between January 2018 and 2019, one prisoner died in segregation, another as a result of drug use and a third because inexperienced officers “did not know what to do.”

The remaining instance of death was not detailed in the report.

The report stated the inappropriate use of drugs by prisoners continued to be cause for concern.

It said: “On some occasions this involves prescription drugs, which are used without due care, perhaps in an effort to gain an additional ‘high’ effect.”

At the time of inspection, HMP Lowdham Grange had 880 inmates and has capacity for 920.

The prison is run by Serco, a company privately contracted to run prisons for the Ministry of Justice.

It is a category B jail holding those serving intermediate to life sentences for crimes including murder.

Other criticisms stated in the report were:

• Prisoners’ property too frequently lost, especially on transfer between prisons.
• Complaints about healthcare are slow to be answered and sometimes lack depth.
• Prisoners choose to self-isolate and spend long periods without social contact.
• The number of prisoners able to obtain and use psychoactive substances ­— particularly spice and cocaine ­— often resulting in damage to their health and wellbeing.
• The number of inmates serving imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences seem unable to fulfil the terms necessary for release or whose parole hearing is delayed.
• The apparent lack of effective support from the probation service to some prisoners as they approach their release date.

However, improvements were also detailed in the report.

These included segre-gation reviews now being conducted by suitably qualified staff and the success of a newly-introduced social responsibility unit ­— aiming address anti-social behaviour and violent tendencies.

The launch of a Rapiscan machine to screen for drugs was also introduced at the prison to reduce the entry of drugs.

Mark Hanson, Serco’s prison director at HMP Lowdham Grange said the report recognised prisoners were treated fairly, humanely and benefited from good facilities.

He said: “Serco is particularly proud that violence at HMP Lowdham Grange has been reduced by around 30%.

“This is as a direct result of our proactive approach and implementation of some innovative initiatives such as the social responsibility unit, a dedicated violence reduction team, weekly prisoner management and stability forum, the implementation of the ‘changing thinking, ending violence’ programme delivered by Remedi ­— a restorative justice charity ­— and the rapid assessment and actions of intelligence around violence.

“We also note the areas for development in the report and we are already addressing these.”