Gangs are fuelling violence in London’s highest-security jail by setting up strongholds inside and pressuring inmates to buy and smuggle drugs, a watchdog warned today.
The Independent Monitoring Board for HMP Belmarsh in south-east London said there are 120 gangs in the prison.
It added that their growing influence is a “major concern” and has contributed to a 50 per cent rise in attacks over the past year.
In a report, the watchdog said weapons “commonly used” include those made of bedding, plastic cutlery, metal, pencil sharpeners and glass.
There were 60 “serious” assaults among nearly 500 carried out over the 12-month period.
But the most striking disclosure was about the creation of strongholds within two of the blocks used to accommodate inmates — and the malign influence that they are exerting on others.
“Pressure is put on prisoners in these blocks to pay for, and to try to bring in, drugs and phones,” stated the report, which covers the 12 months up to the end of June this year.
It said the “high number of prisoners declaring gang affiliation” is creating a “challenging environment” for staff despite their “hard work” to address the problem.
“The growing influence of gangs is a major concern,” the report added. “The impact of conflicts causes many prisoners to self-isolate and lose opportunities for purposeful activity.”
The watchdog said the Change Grow Live agency “provides someone who works with gang members to try and offer alternatives to violence” and similar work is done by the Catch22 charity.
But it called for more support to be given and expressed concern over the number of attacks taking place, revealing there were 310 prisoner-on-prisoner assaults over the year.
