Stoke Heath inmates given extra 15 years in jail for breaking prison rules

Research by the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed that prisoners at Stoke Heath prison in Market Drayton were given more than 15 extra years on their sentences in 2016.

In 2015, inmates were given an additional 5,216 days for an average population of 755.

The charity, which works to reduce crime and campaigns for fewer people in jails, says prisons are resorting to “draconian punishments” in a bid to regain control.

The findings are published in Out of Control: Punishment in prison, the latest in a series of Howard League reports examining how prisons respond to misbehaviour.

In total, almost 290,000 days of additional imprisonment were handed down to prisoners across England and Wales last year - a 75 per cent increase in two years.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Prisons are out of control.

“More people than ever before are losing their lives to suicide, and violence and self-injury are at record levels.

“The adjudications system has become a monster that is making these problems worse.

“It is surely time to follow the example set in Scotland, where scrapping additional days’ imprisonment has made prisons fairer and safer.

“There are more constructive ways to deal with misbehaviour than simply locking up people for longer, which puts even more pressure on the system.”

She added: “Bold but sensible action to reduce the prison population would save lives and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair.”

The Howard League has calculated that the additional days imposed in 2016 alone will cost the taxpayer about £27million.

Prisoners in jails in the West Midlands region were handed a total of 42,756 days – more than 117 years – of additional imprisonment for breaking prison rules last year.

At Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, the additional days imposed in 2015 were 3,608 and then 3,045 last year for an average population of 679.

At Oakwood the additional days in 2015 were 5,404 and 3,663 in 2016 for an average population of 1,566.

Other figures have been given for Brinsford in Staffordshire where there was 5,098 additional days given in 2015 and 5,742 last year among an average population of 375.

At Drake Hall women’s prison in Eccleshall it was 1,225 extra days in 2015 and 1,266 in 2016 among an average population of 336.

At Stafford it was 570 extra days in 2015 and 626 in 2016 for an average population of 744 and at Birmingham inmates were given 4,138 additional days in 2015 which went up to 5,519 in 2016 among 1,444 prisoners.

Swinfen Hall in Lichfield showed one of the biggest increases with prisoners orders to serve 4,024 extra days in 2015 and then 10,063 last year for an average population of 604.

The Howard League says it reveals how disciplinary hearings, known as adjudications, are used overly and inappropriately, with even minor infractions such as disobedience and disrespect being punished with additional days of imprisonment.