Inmates and staff at the HM Young Offender Institution (YOI) in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, are on high alert following a violent attack in the segregation unit on April 14th. The incident has raised serious questions about the security measures at the facility.
An investigation is underway to determine how the attacker, a teenage rapist, was able to use a spoon to dig through the wall of his cell and enter the neighboring cell, where he attacked a convicted murderer. The victim of the attack sustained severe injuries.
A source at the prison told the Sun: This is a major security breach. What is really worrying is that he simply got through a wall to launch the attack. An inquiry has been launched to find out how the wall could be broken through and why nobody reacted in time.
The incident has highlighted ongoing concerns about the safety and security at the YOI. In recent years, there have been numerous reports of drug use, mobile phone smuggling, and contraband flowing into the facility. In 2022, Channel 4 News reported that around 900 improvised weapons were found at the YOI in just one year.
A surprise inspection by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in November and December 2021 identified several areas of concern, including cold and dilapidated cells, excessive confinement of children, and high levels of self-harm among female inmates. The inspection also found that pain-inducing restraint techniques and strip-searches were being used excessively, and that the provision of English and maths education was inadequate.
In one case described in the report, a vulnerable girl was forcibly stripped and searched twice by an all-male team of prison officers in an attempt to prevent self-harm. The overall safety level at the YOI was downgraded to not sufficiently good, leaving staff disappointed.
