Image copyright Submitted Image caption The inmates climbed on to the safety netting of E Wing and refused to come down

Inmates "threw paint and smashed fire alarms" during a disturbance at a young offenders institution.

The Prison Service said four prison officers suffered minor injuries in the trouble at HMYOI Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

Inmates "trashed" E Wing in protest over a lack of showers and time out of their cells, the BBC was told.

The Prison Service said: "Offenders who behave in this way will be punished and may face extra time behind bars."

Image caption The young offenders institution houses young males with the longest sentences in England

A woman whose partner is an inmate told the BBC some of the men had leapt on to the wing's safety netting and refused to come down.

The source said her partner was not involved and went back to his cell. Another prisoner sent pictures of the disturbance from a banned mobile phone.

"There's a new regime and they aren't allowed any association during the week," she said.

"So they can shower and exercise but then have been locked up all week. They had one shower on Monday and nothing since.

"On Saturday they weren't allowed the weekend association where they can play pool, etc. This morning, they were allowed another shower but, when they were told they were going to be locked up again, with no explanation, lots of them refused to go back."

The inmates then "trashed the wing", the source said, adding "they've thrown paint, smashed fire alarms and broken cameras".

Image copyright Submitted Image caption Prisoners refused to go back to their cells on Sunday morning

E Wing houses more than 70 young men aged up to 21 in the jail on Bierton Road.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Prison staff at HMYOI Aylesbury have successfully resolved a brief period of indiscipline today involving a small number of offenders on one wing."

They said the trouble was "confined to one area of the prison" and the rest of the site remained secure.

Four prison officers were taken to hospital with minor injuries and have since returned to duty.

Last July, seven prison officers and one inmate were injured in a "brawl" at Aylesbury.

In November, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) blamed serious understaffing for an increase in violence at the site. </s> Inmates "threw paint and smashed fire alarms" during a disturbance at a young offenders institution.

The Prison Service said four prison officers suffered minor injuries in the trouble at HMYOI Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

Inmates "trashed" E Wing in protest over a lack of showers and time out of their cells, the BBC was told.

The Prison Service said: "Offenders who behave in this way will be punished and may face extra time behind bars."

Ellie Saddington, whose partner is an inmate, told the BBC some of the men had leapt onto the wing's safety netting and refused to come down.

The 19-year-old from Liverpool said her partner was not involved and went back to his cell but another prisoner had sent pictures and made calls about the riot from a banned mobile phone.

"There's a new regime and they aren't allowed any association during the week," Miss Saddington said.

"So they can shower and exercise but then have been locked up all week. They had one shower on Monday and nothing since.

"On Saturday they weren't allowed the weekend association where they can play pool, etc. This morning, they were allowed another shower but, when they were told they were going to be locked up again, with no explanation, lots of them refused to go back."

The inmates then "trashed the wing", Miss Saddington said, adding "they've thrown paint, smashed fire alarms and broken cameras".

E Wing houses more than 70 young men aged up to 21 in the jail on Bierton Road.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Prison staff at HMYOI Aylesbury have successfully resolved a brief period of indiscipline today involving a small number of offenders on one wing."

They said the trouble was "confined to one area of the prison" and the rest of the site remained secure.

Four prison officers were taken to hospital with minor injuries and have since returned to duty.

Last July, seven prison officers and one inmate were injured in a "brawl" at Aylesbury.

In November, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) blamed serious understaffing for an increase in violence at the site. </s> Authorities have regained control of one of the country’s biggest jails after a major disturbance involving hundreds of inmates.

Specialist riot squads were deployed to HMP Birmingham to tackle the disorder that lasted more than 12 hours on Friday.



Trouble spread across four wings of the privately run facility, with reports of prisoners setting fire to stairwells, breaking a security chain and destroying paper records.

Specially trained prison guards, known as “Tornado” squads, from other parts of the country were backed up by about 25 riot police as they moved into the G4S-run jail, which has a capacity of 1,450 prisoners.

The trouble started at about 9am on Friday and spread from two to four wings by the evening, according to sources, with reports of prisoners burning and destroying their files. It is understood that about 260 prisoners were involved. One prisoner is understood to have received a broken jaw during the disturbances.

Jeering and shouting could be heard into the evening from inside the jail, with smoke rising from the roof, apparently from fires lit inside the building.

Prisoners caught in the middle of the disturbance spoke of their fear they might be attacked by the other prisoners. One prisoner said others had tried unsuccessfully to force their way on to his wing.

Speaking through his solicitor, the prisoner, who is on the jail’s G wing, known as the protected wing for inmates accused or convicted of sex offences, said: “The others have been trying to get in here. We’re terrified.”

All prison officers have been accounted for and none was injured, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said.



Earlier on Friday evening, the managing director for G4S custodial and detention services, Jerry Petherick, said: “Our teams withdrew following a disturbance and sealed two wings, which include some administrative offices. The disturbance has since spread to two further wings.



It took years of Tory cuts and wild policy swings to create this prisons crisis | Phil Wheatley Read more

“Additional officers have arrived on site and we have deployed canine units within the prison. West Midlands police helicopter is also in attendance. We are working with colleagues across the service to bring this disturbance to a safe conclusion.”

The situation, in which keys giving access to residential prison areas were taken from an officer, will be investigated thoroughly, the justice secretary said.

Liz Truss said: “I want to pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of the prison officers who resolved this disturbance … Violence in our prisons will not be tolerated and those responsible will face the full force of the law.”

Prison affairs academic and blogger Alex Cavendish said an “inside informant” told him the trouble started with lights being broken and prisoners controlling fire hoses. “The officers were then, as they are instructed to do, trying to get as many prisoners locked in their cells as possible to contain it,” he said. “While one of the officers was putting a prisoner in the cell, he was threatened with what appeared to be a used syringe.”

Cavendish said that while this officer was distracted by the threat, “another inmate came up behind, snatched the keys from his belt and snapped the security chain”. He said that once prisoners have control of the keys, protocol tells the officers to “withdraw to a place of safety” and said they “abandoned the wing” where the incident started.

A spokesman for the Prison Governors’ Association said: “It would appear, on the face of it, that the private sector has now been infected with the same disease that has had such a debilitating impact on the running of public sector prisons: an erosion of respect and a disregard for authority which has emboldened prisoners across both the public and private sector. Any suggestion that this riot is evidence that the staffing levels in public sector prisons are not a factor, or an insignificant one, is too simplistic.”

The national chairman of the POA prison officers’ union, Mike Rolfe, said the incident was “another stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis”.

POA members held protests outside jails around the country in November over health and safety concerns.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Canine units were deployed within the prison. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

The shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon, had said that the disturbances at the Birmingham jail were “hugely concerning”. The Labour MP said: “It must be hoped that order can be swiftly and peacefully restored. This is only the latest in a number of disturbances across the prison estate. The justice secretary is failing to get this crisis under control.”

The Victorian category B jail, which was built in 1849 and is close to the city centre, can hold 1,450 adult remand and sentenced male prisoners.

A spokesman for the West Midlands ambulance service said it was called to the prison at 12.23pm. A hazardous area response team was in attendance, together with an ambulance and paramedic area support officer.

A former prisoner who was released in January told the Press Association that drugs were rife in the jail and there was a lack of respect between some staff and prisoners.



The man, who declined to give his name, said each of the jail’s wings was arranged over four floors, with more than 100 prisoners per wing.

It is the third disturbance in English prisons in less than two months. On 6 November, a riot at the category B Bedford prison caused chaos when up to 200 prisoners flooded the jail’s gangways. On 29 October, a national response unit had to be brought in to control prisoners during an incident at HMP Lewes in East Sussex.

There has been a string of warnings about safety behind bars after statistics revealed soaring levels of violence in jails in England and Wales, with assaults on staff up by 43% in the year to June.

Last month, the justice secretary, Liz Truss, unveiled her plans for prison reform, with measures including a recruitment drive to add 2,500 officers to the frontline and “no-fly zones” to stop drones dropping drugs and other contraband into prisons. </s> Unrest at HMP Swaleside involving 60 inmates has now been isolated to one landing in the prison's A wing, after specialist riot officers were called in, the Prison Officers Association has confirmed.

Inmates took control of a wing of the Category B training prison this evening (22 December) causing an "ongoing disturbance."

A spokesperson for the Prison Service has said: "The incident in contained to one landing on A wing. The rest of the prison is secure with all prisoners locked in cells."

A specialist Tornado Squad were called in, with officers drafted from across the south east to prevent the disturbance spreading to other wings of the prison.

Earlier, the Prison Officers Association chairman Mike Rolfe said that inmates had started fires amid scenes of rioting.

According to The Telegraph, Rolfe said: "There is an ongoing disturbance there (at Swaleside). We are not sure how bad it is yet but we understand 60 prisoners have taken control of 'A' wing there. Some fires have been lit, apparently, and basically we know that it's an ongoing incident."

The disturbance has been described by some media as an act of "co-ordinated unrest".

HMP Swaleside, on the Isle of Sheppey, has eight wings comprised of single cells with a capacity of around 1,100 inmates. Almost 500 of the inmates are serving life.

An HM Inspectorate of Prisons report in July described the prison as "dangerous" and found a high incidence of violence. It said 69% of prisoners "had felt unsafe at some time while at Swaleside, a result which was significantly higher than at similar prisons".

The Swaleside incident is the fifth disturbance at an English prison in less than two months following riots at HMP Lewes, HMP Bedford, HMP Moorland, and HMP Birmingham.

Last week 600 prisoners were involved in a 12-hour stand-off with specialist riot officers at HMP Birmingham, one of the country's biggest jails. Prison staff at the privately-run institution lost control of all four wings after an officer was "rushed" by inmates.

In October an inmate was stabbed to death and two others injured at Pentonville in north London. </s> A disturbance by prisoners at HMP Birmingham has spread from two to four wings of the prison, according to sources.

A specialist riot squad known as the Tornado Team has been deployed to quell the trouble, which started at the prison – formerly known as Winson Green – at about 9am.

All prison officers have been accounted for at the jail, which is privately run by G4S. There were reports of a badly injured prisoner, and inmates burning and destroying their files.

As a police helicopter hovered overhead, a steady stream of prison officers in black overalls carrying riot shields and equipment arrived on foot and in vans on Friday afternoon. One of the specially trained units of up to 15 officers had arrived from HMP Long Lartin near Evesham, Worcestershire.

The managing director for G4S custodial and detention services, Jerry Petherick, said: “Our teams withdrew following a disturbance and sealed two wings, which include some administrative offices. The disturbance has since spread to two further wings. All staff have been accounted for.

“Additional officers have arrived on site and we have deployed canine units within the prison. West Midlands police helicopter is also in attendance. We are working with colleagues across the service to bring this disturbance to a safe conclusion.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The Prison Service is managing the ongoing incident at HMP Birmingham. The situation is contained, the perimeter is secure and there is no risk to public. We are absolutely clear that prisoners who behave in this way will be punished and could spend significantly longer behind bars.”

Prison affairs academic and blogger Alex Cavendish told the Press Association an “inside informant” told him the trouble started with lights being broken and inmates controlling fire hoses. “The officers were then, as they are instructed to do, trying to get as many prisoners locked in their cells as possible to contain it,” he said. “While one of the officers was putting a prisoner in the cell he was threatened with what appeared to be a used syringe.”

Cavendish said while this officer was distracted by the threat, “another inmate came up behind, snatched the keys from his belt and snapped the security chain”. He said that once prisoners had control of the keys, protocol tells the officers to “withdraw to a place of safety” and said they “abandoned the wing” where the incident started.

A spokesman for the Prison Governors’ Association said: “It would appear, on the face of it, that the private sector has now been infected with the same disease that has had such a debilitating impact on the running of public sector prisons: an erosion of respect and a disregard for authority which has emboldened prisoners across both the public and private sector. Any suggestion that this riot is evidence that the staffing levels in public sector prisons are not a factor, or an insignificant one, is too simplistic.”

The national chairman of the POA, Mike Rolfe, said the incident was “another stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis”.

“The whole facts surrounding the incident at HMP Birmingham are not known,” he said. “National resources have been deployed to deal with this incident involving approximately 300 prisoners within two prison wings. No staff injuries have been reported and staff are currently monitoring the situation and awaiting national support, through mutual aid.”

POA members held protests outside jails around the country in November over health and safety concerns.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said the disturbances at the Birmingham jail are “hugely concerning”. The Labour MP said: “It must be hoped that order can be swiftly and peacefully restored. This is only the latest in a number of disturbances across the prison estate. The justice secretary is failing to get this crisis under control.”

The Victorian category-B jail, which was built in 1849 and is close to the city centre, can hold 1,450 adult remand and sentenced male prisoners.

A spokesman for the West Midlands ambulance service said it was called to the prison at 12.23pm. A hazardous area response team was in attendance, together with an ambulance and paramedic area support officer, but no details were available about any casualties or injuries suffered.

It is the third disturbance in English prisons in less than two months. On 6 November a riot at the category-B Bedford prison caused chaos when up to 200 prisoners flooded the jail’s gangways. On 29 October, a national response unit had to be brought in to control prisoners during an incident at HMP Lewes in East Sussex.



There has been a string of warnings about safety behind bars after statistics revealed soaring levels of violence in jails in England and Wales, with assaults on staff up by 43% in the year to June.

Last month, the justice secretary, Liz Truss, unveiled her plans for prison reform, with measures including a recruitment drive to add 2,500 officers to the frontline and “no-fly zones” to stop drones dropping drugs and other contraband into prisons. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Police officers in riot gear stand outside HMP Birmingham, run by security firm G4S

Authorities have regained control of a prison after more than 12 hours of rioting described as the worst since the Strangeways jail riot 26 years ago.

The Ministry of Justice said riot teams restored order to all four wings of HMP Birmingham just after 22:30 on Friday.

They were deployed to tackle the disorder, which is understood to have involved up to 600 inmates.

Justice Secretary Liz Truss said violence in prisons "will not be tolerated".

The BBC understands that one prisoner was hurt during the riot and taken to hospital with a fractured jaw and broken eye socket.

Prison wings are now being inspected to assess the scale of the damage after prisoners took control of the category B prison on Friday morning.

Image copyright Other Image caption An unverified photo appears to show debris and damage caused during the disturbance

Mike Rolfe, national chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said more than 30 staff had left the Winson Green prison in recent weeks and compared the trouble to the notorious Strangeways riot in 1990.

He said: "This prison is a tough place to work, it serves a very big area, it serves a large, dangerous population of prisoners but it's not unlike many other prisons up and down the country, ones that have very similar inmates.

"And we've been warning for a long time about the crisis in prisons and what we are seeing at Birmingham is not unique to Birmingham, but it certainly would seem that this is the most recent worst incident since the 1990 Strangeways riot."

Rodger Lawrence, chairman of the Birmingham prison Independent Monitoring Board, said his members had not seen anything of concern during a visit earlier this week, but said the riot "didn't come as a complete shock" as there had been "a build up of frustration" over prison conditions.

Trouble flared at the Birmingham prison, which is run by G4S, after an officer was "rushed" by inmates at around 09:00.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Riot officers entered the prison to regain control after disturbances broke out

Violence quickly escalated and due to the scale of the disturbances the Prison Service took over the incident and specialist Tornado units were deployed to regain control.

Prison units from across the country were also drafted in to assist.

Ms Truss thanked prison staff and emergency services for their help during the disorder.

She said: "I want to pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of the prison officers who resolved this disturbance.

"This was a serious situation and a thorough investigation will now be carried out. Violence in our prisons will not be tolerated and those responsible will face the full force of the law."

'Callous disregard for safety'

During the disturbance the BBC was contacted by several men claiming to be prisoners at the jail, who said poor conditions were behind the disturbance.

The men, who said they were calling from inside HMP Birmingham, cited inadequate staff numbers, poor healthcare and nutrition.

They said being on "lockdown" in their cells all day was a major factor that contributed to the trouble.

Image copyright Other Image caption Another unverified photo circulated online purporting to show scenes from inside the prison

Jerry Petherick, managing director for G4S custodial and detention, said the prisoners behind the trouble "showed a callous disregard for the safety of prisoners and staff".

He said: "This disturbance will rightly be subject to scrutiny and we will work openly and transparently with the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities to understand the cause of today's disorder." </s> About 240 inmates involved in a 12-hour riot at one of Britain’s biggest prisons are being moved out of the jail, the Ministry of Justice has said.

The disorder involved as many as 600 of the 1,450 inmates and spread across all four wings of the privately operated HMP Birmingham, formerly known as Winson Green, on Friday.

Specially trained prison guards, known as “Tornado” squads, were backed up by about 25 riot police officers as they moved into the Victorian facility. Order was not restored until late on Friday night.

One prisoner is understood to have sustained a broken jaw during the disturbances but no prison officers were injured.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the prison remained “calm and ordered” on Saturday and additional staff remained on site.

“The Prison Service will continue to work closely with G4S to manage the prison safely over the coming days. A full assessment of the damage is under way. Initial reports indicate that two wings suffered superficial damage, with more serious damage to a further two wings,” she said.

“A limited regime is being offered to those who were not involved in the disturbance and staff continue to work closely with West Midlands police. A thorough investigation into the disturbance is under way.”

The ministry did not say where the prisoners were being transferred the day after the disturbance, which was the third in a prison in England in less than two months.

Mike Rolfe, the national chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said more than 30 staff had left the jail in recent weeks.

“This prison is a tough place to work, it serves a very big area, it serves a large, dangerous population of prisoners, but it’s not unlike many other prisons up and down the country – ones that have very similar inmates,” he told the BBC.

“We’ve been warning for a long time about the crisis in prisons, and what we are seeing at Birmingham is not unique to Birmingham, but it certainly would seem that this is the most recent worst incident since the 1990 Strangeways riot.”

The justice secretary, Liz Truss, said the situation, in which keys giving access to residential prison areas were taken from an officer and inmates occupied some blocks and exercise facilities, would be investigated thoroughly. 



“Violence in our prisons will not be tolerated and those responsible will face the full force of the law,” she said.

Jerry Petherick, a G4S executive, said the prisoners behind the trouble displayed a callous disregard for the safety of other inmates and staff. “This disturbance will rightly be subject to scrutiny and we will work openly and transparently with the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities to understand the cause of [Friday’s] disorder.”

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, told Channel 4 News that “private companies should not be involved in taking away people’s liberty. Actually, it’s clear that G4S don’t have the quality of staff to manage a crisis like this.”

Robert Neill, the Conservative chairman of the Commons justice committee, told the programme that the MPs on his committee had warned the government that a “time bomb was ticking” because prisons were in crisis.

Asked if this had been the worst prison riot in years, Neill replied: “This is a problem which has happened both in privately and publicly run systems, so it applies across the piece. I think that does indicate that we have got a situation where, if people are locked down 22, 23 hours a day, as we have discovered, that breeds tension, that breeds violence, and, as you rightly say, we are not actually keeping prisons secure enough to stop contraband getting in.” </s> LONDON — Security firm G4S sent a specialist riot squad Friday to a prison in the English city of Birmingham after inmates took control of several wings of the medium-security facility.

G4S is a private company that runs the prison.

There were no reported injuries among prison staff during the disturbance, which began at about 9 a.m. and continued hours later.

Jerry Petherick, G4S managing director for custodial and detention services, said the disturbance involved four wings and "some administrative offices" at the prison, 120 miles north of London.

The Ministry of Justice said "the situation is contained, the perimeter is secure and there is no risk to public."

The unrest comes at a time when Britain's prisons are under intense pressure from growing inmate numbers and staffing cuts. The prison staff union said violence and inmate suicides are rising.

Some 200 prisoners rioted last month at Bedford Prison in southern England, and guards staged a nationwide walkout before courts ordered them to return to work.

Prison Officers Association National Chair Mike Rolfe said the Birmingham incident was "another stark warning to the Ministry of Justice that the service is in crisis." </s> Prisoners have taken control of part of a wing at a prison in Kent with between 60 and 80 inmates involved.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) said there was an "ongoing disturbance" at the category B training prison HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey.

The Prison Service said it was dealing with "an incident" contained to a landing on the jail's A Wing.

POA chairman Mike Rolfe said the extent of the disturbance was unclear but fires had been lit.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "The Prison Service is dealing with an incident involving 60 prisoners at HMP Swaleside.

"The incident is contained to one landing on A Wing. The rest of the prison is secure with all prisoners in locked in cells."

The BBC's Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the disturbance had now been contained but prisoners were refusing to go back into their cells.

He said at least 60 and possibly as many as 80 inmates were involved.

Specially trained guards known as "Tornado" squads have been deployed to Swaleside, the Prison Service said.

The squads were also used to quell a riot last week when inmates rioted for more than 12 hours at Birmingham prison.

Prisoners set fires, stole keys to residential areas from a guard and one inmate was seriously injured.

Up to 240 prisoners were moved following the riot, but the Ministry of Justice has not commented on whether any were shipped to Swaleside.

The prison has a capacity of about 1,100 inmates serving terms of more than four years.

The category B facility gives inmates access to education and training.

An HM Inspectorate of Prisons report in July described the prison as "dangerous" and found levels of violence were "far too high", with many of the incidents classed as serious.
• HMP Birmingham - 16 December - Specialist riot squads were deployed after a riot broke out involving hundreds of inmates and lasting more than 12 hours.
• HMP Bedford - 6 November - A riot saw up to 200 inmates go on the rampage, flooding the jail's gangways.
• HMP Lewes - 29 October - A national response unit had to be brought in to control the prisoners at the East Sussex jail during a disturbance which lasted for six hours.
Inmates at E Wing of HMYOI Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, riot, injuring four prison officers. A woman claiming to be an inmate's partner says the riot was in response to the inmates being housed en masse in solitary confinement without association with other prisoners for at least a week.