Coronavirus: Winchester jail overcrowding is 'breeding ground' for disease, campaigners warn

Overcrowded Winchester jail could turn into a ‘breeding ground’ for disease due to huge numbers of inmates being held in the 19th century prison, campaigners have warned.
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The release of elderly, sick and vulnerable prisoners, where safe, is just one of a host of suggested measures put forward by the Howard League for Penal Reform in a letter to justice secretary Robert Buckland in the coronavirus outbreak.

Chief executive Frances Crook said: ‘This is important for staff at a time when many prisons are grossly crowded and insanitary.

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‘We already know that some officers and prisoners have been diagnosed with coronavirus and the very last thing we want is for prisons to become like 18th-century breeding grounds of disease.’

The entrance to Winchester prisonThe entrance to Winchester prison
The entrance to Winchester prison

More than half of prisons and England and Wales are overcrowded, leading to fears that the coronavirus could easily spread among inmates and staff.

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Winchester jail can take 365 people but currently has 491 inmates - 126 more than it should – and is therefore at 135 per cent capacity.

Swansea's 250-inmate jail is the most overcrowded in England and Wales, with 436 prisoners meaning it is at 174 per cent capacity.

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The Prison Officers’ Association said while ‘obviously staff are concerned’ about disease, it was working with the government on systems which would keep its members and the prisoners safe.

Assistant General Secretary Mick Pimblett said: ‘Overcrowding is a concern, due to the contingencies we have in place for prisoners who are showing symptoms of coronavirus.’

He said the current procedure was to isolate such prisoners on their own in a single cell, ‘but with overcrowding that will be a problem’.

He said one measure being considered was placing two prisoners showing symptoms into a cell together.

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Prisons minister Lucy Frazer has said the safety of prisoners, staff and visitors is paramount.

In a statement last week, she said: ‘Prisons have existing, well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases.’