Breakout jail staff had told of guns risk

SENIOR staff were aware of serious security failings at Whitemoor prison a month before the attempted escape by armed IRA prisoners - but apparently failed to take effective action, writes Heather Mills.

Three cameras and pounds 500 had been smuggled into the special secure unit holding high-risk prisoners, prompting a middle- ranking governor to express his concerns over safety and security. In a memo dated 9 August he asks: 'What else - a gun next?' Four weeks later, an officer was shot during the escape attempt.

Details of the memo, released by the Prison Officers' Association, are seen as further evidence that the unit in the Cambridgeshire jail was insecure and out of control, providing an opportunity for the six prisoners to prepare the breakout.

The memo said senior managers were 'aware of serious breaches of security' but at a loss to know how to tackle the problems, according to the POA. The governor is said to have written: 'Excessive property is being allowed within the unit. It is all over the place and it is compromising security, health and safety, fire regs, access. . .'

Paddy Seligman, former chairman of Whitemoor's Board of Visitors, has blamed Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, for weaknesses at the jail. She said the Home Office told staff not to body-search people visiting the unit. Yesterday, David Abelson, chair of the Co-ordinating Committee of Prison Visitors, accused the Home Secretary of ignoring board recommendations generally - not just those at Whitemoor.

However, in a letter to the Independent, Derek Lewis, the director of the Prison Service, denies all the allegations.

Lewis stays, page 2; letters, page 13