'Unsafe' jail makes big improvements

A youth jail that suffered from "endemic" violence has seen a "remarkable improvement" under the leadership of its new female governor, an official report says.

A drastic reduction in assaults, bullying and abuse at Stoke Heath young offenders' institution in Shropshire has partly been achieved by giving inmates televisions in their cells. Prisoners were reluctant to misbehave because they feared having their televisions removed, said Sir David Ramsbotham, the outgoing chief inspector of prisons.

Sir David visited Stoke Heath in October last year and wrote to the Home Secretary to say the jail was "an unsafe establishment" because 717 violence-related injuries were reported in eight months.

But Sir David, who returned to Stoke Heath in May, says in a report published today that Cathy James, the new governor, has turned around the jail. He said: "Every member of staff to whom I spoke ... mentioned her interest in and leadership of them as being the factor that had made the difference as far as they were concerned."

Stoke Heath holds 456 offenders aged between 15 and 21. The report found that the number of prisoners who reported being hit, kicked or assaulted had fallen from 29 per cent to 25 per cent in the past year. Those claiming to have been hit by staff fell from 15 per cent to 6 per cent.

The number of inmates who said they had felt unsafe on their first night at the jail fell from 35 per cent last year to 16 per cent. Prisoners reporting that they had endured some form of initiation test fell from 27 per cent to 16 per cent.

Martin Narey, the director general of the Prison Service, said: "Governor Cathy James and her senior management team have, in a short time, produced some remarkable results."

Sir David retired a month ago and has been replaced by Anne Owers, former head of the civil rights organisation Liberty.