Disturbed inmates 'left to wander jail' 'wandered prison'

MENTALLY disturbed inmates - who ought to be in psychiatric hospitals - were left to wander around Britain's largest top security jail in 'what appeared to be a semi-sedated condition', the Chief Inspector of Prisons said yesterday, writes Jason Bennetto.

Judge Stephen Tumim, in his latest prison report, is extremely critical at the lack of National Health Service treatment for severely mentally disturbed criminals.

During an inspection of Wakefield prison, West Yorkshire, he discovered that about 50 mentally ill people were housed in the normal wings.

His report said: 'We were concerned that their safety was solely reliant on vigilant staff and the tolerance of other inmates. Efforts to get these inmates transferred to special hospitals were not meeting with much success.'

He condemned the use of prison 'to hold mentally disturbed inmates, who should be in NHS facilities'.

Wakefield jail, which has a mixture of high and low risk prisoners, holds about 650 inmates, about half of whom are serving life sentences. The prison's psychology department estimated that about 1 in 10 of the inmates was 'mentally disordered'.

Judge Tumim's report was otherwise broadly complimentary about the prison, which it said provided a 'calm, clean and safe environment'.

Derek Lewis, director general of the Prison Service, said: 'Every effort is made to ensure that inmates who need to be in secure psychiatric facilities are transferred as soon as possible. The success of their efforts is, however, inhibited by the shortage of psychiatric beds in the NHS.'