§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if a prisoner at Camp Hill had his toe broken during the disturbance on 20 September which was quelled by the minimum use of force tactical intervention squad.
§ Mr. WhitelawAs I explained in the replies I gave to questions by the hon. Member on 5 and 15 November respectively, no inmate was injured at any stage of the sit-down demonstration at Camp Hill prison on 20 September, nor did any of the prison officers equipped and trained in the use of minimum force to retain control of prison service establishments present at the time come into contact with the demonstrators.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if any inmate was injured during the disturbance on 5 October 1978 at Gartree prison; and, if so, how many and what were these injuries.
§ Mr. WhitelawSome inmates sustained minor cuts and bruises whilst they were building and removing barricades. These injuries were not occasioned by physical contact with staff.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the prisoners' stated reasons for the disturbance by prisoners at Gartree on 6 October 1978, Hull on 11 April 1979, Styal on 4 September 1979, Lewes on 1 November 1978, Camp Hill on 20 September 1979, Brixton on 26 September 1979 and Wormwood Scrubs on 31 August 1979.
§ Mr. WhitelawThe immediate cause of the riot at Gartree prison on 5–6 October 1978 was a rumour that an inmate had been assaulted and drugged: inmates made allegations about his treatment,722W and rejected an offer to see him in the prison hospital. The inmates who on 11 April 1979 destroyed furnishings and fabric, and threw missiles, in C wing of Hull prison gave no reasons for their action. Only one of the two female inmates who on 3 September 1979 armed and barricaded themselves in an office in Styal prison gave a reason for her action, which was that she felt "wound up". The inmates who on 1 November 1978 began a sit-down demonstration in the dining hall of Lewes prison said that they were aggrieved because they had been required to eat meals in their cells, because of a change in the shifts worked by staff, because visits lasted for only one hour; because life sentence prisoners did not have their own cooking facilities; and because they believed that they had fewer privileges, and earned less money, than inmates at other prisons. No specific reason for their action was given by the inmates who on 20 September 1979 staged a sit-down demonstration in St. George's Hall of Camp Hill prison. The inmates who on 26 September 1979 staged a sit-down demonstration in the secure unit of Brixton prison said that they were protesting about the return of tables in a visiting room to their proper positions. Before the act of concerted indiscipline by inmates in D wing of Wormwood Scrubs prison on 31 August 1979, a group of inmates said that they were dissatisfied with wing regulations about dress on the days on which kit was exchanged and at not being allowed to purchase toiletries from private cash; that they wanted association on Friday evenings and a resumption of education classes outside of the wing; and that they objected to the removal of homemade weight-lifting equipment from cells and to being physically searched during cell searches.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will detail the individual punishments awarded to those prisoners who took part in the disturbances at those prisons in which the minimum use of force tactical intervention squad was employed, by prison.
§ Mr. WhitelawThe information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the 723W minimum use of force tactical intervention squad has been employed since 26 September 1979.
§ Mr. WhitelawNo.