HC Deb 21 November 1991 vol 199 cc263-4W
Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what information the governor of Brixton prison was given about Staffordshire police operations in Brixton prison during 1990 and 1991;

(2) what consultations took place in 1990 between the Prison Department, the Metropolitan police and the Staffordshire police about police operations in Brixton prison.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

As I indicated in my statement of 5 August following the report of the inquiry by Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons into the escape. information became available to Prison Service headquarters and to Brixton prison from the police in February 1991 that the prisoners were seeking to escape, that they had identified the Sunday chapel service as an opportunity and that they were seeking to acquire a firearm. This information was not passed to Ministers.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the last governor of Brixton prison will be given the opportunity to answer charges made directly or indirectly against him;

(2) if any employees at the Prison Department will be disciplined following investigations into the Brixton prison escape in July of two IRA suspects.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

I announced on 5 August that. Mr. Ralph Shulfrey CB has been asked to advise the principal establishment officer of the Home Office and the Director General of the Prison Service on whether there were any grounds for taking disciplinary action against any member of staff in connection with the escape from Brixton prison on 7 July. Mr. Shuffrey, who was assisted by Mr. John Richardson OBE, subsequently advised that there were such grounds in relation to the then head of DOC1 division in Prison Service headquarters, the then governor of Brixton and four prison officers who were on duty at the time.

Because of his retirement, the question of disciplinary action against the then governor of Brixton did not arise and no charges were laid against him. The position was explained to him and he was told that it was open to him to write to the director of personnel and finance of the Prison Service with his comments. A disciplinary charge was laid against the then head of DOC1 division. The disciplinary proceedings found that there had been errors of judgment and failures of procedure, but the charge was not sustained and was dismissed. In the case of the prison officers, an investigation was conducted under the code of discipline for prison officers, in the light of which the governor of Brixton decided that no charges should be laid.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in apprehending the two IRA suspects who escaped from Her Majesty's prison, Brixton last July; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that investigations are continuing.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how a loaded 2.5 calibre pistol was smuggled into Brixton gaol between February and July 1991; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

These matters were inquired into by Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons, parts of whose report on the escape of two prisoners from Brixton prison on 7 July were published on 5 August. Copies were placed in the Library along with copies of my statement of the same date. In his report Her Majesty's chief inspector said that most probably the gun was sent in by post, in the cut-out soles of a pair of shoes, the body of the gun in one shoe, the magazine in the other.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Staffordshire about Staffordshire police operations in Brixton prison during 1990 and 1991.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

I called for a report from the chief constable of Staffordshire on 6 August after I had received the report of Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons into the Brixton escape on 7 July. The chief constable's report was submitted on 13 August, and a supplementary report on 5 September. The chief constable has arranged for a further investigation by Mr. Colin Bailey, the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire, as announced yesterday into allegations made in the "Thames Reports" programme broadcast on 19 November.