§ Mr. Austin-WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions prisoners or charged persons have been transported between Belmarsh courts and Belmarsh prison by vehicles since the connecting security tunnel was opened; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. John Austin-Walker, dated 23 May 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of occasions prisoners or charged persons have been transported between Belmarsh Courts and Belmarsh Prison by vehicles since the connecting security tunnel was opened.Woolwich Crown Court is housed in the building adjacent to Belmarsh prison and the two are connected by the secure tunnel. Motor transport was used on twenty-two occasions to transport prisoners between the two buildings. Twenty of these journeys were as a result of the closure of Greenwich Magistrates Court for renovation. While hearings before magistrates were being held in available court space at Woolwich Crown Court it was decided to continue with the established routine for court escorts. A change in practice would have necessitated the movement of remand prisoners through the tunnel at the same time as category A and trial prisoners. The combination of these movements would have been difficult to control, and presented potential risks.The other two journeys were police escorts and not under the control of the Prison Service.14WThe tunnel is now used for all escorts whenever Woolwich Crown Court is sitting.