Prisoners left with black eyes and broken teeth in clashes with staff who fail to use body worn cameras, watchdog warns

Prisoners have been left with black eyes and broken teeth in clashes with prison officers who have failed to turn on their body worn cameras, a watchdog has warned.

Adrian Usher, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), has called for tougher consequences for staff and the formation of an independent investigator to hold them to account.

He told The Independent that, although the majority of prison officers do their job with professionalism, some are “unquestionably” getting away with bullying and assaulting inmates and it is time to lift the veil on what goes on behind prison gates.

“It is the very last area of public service that is shrouded in darkness, and it is more than past the time that we shine a really strong light into that darkness to improve safety for prisoners, to improve justice outcomes for both prisoners and prison staff, and to give public the confidence that they should have in any public service that they're paying for,” Mr Usher said.

His intervention comes after he found “repeat failures” in the handling of complaints about staff conduct, including prison officers failing to switch on their cameras or hand over footage to investigators following alleged assaults.

In a damning learning lessons bulletin published on Thursday, he warned that in 64 per cent of cases where his investigators requested CCTV from the prison, the footage was not made available to them. Body worn footage was not handed over in a third of investigations.

In one in ten cases, the prison officer who has been complained about helped to conduct the internal investigation, he warned.

“If you complained about a doctor in the NHS, would you find that acceptable? If you complained about a police officer, would that be all right?,” added the ombudsman, who is tasked with probing deaths in prison as well as complaints from those in custody.

But without statutory powers, he believes it is time for a regulator with more teeth akin to the police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

He said he cannot think of a “greater power imbalance” than that between prisoners and their jailers, warning that his recent investigation into historic abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre showed mistreatment flourished because there was no consequence for staff.

“The punishment of the court was the loss of liberty,” he added. “It's not then to be victimised, bullied, or assaulted whilst they're in prison. The public want the best chance of these men being rehabilitated and not offending when they come out.”

Contrary to prison policy, officers frequently fail to use body worn cameras when they use force against inmates, his report found. Of 143 recent investigations into complaints alleging assault or unjust use of force, 36 per cent were negatively impacted by the quality or lack of evidence provided by the prison.

One prisoner, who was being monitored under suicide and self-harm measures, complained he was assaulted in his cell by three officers.

Only one of the officer’s body worn video cameras (BWVC) was briefly turned on and off three times by accident, which captured a custody officer calling the prisoner a “c***” while he pleaded: “Let go of my arm.”

A prison database entry noted that the inmate was taken to hospital the next day to have his face x-rayed and examined. Blood was also found on the floor of his cell and he had two black eyes and a cut below the eye.

“There was an absence of clear evidence that staff were responsible for inflicting the injuries,” the report said. “However, the lack of BWVC footage was stark and cast suspicion on the staff involved.”

Another complaint was raised by the Howard League for Penal Reform on behalf of a 19-year-old prisoner who suffered significant damage to his teeth that left him needing a denture during a strip search.

The ombudsman requested a copy of the document authorising the search, but the prison was unable to provide it and staff had conflicting views on why it was being conducted.

The ombudsman’s investigator concluded that the prison did not have the authority to search the person in the manner that it did.

A body worn camera was accidentally turned on mid-restraint and captured audio of an officer saying to the prisoner: “How f***ing difficult was that mate. You stupid, stupid boy.”

“The investigator concluded that this language was not conducive to de-escalation and did not reflect the standards of professionalism expected from prison staff,” the report said.

In almost six in ten cases reviewed in the report, the ombudsman found conduct that fell below expected professional standards, with the use of inappropriate language towards prisoners cited as a repeated issue.

He also found there were not adequate efforts to de-escalate the situation in 30 per cent of cases he reviewed involving the use of force.

Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said they receive “worrying” complaints on their advice line, adding: “How many more people in prison are being abused and assaulted by staff while the cameras are switched off?”

She continued: “Prisons are a largely hidden world. Most people never set foot in one, and have little idea of what really goes on. This is why it is so important that contentious incidents are recorded properly and the ombudsman is provided with all the evidence needed to conduct thorough investigations.”

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said the scale of concerns should prompt “urgent reflection across the prison system”.

“Most prison officers work hard under immense pressure and demonstrate remarkable professionalism,” she added. “But where poor conduct, inadequate investigations or failures to preserve evidence occur, they damage trust and make prisons less safe for everyone.

“The findings suggest not only individual failings but systemic weaknesses in accountability and oversight.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The overwhelming majority of our staff are hardworking and honest, but bullying, violence or abuse of prisoners is completely unacceptable.

“We take allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and do not hesitate to take disciplinary action, including dismissal, where staff fall below the high standards expected of them.

“We will carefully consider the Ombudsman’s findings and take action to ensure complaints are properly investigated and lessons are learned.”