Prison riot investigation to take up to 18 months

A specialist team of officers is carrying out the probe into the disturbance at Ashwell Prison, near Oakham, on April 10.

Violence erupted at the category C prison during the Easter weekend. When parte of the building were set alight and torn apart by angry inmates.

Officers have interviewed more than 500 people – including 334 inmates – and six people have been arrested. The police team is also sifting through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage. Nobody has been charged yet in connection with the incident.

Results from forensic tests are still being processed and all members of staff who were working on the night have given statements.

Leicestershire police said they wanted to reassure the public that the investigation was still underway, three months after the riot.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Worth, who is leading the inquiry, said it was a “long and complex” process that would take between 12 and 18 months to complete.

He said: “We want residents in Rutland and the people of Leicestershire to know that we are still investigating this.

“This is phased inquiry. Part of that has been to conduct preliminary interviews and we are nearly at the end of that. We have also started the second phase of taking statements.

“Then we will be consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Prison Service to see who, if any one should be charged.

“It is difficult to say when that might be as there is still a lot of work to be done but I can assure people that we are doing everything we can to identify those responsible for offences and bring the ringleaders to justice.” The riot led to the closure of four wings. A total of 423 prisoners were transferred to other sites. Some 190 inmates are still in the three unaffected wings.

The incident sparked criticism from the Prison Officers’ Association which called for a public inquiry and claimed some inmates has been wrongly downgraded from category B to category C in a bid to alleviate overcrowding and staffing reductions had not played a part in the disorder.

Det Ch Insp Worth said there were currently around 70 “potential” suspects who might be arrest and formally interviewed.

He said: “Officers have spoken to three-quarters of the inmates who were at Ashwell on the night of the disturbance and, once the remaining prisoners have been spoken to, we will have a clearer pictures as to what happened on the night.

“The team working on this investigation were all seconded from specialist departments because we didn’t want to take frontline officers off the streets.”

Anyone who has issues for the investigation team can cal PC Angela Holdsworth or Det Con Clive Jones at Leicestershire Police on 0116 222 2222, extension  5675.

By Gemma Peplow
Leicester Mercury, 8 July 09