Violent sex offenders and murderers in Wakefield’s notorious maximum security prison are refusing to face up to their crimes.
Inmates at the Category A jail, dubbed Monster Mansion, are still in denial about what they have done, a new inspection has found.
The unannounced inspection found almost half the prisoners, who include Sarah Payne’s murderer Roy Whiting and Leeds cop killer David Bieber, will not admit the magnitude of their offences.
A report by Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, says: “Almost half the men at Wakefield were in denial about their offence – to some degree refusing to take responsibility for their offending.”
Following the report, he said: “The complexity of the establishment is managed reasonably well and the vast majority of prisoners are not disadvantaged because of the additional security needs of the few.
“The prison is stable and generally safe but more management attention is required across a number of high risk areas such as self-harm prevention, segregation and the Close Supervision Centre.
“The need to occupy the prisoners more fully and purposefully remains unaddressed.”
Wakefield holds around 750 men, with its Close Supervision Centre (CSC) caging seven of the most “challenging” prisoners in the country’s entire system, the report says.
The inspection also found a high misuse of prescribed medication was a significant factor in bullying incidents in the prison and that allegations of victimisation by prisoners or staff were sometimes not handled well.
A third of prisoners were also behind their doors during the working part of the day.
But the inspection did find that progress on staff and prisoner relations had been made and incidents of self-harm, bullying and use of force were low.
Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), said: “Staff have an extremely challenging job managing the complex population at Wakefield so it is encouraging that the Chief Inspector recognises that real progress is being made.
“I recognise the concerns raised in the report about the challenges staff face in managing prisoners who are in denial of their offence.
“It is not unusual or surprising that prisoners serving long sentences deny or minimise their offence, particularly those with sexual offences who may deny their guilt due to shame or fears about status and family support.”
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