Prison Inspectorate urges closure of H Blocks

Magilligan jail in County Londonderry has been urged to get rid of its ‘H’ Blocks and replace them with modern accommodation.

The closure recommendation is contained in a report published on Thursday October 11 by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons who paid a surprise three-day visit to Magilligan last March.

The key recommendation proposes that the ‘H’ Blocks should be removed due to the mix of “paramilitaries, gangs, sex offenders, prisoners with drug problems and other ‘ordinary’ offenders” which they classify as unhealthy. The report continues: “The ‘H’ Blocks will never be safe places for prisoners or staff.

Among other areas of concern, the report highlights Magilligan’s increasing number of sex offenders, and the absence of a comprehensive and challenging system of sentence planning.

Magilligan is a medium-risk jail and the report says that, in the six years since it was last inspected, the prison regime has done much to keep pace with political change within Northern Ireland.

The report makes the conclusion that although this modernisation is welcome there needs to be greater practical commitment towards the prison’s goals from the Northern Ireland Office and the wider criminal justice agencies. The first sign of which, the report ends, should be the replacement of the ‘H’ Blocks. (AMcE)