RE: THE ZAHID MUBAREK INQUIRY WITNESS STATEMENT OF ...

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15. At that stage in my career I had been in the Prison Service for about 14 years andwas very experienced and, in particular, had dealt with many young prisoners. Ontalking to Stewart I had what I can only describe as a "gut feeling" that he neededto be watched. He seemed to be something of a loner and did not particularlymix with the other prisoners. I thought he was 'strange' and had a quietlyintimidating manner. I am fairly sure that I mentioned this straightaway to mystaff and I remember making sure he was placed in a single cell. This was, infact, a fairly common practice in Lapwing in relation to an 'unknown quantity' or tosomeone over who there might be doubts, however slight or unsubstantiated atthe time. It did not relate to the fear of a threat to a cellmate; we had the spaceand it was just a normal precaution. It was just for overnight and would not havebeen recorded as of significance.16. On the Induction Unit we received about 70 new prisoners a week; it was unusualto receive a prisoner late in the evening. There was never a time when only asingle officer was on duty to receive a prisoner. Even after the end of a shift I wasoften around preparing for the next day, sorting paperwork etc and it was notunusual for me to still be on Lapwing at 9.00p.m.17. All prisoners were interviewed individually. Whilst I did not always do the formalinterview, I tried to see as many of them as I could. The interview itself was fairlystructured with a view to getting basic useful information. For example, weneeded to know the next of kin, home address, any problems, solicitor details etc.It would usually take about ten minutes and be recorded on the flimsy file or theObservation Book. It was my personal policy not to know the offence for which aprisoner was in prison. Sometimes a prisoner would come to the Induction Unitwith a "flimsy" file and sometimes not. If he did I would generally not read thisuntil after I had spoken to him as I very much wanted to form my own unbiasedopinion. As I set out further below, at paragraph 24, subsequently I did seeStewart's security file.18. As part of the process of getting to know a prisoner and forming an opinion onhim I had a policy of having my staff read as much incoming and outgoing mail as4 -924-
possible. From the security angle we were looking for anything on escapes orthreats of violence; on prisoners we were looking for anything on self-harm orpossible domestic or family problems: generally we were looking for anyconfessions or comments about crime.19. The general guidelines were for five per cent of mail, in or out, to be read(although those seen as an escape risk would be given special attention) but Iwould estimate that, on Lapwing, 75 per cent of mail was seen. In relation toStewart I remember that, on 12th January 2000, Prison Officer Debbie Hoggbrought me a letter Stewart had written to be sent out. It contained references tothe comparison between the numbers of black people at Feltham with the numberat the Manchester prisons he had been in before. It was not threatening but wasgenerally racist in nature and referred to "niggers". I cannot recall if it referred to"Pakis".20. Prison guidelines suggest that such a letter should be seized and recorded in thewing "Stopped Letters Book" and possibly a Security Information Report (SIR)completed and filed. However, officers are allowed to exercise discretion onbreaches of the Rules and I regarded one of the main jobs on the Induction Unitto be to prepare young prisoners (some of whom were in prison for the first time)for life in prison and, consequently, I adopted a less strict policy in relation tomatters such as inappropriate letters.21. The language used by the young prisoners amongst themselves, both verballyand written, was often aggressive, boastful and 'foul-mouthed'. Often youngprisoners just did not understand that what they said or wrote was unacceptable,inappropriate or offensive. In this respect they needed direction and guidance.Additionally, to raise an SIR on this for a prisoner only staying for a night or twowould have not been a practical way of dealing with the issue.22. Therefore, in the majority of cases, we returned an unsuitable letter to theprisoner and counselled/advised him why it could not be sent in its current formand that it needed to be re-written, in acceptable language. My view was that itwas better, in most cases, to resolve these sorts of issues in a less heavy-handed5 -925-
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RE: THE ZAHID MUBAREK INQUIRY WITNESS STATEMENT OF ...

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