Inmates at prison with coronavirus outbreak moved to jail in Wigan

A number of inmates from Wymott in Lancashire, where one staff member has died since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, have been transferred to the facility in the borough.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said vulnerable prisoners have been moved and the decision to do so was only made after very careful consideration.

However, the Wigan Post has been told the arrival of the Wymott inmates has caused considerable concern among those behind bars at Hindley.

A whistleblower said there was also frustration as the prison service is on lockdown and prisoners who were supposed to be moving to lower-category institutions towards the end of their sentences have been barred from going.

An MoJ spokesperson said: “We have robust and flexible plans in place to keep prisoners, staff and the wider public safe based on the latest advice from Public Health England.”

The MoJ has declined to comment on specific numbers of Covid-19 cases within any individual prison.

The Wigan Post has been told prison officers were working in full personal protective equipment (PPE) on Tuesday.

The whistleblower said: “The prisoners were told it was complete lockdown, no prisoners coming in or going out.

“Now a load of new prisoners from Wymott, where they have had Covid cases, have arrived and you’ve got a lot of unhappy men there at Hindley.

“Prisoners are being told there’s no problem and no risk but the officers have now got masks and gloves and the prisoners don’t.”

It is known that a 48-year-old man who worked at HMP Wymott, which is in Leyland, died earlier this month, but the MoJ have not confirmed if his death was related to coronavirus.

Wymott, like Hindley, is a category C prison.

PPE has also been increasingly rolled out to staff at institutions such as prisons, care homes and health facilities over the past few days.

There have been widespread and highly publicised concerns that some key workers have not received enough equipment to be able to do their jobs safely.

A parliamentary select committee has been told of the scale of the Covid-19 problems behind bars, with confirmed cases in almost half of England and Wales’ jails.

Jo Farrar, chief executive of the Prison and Probation Service, told the Commons Justice Committee on Tuesday that 700 prison staff had been tested for coronavirus and 6,268 were self-isolating.

Some 62 prison staff have tested positive for Covid-19 in 28 prisons as well as five prisoner escort and custody services staff.

A total of 207 prisoners have tested positive for coronavirus in 57 prisons out of the 123 in England and Wales as of 5pm on Monday, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said, and 13 inmates have died.

Ms Farrar told the select committee about the outbreak at Wymott, saying action was taken due to the number of older inmates there.

Prisoners were being moved to jails including Hindley so they can be in single cells, she told MPs.

The MoJ has also announced single-occupancy temporary prison cells will be built in the grounds of seven jails in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

There are plans for up to 2,000 temporary cells for low-risk category C and D offenders.

Self-isolating or symptomatic prisoners and those who have tested positive are put in a cell on their own but Ms Farrar admitted those who have not displayed symptoms may still be sharing cells with other inmates.

The MoJ has also pledged to release up to 4,000 low-risk prisoners on temporary licence in a bid to ease overcrowding, as well as pregnant inmates and mothers behind bars with babies.

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