An annual prison report found that some Covid-19 restrictions in a Sussex prison were “not humanity”,
Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), stated that HMP Lewes inmates were allowed to leave their cells for 30 minutes per day.
It said that rules for protecting prisoners during pandemics were “fairly successful” while Covid outbreaks were “contained quickly”.
According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), prisoners have spent more time outside cells since restrictions were lifted.
According to the IMB report, conditions were assessed between February 2021 & January 2022.
“For at least two months, prisoners were allowed to unlock their cells for half an hour per day under the plan regime. The ‘best’ regime was available during the year. While some prisoners could be freed up to four hours a day, others were only permitted to unlock their cells for an hour. Prisoners without education or work were still limited to one hour of unlocked cell access.
The IMB acknowledged that HMP Lewes’ leadership was “severely limited” due to public health concerns during the pandemic.
It raised concerns about self-harm and daily prisoner-on-prisoner attacks, as well as poor facilities.
The MoJ stated in a statement that: “Our actions during pandemic kept staff safe and prisoners safe. We are happy the report recognized efforts by HMP Lewes staff, to keep the prison operating despite its impact.
“Prisoners have been freed from prison for longer periods of time, and services have been restored as soon as possible after the restrictions were lifted.”
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