International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 48

Organized Crime Behind Bars
In Liverpool, 97 one of the largest prisons in England (1400 inmates), drugs
and brutality are so commonplace that some prisoners prefer never to leave their
cells. Detainees interviewed described drugs as either “easy” or “very easy” to obtain,
and 30% of drug tests have been shown to be positive, an even higher rate than in
other prisons. During the summer of 2004, seventy-three assaults involving the use of
weapons were recorded against other inmates. Often prisoners on cleaning duties will
disconnect cell alarms and surveillance cameras, preventing guards from watching
certain places within the prison. Intimidation and threats are commonplace and
extend out to the families 98 of other inmates.
In April 2015, one former manager in the British Prison Service, Peter Hiett, 99
revealed a number of serious cases of extreme failure that he had witnessed during
his career. He was forced to retire in January 2014 after attempting to denounce some
particularly shocking practices. His revelations concerning events in the juvenile
prison in Feltham, in the suburbs west of London, are terrifying and alarming. No
fewer than forty-eight different gangs continue their territorial disputes within the
walls of this facility; some manage to control entire wings, to the extent that staff do
not dare to enter. Peter Hiett claimed that guards organize fights between inmates
in rooms specially equipped to ensure that injuries are not too serious; he was once
required to report a female guard for having sex with a teenager, jailed for murder,
in his cell. 100 His closing remark was to the effect that all statistics concerning the
establishment were systematically revised downwards. Elsewhere he denounced the
gang microculture within the facility: “We are transforming our youth into far worse
criminals than they were ever going to be when they arrived. They are incarcerated
for minor offenses and are transformed into drug traffickers”
The use of mobile phones (thrown over the perimeter wall and picked up
by prisoners allowed to work near the wall under instructions from the gangs) has
allowed the creation of extensive drugs networks inside. The criminal underworld of
Liverpool is highly organized, and wouldn't let a little matter like being in prison put
a stop to its business.
The authorities of Shotts prison in Scotland placed one detainee, James
McDonald, 35, in solitary confinement, accused of leading a drug and weapons
trafficking network from his cell. McDonald was sentenced in May 2008 to life
imprisonment, with a minimum tariff of 35 years. A similar sentence was handed
down to his accomplice Raymond Anderson, 47, for a murder and two attempted
97
Travis, Allan, and Eric Allison. “Prison Overwhelmed by Gang Culture.” Section on a report made
by Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers. The Guardian, January 18, 2005.
98
Thompson, Tony. “Gangs Bring Terror and Death to Jails.” Section on Cathy James, governor of
Walton prison. The Observer, January 23, 2005.
99
Daily Mirror, April 11, 2015.
100
Emma Beard sent love letters and intimate photographs to Danny McLean, 18, sentenced to 15
years in prison for stabbing Shakilus Townsend, 16, in 2009. She was sentenced to 12 months in
prison. Married Woman Prison Officer who had Sex with Teenage 'Honey Trap Killer' in his Cell is
Jailed for 12 Months. Daily Mail, December 7, 2010.
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