Bullying and Theft Rife at Holloway Women Prison

Women prisoners at the Holloway prison in north London felt very unsafe. Inspector Anne Owers has reported this finding. Her report also states that bullying and theft is very common inside the prison.

Prison managers are already acting on the need to improve the level of security inside the prison.

The inspection found levels of "victimisation" by other prisoners was nearly twice as high as at similar prisons, Ms Owers said.

Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, said: "Holloway has now implemented a new violence reduction strategy, produced following consultation with women on safety issues."

Ms Owers said: "Our major concern, and that of many of the women we spoke to, was bullying and pilfering on the residential units," she said.

"Much of this was low-level, but appeared to be accepted as part of life at Holloway."

The report also found that the level of self-harm among the women inmates were high.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Once again prison inspectors have found that our overcrowded prisons are holding many mentally ill women who should not be jailed."

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