Prison violence rises 63% at Wakefield as fryers break down

A jail home to murderers and sex offenders has seen a dramatic rise in violence after chips were removed from the menu.

Violence at HMP Wakefield has soared by 63 per cent in the past year, a report from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has confirmed.

The maximum security West Yorkshire jail, dubbed Monster Mansion, is home to some of the UK’s most high-risk murderers and sex attackers.  

The report stated there were 272 violent incidents in the past year, compared to 167 the previous year, a rise of 63 per cent.

In the past year prisoners have also made an astonishing 2,644 official complaints.

Among them 84 of the complaints were made about the food served up in the jail kitchens.

The most common complaint was the availability of chips on the menu.

The report said six of the deep fat fryers stopped working, leading to chips having to be served on a rota basis just once a week between wings. 

Around 300 of the 740 inmates are serving life sentences, including serial killer Robert Maudsley, aka Hannibal the Cannibal, and Mark Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April Jones.

Others include murderer Jeremy Bamber, who murdered five - his mum, dad, sister and her two sons- paedophile Sidney Cooke, aka Hissing Sid, and Roy Whiting, who murdered Sarah Payne.

Another inmate is paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, who was jailed for 29 years in 2013.   

A total of 136 of the attacks were ’prisoner on prisoner’, with the other 136 attacks on staff.

The report states: ’The kitchen has experienced long-standing difficulties with the fryers.

’For a large part of the year, five or six of the fryers were broken.

’This impacted the food offering provided by the kitchen; the cooking of chips was particularly problematic, much to the frustration of prisoners and staff alike.

’Mitigation in the form of rota basis was implemented to ensure that at least one wing per week was provided with an option for chips.’

Reporting on the increase in violence, the report stated: ’The total number of recorded violent incidents over the reporting period was 272 incidents, up from 167 last year - a 63% increase.

’There were 136 incidents of prisoner-on-prisoner violence..(and) there were 136 occurrences recorded of prisoner-on-staff violence.’

The report also revealed how a fire broke out at the jail after a prisoner turned the heat of a fryer up ’too high’.

It stated: ’The Board was made aware of an incident where a prisoner increased the temperature of a fryer beyond the correct level, resulting in the outbreak of a fire.

’It was only because of the extremely quick action by staff that a major incident was averted.’

Prisoners across the country are normally offered a choice of fish and chips, often served up with mushy peas, on Fridays. A Christian tradition of not eating meat on Fridays which goes back centuries.

In 2019, notorious inmate Charlie Bronson - now called Charles Salvador - lodged an official complaint after not getting chips with the fish dinner - instead being served croquettes.

Writing to his friend Rod Harrison, Salvador said: ’You won’t believe this...Friday Fish and chips...no chips here, only fish with croquettes.

’I’ve slammed in a complaint.’

He added: ’I just can’t believe it - it’s tradition...English.

’Every jail in UK has fish ’n chips on a Friday.’

A Prison Service spokesperson said: ’All meals offered to prisoners meet nutritional guidelines and all prisoners and staff have been briefed on fire safety when cleaning equipment.’

Henry Morgan