Sex offenders policy at Moorland prison attacked
“Fundamental” work has to be done, says prisons boss Nick Hardwick, after a report criticises HMP Moorland for not running programmes to tackle the dangerous attitudes and behaviour of sex offenders.
A third of prisoners at HMP Moorland, in South Yorkshire, are sex offenders, yet no treatment programmes are available to them, and “too many” of the criminals are released without completing one, according to a report by her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP).
“We found that Moorland had made some progress and was dealing with considerable uncertainties,” said Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons (pictured above). “That said, the pace of progress was disappointing and there remained much to do, some of it fundamental.”
No sex offender treatment programmes were delivered, hindering prisoners’ progress. HMIP report into HMP Moorland
The unannounced inspection found that there was no formal strategy to manage the 325 sex offenders at the prison, despite the fact that almost half were found to be in denial of their behaviour.
“Although a third of the population were sex offenders, no sex offender treatment programmes were delivered, hindering prisoners’ progress,” the report said.
“A significant proportion of those currently waiting to do an SOTP (sex offender treatment programme) would be released without having a chance to complete it and have their offending behaviour addressed.”
Safety concerns
HMIP recommends the provision of “attitudes, thinking and behaviour” programmes to address sexual offending and sex offenders in denial.
The report judges the overall safety of the jail to be reasonably good, although it does find too many prisoners have safety concerns, and states there is evidence of a bullying problem.
The pace of progress was disappointing and there remained much to do, some of it fundamental. Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons
More than 250 prisoners were moved from HMP Moorland to other jails after three nights of rioting in November 2010, and the inspectorate says the prison endured a period of upheaval as 300 places damaged in the 2010 riots were restored, new accommodation was opened, and more than 300 sex offenders and 250 foreign national prisoners were added to the population.
HMP Moorland holds up to 1,000 adult and young adult prisoners. It is home to Juress Kika, one of the killers of Islington teenager Ben Kinsella, and to Sean Mercer, murderer of 11-year-old Rhys Jones.