'Drugs debt' jail row turns violent | United Kingdom

'Drugs debt' jail row turns violent

And there was me mistakenly thinking prisoners were sent to prison as a result of drug crimes, not to commit even more. Clearly the prison population has access to drugs just as readily as citizens on the outside have.
SEVEN prison officers were injured when black and Irish prisoners clashed in a mass brawl inside a crowded jail.
A female warden suffered facial injuries when an inmate cracked a bin over her head when the fight erupted in Brixton Prison's A wing. Inmates used pool cues and balls in socks to batter each other when an argument, believed to be over drug debts, turned violent. One witness said up to 60 inmates where involved in the mass brawl just after noon on Thursday. A prison source said: "It was chaos... a major brawl between black inmates and Irish inmates."	With prisoners banged up for upto 23 hours a day, drugs must seem as good a way as any to pass the time.
He continued ""It wasn't short of a full-on riot." At least seven wardens and one inmate were injured.

"There had been a smaller disturbance on Tuesday but this time it really kicked off.

"It took about two dozen wardens to break up the brawl. Drugs are still a major problem inside the prison and I think an argument over drug debts between black and Irish inmates led to the fighting.

"The regime needs to be toughened up here.

"Inmates should not be able to pick up pool cues and balls and use them as weapons. There is not enough discipline."

London Ambulance Service confirmed paramedics were called to the overcrowded jail in Jebb Avenue, off Brixton Hill, twice after the brawl.

One patient was taken to hospital with minor facial injuries and another was taken to hospital an hour later. Their injuries are not known.

Other casualties are understood to have been treated in the prison's hospital wing.

The Prison Service has described the brawl as a minor disturbance.

A spokesman said: "At 12.15pm on Thursday, January 10, a disturbance occurred at HMP Brixton when a fight broke out between two prisoners and approximately 12 prisoners refused to return to their cells.

Staff responded swiftly and professionally and all prisoners had been safely returned to their cells by 12.45pm.

"The incident was dealt with very efficiently although a small number of staff required hospital treatment.

"There will be an internal investigation into the cause of the incident and the police have been informed."

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