Muslim prisoners 'converting inmates'
Friday, 10 October 2008 12:00 PM
Muslim prisoners at a Cambridgeshire jail are acting in gangs and making concerted efforts to convert fellow inmates to radical Islam, an inspection report has found.
The chief inspector of prisons also said there was a fundamental problem in the relationship between and the 120 Muslim inmates at Whitemoor prison.
"There was a perception among officers that some Muslim prisoners operated as a gang and put pressures on non-Muslim prisoners to convert, and on other Muslim prisoners to conform to a strict and extreme interpretation of Islamic practice," Anne Owers said.
She said that prison staff were reluctant to tackle "inappropriate behaviour" and Muslim prisoners were allowed to "police themselves".
"In particular, as we have said in relation to other prisons, especially high security prisons, the prison service as a whole needs to equip staff better to deal with the growing number of Muslim prisoners," she continued.
"This inspection and others have charted a growing disaffection and distance between those prisoners and the prison system, a gap which urgently needs to be bridged."
Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, added: "The chief inspector is right to highlight the challenges and risks Whitemoor is facing.
"It is also important to recognise the action being taken to manage challenging prisoner profiles.
"A more sophisticated approach to addressing bullying and the management of bullies and their victims is now in place and is bringing improvements."
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