The Mount jail riot sparks major concerns after inmates battered windows and started fires amid claims ‘zombie’ drug Spice is rife among prisoners
A PRISON which descended into riots yesterday as furious prisoners lit fires and took over two wings had been "on the brink of a meltdown" amid severe staff shortages.
Shocking footage showed cheering prisoners tearing through The Mount prison, Hertfordshire, hammering on caged windows after the chaos broke out at around 2pm.
A report also warned "zombie" drug Spice was a "big concern", with drones delivering the substance into the prison "still getting in" despite a decline.
Specialist Tornado Team riot officers were sent in but the rampage yesterday took eight hours to bring under control.
The riot erupted on the same day a report warned the Category C prison was struggling with "severe" staff shortages.
Prisons blogger and expert Alex Cavendish said it had been "on the brink of a meltdown" for weeks, with inmates locked in their cells all day and given no hot food.
Mr Cavendish said he had also heard of prisoners not being allowed to shower or make phonecalls.
He said: "The technical term is that the staff have lost control of two wings. What 'lost control' means is that the prisoners are basically rioting, in layman's terms."
A woman who said her son is an inmate tweeted during the disturbance: "My son is at The Mount he has been on 24 hour lock down for weeks."
Sun Online understands rioting erupted when prisoners who hadn't been allowed out of their cells in seven days were finally given two hours of exercise time.
Prison officers had also cancelled all religious and education sessions amid short-staffing.
When inmates were asked to return to their cells, a number refused before using force to take over two wings.
A source said: "They haven't been allowed to shower or exercise and have been delivered cold dinners for a week. Tensions have been rising.
"Today, when it came to them returning to their cells a few of them got together and decided 'we're not going back in' and that's when it all kicked off."
Footage shows prisoners cheering and laughing as a fire was started on one wing and other inmates tried to batter through caged windows.
One prisoner could be heard shouting: "Anyone got any fireworks?" as a blaze took hold.
East of England Ambulance Service paramedics were called to the scene but no-one was hurt.
A Prison Service spokesman said the incident had been brought to an end and the matter will now be passed to the police.
He said: "Specialist prison staff resolved an incident involving a number of prisoners at HMP The Mount on Monday evening. There were no injuries to staff or prisoners.
“The offenders responsible will be referred to the police and could spend longer behind bars."
An assessment from the jail's Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) published yesterday said "all the ingredients were in place for The Mount to suffer disorder such as has been experienced in other prisons - staff shortages, readily available drugs, mounting violence".
The report said from February 2016 to 2017 The Mount struggled with staff shortages "driven by uncompetitive pay scales".
It said the drug problem at the jail was worst in November, when a number of prisoners suffered serious short-term health problems with 70 emergency call-outs in the month, mainly for drug-related problems.
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Specialist Tornado Teams are trained to bring prison riots under control.
They are usually made up of officers dressed in black boiler suits, carrying batons and shields.
Members are picked from serving prison officers and undergo four months of specialist training.
Every officer carries an American-style PR-24 sidearms baton.
The prison, in Bovington, was opened in 1987 and was the scene of a violent breakout in November 1994 which saw two inmates escape.
In 2014, a report stated the prison was struggling to employ enough staff to cope with an influx of violent offenders as its capacity rose from 700 inmates to more than 1,000.
The facility is described as a "hybrid training and resettlement prison"; which caters for prisoners nearing the end of their sentences who are from nearby areas.
An inspection in 2015 found the prison was performing well, with inspectors noting it was "reasonably safe and felt calm and well ordered", but chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick added there was "room for improvement".
Anarchy in the UK: Recent riots in UK prisons
HMP Birmingham - December 16, 2016: The 12 hour rioting reportedly started over a lack of access to TVs and gym for prisoners. Roughly 600 inmates were involved. Reports emerged claiming one prisoner had been “beaten by other inmates” while another was slashed in the neck. Riot teams were sent in to deal with the chaos.
HMP Bedford - November 6, 2016: Roughly 230 prisoners went on the rampage. The inmates flooded the jail's gangways, siezed keys from gaurds, broke into medicine stores and sparked small fires. The violence was brought under control after an operation that lasted more than six hours.
HMP Lewes - October 29, 2016: A specialist unit had to be called in after inmates rioted at Lewes prison in East Sussex. Four prison officers retreated to safety before the chaos was brought under control.
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