Prison thugs get off with a warning
Socialist Press1979 1979-04-11Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 12 →
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Prison warders who organised a mass beating of Hull prisoners-including several Irish republicansafter riots at the jail in 1976 were told they were men of good character who had made a substantial contribution to the prison service and were freed last week.
Eight warders were convicted of conspiracy to assault prisoners, nearly three years after the beatings took place.
Real crime
But the judge at York Crown Court-Mr. Justice Buchan-told these thugs that their real crime was that they had "played into the hands of wicked people" who would "gloat at their conviction.
Their sentences were suspended prison terms of between four and nine monthslittle more than a warning not to get caught again.
And the Prison Officers Association immediately made a plea for the warders to keep their jobs.
The case has parallels with the RUC brutality partly revealed in the Bennett report; the state's public disapproval is the same in both cases.
No political status Hull jail was used to keep many IRA prisoners convicted of bombings and other offences but denied political status.
Brutality by warders to prisoners is well known widely practiced.
The riot was sparked off after the beating up of a prisoner. -Inmates of the prison broke into offices and opened their files, revealing that false reports were sabotaging any hopes of parole.
Half the jail was burned down and warders were kept at bay for more than two days. The army and Saracen armoured cars were called to the prison.
In the aftermath 120 warders took their revenge, singling out Republican prisoners for beatings in their cells and making prisoners run a gauntlet of boots and fists and trying to force prisoners to drink tea with urine in it.
A l determined cover up followed the beatings. Once police investigations started four months afterwards, prisoners were shuffled around the country to prevent them being interviewed, detectives received threatening phone calls and, on one occasion, prison warders threatened to prevent police getting in to see the governor.
Of the eight thugs eventually convicted one had been a warder of Long Kesh, another had been a boy soldier, a third had been in the police force, a fourth had been turned down by the police and a fifth had been in the navy. such and