By Heather Saul
The Independent
SURREY, UK — A prison has been criticised for detaining a female prisoner in segregation in a “squalid” cell for more than five years.
The discovery was made during an unannounced visit by the chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, to HMP Bronzefield women’s prison near Ashford, Surrey.
In the inspection report, Mr Hardwick said: “We were dismayed that the woman who had already been in the segregation unit for three years in 2010 was still there in 2013. Her cell was unkempt and squalid and she seldom left it.”
Mr Hardwick said her prolonged detention in the segregation unit amounted to “cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment - and we use these words advisedly”.
Full story: ‘Cruel, inhumane and degrading': Female prisoner kept segregated in ‘squalid’ cell for five years