It has been claimed even Victorians wouldn't have built prisons the way Wrexham's HMP Berwyn has been constructed.
A British 'super prison' could be the most disgusting jail in Europe within a decade, a leading penal reformer has said.
Frances Cook from the Howard League said even Victorians wouldn't have built prisons the way Wrexham's HMP Berwyn has been constructed.
Giving evidence to a committee of MPs yesterday, she said cells were too small, and inmates had to shower and use the toilet in plan view of each other.
Ms Cook said: "Our prisons are shameful and Berwyn is going to be shameful very soon. It was built in a way that even Victorians would not build.
“These are small cells that people have to share. There are two sort of plinths that they sleep on...
"So people are showering in front of each other. They are defecating in front of each other, with windows where there’s no ventilation, with underfloor heating they can’t control, so they are going to be hot, they are going to be smelly and sordid."
Ms Crook, who last year warned that Wales was in danger of being seen as a penal colony for England , used an appearance before the Welsh Affairs select committee in Westminster to say that conditions will be “sordid” in the prison, which is built on the former Firestone Tyre site.
A British 'super prison' could be the most disgusting jail in Europe within a decade, a leading penal reformer has said.
Frances Cook from the Howard League said even Victorians wouldn't have built prisons the way Wrexham's HMP Berwyn has been constructed.
Giving evidence to a committee of MPs yesterday, she said cells were too small, and inmates had to shower and use the toilet in plan view of each other.
Ms Cook said: "Our prisons are shameful and Berwyn is going to be shameful very soon. It was built in a way that even Victorians would not build.
“These are small cells that people have to share. There are two sort of plinths that they sleep on...
"So people are showering in front of each other. They are defecating in front of each other, with windows where there’s no ventilation, with underfloor heating they can’t control, so they are going to be hot, they are going to be smelly and sordid."
Ms Crook, who last year warned that Wales was in danger of being seen as a penal colony for England , used an appearance before the Welsh Affairs select committee in Westminster to say that conditions will be “sordid” in the prison, which is built on the former Firestone Tyre site.
Describing the challenges facing the wider prison estate, Ms Crook said: “The death rate is a scandal. It’s a national shame.
“And it’s not just suicides. It’s people dying through preventable diseases in prison because the prisons are so ghastly and so disgusting.”
Further concerns about conditions facing prisoners and their families were also raised by Dr Robert Jones, an expert on prisons at the University of South Wales.
A particular worry is that prisoners are being held far from their families.
Dr Jones described the financial impact on families who have to “chase their loved ones around the prison estate of England and Wales”.
Dr Jones described the financial impact on families who have to “chase their loved ones around the prison estate of England and Wales”.
He said: “In a large number of cases prisoners from Wales are held many miles away from home.
"For example, in December, 27 prisoners were being held on the Isle of Wight.
“This included prisoners from the following local authority areas – Caerphilly, Cardiff, Cerdigion, Denbighshire, Monmouthshire, Newport, the Rhondda, Swansea, Torfaen and Wrexham.
“This included prisoners from the following local authority areas – Caerphilly, Cardiff, Cerdigion, Denbighshire, Monmouthshire, Newport, the Rhondda, Swansea, Torfaen and Wrexham.
“In addition, 12 prisoners [were] being held at HMP Northumberland; this included prisoners from Anglesey, Cardiff, Conwy, Denbighshire, five from Flintshire, Gwynedd, Swansea and the Vale of Glamorgan.
“Now, if we take Swansea as the most extreme example there, that’s a distance of 370 miles to that prison. So the idea that distances are not an impediment to the maintenance of family contact is not borne out by [the research].”
Ms Crook argued that the money spent on prisons could be better spent in local communities.
Ms Crook argued that the money spent on prisons could be better spent in local communities.
She said: “Prisons are very expensive. Berwyn is very expensive, and it’s going to cost a lot of money for 100 years.
“That money – now, there’s millions every year that’s poured into that prison – could instead be diverted into local communities. Ask the people of Wrexham what they would really like that money spent on.”
Monmouth Conservative MP David Davies challenged the idea that prisoners are an immense cost to the state on the grounds that “most people who go into prison are already on benefits anyway”.
He said: “The vast majority of people who go into prison are not working so when somebody goes into prison the net cost to the taxpayer if they’re claiming the full panoply would possibly be as little as £5,000.”
The Ministry of Justice was invited to comment.
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