Prisoners in one of Britain’s most overcrowded prisons paid £630K in injury claims
Prisoners in one of Britain’s most overcrowded prisons have received hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for injury claims, data shows.
New data obtained by Legal Expert through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, reveals the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) paid out £639,091 for injury claims made by prisoners at HMP Brixton since 2019.
Legal Expert solicitor Lucy Parker said: “Prisoners, like anyone else, have a right to their safety while incarcerated. We have seen many different cases over the years of prisoners suffering injuries during their incarceration, from accidents in workshops and kitchens to incidents with staff.”
This comes after the category C training and resettlement men’s prison was subject to a damning report last year when inspectors found a catalogue of failings.
Findings from an unannounced inspection in June 2024 described how two-thirds of Brixton’s 740 inmates were forced to double up in cramped and dirty cells built for one person – with some having to do this for more than 23 hours a day.
The report said: “Cells designed with toilets in the middle made it impossible to have enough furniture for two prisoners, and fresh air out of these cramped, dirty cells was limited.”
In 2020, the MoJ forked out £271,447 in compensation for injury claims made by inmates at HMP Brixton. Of those, £270,769 were classed as for ‘other personal injury’ which could include injuries from bunk beds, food contamination, animal bites and asbestos.
The following year, £280,561 was paid settling prisoner injury claims as well as £16,188 the year after and £23,569 in 2023.
Last year, 2024, a further £35,041 was awarded in damages settling seven HMP Brixton prisoner injury claims.
With Britain’s overcrowded prisons hitting record levels last year, concerns over the safety of both staff and inmates have grown.
The latest published prison population statistics show there are just over 1,000 spaces left in men’s prisons, prompting former justice secretary David Gauke to release his Independent Sentencing Review (ISR) earlier than expected.
In the interim report, Mr Gauke said he was confronted with “the consequences of decades of haphazard policy-making and underinvestment in the criminal justice system – bringing it to the brink of collapse”.
Across the country, prisoner injury claims have cost the MoJ an eye-watering £9.8million in the last five years.
The most common injuries were from prison bunk beds – resulting in £4.5million being paid to inmate claimants since 2022. A further £446,000 was paid out to inmates for asbestos-related injuries.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the country’s jails are “overcrowded” and have been “neglected for too long”, leaving staff overstretched.
She said: “By addressing this crisis, we can begin the work of improving prison conditions to reduce the need for compensation claims and ensure taxpayer money is spent more effectively.
“The Government is investing in prison maintenance and security, and prisoners who are violent towards staff or other prisoners will face the full consequences of their actions.”
Pictured top: HMP Brixton is one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country (Picture: William Barton / Alamy Stock Photo)