London prisons at time of Mubarek’s death were a “nightmare”

Prisons in London were a “nightmare” at the time of
Zahid Mubarek’s murder, former director general of the Prison
Service Martin Narey said today, writes Maria
Ahmed.

Zahid Mubarek

Testifying to the public inquiry into Mubarek’s death,
Narey said Feltham Young Offender Institution had not been the only
problem establishment in the period leading up to the killing in
March 2000.

He described Wormwood Scrubs as a “deeply violent and evil
place,” and the staff culture at Wandsworth as “utterly
reprehensible”.

Narey added: “London was a nightmare…Holloway was in
a permanent crisis, or very nearly unmanageable. Brixton was filthy
with the most outrageously appalling
healthcare. I could go on.”

Narey, who is now chief executive of the National Offender
Management Service, told the inquiry he suspended about 10 per cent
of Wormwood scrubs staff for “brutality” and had to
remove the governor of Brixton.

He said: “Feltham…was very high on my radar, but it
was far from the only place we were dealing with.”

Narey also revealed that he took the up the role of director
general of the Prison Service because “no-one else wanted the
job”.

Mubarek was 19-years-old when he was killed by his racist
cellmate Robert Stewart, then also 19, at Feltham YOI in March
2000.

The inquiry continues.