Book Description

This report sets out the findings of the public inquiry into the murder in March 2000 at Feltham Young Offender Institution of Zahid Mubarek, an Asian teenager. Mubarek died after being attacked by another young prisoner, his cellmate Robert Stewart, who had a history of violence and racist behaviour. The report identifies the systemic shortcomings which the attack exposed and makes 88 recommendations to reduce the risk of such an attack in the future. Issues discussed include: the events leading up to the public inquiry, including previous investigations by the Prison Service and the Commission for Racial Equality; the mental health background and custodial history of Stewart; the events on the night of the attack; and the wider ongoing problems at Feltham of staff shortages and low staff morale, lack of resources and overcrowding; poor working practices and evidence of racism by staff and prisoners. Recommendations made include: the elimination of enforced cell-sharing should be a high priority for the Prison Service and it should publish guidelines to assist officers in the allocation of prisoners who have to share a cell, taking into account issues of ethnic and religious background; there should be a general rule that an unconvicted prisoner should not share a cell with a convicted prisoner; full cell searches should be carried out at least once every three months; prisoner councils should be set up as part of violence reduction strategies in prisons; improved diversity training for prison staff; and the need for a national database for security information on prisoners to improve the flow of information between and within establishments to help prisoner risk assessment procedures.