Crime

UK Inmates Set Fire to Prison After Refusing Alcohol Breath Tests on New Year’s Eve

UK Inmates Set Fire to Prison After Refusing Alcohol Breath Tests on New Years Eve

AP

LONDON (AP) — Rioting inmates caused heavy damage to a low-security prison Saturday, smashing windows and setting fires that engulfed buildings and spewed clouds of black smoke.

Officials said about 40 inmates at Ford Open Prison near Arundel, 60 miles (95 kms) south of London, began the disturbance at around midnight New Year’s Eve after some prisoners refused to take breath tests for alcohol.

By midday, two buildings were still ablaze, though fires had been extinguished at several other buildings, which were heavily damaged.

The prison’s staff retreated and specialist officers were called in to handle the riot, the Ministry of Justice said. There were no immediate reports of injuries to staff or inmates.

The prison houses up to 500 offenders with less than two years remaining on their sentences to prepare them for release.

Mark Freeman, deputy general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said the riot started after some prisoners refused to take breath tests. At the time, only two prison officers and four support staff were on duty, he said.

Freeman said a large amount of alcohol had been found at the prison.

Comments (68)

1 2
  • uneducatedfool
    Posted on January 2, 2011 at 1:38am

    What if one of them was your son in there for smoking Pot? should he be shot? You’re a Nut case that belongs in there yourself for alittle bit of that wonderful life.

    Report Post »  
  • uneducatedfool
    Posted on January 2, 2011 at 1:27am

    When I was a young man living the the USA it really took something if someone went to prison, Now days they make you a felon for 3 misdimenors, so they can fill the prisons, take your gun rights and brand you never to get them back, reguardless of what you went for. Justice in America, there is none, unless you have money enough to pay for it. No one even talks about people in prison except the Liberals or the Politicians who wants to get tough on crime,“ like smoking Pot” and one thing the Conservatives must not understand is that those ones in there for short periords,for BS, and lose those rights, have children, ” I have five and all are registered to vote, and they all remember why I was dragged to prison, and it makes it really hard for me to tell them to vote for Tea Party Constitutional people, when they throw people in prison for crimes that didn’t even have a victim, except to theirselves. I always thought our Constitution was to protect people in their persuit of Happiness but like some have already pointed out, we only have a Constitution when it fits the Politicians needs, who are Bigger crooks than 3/4 of the people in prison. It makes it really hard to tell your children we need laws, but when one gets 10 years for the same crime another walks or gets probation for because of who they are, or who they’re related to, it makes me want to say to hell with the Constitution. But we Have to have laws, but at some point when does a person get to start over, after 23 years of no convictions that had Nothing to do with any weapons or voilence you can not get those rights back,” that is unless your Daddy’s somebody. No I’m Not a Liberal, Progressive or anything else, Just a man who has seen it all, and felt the injustice. Heck, you don’t even have to be convicted anymore to be Branded a crook, just come into contact with the law and it Never leaves your record and if you go to court, the first thing they say is This guys has gotten away with alot of stuff in the past, just because they think you did it, not because you were convicted of anything. I’ll never live to see my rights restored or the Constitution restored. I can almost agree with Van Jones when he says when will those people get another chance, No matter how much time you do, it’s never enough for them, they want you to come back, you’re their bread and water. God Bless America tho, and I pray this new House taking over in a couple days can Stop some of this madness.

    Report Post »  
  • dcwu
    Posted on January 2, 2011 at 12:46am

    These are CONVICTS.
    INMATES are people in hospitals and asylums.

    Report Post »  
  • texasfarmer
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:31pm

    The inmates running the asylum. Cut their fish and chips.

    Report Post » texasfarmer  
  • commonsenseguy
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 10:05pm

    retreated, man they should have opened fire on them,that would have stop that threat instantly.
    o yeah, they don’t carry guns. man that is crazy.no wonder they ran an hid.to bad they did not lock all the doors and just roasted marshmallows !!!!!! they are why to tolerant,and unfortunately we are going down that same road over here.

    Report Post »  
  • dontbotherme
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 8:59pm

    Living in tents in the desert of Iraq while the prison is rebuilt by appropriate engineers, electricians, etc… seems justifiable. Perhaps extending their sentencing a bit may be in order also.

    Report Post »  
  • oldchevyguy
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 6:45pm

    They burnt their living quarters down.Obviously they want to live outside.Fresh air is good for them.

    Report Post »  
  • The Gooch
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 6:29pm

    Most dogs know not to crap in their own yard. Give the general population two sticks and a plastic sheet for a lean to they have to make; the humanitarian in me also believes they can each have a used sleeping bag. I believe the fellows who started the fire will be dealt with. It’s all about natural consequences. As so many others have asserted, replace the burnt buildings with tents… but take your time. Enjoy your winter, idiots!

    Report Post »  
  • WHITE LOTUS2x
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:58pm

    Let the buggers have a little snort of spirits on new years eve.Look what happened when they got iretated. Wonderwhat all that is gonna cost.

    Report Post »  
  • Sgt.Crust
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:57pm

    London’s burning, let ‘em burn!

    Report Post »  
  • koyettsu
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:42pm

    We need new policies for our prisons, first and foremost when you are sentenced to a prison you lose your rights as a Citizen of the United States for the time your sentence takes to complete. Therefore there is no human rights nonsense, you suffer and get what you deserve.

    Secondly prisoners get nothing, no weights, no basketball courts, no TV, they should get a library where they can get a book to read in their cells, stocked with educational books and books about the history of the country. Prison is supposed to be an awful place where you can reflect on what you did, so lets turn it back into an awful place people are afraid of going to.

    Let them eat a bologna sandwich and glass of water for breakfast lunch and dinner.

    Unless we want to let them listen to talk radio, maybe some Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity would help them out?

    Report Post »  
  • Mr.Nick
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:41pm

    This is what you get when you’re a soft a$$ libturd..

    The UK has turned prisons into Hiltons and now their inmates have the “I’m offended” disease. So of course they riot, libturds teach their sheep to riot when they’re offended.

    Remember, in libturdland the wost crime you can commit is offending someone.. I mean how dare the prison administration demand a BAC breathalyzer test, thats offensive.

    The only reason why this happened is because progressive logic is illogical. Its one thing to be “liberal” [classical sense] but its another to be so liberal you allow retards to dictate, or you reverse roles. I think thats what happened here – the inmates run the prison and the guards and administration have ZERO power…. You know, because you have to be “humane” in libturdland, you have to showoff how “humane” you are for geo brownie points.

    But hey, these crazy “happenings” are nothing but the byproduct of progressive moonbattery… Liberals er progressive Marxists dont subscribe to the whole “cause and effect” relation… In their little world there is no effect to their cause..

    Unbelievable… This world has gone to shiznit…

    Report Post »  
    • Non-sequitur
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:59pm

      Our prison system is about revenge while it should be about rehabilitation. Look at Norway. They treat their prisoners more like patients than (let’s face it) subhumans and have much lower recidivism rates. And I mean MUCH lower (20% compared to 60% here).

      Try a google image search for “halden prison”. It’ll blow your mind.

      Report Post »  
    • cykonas
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 4:49pm

      @ NON-SEQUITUR
      I am going to assume that you understand the question of recidivism. If that is true, you well know that there are dozens of factors that contribute to it’s rate. Dozens, if anything, is an understatement. That is especially true when the comparison is made across ethnocultural lines. As just one example, the Danes live in a much, much more homogeneous society than we do in America.

      Report Post » cykonas  
    • Non-sequitur
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 6:57pm

      That may well be, but for one, the difference between 20% and 60% is enormous. Also, it shows that prisons don’t HAVE to be about revenge to work. I‘m not so arrogant as to say we can’t learn from other people who obviously are more successful in certain areas than us and the Scandinavian countries are doing a LOT of things right.

      Report Post »  
    • cykonas
      Posted on January 2, 2011 at 7:45am

      @NON-SEQUITUR
      It’s not arrogance, it’s the lack of compatibility between the two cultures that drives my observation. I don‘t have any problem modelling something in the US after another country if it’s reasonable to do so. And 60% is quite a bit larger than 20%. I’m fine with the argument up to this point. Where I find it lacking is at the assumption that the difference in the two percents is driven strictly, or even mostly, by a difference in the focus of the two philosophies of imprisonment. I become more suspicious when it’s asserted without any backup other than one web site. If you study recidivism with an open mind you will find that there are many, many contributing factors.

      For example, I could post any number of single web sites here that would “prove” that restorative justice, rehabilitation if you will, doesn’t work; that rates of recidivism remain just as high. But that wouldn’t be a fair case either, because, again, there are many many factors that bear on the question. Beyond that, when comparing studies there are also the inevitable questions of how things are measured. With recidivism, as one example, how many years without returning to jail or prison must elapse before someone is “cured”? This will vary from study to study, country to country, etc. It takes more than 5 minutes of reading one web site to make anything close to an informed decision on this question.

      Report Post » cykonas  
  • Buck_Ofama
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:32pm

    Wow! What has happened to England? I can’t believe the crazy news that comes out of that place every day.

    Did you know there are 4,000,000 (4 million) closed circuit TV cameras in England. 500,000 in London alone. People are getting arrested for what they say on YouTube videos.

    Just a matter of time until Big Brother takes over in Britain.

    Report Post » Buck_Ofama  
  • burnteye86
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:22pm

    Do they think just because they’re prisoners that they can treat them like common criminals?

    Report Post » burnteye86  
  • spreadcommonsensenot pc
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:18pm

    If this is anything like the FEMA camps count me in……

    Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:12pm

    this is what obama’s bestfriends and mentors are calling for here. get ready.

    as for this fire, they should have let it burn down and burn out.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • Rickfromillinois
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:10pm

    Brittan’s prison system is certainly no worse then ours and is probably better. To me the point is the sense of entitlement that this action displays, a problem that is endemic on both sides of the pond. This prisoners felt entitled to drink alcohol and rioted when breathalyzer tests were ordered which could threaten some of the prisoner’s chance of prohibition. We have similar problems here. We have had riots here because the prisoners didn‘t have color TV and even because the didn’t cable for their TV so that they could watch their favorite shows. We have also have had riots because not enough grits were served and because there wasn’t enough weight equipment in the exercise yards.
    There seems to be a distinct lack of feeling that they are convicts who are being justifiably punished. They will riot over any infringement of what they consider their “rights”. I am not proposing beating, starving, or torturing prisoners, but at the same time I think that we have gone too far in the direction of keeping them comfortable and entertained. I don’t think that the main purpose of prisons is rehabilitation or preparing prisoners for a better life. Make it available, but the main purpose is to punish them for their crimes, and they should be well aware of that.

    Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
  • JohnnyJT
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:08pm

    They want their Booze and they want it Now.

    Report Post » South Philly Boy  
  • KEA
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:07pm

    IF booze was not allowed and they wanted to give them breathalizers then someone in that prison needs fired for not doing their job in the first place.

    Why give them a breathalizer? Its not like they are driving. I suspect the corrections officers smuggled booze in for something in their pocket and things got out of control.

    Tents will work quite well for them just as it does for our Patriotic troops in the Middle East!

    Report Post »  
    • booger71
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:42pm

      Most likely it was homemade brew which is easily made with basic indregients found in all prisons

      Report Post » booger71  
  • NickDeringer
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:28am

    Wait! Inmates were drinking booze in prison?? The stupidity plague has broken out in the EU and looks like there’s no cure for it.

    Report Post » NickDeringer  
    • N37BU6
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:07pm

      @DUSTYLUV

      “So FU!!!”

      I rest my case.

      Report Post » N37BU6  
    • N37BU6
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:40pm

      Slavery, eugenics, debt, and annihilating more innocent men, women, and children in Japan than were ever killed on 9/11… yeah, you’re “great” alright. If someone nuked New York, you wouldn’t call it “war”. You’d call it what it is: terrorism. Mass murder.

      I have news for you: The ideas written in the constitution are what are great. You have strayed from the constitution since day one and almost destroyed yourself. You can claim to be “greatest” if you want, but that’s like being the drunken, stinking bum on the street with the nicest shoes. It’s hardly something to be proud of.

      Your delusional superiority complex is what’s doing you in. You were great, and possibly can be again, but at the moment, no. You’re not the “greatest” anymore. You’re just the least pathetic. Nobody is “great” anymore, just varying degrees of failure.

      You’re to the point that even Rush Limbaugh flew to the Czech Republic to shop for health care. That’s sad. Debt is out of control. Education is among the worst in the western world. Health care is on the way down too. You’re throwing your economy down the toilet (or to China and India… same difference) by shutting down your natural resources and outsourcing production. Sorry, but you’re not really “number one” in much of anything anymore. That’s all in your head. You could be, absolutely. But you’re currently subpar and hanging by a thread.

      You can thump your chest all you want. It doesn’t change reality one bit. Go ahead and think I‘m bashing America when I’m clearly defending it. If you can’t see that “America” is an idea on a piece of paper and not a landmass or a people defined by any sort of special DNA, then that’s your problem.

      You as an individual are not superior to everyone. Your politicians are not superior to everyone. Your economy, debt factored in, is not superior to everyone. Your test scores are not superior to everyone. Your crime rates are not superior to everyone. You’re not “inferior to everyone” either. But it doesn’t make you “the greatest”.

      The truth hurts. Sorry. Shoving your head in the sand and saying “FU!!!” to people isn’t going to make it feel any better. It just makes you look like an idiot.

      I’m a Brit. Guess what? I can bash Great Britain. I currently live in Canada. Guess what? I can bash Canada. It’s called not being in denial. You should try it sometime.

      Report Post » N37BU6  
    • Insipid
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 2:29pm

      N37,
      I would have to agree and don’t understand the country name calling. People are people and politicians in all countries are undoubtably corrupt. I still stick with my thought and that is to let the place burn, give them tents and live with the consequences of their actions. I live in the USA and unfortunately withing 10 miles of the largest prison complex in my state, That being said, if they started fires, I feel the same way let them burn and let the inmates live with the consequences. There are far too many damn “victims” in today’s society.

      Report Post » Inbred Jed  
    • shortdog24
      Posted on January 2, 2011 at 12:17am

      The inmates make simple booze from fruit that they get with meals or smuggle out of the chow hall. (The fermentation process only takes about two days, sometimes faster if they have a heat source). I work in a high level Michigan Prison. Liberals have tied the hands of the authorities so much that most of the time, the prisoners can do what they want because they know that they have the politically correct people that run the system by the balls. We need sherrif Joe, too.

      Report Post »  
  • neverending
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:27am

    Glad the UK always shows us what we can look forward to!!

    Report Post »  
  • Insipid
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:27am

    I say evacuate all staff, let it burn, then they can live in tents or the burnt out buildings. FOr actions there ae consequences.

    Report Post » Inbred Jed  
    • right-wing-waco
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:30am

      Exactly what I was thinking. Very well put.

      Report Post »  
    • Hobo Boondocks
      Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:05pm

      How insensitive can you be? They are just incarcerated, responsible, upstanding citizens being denied their right to refuse a test that attacks their dignity! Anyone can see that the authorities provoked this reaction among an already oppressed minority….they deserve an apology and their sentence commuted to time already served. And released to go out and get drunk ! What is bizarre-o world coming to when people who don’t give a damn about the sacredness of life can’t go out and recklessly endanger their fellow man?

      Report Post »  
  • LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL ILLNESS
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:25am

    That place needs Sherrif Joe.

    Report Post »  
  • snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:24am

    So now how long until the Obama administration will attempt to link this little mess to the fiction of the Global Warming, and also blame it on former President Bush…like they try to do with everything else in existence.

    http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Sheepdog911
      Posted on January 2, 2011 at 8:05am

      No need to shoot them. Withdraw and make them put their own fires out. Then live in it or clean it up on their own. This will go down the path of all welfare housing … they destroy it, complain and then expect the taxpayers to fix it. Another story indicated they burned two recreation buildings … just how many “recreation” buildings does a prison with 500 inmates have? Sorry guy, fix it yourselves or do without. It a prison, not daycare.

      Report Post » Sheepdog911  
    • Devil Dog 7175
      Posted on January 2, 2011 at 8:44am

      Screw em… Let em live in it now! Sounds like the riots in this country… Burn down your own homes that you trashed, get the goverbnment to build you new ones… trash them, burn them down…and on and on…

      Report Post » Devil Dog 7175  
  • TruthTalker
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 11:22am

    The same guards that supplied the alcohol were then trying to test their breath.

    Report Post »  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:17pm

    anyone have any Xyklon B? that’s what we should do here, simultaneously hit every single one of our med sec and max prisons and wipe ALL of the animals out. especially, before fuhrer obama can push thru that 2008 angry campaign platform of his about emptying the majority-black-filled prisons to make a “private civilian army” who will answer to HIM.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
  • Non-sequitur
    Posted on January 1, 2011 at 1:47pm

    “Advocates use of Zyklon B”

    “Calls Obama the Fuhrer”

    Ahaha. If you were a dog I’d push your nose into that post to teach you not to do that ever again.

    Report Post »  
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