An inspection at a Liverpool jail has found violence and bullying has risen. A report found the number of assaults at HMP Altcourse have gone up significantly and there are issues with gangs and drugs. Education and training were praised but overall inspectors found the prison was less safe than previous years.
A Merseyside prison run by private-firm G4S has been "slow to react" to increasing levels of violence and has failed to address links to the availability of drugs - including so-called legal highs, inspectors have found.
HMP Altcourse, in Liverpool, has been criticised by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons for its "inadequate" response to the violence - which included 210 assaults, including 53 against staff - in the previous six months.
Between January and April alone, 38 serious assaults were recorded. Gang issues and the availability of drugs, particularly so-called legal highs such as Spice and Black Mamba, were a significant factor in much of the violence, inspectors added.
Elsewhere, inspectors found the use of force was not always "proportionate and necessary", while the jail was overcrowded with "many squalid cells" designed for one or two holding an additional prisoner.
Chief inspectors of Prisons Nick Hardwick said tackling violence at the Category B prison, which holds up to 1,133 inmates was "the urgent priority" for Altcourse.
G4S runs four other prisons in the UK - Birmingham, Oakwood, in Wolverhampton, Parc in Bridgend and Rye Hill in Rugby.
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