Lady Governor transforms worst prison with flowers

One of the UK's worst prisons has been transformed by a female governor who claimed inmates and staff had felt hopeless and beaten down. 

 

Inspectors have praised Pia Sinha for replacing the chaotic surroundings and filth they saw in 2017, at HMP Liverpool, with clean and decent living conditions. When the Prison was last inspected, in September 2017, there were hundreds of broken windows, filthy blocked toilets, graffiti, damp and even rodents. Violence was continuously increasing, drugs were readily available, and the rehabilitation regime was judged poor. 

 

Following the 2017 report the previous governor was removed, and the justice select committee said, "the prison was symptomatic of wider failings in jails".

 

As a result, Ms Sinha who has worked for the Prison service for 20 years, was brought in from HMP Risley in Warrington, where she was also a governor. She set about transforming the once denigrated prison into a high ranking success. 

 

The number of inmates were reduced by up to 700 and major refurbishments began such as repairing the windows to prevent drones bringing in drugs, installing a state-of-the-art football pitch (which doubles as a circuit for park runs), and landscaping the gardens within the site.  

 

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said "the impact had been dramatic and the rise in standards from the lowest to highest ratings in two years was a remarkable achievement, although much more still needed to be done".   

 

Ms Sinha (who  came to Briton from Mumbai when she was 14 years old after her father was offered a job in insurance in the UK), said "the investment and refurbishments provided a better  environment which helped improve behaviour but, more importantly, was transforming the culture and attitude of staff and inmates". 

 

She continued "you can have all the investments in the world but if you don't have a staff group, culture and work ethic that is all about improvement and hope, then no money can buy that"

 

The Johnson Partnership

Derby Crime Solicitors