Pepper-spray misuse found in prisons pilot scheme
The planned rollout of the use of pepper spray by prison officers has been urged to be brought to a halt by ministers, after findings showed that it may have been used in breach of official guidance in almost two thirds of recorded incidents during a pilot scheme.
It was announced in October that the use of Pava, a synthetic incapacitant pepper spray would be rolled out in prisons. The prisons minister Rory Stewart said it would only be used in "exceptional circumstances" to protect staff from threats of serious violence.
However, the Prison Reform Trust suggested guidance was routinely ignored by officers during the pilot, and that the rollout was "likely to do more harm than good and undermine the safety of prisoners and prison officers".
During the pilot scheme, Pava was deployed 50 times. which took place in four prisons – Hull, Preston, Risley and Wealstun – between January and June.
In several incidents the guidance, which states Pava must only be used when other restraining techniques had failed or were unviable, was breached for multiple reasons.
On one occasion, Pava was deployed against a prisoner who was self-harming and where there was no indication of a threat towards the officer.
PRT's director and a former prison governor, Peter Dawson, wrote in a letter to Stewart, "The availability of such a potent weapon has immediately created a norm for its use which is different from what you intended, and which the safeguards in place – even in a closely monitored pilot – failed to control,"
"Perhaps as a consequence, there is clear evidence from the pilot that deployment of Pava undermined the trust that prisoners had in officers and in the legitimacy of the authority those officers hold."
The UK's human rights watchdog had previously warned that the rollout of Pava would put inmates at risk of inhumane treatment.
"We do not understand how or why this decision has been taken," said Rebecca Hilsenrath, the chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. "There is no sound evidence to support rolling out Pava spray in this way.
"We agree that it is of the highest importance that prison officers are able to protect themselves and others, but such protections must not be at the expense of the basic rights of prisoners. Everyone has the right to live without fear of inhumane treatment."
A spokesman for the Prison Service told the BBC there was no evidence to suggest Pava was used unlawfully during the pilot and it would be wrong to imply that cases of misuse were ignored.
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