New teenage inmates 'need to join gangs' for protection in Leeds prison, court told
Judge also blasts lack of guards during vicious fight
Inmates arriving at a young offender institute are being forced into joining gangs for their own protection, a court heard.
A young murderer serving a life sentence was given additional jail time this week for his involvement in two assaults at YOI Wetherby.
An inmate was stabbed by Jordan Rance and three others all armed with sharpened toothbrushes in the prison’s exercise yard, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Rance, 19, also sparked an attack in the classroom by punching another inmate before others joined in using makeshift weapons.
But during his mitigation, his barrister Sean Smith said it was part of the “culture” of YOI Wetherby that new inmates join groups “for their own protection”.
He said that it involved “reprisals” in which gangs would be expected to attack others.
In addition, Judge Richard Mansell KC said the CCTV footage from Rance’s first attack in the exercise yard demonstrated a “worrying” lack of prison guards on duty.
He said there were none in sight and apparently none in the exercise yard area.
He said: “It’s worrying that they [the inmates] were left to the own devices like that.
“There were no prison officers in the yard or even nearby to intervene or stop the violence. It went on for over a minute.”
He recognised there a “major discipline” issue at the institution, adding: “It’s led to an environment that people feel the need to align themselves to a particular group or gang and arm themselves with improvised weapons.”
It comes after a report released by the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in February found high levels of violence, frequent weapon discoveries, and weak staff-child relationships at Wetherby.
Earlier this month the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) of prisons and YOIs found a deeply-concerning trend of young inmate carrying weapons at Wetherby.
The Evening Post contacted the Ministry of Justice for a response to the latest claims in court.
A spokesman said: “Our hard-working staff are trained to work in some of the most challenging environments, but we must keep clamping down on violence across the crisis-hit prisons estate we inherited.
“While more must be done, a three-year plan is in place to improve HMP Wetherby and this year inspectors have noted the impact of strong leadership in delivering a more stable regime."