 Wormwood Scrubs has had a troubled past |
A public inquiry into abuse of inmates by prison officers at Wormwood Scrubs jail during the 1990s has been ruled out by the Home Office. An earlier police probe into alleged beatings at the west London jail led to the suspension of 27 officers and the conviction of three for assault.
The family of a prisoner found dead in 1994 had called for a public inquiry.
But Home Secretary David Blunkett said internal inquiries had already made "full and frank criticisms".
He acknowledged that there had been "wholly unacceptable" incidents at the prison.
Following the earlier police investigation, the Home Office paid out almost �1.4m in compensation to 57 inmates who suffered abuse between 1992 and 2002.
It was the biggest ever criminal investigation at a British prison.
Mr Blunkett added that he was satisfied three events at the jail since October 2000 were not related to the problems in the 1990s and that there was no evidence of "systemic abuse".
'Unsurprising'
The family of John Boyle, who was found dead at the jail in December 1994, had called for a formal investigation into the regime there during the 1990s.
The 27-year-old, from Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, was found hanging in his cell after being restrained by prison officers.
The Boyle family's solicitor, Daniel Machover, said after the Home Office announcement: "While this is disappointing, it is no real surprise. "This government and this home secretary have shown no genuine inclination to get to grips with abusive behaviour by prison officers."
The decision sent "all the wrong signals to abusive officers", Mr Machover added.
"In turn, this guarantees that there will be a repeat of something akin to, what is now openly admitted as having been, the Scrubs scandal."
Improvement
Earlier this year, Chief Inspector of Prisons Ann Owers found that conditions at the jail had greatly improved since her last visit in 2002.
Three quarters of inmates said they felt they were being treated with respect by staff - above the national average.
But Ms Owers warned inmates spent too little time outside their cells and too few were involved in education or prison work.
In September 2002, Ms Owers had found that many inmates felt bullied and unsafe and that healthcare facilities were in an "appalling state".
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This guarantees there will be a repeat of something akin to the Scrubs scandal 
