Complaint investigation summaries

The prisoner complained he was assaulted by staff while being relocated from the segregation unit, following an adjudication. We partially upheld the complaint on the basis that we felt more could be done to resolve the situation before force was instigated.

The prisoner complained about the length of time taken to process his ROTL application to attend his mother’s funeral. The IPCI investigation found that the funeral took place quickly after death and given steps necessary to approve ROTL for a prisoner in the LTHSE, the delay was not unreasonable. However, we were concerned the prison could not supply us with details of how far the application had progressed prior to the funeral date in order that we might better understand if there were grounds for refusal, or if it was treated urgently.

The prisoner complained about the finding of guilt at an adjudication. The IPCI investigation established there were errors with the paperwork, and that only one of the witnesses, requested, was called and there was no reference to the missing witness the record of hearing. This is not policy compliant as adjudicators should consider requests for witnesses, and if evidence is heard from them, those charged should be allowed to question them.

The prisoner complained about the actions of a member of staff. The IPCI investigation found no evidence to uphold the substantive complaint. However, we found that the response to a Comp2 (delegated by the Governor for investigation by a member of staff) was not suitably robust to provide evidence of a decent investigation.

The prisoner complained that staff at HMP Wakefield were bullying him because he had made complaints to IPCI about the prison. The IPCI investigation found no evidence of bullying but did consider that the response to the prisoner’s confidential access complaint was inadequate and did not fully address his concerns.

The prisoner complained that he did not receive two of his canteen orders. He explained that when he ordered the canteen, he was resident on G wing. However, when his canteen was delivered, he had moved wings and did not receive it. At the time of writing to us he had not received a refund.

The prisoner complained about the time taken by HMP Nottingham to send his property to HMP Five Wells. The prisoner moved to Five Wells in November 2023. Nottingham sent the property in June 2024. Five Wells failed to inform the prisoner they received it because of an administrative issue.

The prisoner complained that some of their property had been lost when they transferred from HMP Wymott to HMP Risley. Neither prison was able to provide any property cards, so it was not possible to confirm whether the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework had been complied with. In addition, the prisoner’s complaint had been responded to a month late by Wymott.

The prisoner complained that their property had been lost by HMP Standford Hill after they transferred to HMP The Mount. They complained that were not given the chance to pack up their property and that items that were recorded on their property cards at Standford Hill, did not arrive at The Mount. Our investigation found that Standford Hill had used a local version of a Cell Clearance Certificate, contrary to the Prisoner’s Property Policy Framework, and there were discrepancies between the Cell Clearance Certificate and the prisoner’s property card.

The prisoner complained about several incidents of bullying and victimisation by both staff and prisoners. Our investigation found the prison had not conducted adequate investigations into the allegations nor kept adequate records and therefore, had no evidence of reasonable measures taken to reassure of the prisoner’s safety.