‘I saw inmates eat glass and nails to try to get out’: The brutal reality of life inside Medomsley Detention Centre
For thousands of young men sentenced to prison at Medomsley Detention Centre, the nightmare began when they arrived at the front gates.
Many were met with punches for failing to address themselves as “sir” in their response when asked for their name by an officer, according to a damning report into historical abuse at the notorious Durham facility.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning, as the young men were forced to endure a grueling regimen of beatings, humiliation, chores and punishing physical drills.
Hundreds were also raped and abused by serial sexual predators, including “history’s worst sex offender” Neville Husband, who targeted two or three victims a day in the centre’s kitchens.
The brutal treatment drove some to suicide or desperately prepared to eat glass to get hospitalized.
Harrowing first-hand accounts in Prison and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher’s 202-page report published on Wednesday revealed the reality of life at Medomsley, which housed low-level offenders aged 17 to 21 from 1961 to 1987.
Men and boys were sent to detention centers for crimes such as theft, non-payment of fines and robbery, as part of the Margaret Thatcher-era policy of hitting criminals with a “short, sharp shock”. One was sent away for stealing biscuits and the other for taking a coat from the back of the car.
Witnesses said the trainees were strip-searched upon arrival and forced to wash in a metal bath; The inside of this bathroom was five centimeters full of either freezing cold or boiling hot water.
The men and boys were unlocked at 6.30am during their stay and immediately made to run around the premises before washing and shaving. In addition to a daily work detail, they also had to complete a grueling physical education training regimen.
This was so difficult that it included running the two-mile course known as the ‘hedge’; many resorted to desperate measures such as breaking bones, swallowing glass or drinking Brasso in the hope of being sent to hospital.
One survivor said: “I remember being in the hospital wing and there was a big lad in the bed opposite me. I think he was there because he had a bottle of Brasso.”
“I saw him getting kicked all over because he was overweight and he couldn’t do fitness there.”
Another recalled: “I also saw the kids jump on someone’s leg from the bunk bed and break it. I heard it break. When someone managed to break the bone they took it out and were never seen again.”
A third said: “I saw prisoners eating glass and nails, breaking razors and swallowing knives, doing anything to escape. [Medomsley] and to the hospital.”
However, even those who were ill did not escape the abuse; Some witnesses said that if they were sick, they might have painkillers stuck to their foreheads and be told to run around until the pill dissolved.
Beating and physical abuse can happen at any time; interns are often targeted because they are perceived as gay or weak, or because they are subjected to racist abuse.
One survivor said that while he was waiting in line, an officer approached him from behind and punched him hard in the kidneys.
“The pain caused me to fall to the ground. As I stood up, I put my hands on the ground and pushed myself up. My hands were sort of claw-shaped. [The officer] He deliberately hit my hand, causing my little finger and ring finger to bend under my hand.
“I felt my fingers crack and I felt an instant pain radiate down my arm. [the officer] He had just broken my fingers. He told me to shut up.”
Bunny hops, in which trainees crouched with their hands behind their heads and hopped like rabbits, was a form of exercise routinely used as punishment.
One survivor said: “A police officer punched me in the face… told me to strip naked, then made me do ‘bunny hops’ naked in the corridor in front of other inmates.
“There was a guard at the top and bottom of the corridor and they would kick you when you got to the end, or if you kept following you down the corridor they would kick you.
“I was forced to walk up and down the corridor until I couldn’t do it anymore. It was done to humiliate me, they even showed my genitals and made fun of me just to increase the humiliation even more.”
The government apologized to survivors, announcing a new Youth Detention Protection Panel that will review complaints processes, train staff and ensure the voices of children in custody are heard.
Youth Justice Minister Jake Richards said: “I want to say again to the men who were subjected to such appalling abuse at Medomsley: I am truly sorry. The failures revealed by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman in today’s report are truly distressing and we must ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”
“This government is today establishing a Youth Custody Protection Panel to review how we protect children in custody. This will ensure their voices are heard, complaints are taken seriously and every child is protected from harm.”
