A new ITV documentary is set to reveal the grim reality of life behind the walls of Strangeways prison in Manchester.
The high-security jail, which is known for having housed some of the most dangerous convicts, including serial killers Ian Brady and Harold Shipman will feature in a two-part series about Britain's Notorious Prisons.
Featuring exclusive first-hand testimony from past inmates and staff at the north Manchester prison, the documentary will uncover what really goes on within the prison gates.
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The programme is set to investigate a range of issues impacting HMP Manchester, as well as HMP Wormwood Scrubs in London - including racism, prisoner violence, and the lasting impact of covid on the prison system.
Episode one, which is due to air in the new year, will feature interviews with previous inmates and prison staff and will delve into how Strangeways became so notorious.
The maximum-security prison has housed some of the region's vilest murderers, rapists and paedophiles and was also infamous in its past for Dickensian and degrading conditions.
Strangeways was once known for its overcrowding and the practice of slopping out, where a bucket in each cell was shared as a toilet, and then emptied out in sluices.
The programme will explore the 1990 riots, which saw inmates take over the prison for 25 days, and will feature exclusive tales from a prison officer about the overt racism which took place in the seventies and eighties.
Ex-prisoner Paul Downs talks of the violence when he did time in the eighties. He said: "The screws were brutal, hair triggered. They would literally jump all over you.
"You’d curl up in a ball on the floor and they’d kick you, then they’d stretch you out and kick you again. Cos they all wore Doc Martens. You know it was the screws’ favourite footwear for caving your face in. It was just a violent, filthy, anything goes regime."
Speaking of the 1990 riots, ex-officer Peter Hancox said: "When I saw the devastation that had gone on, it’s something that I will never ever forget. I know I shouldn’t be saying it, but I was stood there in tears. It was as if part of me had been destroyed.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We have worked hard to improve HMP Manchester, and inspections show this is working. (its) most recent independent report found a reduction in violence and assaults at the prison."
Part one of Britain's Notorious Prisons will air on Thursday 12 Jan, 2023 at 9pm on ITV.
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