Staff at HMP Liverpool are still trying to keep prisoners warm with 'extra blankets' after months of heating problems at the Walton jail.
The ECHO reported on the bleak conditions on I Wing of the Victorian era prison last December, with inmates forced to rely on blankets and several layers of clothing to keep warm. At the time, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) confirmed that the heating had been faulty for four weeks but said that they were “working to urgently resolve heating issues”.
However, more than three months later the ECHO understand significant issues remain, with the heating systems continuing to fail intermittently. A spokesman for the MOJ told the ECHO: "Prisoners have been without heating for no more than a few hours and refurbishment work is already underway to solve the issue."
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The MOJ said refurbishment work is currently underway and noted that the affected prisoners have been provided with additional blankets and continuous access to kettles. Back in December the mum of a Wirral man, serving an assault sentence in the Hornby Road jail, told the ECHO that her son was in a particularly bad situation because the window of his cell was broken, leaving it open to the elements.
She said at the time "They're having to stay dressed in pyjamas all day and borrow layers of clothing off everyone else to keep warm."
The mum also claimed her son had lost around a stone in weight since his move to I Wing as there were multiple occasions when breakfast packages had not been delivered, although prison authorities refuted this claim. She said: "I understand they're in there for punishment, and I'm all for it.
"I would never say he does not deserve it if he does something wrong; they deserve their punishment. But at the same time, they don't deserve to be treated inhumanely; their punishment is the fact they are in there."
