County Derry prison received over 1400 complaints from prisoners last year

A County Derry prison received a total of 1425 complaints from prisoners in the last year, according to new data. 

The data provided to the County Derry Post from a Freedom of Information request to The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), covering the period of 1/8/2023 and 31/7/24 in HMP Magilligan, along with ongoing complaints at the time of publication. 

Complaints regarding property and cash were the most common, with over 212 complaints made by prisoners. 

Of the 212 complaints, eight of them were closed and discharged, while 52 were closed after an internal investigation was completed and 152 closed after not being escalated. 

Closed after an internal investigation was completed and closed with no escalation refer to complaints that have been resolved internally and therefore not progressed further.

In total, there were 39 different complaints made by prisoners in HMP Magilligan. 

Complaints made about staff were second highest on the list, with 196 total complaints made by prisoners. 

Three of the complaints were closed and discharged, while there were 37 closed with a completed internal investigation, and there were 155 closed after not being escalated, while there is currently one case currently open.

Accomodation received the third most amount of complaints from prisoners; 153 of them were closed and not escalated, 26 of them closed with an internal investigation, and two of them were closed and discharged. 

This means there were a total of 181 complaints regarding accommodation.

Only complaints about links received over 100 from prisoners in HMP Magilligan with 104. 

Currently there is a case ongoing, while five complaints have been closed and discharged, with seven of them closed after a completed internal investigation, meaning 91 complaints were closed after not being escalated. 

There are currently five open complaints, including one complaint each about staff, links, and in a foreign language, while there are currently two ongoing complaints about pre-release.

From the 1425 complaints made by prisoners at HMP Magilligan, 32 of them were closed and discharged. 

This includes complaints made about food, home leave, tuckshop and visits. 

Meanwhile, there were a total of 252 complaints closed after an internal investigation was completed, including 11 for work allocation, 11 about complaint procedure, and 12 for adjudication. 

There were 1136 complaints that were closed after not escalating from the total of 1425 complaints.

This includes 13 complaints about education, 22 complaints about another inmate, and 29 about the programmes in HMP Magilligan.

A NI Prison Service spokesperson said: “On any given day over the past year, Magilligan Prison held approximately 500 men in custody.  

“Awareness of and access to an open and transparent complaints procedure is an important way for prisoners to raise their concerns and have them dealt with in a timely manner. 

“This approach allows for early resolution of issues, the evidencing of completed actions, and is beneficial to those who live and work within the prison, supporting the Prison Service to continue to improve services for people in their care.”