Killing with Confetti

7

ONE DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED IN PRISON ESCAPE BID

KIDNAPPED GOVERNOR’S BRAVE ACT

By J. Ballard Peck

31 July, 2015

A riot and escape attempt yesterday in the Category B prison in Bream, Gloucestershire, resulted in at least one death and a number of injuries. The governor, Magda Lyle, 36, is in intensive care and fighting for her life after crashing her car outside the prison gates in what is believed to have been a deliberate and selfless act of bravery that foiled the escape bid.

It is understood Ms. Lyle was kidnapped by armed and masked raiders at her home near Tintern early yesterday morning and forced at gunpoint to drive her own car to the prison five miles away in the Forest of Dean, where a riot and fire were already raging as part of a pre-arranged plot. An unmarked van driven by one of the kidnappers followed Ms. Lyle’s Škoda. As they approached the prison she is thought to have braked her car at high speed with the deliberate intention of causing a collision with the pursuing van. Both vehicles were wrecked and the unidentified driver of the van was killed. Ms. Lyle and her masked passenger suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be cut from the wreckage by fire officers. They were flown by helicopter to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

The circumstances of the riot inside the prison have been pieced together from phone and social media messages sent out by prisoners. The disturbance started in C wing. At least two prison officers came to unlock in the morning and were attacked, tied up and held inside cells. Their keys were used to gain access to other areas of the prison. The CCTV system was disabled and up to a hundred inmates rampaged through the building, arming themselves with anything that came to hand. A stairwell was set on fire. Flames were seen at the windows of C wing and several prisoners got onto the roof and hurled tiles. The riot lasted more than six hours.

An elite Tornado unit — officers specially trained and equipped to suppress serious disturbances — was sent in early in the afternoon and succeeded in freeing the prison officers and restoring order. A number of prisoners were treated for minor injuries.

HMP Bream is an isolated Victorian building housing up to 78 °Category B prisoners deemed to be in the second rank of risk ‘for whom escape needs to be made very difficult,’ including murderers and many serving terms of ten years or more for violence, arson and terrorism. Over recent years disturbances and other incidents including several suicides have been reported there.

A prison spokesman said, ‘The disturbance was brought to an end by trained officers at 2:45

P.M. The events inside the prison seem to have been coordinated with the kidnap of the governor and we are working on the assumption that this was a conspiracy by people in the prison and outside to create a major disturbance to allow certain prisoners to escape. If so, it failed. A number of offenders are being moved to other prisons while the damaged sections of the building are repaired and restored to normal. An investigation will take place and those responsible may expect to have their sentences increased substantially. A statement about the incident is likely to be made in Parliament in the next few days by the prisons minister. The condition of the injured governor, Ms. Lyle, is said to be critical. Her brave action almost certainly averted a mass escape and we are deeply indebted to her.’