Violence is on the increase at a prison in Doncaster, according to a new inspection report.

Inspectors assessed HMP Lindholme to check on the conditions and treatment of prisoners during the coronavirus pandemic.

The prison held around 900 prisoners at the time of visits in October, with over half the inmates high-risk offenders and more than 200 having links to organised crime.

The majority of prisoners were serving lengthy sentences, a fifth of which were indeterminate or for life.

Inspectors found that their had been no Covid cases amongst prisoner during the pandemic despite ‘little evidence of social distancing by staff or prisoners’. They also found that very few staff were wearing masks.

To prevent outbreaks, inmates were found to be spending more time locked up, with less than an hour of free time a day.

It was not uncommon for time in the open air to be limited to 20 minutes in a day and prisoners could also remain locked in their cells for 28 hours in one stretch at the weekend, inspectors found.

The report said that although the prison had made ‘significant progress in improving’ safety since their last inspection in 2017, with a reduction in assaults by half, incidents of violence and self-harm were now rising again.

It found that following a drop in violence and self-harm figures at the start of Covid restrictions at the prison, the number of incidents was ‘gradually increasing back to pre-pandemic levels’.

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons said: “There was mounting frustration among prisoners who reported that the excessive time spent locked up was having a negative impact on their well-being, including weight

gain, difficulty in sleeping and a deterioration in their mental health.”

He said inspectors found some shower rooms were in ‘poor condition’ and some ‘poor living conditions’ were identified.

Summing up the inspection, he said: “Since the previous inspection there had clearly been progress, with significant improvements in prison safety. It was especially disappointing, therefore, to find such an excessively poor regime exacerbating mounting frustration, and the deterioration of well-being for many prisoners.

“There was a clear need for managers and local staff associations to come to an agreement about safe and

credible plans that would allow the prison regime to develop and ensure outcomes for those detained improved.”