Moustache growing contest at toughest prison stuns guards with violence change

09 March 2024 , 18:07

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Attacks on staff at HMP Bedford were routine - until the 'stache contest (Image: Getty Images)

If you want prisoners to start behaving, just get them to stop shaving - that’s the upshot after a Movember charity challenge led to a drop in violence at one of Britain’s toughest jails.

HMP Bedford reported an 18% reduction in assaults after the moustache grow-off, according to prison inspectors. Now, other jails across the country could ditch razors this winter, hoping for a similar boost.

A source said: “Movember brought inmates and staff closer. It’s being seen as a crucial driver in reducing assaults.”

HMP Bedford (Getty Images)

Around 50 of category B Bedford’s 400 inmates teamed up with 20 warders to grow facial fuzz to raise charity cash. Only six months earlier, things were so bad at the prison a 24-hour lockdown was imposed amid reports of a gun being smuggled inside.

Attacks on staff and other lags had become routine – with stats showing it was in the country’s top five jails for violence. Former inmates of the prison, opened in 1801, include James Hanratty, one of the last people to be hanged for murder in the UK – many believe wrongly – and paedo BBC DJ Chris Denning.

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A prison insider said events like Movember, Black History Month, Pancake Day and various other food days help ease tension in jails. He said: “When a prisoner has something to look forward to, it means they are less likely to end up causing trouble.”

The Ministry of Justice was approached for comment.

Stian Alexander