Prison opens year late after bosses forget to order locks and keys

25 March 2023 , 21:02

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The maximum security prison had to open more than a year late (Image: Corbis via Getty Images)

A maximum security prison unit opened more than a year late after bosses failed to order any locks and keys.

Planning consent for the segregation unit was given in 2017 and it was due to open in 2021 but a series of errors meant it was not ready until last summer.

Details only emerged this week in a report, which branded it “unbelievable”.

A source said: “You’d think if you were building new cells, locks and keys would be fairly high up the to-do list. It beggars belief that the project continued for so long without this in hand.”

The cells, for 30 high-risk prisoners, were being built to replace the old segregation unit, which was “unfit for purpose”.

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Wayland's most famous inmate was Reggie Kray (PA)

The Independent Monitoring Board said of the mix-up at HMP Wayland in Norfolk, which was once home to Reggie Kray: “Unbelievably, everyone wrongly thought someone else was procuring locks for the cells and the building.”

Covid-related “supply chain issues” also added to the delay.

The Prison Service said the lock issue was now “resolved”.

Stian Alexander