HMP Ford Prison Riot

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Specialist prison guards in body armour have been tackling rioting inmates at an open jail in West Sussex.

Firefighters were also sent to HMP Ford after 40 prisoners smashed windows and started blazes at around midnight.

At least two fire engines and 140 prison staff are on the site near Arundel after flames spread from one block to another.

The Prison Officers' Association said the violence began after staff tried to breathalyse some of the 200 prisoners.

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View the full article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12102266

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Answer; ban alcohol in prisons.

Isn't alcohol banned in prisons anyway?

They make their own alcohol don't they? I don't think they're actually allowed to buy it legally within the prison :P, hence why they were being breathalysed.

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Originally Posted by flatface

They make their own alcohol don't they? I don't think they're actually allowed to buy it legally within the prison :P

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That is something I don't and won't ever know :P

I know there have been things in the past when they can have 'limited amounts'

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Originally Posted by MrJordan

Isn't alcohol banned in prisons anyway?

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Not sure, but you would have thought it is slightly poor monitoring for at least 40 empty bottles to be found :P

Instead of breathayizing them, they should of been confiscating the alcohol ;l

I watched this documentary on one of the biggest prisons in the country on TV earlier last year and it said they had a massive problem with inmates producing their own alcohol and were possible they do try to confiscate it, they did stress that it would be incredibly difficult to constantly observe and confiscate alcohol especially when most prisons have 500+ inmates and in comparison a tiny amount of prison officers.

I'm more interested to know how they get their hands on the equipment needed to make alcohol, and the necessary ingredients :S Either that or I've missed out on how to make alcohol with as little time possible :/ I guess they won't need anything to make the taste enjoyable, seeing as they'd no doubt be getting drunk to pass time than to actually enjoy it :P

Just a case for increasing prison staff, or doing something about the prison/court system.

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Originally Posted by GommeInc

I'm more interested to know how they get their hands on the equipment needed to make alcohol, and the necessary ingredients :S Either that or I've missed out on how to make alcohol with as little time possible :/ I guess they won't need anything to make the taste enjoyable, seeing as they'd no doubt be getting drunk to pass time than to actually enjoy it :P

Just a case for increasing prison staff, or doing something about the prison/court system.

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I'll see if I can find the doc I watched online because it went into detail on how they make the alcohol. I definitely know it's from stuff like apple peel etc because they were confiscating a lot of fruit from inmates cells that they classed as an excessive amount. Also sugar, ketchup and generally anything they could get their hands on. Apparently their home made alcohol is really dangerous and tastes absolutely foul but as you said it's probably more for getting drunk rather than taste :D

Oh and apparently it's made in a carrier bag lol

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In UK prisons this stuff is called 'hooch'

Anything with any form of sugar content can and is used, suger from the kitchens is the most common, but molasses feed used for farm animals is used too.

More sophisitcated prisoners can use grain boiled and mashed up, but these last two are only found in prisons with farms attatched.

Sugar is by far the most common method of producing alchohol, inmates will collect it and store it for use.

It is usual for oranges, or pretty much any fruit to be used to give it some kind of passable flavour.

The places selected for brewing determine how quickly it can be consumed, anywhere warm is favourite, but staff know this and so the best places are always under surveillance.

Containers are very often 5 litre containers which normally contain cleaning fluids such as disinfectant, floor polish and the like.
These are rinsed out but can leave the mark of their previous contents on the brew.

Prison staff try to ensure that empty potential hooch containers are slashed apart, I have seen rubbish bags used as liners for holes in the ground for the fermentation stage, these are camaflaged over with a thin layer of soil, greenhouses are the favourite place for this activity.

Many prisons make their own bread so yeast is not a problem, but if this cannot be obtained then mouldy bread yeast cultures are used, also yeast extracts such as marmite are used to start of the frementation process.

Hooch is often adulterated even more to make it more potent, I have heard of cases where anti-freeze has been obtained from prison vehicles to fortify it.

In low category prisons getting hold of alchoholic beverages is not difficult so hooch is fairly uncommon, but the higher security rated prisons it is a consant hunt for the stuff.

Inmates try to make it for certain times of the years, such as Christmas and news years eve, and since it usually takes about a week to ten days fermentation before the hooch can be decanted we usually do sweeps to find it during the run up to known hooch festival times.

Hooch is not the major problem in UK jails as it once was as it has long been surpassed by hard drugs, still, it does cause staff hassle as inmates are not the most intelligent of drinkers(or indeed as examples of humanity) and they can become aggressive, or make themselves seriously ill.

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Interesting

No no no people you're getting it all wrong, this is an open prison (would you believe they exist, my personal favourite oxymoron) - by being in an open prison which is in other words free housing, we are punishing criminals and ensuring that they will never ever commit crimes again.

So the question 'how did they get alcohol' is rather simple, its an open prison!!

Ah, and because this prison is an open air prison they can pretty much do the whole process. It's pretty interesting, and might be of use for some students out there who want to make their own cheap alcohol :P

HMP Ford just need to focus on proper waste management by the looks of things, why the prisoners are anywhere near carrier bags is one question. Another is, maybe they should keep a nose out for any dodgy (er than usual) smells coming from cells, and look out for any prisoners stashing stuff they shouldn't. It does make you wonder how they can hide all these things, when prisons should be pretty basic - rooms lacking any sort of furniture etc. I can't picture the grounds without thinking of American prisons, but I'd assume they should be a bit basic too, afterall teachers at school can point out suspicious behaviour with children in the playground, so you'd think this wouldn't make much difference :P

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Originally Posted by GommeInc

Ah, and because this prison is an open air prison they can pretty much do the whole process. It's pretty interesting, and might be of use for some students out there who want to make their own cheap alcohol :P

HMP Ford just need to focus on proper waste management by the looks of things, why the prisoners are anywhere near carrier bags is one question. Another is, maybe they should keep a nose out for any dodgy (er than usual) smells coming from cells, and look out for any prisoners stashing stuff they shouldn't. It does make you wonder how they can hide all these things, when prisons should be pretty basic - rooms lacking any sort of furniture etc. I can't picture the grounds without thinking of American prisons, but I'd assume they should be a bit basic too, afterall teachers at school can point out suspicious behaviour with children in the playground, so you'd think this wouldn't make much difference :P

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I'd much rather they close HMP Ford and build a real prison as opposed to running a holiday camp.

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Originally Posted by -:Undertaker:-

No no no people you're getting it all wrong, this is an open prison (would you believe they exist, my personal favourite oxymoron) - by being in an open prison which is in other words free housing, we are punishing criminals and ensuring that they will never ever commit crimes again.

So the question 'how did they get alcohol' is rather simple, its an open prison!!

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Yes it's probably easier to get alcohol into the prison but still not that easy? Surely open prisons would still have a pretty strict anti alcohol procedure. Wonder how many inmates are going to be re categorised, a lot of them I hope :)

If its open, they should search Prisoners when they return to the prison. If they are carrying carrier bags around full of booze, surely it wouldn't be that hard?

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Originally Posted by flatface

Yes it's probably easier to get alcohol into the prison but still not that easy? Surely open prisons would still have a pretty strict anti alcohol procedure. Wonder how many inmates are going to be re categorised, a lot of them I hope :)

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Well this is Britain we're talking about, got to be nice to prisoners now to 'rehabilitate' them haven't we? drugs freely circulate in our 'toughest' prisons, with the likes of child-killer Ian Huntley given an Xbox when the very least he deserves is the death penalty or a life setence in an unpleasant prison with no luxaries. But then again, that is against human rights and all the rest of it.

And to top this latest saga of what a joke the British justice system is, guess who will be paying for the damage caused? we all will be. But it doesn't end there oh no, because the majority of these criminal thugs will only reoffend again when let out of HMP 'Holiday Camp' Ford prison causing more misery to the law abiding majority and the process rolls on and on..

And thanks to Europe and our spineless politicians this lot will be getting the vote before long, utterly pathetic.

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Originally Posted by -:Undertaker:-

I'd much rather they close HMP Ford and build a real prison as opposed to running a holiday camp.

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I think (from my understanding) HMP Ford was created to cut costs. My nan coincidently rung me up after I made that post and mentioned it - apparently it was an "aerodrome" where my grandad was based, so I can only really say it was turned into a prison because there was no longer a need for an aerodrome in that area. It must of done a decent job early on in its lifespan, but as society has evolved the prison has kept behind and never developed any further. A problem with whoever manages the prison, rather than prison itself :P It definitely needs redevelopment, or closing altogether but it seems a waste if there are facilities already there, that just need tweaking.

It's a shame the fire didn't produce a few barbecued prisoners.

Only 6 staff members on duty for 500+ inmates? That's over 83 inmates per one prison guard. In my opinion this is were the problem lies, more staff need to be on duty during the night, if that was the case this could of possibly been avoided.

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Originally Posted by GommeInc

I think (from my understanding) HMP Ford was created to cut costs. My nan coincidently rung me up after I made that post and mentioned it - apparently it was an "aerodrome" where my grandad was based, so I can only really say it was turned into a prison because there was no longer a need for an aerodrome in that area. It must of done a decent job early on in its lifespan, but as society has evolved the prison has kept behind and never developed any further. A problem with whoever manages the prison, rather than prison itself :P It definitely needs redevelopment, or closing altogether but it seems a waste if there are facilities already there, that just need tweaking.

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haha I read that wrong and assumed your nan was on habbox forum :P

The whole rehabilitation system needs reform as it's not working. Criminals have already proved on the outside they don't follow rules though so hardly surprising they make their own alcohol!

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Originally Posted by Seriousity,

haha I read that wrong and assumed your nan was on habbox forum :P

The whole rehabilitation system needs reform as it's not working. Criminals have already proved on the outside they don't follow rules though so hardly surprising they make their own alcohol!

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Damn, I tried to avoid that :P Originally it looked like I phoned her up the moment I saw this and got her to comment :P