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HMP Maze
1 pm
Mr. Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley): I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of recent incidents in the Maze prison in the House, and I thank Madam Speaker for affording me that opportunity. Recent weeks have seen a serious decline in public confidence in the Prison Service in Northern Ireland as a result of recent events at HMP Maze, which is in my constituency, as is Maghaberry prison. In 1997, we had at least three serious lapses of security at the Maze prison. The first was the discovery of an IRA escape tunnel in March; the second was the escape of the IRA prisoner, Liam Averill, in early December; and the third was the murder of the Loyalist Volunteer Force prisoner, Billy Wright, on 27 December. Those incidents represent serious breaches in security at the Maze prison.
Following the discovery of the IRA escape tunnel in March, a senior civil servant in the Northern Ireland Office, John Steele, was tasked to conduct an internal inquiry. He produced a report, but unfortunately it has never been published. The Minister must tell the House whether the recommendations of that report have been fully implemented and whether they were fully implemented before the escape of Liam Averill and the murder of Billy Wright. If not, why not? Will the Minister give a commitment to the House that the Steele report will be published so that public representatives can examine its recommendations?
Liam Averill was an IRA prisoner who effected his escape from the Maze prison during one of the Christmas parties held in December. I understand from sources in the prison, which have been corroborated by several other individuals, that the governor held discussions with the so-called officers commanding--OCs--of the paramilitary groupings in the prison. Those discussions concerned the arrangements for the Christmas parties. We have evidence of that in an interview with Liam Averill, published in Republican News after his escape. He said that, shortly before he made his escape, he was approached by a member of the IRA staff in the prison and asked if he wished to take part in an escape. He claimed:
There undoubtedly was a relaxation in security. None of the women and children who attended the parties was searched when entering the prison. No proper searches were carried out of the gifts that those people brought in for the prisoners. That is a significant breach of security, because it enabled individuals to enter the prison without being searched and facilitated Liam Averill's escape. The IRA knew in advance that that would be the case, or the escape would not have been attempted. How did the IRA know? Did the governor discuss those terms with the OCs of the paramilitary groupings? We need to know the truth about that. If the governor's decision to relax security facilitated the escape of that IRA prisoner, serious questions must be asked about his judgment.
I understand that search equipment--similar to that used in airports--which was installed in the Maze prison was not switched on and was not used by the staff.
What is the point of having such equipment if it is not used? How were two pistols, used in the subsequent murder of Billy Wright, smuggled into the Maze prison? The search procedures at the prison must be inadequate if pistols can be smuggled in. I also understand that the governor attended the Christmas party at which Liam Averill made good his escape. He therefore escaped under the nose of the governor himself.
In the circumstances surrounding the murder of Billy Wright on 27 December, one of the fundamental issues which must be addressed is the decision of the governor to place Irish National Liberation Army prisoners and LVF prisoners in the same block. Neither of those groups observes a ceasefire at present. They are both engaged in violence and it is extraordinary that the governor should decide to put those two factions together in the same block. Last night on BBC television, the governor confessed that that had been a naive decision. However, the governor's staff advised him against the decision and, at a governor's meeting, senior staff urged him not to proceed and to take steps to separate the two paramilitary groupings. They were a lethal cocktail and a serious incident was waiting to happen. I submit that the decision to house those prisoners in the same block was a major factor in facilitating the murder of Billy Wright. It was not naivety on the part of the governor: I suggest that it was incompetence. The governor, Mr. Mogg, has wide experience in prisons and has served in prisons in England. I cannot understand why someone with his experience and knowledge would take such a decision.
I also believe that the Minister knew of the situation before the murder of Billy Wright. We know that the Prison Officers Association raised the issue of INLA and LVF prisoners being housed in the same block at a meeting with the Minister, but no action was taken to rectify the situation. I hope that the Minister will be able to explain to the House why no action was taken by the governor or by him in the light of the concerns expressed by prison staff.
Last night on television, the governor said that he had talked to the LVF and INLA prisoners and accepted assurances from them that there would be no trouble. It is extraordinary that the governor of a prison should take assurances from prisoners and give them greater credence than the advice of his senior staff. The position of the governor of the Maze prison has become untenable. Given the serious situation which has developed in Northern Ireland, I submit that the governor has no alternative but to resign. If he has any integrity left, he will do so quickly.
Mr. Ken Maginnis (Fermanagh and South Tyrone):
Does my hon. Friend agree that, despite his obvious culpability in this matter, the governor of the Maze prison was also subject to pressure from the Director of Security and the Director of Prisons? Should not their position be examined because they, too, are in an untenable position? The catalyst, which was the murder of Billy Wright, is now spreading throughout society and jeopardising the political process that we have all worked so hard to keep in place.
Mr. Donaldson:
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. There are two issues with regard to the involvement of the Northern Ireland Office in this sorry
Was the management of the Maze prison given political direction as part of the so-called confidence-building process? Was it told to relax security measures to create an air of confidence among the prisoners during the political process? Did political direction from the Northern Ireland Office contribute to the relaxation of security, which facilitated the escape of an IRA prisoner and the murder of Billy Wright?
May I deal with the events on the day of Billy Wright's murder? I have already asked how it was possible, given that the Maze is supposed to be a high-security prison, for the INLA to have smuggled two firearms into the prison, but that was not the first time the INLA had achieved such a feat. The same prisoners who murdered Billy Wright had already smuggled a firearm into Maghaberry prison some months earlier and used it to hold a hostage for several hours. The fact that those prisoners were then transferred to the Maze and were able to repeat the exercise raises serious questions about the prison management's competence and the security measures in place. I hope that the Minister can reassure us on those points.
Were the INLA and LVF prisoners given a copy of the visits rota on the morning of Billy Wright's murder? If not, how did the INLA prisoners know that Billy Wright would receive a visit that morning? I understand from Billy Wright's father, Mr. David Wright, that Billy Wright normally took visits not on Saturday mornings but on Saturday afternoons. Indeed, Billy Wright never had visits on Saturday mornings. Who decided that that visit should take place on a Saturday morning and why?
At about 9.30 on the morning of Billy Wright's murder, someone in the Maze prison ordered the prison officer manning the observation tower overlooking H block 6 to leave his post and report for other duties. That event was significant because the observation tower overlooks the scene where the murder took place. Had a prison officer been in the tower, he would have seen the INLA prisoners cutting the wire, making their way on to the roof and crossing over into the yard where Billy Wright was subsequently murdered. The fact that no prison officer was in the tower enabled the INLA prisoners to move undetected on to the roof and into that yard.
Who made the unprecedented decision to remove the prison officer from the observation tower and why? He would not normally have been removed from the observation tower, because that H block housed both INLA and LVF prisoners.
Mr. William Ross (East Londonderry):
My hon. Friend will not be aware that, during yesterday's proceedings of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords] in Standing Committee B, the Minister said that my allegation that Billy Wright was in an INLA part of the prison was fundamentally untrue. The Minister said that he was in a segregated wing of a separate block. In reality,
"I was told that a successful bid could be made through the Christmas parties for prisoners' children."
How did the IRA know in advance that such an escape could be effected at the Christmas parties, unless it was aware of the relaxation in security that would facilitate an escape?
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