‘We were always going to win against the rioters. I wanted to win peacefully’

Three nights of rioting left a trail of destruction at Moorland Prison. Carlton Boyce meets the man who had the task of restoring order.

Last winter, Rob Kellett was settling into his new role as governor of Moorland prison. The father-of-three had been there for seven weeks when he got the kind of phone call all of those who work in the prison service dread.

On the evening of November 2, the Doncaster jail became the focus of national attention when a riot broke out. Its new governor suddenly found himself in the eye of a storm, which saw continued trouble over the next two nights.

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“I was at home when my deputy governor called to tell me that staff had been forced to withdraw from A-wing,” says the 46-year-old. “First of all you make sure that everyone is safe. Then you try and resolve it peacefully. We managed that for the first two disturbances, but during the final night the ferocity of the violence was so great that we couldn’t negotiate.”

“Tactical reponse officers” were called, 250 prisoners were transferred to other jails and when order was finally restored, the trail of destruction was clear. Pool balls had been used as missiles, a number of wings damaged by fire had to be closed and one young prisoner was seriously ill in hospital. According to reports, when he refused to join in the riots, some of his fellow inmates lit a fire outside his cell. Rather than burn to death he had tried to hang himself.

The events of those three nights are still etched on Mr Kellet’s mind, but he insists he has no regrets about joining Moorland, which brings together lifers, aged 18 to 21, from across the country. He started his career at nearby Leeds prison in 1983 as an administrative assistant, where he was rapidly promoted before training to be an assistant governor.

He went on to work at Dartmoor, Whitemoor, Leicester and Prison Service headquarters before he got his “dream job”, returning to Leeds as governor in 2007. He was there for three years and during his tenure the jail, which had been criticised for overcrowding, became a model of best practise in many areas. It was a transformation many thought impossible.

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So why the move to Moorland prison? “I’ve always been a trouble-shooter. If I have any skills they are about effecting change,” he says. “I’m not as good at maintaining it. I’ve always said that the role of a governor is to paint yourself into a corner. You make decisions and it can be hard to change them later so fresh eyes always help.”

The riots started on A-wing’s house block four, populated at the time by some of the most difficult and troubled young offenders in the system.

“There was a fight between prisoners,” says Mr Kellet. “When staff went to break it up they had pool balls thrown at them. They had to leave the wing for their own safety. There were only three or four of them; there wasn’t anything else they could have done.

“We deployed a team of prison negotiators to talk with the rioters. They did a wonderful job. They calmed them down, they engaged with them, and they persuaded them to stop. The dedication of all our staff never ceases to amaze me. We were asking them to enter a riot situation, then have a quick cup of tea, and go back to serving their meals, talking to them, checking that they are OK.”

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Initially, it appeared prison staff had successfully dampened down an incendiary situation. With nothing to suggest the first night of rioting was anything but a one-off, Mr Kellet attempted to restore an air of normality.

The prisoners went back to their usual routine; a mixture of vocational skills training, classroom education and undertaking practical work such as cooking and cleaning, the jobs that keep the prison running. However, that evening another wing of young offenders started what Mr Kellett describes as a copycat riot. Damage to cells meant 86 prisoners had to be transferred and pressure was mounting. Yet throughout it all, Mr Kellett says he never once lost heart.

“It was even more violent,” he says. “But, yet again, the staff here managed to calm them down and it ended peacefully without us having to use force. We were always going to win. I just wanted to win peacefully, but we were always going to win.”

However, by the third night when adult prisoners joined in the riots, using cell furniture as weapons to attack staff and fuel fires, the situation became critical.

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After prison staff risked their lives to enter a wing to rescue two prisoners who had been badly beaten by the mob, the Prison Service’s National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) was called in. Based next door to Moorland prison, the specialist group trains the police and Army in method-of-entry work, working at height and removing people from cells when they really don’t want to come out.

Together with other specially trained prison staff, the jail was finally secured with no injuries to themselves or the rioters, but the violence did leave a mark, not just on the cells, but on all those who worked there.

“Don’t forget that the staff had to go on the wings in pitch black, against armed prisoners and do their job,” says Mr Kellet. “Their professionalism meant that no-one got hurt. At our cost do we play that down.”

Today, evidence of last year’s riots remains. The damage was estimated at £1m and while work has started to make the wings habitable again, windows remain broken, many of the corridors are still charred and melted Perspex which dripped onto the bars when prisoners pulled a pool table up to it and set it on fire, is still visible.

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New furniture is stacked on the various floors waiting to be installed. It is hoped the jail, which is housing 476 inmates at present will be back to its full capacity of 791 by September, but in the meantime Mr Kellett and his staff’s priority is to make further strides in the rehabilitation of the inmates.

“The weekend after the riots I spent the Saturday driving my son up to Newcastle to play basketball. I needed to return to some normality,” he says, stopping to chat to prisoners as he does one of his regular walkabouts, admitting that while life may be quieter, it is no less busy. Mr Kellett and his team have involved the prisoners in the running of a new recycling plant that recycles 85 per cent of all the waste produced in the jail and they have also embraced the Storybook Dad scheme whereby prisoners can make CDs for their children to listen to at home.

“It makes you think about what you’re missing being in here,” says one prisoner, who is serving three years. “I want to be a better dad and this helps lay the foundations. When I leave here, I’m not coming back.”

In the last six months, peace has reigned, partly says Mr Kellett because of renewed efforts to not only listen to the concerns of staff and prisoners, but act on any potential problems before they spiral into something altogether more serious.

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It’s not perfect, no prison is, but Mr Kellett arrived at Moorland Prison determined to make a difference and he still believes in the work that goes on there.

“There are some problems here still,” he admits. “But the staff and I are committed to giving prisoners real-life skills, to prevent more victims being created and to give prisoners an alternative to a life of crime.”

An investigation into the riots was carried out by the Prison Service, although its findings were never made public. At the time, the head of prisons in Yorkshire said they might never know what prompted the three nights of violence and Mr Kellett knows the call could come again.

“No-one ever phones the Governor at home to tell him that everything is OK, do they?” he says.

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