HMP Dartmoor has been forced to close off dozens of cells and transfer nearly 200 inmates after radioactive gas was detected in the prison.
An elevated presence of radon – an odourless and colourless gas – was recently identified in the men’s prison in Devon.
The relocation numbers have now come to light.
Between November and February, 184 cells were shut, with official figures suggesting its total safe capacity is 640.
In the same period until February, 194 prisoners were moved out of the jail because of the radon contamination, it is understood.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “A number of prisoners have been relocated as a precautionary measure after routine testing revealed higher than normal levels of radon.”
The shifting of inmates was a “temporary measure” amid work to “permanently reduce” radon levels in the Category C establishment to ensure no safety issues to staff and prisoners on site.
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Radon is formed by the radioactive decay of the small amounts of uranium that occur naturally in all rocks and soils, and can only be detected using special instruments.
The radioactive elements can be inhaled, and continues to decay within the body, emitting radiation. It is responsible for around 1,000 lung cancer deaths a year.
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While the gas is everywhere, the levels are low as is the risk it poses to health – however, it is thought to occur more often in areas with high concentrations of granite, such as Dartmoor.
Image: A map showing levels of radon across the UK. The darker the colour the greater the chance of a higher level. Pic: UKHSA
Labour, which revealed the figures in a series of questions to ministers, said it was “shocking that the government’s mismanagement of the prison estate means they are having to reduce the number of prison places during a capacity crisis”.
Ruth Cadbury, shadow prisons minister, pointed to radon being detected in 2020 but the Ministry of Justice said measures “weren’t put in place until 2022”.
She questioned the delay, adding: “After 14 years in power and a dozen prison ministers, our prisons are out of control and the government need to get a grip.”
Justice minister Edward Argar said the Prison Service was “continually investing in the prison estate to ensure that prisons remain safe, decent and secure”.
Mr Argar said the increased levels of radon detected in 2020 were in “subterranean areas adjacent to the kitchen and workshops”.
He added: “Temporary mitigations have been in place at Dartmoor in those areas since 2022 following advice from specialist contractors, pending permanent mitigations that are near completion.
“Further specialist advice has been commissioned following the recent identification of elevated radon levels in some accommodation areas of the prison.”
Meanwhile, a report in December by Dartmoor’s independent monitoring board highlighted the prison was understaffed and overcrowded, and arguably “not fit for purpose”.
It added: “It is only in this year that some actions have been taken while further monitoring is undertaken to inform future decisions.”
A brother and sister have been jailed for the murder of a drug dealer in a “ferocious” knife attack.
Isaiah Marsh, 21, and his 23-year-old sibling Mya Marsh were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for killing Minister Enfrence, 21, in a row over a £200 cannabis debt.
Bank worker Mya was trying to buy drugs from Mr Enfrence in Kings Norton, Birmingham, when she met him armed with a kitchen knife at about 10am on 5 November, the city’s crown court heard.
Judge Simon Drew KC said that Mya was the aggressor in an initial confrontation with Mr Enfrence over the debt as he sentenced the siblings on Thursday.
Mya called her brother Isaiah to the scene, who “launched a ferocious attack on Minister as he lay defenceless on his back on the floor” and had intended to kill, the judge said.
Mr Enfrence suffered at least 12 stab wounds to his body, arms, hands and head in the “unprovoked” attack.
He did not die instantly and managed to escape before collapsing nearby.
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Judge Drew said footage of the attack, which was caught on CCTV, was “truly sickening” to watch as Mr Enfrence died a “traumatic and painful death”.
Image: Minister Enfrence was killed on 5 November. Pic: West Midlands Police
Siblings unanimously convicted of murder
The footage shows Mya passing a knife to her brother during the stabbing.
The judge told them: “This was an attack by two people on one. That attack was unprovoked. Members of the public, including a child in a pushchair, passed very close by while the attack was taking place.”
After the killing, Mya went to work “as if nothing had happened” after taking the morning off work, citing mental health problems, the court was told.
Isaiah later handed himself in to the police.
A jury unanimously convicted the siblings of murder on Monday following a three-week trial.
Both had denied murder and alternative charges of manslaughter.
Isaiah claimed he acted in self-defence, while Mya claimed she did not believe her brother would use the knife to stab Mr Enfrence.
Rachel Brand KC, representing Mya, said the attack was “utterly out of character” for her client and that Mya had shouted “stop it” and “break it up” during her brother and Mr Enfrence’s struggle.
Isaiah, meanwhile, would find it “almost impossible to reconcile what he saw on the CCTV with who he is”, his barrister Michael Ivers KC told the court.
“He has told everyone who will listen when they have spoken to him that he is full of remorse about what happened,” Mr Ivers said.
A “despicable” rapist has been brought to justice and jailed for 10 years in part thanks to a woman’s testimony from beyond the grave.
Steven Connery, 41, repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted two women in the Forth Valley and Tayside areas.
Judge Douglas Brown said Connery’s first victim was left “so shocked that she couldn’t speak” following a painful attack in a bathroom while she was getting ready for a night out.
A court heard how the second woman was also left in “agony” after a sex assault.
Connery was arrested in 2022 after his past crimes were brought to the attention of Police Scotland.
His second victim died before a trial was held at the High Court in Glasgow, but her evidence was read out in the form of a statement by one of the investigating officers.
Connery denied any wrongdoing but was in March found guilty of four charges.
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He returned to the dock on Wednesday and was handed a 13-year extended sentence, with 10 years in jail and three years on licence once released back into the community.
Judge Brown said: “It is almost inevitable that offences of this nature will cause substantial harm and in relation to the second complainer, who has since died, it is clear from a victim impact statement submitted by her sister that your behaviour had a massive impact not only on her but also on her family.”
It was noted that Connery was “still reasonably young” at the time of some of his offending, but the judge added: “Though there is little to indicate that a lack of maturity was a significant factor.”
Connery was additionally placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and banned from contacting the woman who is still alive.
Detective Sergeant Khalid Abdulrahman said: “Although one of Connery’s victims passed away, it was right that her evidence was heard in court through the reading of statements.
“I hope this sentencing brings some comfort to both her family and the other victim in this case.
“Our thoughts remain with them, as without their information Connery wouldn’t have been held accountable for his despicable actions.”