Officers at Britain’s high-security Long Lartin Jail have received reports of Muslim inmates forcing younger inmates to convert to Islam, while a Muslim gang has begun to enforce sharia law in the prison. The report says a similar gang culture is brewing at other high-security prisons in the UK.
Speaking to Radio Five Live’s Donal Macintyre show, an officer from the prison told how younger prisoners were targeted for forced conversion to Islam by the Muslim gangs.
‘They went along because they were intimidated. They genuinely weren’t of the Muslim faith. I knew one lad quite well, who was approached by the radical Muslims and he changed. He was being controlled and bossed around and he wasn’t even allowed to look at me or speak to me.
‘He just seemed very frightened all the time. He used to be forced to pray at certain times and he was even forced to grow a long beard even though he didn't want to,’ she said.
The officer also spoke of a Catholic prisoner who was seriously assaulted after he refused to convert to Islam being repeatedly threatened by the gang.
‘He said every so often they would come to his cell and hold the Koran up through the small window in the cell door and start running their fingers along their throats,’ she added.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the officer’s testimony is consistent with findings by the official prison watchdog, the chief inspector of prisons. In a report last year, the inspector, Anne Owers, quoted a number of prisoners at Long Lartin about the increasing dominance of Muslim gangs in the jail.
Long Lartin was, said one, ‘turning into an American-style jail, [where] if you are not in a gang, you’re in trouble. People are converting to Islam for protection.’
Another said: ‘There is a gang culture here, which is an issue. There are issues with Muslim gangs wanting to overpower others. A lot of people are becoming Muslim just because it is a bigger gang.’
Ms Owers says there is a similar Muslim gang culture in at least three other high-security prisons, Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, Belmarsh in south-east London and Full Sutton in North Yorkshire. Some of the gang leaders are terrorist prisoners but most are in for ordinary offences.
A former inmate called Jay, 24, who has spent many years inside various prisons in the South of England, said:
‘Muslims run it. Muslims run the prisons and there's nothing the screws can do about it. For a Muslim you'd say it's good but for a non-Muslim, it's very, very bad.’
(See the BBC News report)
Jay openly admitted to helping to convert non-Muslim inmates to Islam and has meted out violence against anyone who dares to ‘disrespect’ his religion.
The BBC reports that Muslims represent 12% (9,795) of the prison population in England and Wales, according to the latest available figures from 2008. This has risen by 50% over five years. In some high security prisons, the figures are well above average.
In Scotland, the controversial Muslim Police Association (MPA) are given permission to work in prisons and communities to try to deter young Muslims from becoming involved in crime and increase new recruits to forces.