Inmates 'set aside differences' for football match

Rival gang members "set aside" their differences to play a football match at the prison where they were locked up.

The initiative at HMP Chelmsford was deemed a major success by staff, who said inmates entered mediation with fellow jailbirds to ensure they were eligible to play in the fixture.

Some prisoners were hailed for the "significant skills" they displayed during the in-house game.

In its report, the prison's independent monitoring board (IMB) urged "senior managers to learn from the success of this venture".

The match took place between general population inmates imprisoned on C and F wings.

"These wings have prisoners with opposing gang affiliations," the board wrote, in its report for the period September 2023-September 2024.

"The existence of this match prompted several prisoners to undertake mediation, just so they were eligible to play."

Allowing the match to take place was "not without risk", but the board said the officers and management should be congratulated for bringing the "event to fruition".

Marie Goldman, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, told the BBC it was "amazing how we can set aside our differences when we're really motivated to do so".

"Maybe sport is a great way to make us appreciate each other. I'd love to see more of this stuff," she said.

"The fact our prisons are full suggests what we've been doing is wrong; I think we should be far more focused on rehabilitation.

"These initiatives - when conducted safely - are great and I'd like to see more of it."

Lindsay Whitehouse, who was deputy governor and acting governor at the Essex jail between 2008 and 2013, applauded the initiative, although he said similar ventures had been arranged before.

As deputy police and crime commissioner for Essex from 2013 to 2016, he worked with the prison's senior management to arrange for West Ham United football coaches to help with rehabilitating inmates.

"I do applaud the staff locally who set up that football game and hopefully there will be more of those games to come," he said.

The IMB report also explained how levels of violence would fall during significant sporting events, such as Euro 2024.

However, frustration would arise during temporary TV aerial failures in some wings.

"This created specific tension when men missed key football matches or other sporting events, such as the Grand Prix," the report author noted.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said inmates could only access televisions if they "earned the right".

Meanwhile, the report recognised that the number of self-harm incidents at the prison had decreased year-on-year, and the number of violent incidents fell for a "third year running".

The author said overcrowding remained one of the board's most significant concerns, with 69% of inmates sharing cells that were designed for one person.

"That's driven by the prison service centrally," said Mr Whitehouse.

"That's something that is not going to be solved any time soon and the programme to build more new prisons is going to take a very long time."

The Prison Service declined to comment further.

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