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Coldingley Prison death: Inmate arrested on suspicion of murder after fatal stabbing | |
(about 17 hours later) | |
A prisoner has been arrested after a fellow inmate was stabbed to death at a prison in Surrey. | |
Madala Washington, 25, died after being attacked at Coldingley Prison, near Woking, at around 1pm on Friday. | |
Surrey Police said he had been the victim of a “serious assault” at the prison, which houses around 500 inmates, and detectives have launched a murder investigation. | |
A spokesman said: “A 25-year-old man, believed to be from south-west London, was sadly declared dead at the scene. | |
“A 23-year-old man, who is also an inmate at the prison, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody while the investigation continues. | |
“Officers from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team are making a number of enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and are working with HM Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice.” | |
Steven Gillian, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, told Sky News: "We do not comment on ongoing police investigation, but generally there has been an increase in violence, and indeed homicides, in our prisons. | Steven Gillian, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, told Sky News: "We do not comment on ongoing police investigation, but generally there has been an increase in violence, and indeed homicides, in our prisons. |
"It is tragic that someone has lost their life." | "It is tragic that someone has lost their life." |
The category C prison holds 500 inmates, who are not trusted in open conditions but are considered unlikely to make a determined escape. | |
It has capacity for around 500 prisoners in five wings, where inmates are mainly housed in single cells, and is focused on the “resettlement of prisoners”. | |
The death comes against a backdrop of concerns about rising cases of violence in UK prisons. | |
There were 257 deaths in custody last year including eight homicides, more than in any other year since records started in 1978. | |
In 2015 Coldingley's independent monitoring board wrote to prisons minister Andrew Selous over its concerns about the jail. | |
Its report blamed an increase in home-made weapons at the prison and illegal drugs on cuts to the number of prison officers and staff. | |
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said: “We do not comment on ongoing police investigations, but generally there has been an increase in violence, and indeed homicides, in our prisons. | |
“We believe that is due to the lack of prison officers - some 7,000 have been made redundant since 2010. | |
“Our prisons are a more violent place than they have been. It is tragic that someone has lost their life.” | |
Additional reporting by PA | |
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