Serious criticism of the Prison and Probation Service, Skänninge prison, for applying a procedure that meant that when an alarm went off, inmates were placed in isolation without a decision

During situations where an alarm goes off, the Skänninge prison has routinely “frozen the situation” and directed inmates to sit down in cells, among other places, while prison officers were placed in doorways and in the rooms.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, this procedure means that in practice the inmates were prevented from being with other inmates and that they therefore were isolated from each other without any formal decision in the matter being taken. One consequence of this is that no explicit examination of the isolation placement, which is an invasive coercive measure against an inmate, was undertaken to ensure that there was a legal basis in the Imprisonment Act. The prison is severely criticised for procedural deficiency.

Date of decision: 2024-01-16