Highlights
- British Asian prisoner Sundeep Ghuman murdered in February 2020 by racist cellmate at HMP Belmarsh.
- Coroner finds prison failed to follow policy preventing racist prisoners sharing cells with different ethnicities.
- Report raises concerns about widespread violence and drug use at the high-security prison.
A coroner has contacted the government with urgent safety concerns after a British Asian prisoner was murdered by a racist gang member who was wrongly placed in his cell at HMP Belmarsh.
Sundeep Ghuman died in February 2020 after being violently assaulted with a table leg by Stevie Hilden, a member of the so-called Racist Army of Woolwich. Hilden was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder in 2022.
Coroner David Manknell KC has now issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to justice secretary and deputy prime minister David Lammy, as well as HMP Belmarsh governor Jenny Louis, highlighting serious failings in the prison's risk assessment procedures.
The inquest found that Belmarsh had a policy requiring racist prisoners to be marked as "high risk" and only placed in cells with prisoners of the same ethnicity. However, many staff, including senior management, were unaware of this policy.
The killing occurred 11 days after Hilden and his cousin were placed in Mr Ghuman's triple cell. An investigation revealed that Belmarsh failed to properly carry out Hilden's cell sharing risk assessment when he transferred from HMP High Down in 2019.
Systemic prison failures
Mr Manknell stated "The lack of understanding of how an active alert for racism should be approached when assessing suitability cell sharing creates a risk of future fatal events.
An unstructured approach and lack of training creates a risk that, as in this case, staff may inappropriately disregard an active alert for racism, leading to potentially fatal racist violence."
The coroner found that the prison officer conducting Hilden's assessment was aware of the racist alert but disregarded it because it was old and Hilden showed no immediate concerns during their conversation.
The report also raised broader concerns about violence and drug use at Belmarsh, particularly synthetic cannabinoids known as spice.
Mr Manknell found "widespread levels of violence" and "seemingly ubiquitous levels of spice use" at the prison.
The Ministry of Justice responded that it is "leaving no stone unturned" to ensure prison safety, announcing £40 m in national investment for enhanced security measures including CCTV upgrades and increased searches to intercept dangerous contraband.
Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)
