Paul Thompson took his own life four days after leaving the prison. The coroner said arrangements for mental health care for people released out of hours were inadequate.
Ministry of Justice figures released under Freedom of Information show dismissals have risen sharply from an average of three a year between 2017 and 2019.
The men armed themselves with makeshift weapons and barricaded a spur at the high-security prison in October 2022. Their extra sentences total 20 years.
Leeds Beckett University’s LEAF scheme brings undergraduates into the high-security prison to study criminology in the same classroom as prisoners.
Justice Secretary David Lammy also announced a London pilot that would let the vans turn traffic lights green as they approach on key routes.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons says the Prison Service has acted on its criticisms, with use of anti-rip clothing falling from 493 instances in 2024 to 88 in 2025.
Inspectors rated the County Durham women's prison good on three tests, praising its culture and relationships, but raised concerns over acutely unwell women, use of force and homelessness.
25 shorter prison and justice stories from February 2026, gathered in one place.
A return visit to the G4S-run prison found significant improvement in only one of the 11 areas of major concern that inspectors identified in 2025.
Jurors criticised the prison’s failure to deal with the availability of drugs and an inadequate search of Simon Ludlow’s cell before he died in November 2023.
