Graham Mumby-Croft

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Graham Mumby-Croft

Graham Mumby-Croft

The Strangeways Riot and My Small Part In lt

(Part Three}

STRANGEWAYS RIOT PART THREE -- GRAHAM MUMBY-CROFT

There was a period where the situation developed into a bit of a psychological war of wits. It had been suggested that one way to persuade prisoners to surrender was to play them messages from people they knew telling them to surrender. I am not sure that many relatives volunteered their services but there were several female members of staff who provided very acceptable substitutes for wives and mothers. As part of this the Works Department were asked to provide a sound system powerful enough to be broadcast throughout the prison. The solution was found in the staff club where we “liberated” the sound system that was used on the stage for when a band was playing.

We set this up at the main entrance to the wings at the end of F wing at the point at 2’s level where you come onto the Centre. Of course there was a huge barricade at this point, almost 10 feet deep and mostly formed of the huge scaffold that had been erected, and which was now in-filled with beds, cell doors and prisoners lockers and anything else that could be ripped out and used. From this point for

Issue No. 89 Autumn 2023

several nights female voices would be beamed into the prison, targeting specific prisoners and telling them “Ronnie-its me-Mum, time to come out now son”.

We also discovered that if you turned the amplifier up to full volume, and the microphone input also up to maximum, and then put the microphone in front of the speaker, you achieved the most horrendous feedback howl, that was so awful and powerful it would strip paint. For several nights we pumped this sound into the prison with the idea of ensuring that the prisoners could not sleep. However we had to stop after the neighbours complained, as it seems the prisoners were not the only ones who could not sleep because of the awful racket. I believe that head office were also unhappy, as the press spread the story that we were engaged in phycological war against the prisoners.

Then of course there were the fireworks. Someone came up with the idea of throwing bangers into the grounds, and certain parts of the establishment during the night, in order to keep prisoners awake, and to play on their nerves. It was soon discovered that these were much easier to throw if you stuck them in an apple. So we ended up with the “night of the exploding apples”. Not a huge success, and for a while afterward everywhere smelled like Cider.

The barricade to the centre was the next problem to be tackled and again the Works Department were tasked with finding a solution. What we came up with was simple, but very effective. One of the fitters was tasked with producing a heavy steel plate with a ring attached that was then firmly bolted to the floor, and a hand-powered winch was attached to the ring. The cable from the winch was fitted with a heavy duty hook, and staff, protected by C&R lookouts, would identify a piece of the barricade, connect the hook to it and by sheer brute force that piece would be winched out and disposed of. Several large skips were brought it to deal with the debris being removed and over the course of a few days these were filled several times over as the barricade was slowly dismantled.

Of course as we worked to reduce the barricade so the risk of prisoners trying to escape into the grounds via that route increased, so staff had to be permanently stationed there as a precaution. This tied up a lot of staff resources, and so as the situation dragged on, and of course costs mounted, a decision was made to install CCTV to cover some of the external areas which would allow staffing levels to be reduced. This meant several hours of work for me with the hydraulic platform providing access for staff to fix brackets cameras and cable to the perimeter wall to provide the required coverage.

When it got to the point that there were only 6 prisoners left inside the prison the decision was taken that enough was enough and that we would now take back the establishment, or what was left of it. If I recall correctly a G4-John Slater from Wakefield, was appointed as the C&R Commander and tasked with putting together an intervention plan for approval. By this time the work and involvement of the Works Department had been recognised as an essential part of any plan and therefore my line manager, Mick Bell was part of the team working with John to plan the action to recover the prison.

The basis of the plan was quite simple in that it involved 12 C&R Teams entering the establish at 5 different points directed to gain the highest and lowest points of access as quickly as possible. Once this had been achieved the teams were to move forward slowly sweeping through the prison, and with all possible routes of escape blocked off, in order to slowly push the remaining prisoners toward the chapel area. The plan included teams of Works staff being integrated into the C&R Teams to provide logistics such as scaffolding boards to bridge gaps in the landing decking, and heavy tools for cutting away debris and obstructions, and to gain access, by whatever means was needed to areas that were locked off, or barricaded.

The plan also included the use of all four Green Goddess Fire Appliances being used to direct water jets into various strategic locations making it difficult, and very unattractive for the prisoners to try to retreat to certain areas. As I mentioned before, during this phase it was said that we were pulling so much water from the mains that the Water Board could not keep up the supply to the surrounding area, and asked us to stop or at least drastically reduce the pumping.

The day started early, with a briefing at 06:00, meaning that I left my home at just after 5 in the morning. Following the main briefing my time was then taken up by ensuring that all the Works staff were prepared and that all tools and equipment were checked and double checked. At 09:00hrs we began the final assault to regain Strangeways.

It is said that battle plans only work until the first engagement with the enemy, but the plan on that day worked very well, up to a point. The problem was that once the assault began the remaining five prisoners, (one was captured, or surrendered, very quickly), took to the roofs, but in order that they could be seen by both their families and the press they chose to stay on the front side of A wing, and on the chapel roof. It was here that the work started in trying to contain them to that area and to prevent them from making their way back into the prison. The problem that we had was in those days HMPS did not have the expertise in dealing with incidents at height that they now have. Therefore the instructions to all staff was that we were not under any circumstances to venture out onto the roofs ourselves, in order to tackle any of the prisoners, as there was a real risk of staff, prisoners, or both, falling.

As it happened the prisoners chose to congregate on the chapel roof toward the front end where they could be seen and heard in the streets outside the prison. The decision was then made to attempt to keep them there, and in order to do so we set about opening up the roof behind where they were located, in order to prevent them from making their way back onto the main prison roofs, where it could have taken days to corner, and eventually capture them. I was therefore tasked with leading the team with instructions to break through the chapel roof and open up a gap for the full width of the wing, wide enough to prevent anyone from being able to leap across it. Whilst the Works Department at Strangeways was a large one, for the assault that day we had been strengthened by the addition of Trades Officers from several establishments across the North of England including Leeds, Liverpool and Risley. So with plenty of available staff, the first task was to build a scaffold platform to work from, and once we had this in place to start to dismantle the roof.

As I explained at the beginning of this piece, when I described the rooftop incident that had occurred the week before the major event, the chapel roof, and indeed all the roofs at the prison had sheets steel mesh secured on top of the rafters, and under the roofing felt and battens for security. This meant that access to the roof from underneath was very restricted as the mesh was very similar to the reinforcing mesh used in concrete. This is a 2.4m by 1.2m sheet with 8mm bars welded in a 150mm square mesh and firmly fixed to the rafters. This meant that from the ridge to the eaves there were approximately 50, 8mm steel bars that needed to be cut using a disk cutter as we could not use a cutting torch due to the fire risk. As a result the work was slow and difficult, especially as we were working overhead and in some places laid on our backs.

However we soon achieved a breakthrough so that we get a view of what was going on, and of course this drew the attention of the prisoners. At one time it seemed that they had worked out what we were trying to do, and that they were either going to attack us, or move back toward the main prison. However, they did not, and apart from some gesturing towards us they remained fairly static, as I think they understood that there would be no direct attempt to fight, or capture them on a high roof.

Negotiations with the remaining prisoners started, and it soon became clear that the incident was over, all bar the shouting. With the benefit of hindsight, which is always a wonderful thing, I now realise that in all likelihood the remaining prisoners knew the end game was being played out, and they had already decided that they were going to surrender. They had chosen the location on the roof that was the most prominent, visible from all the surrounding streets, and of course in full view of the TV cameras. They also chose their time, almost bang-on 6 O'clock, timed to hit the main news bulletins.

In the meantime we just kept on ripping the roof off the chapel in order to create an impassable gap, and we carried on with this right up until it was announced over the network that they were surrendering, and going to come down. It was decided that, for many reasons, it was too dangerous and risky to bring the prisoners into the prison through the roof, and therefore the trusty hydraulic platform that had been the workhorse throughout had one last task to perform as it was used to bring the prisoners down to ground level.

Once all five prisoners were down, and in custody, we could stop our demolition of the chapel roof, but for many of us on the Works Department there was much work to be done in making areas safe as it was starting to get dark, and there was no power in the prison. Therefore we worked late into the night to ensure that all the staff who had been deployed were safely out of the buildings, and that warning signs and barriers were erected in areas where there was a real danger from missing landing decking, no handrails and of course potential booby traps.

Our work was halted for a short while during the evening when word went round that a visit from The Home Secretary was imminent. He duly arrived, and was gracious enough to make his way along the line of staff, hastily drawn up to meet him, shaking hands, having a brief chat, and breathing whisky fumes in our faces. However the best part of the evening was when we were eventually stood down for the evening. The Staff Club had prepared a large pot of curry on a turn up and help yourself basis, to be washed down with a beer, or two.

I have one very clear memory from that final day, specifically about what I did and felt as the day progressed. In the early afternoon, as we worked hard to open up that gap in the roof, for the first time in my life, I hit the brick wall that people talk about, in terms of mental and physical capacity.

From leaving home at 5 that morning, I had been running on almost pure adrenalin for about 8 hours when the moment came that I just had to stop, as I literally did not have any energy left. Not just physical energy, I suddenly found that I could not compute information, and no matter what I did I could not get my brain to work, even to make simple decisions. Luckily my manager, saw this and stood me down to rest, have a drink and something to eat, and about 30-minutes later I was back and ready to go again. However it was a feeling that I had never felt before, and thankfully have never felt again, but a very sobering moment.

The following day the work started to clear up the prison, and very early on the decision was made that whilst the prison was in a complete state of destruction, and would need major work simply to repair the damage, it would not close completely for prisoners and the new hospital wing, that had remained secure and undamaged throughout, would retain a small number of low category prisoners. It was also decided quite quickly that the opportunity would be taken to completely refurbish the establishment starting with what was the Remand Wings and spreading out across all the wings in a refurbishment programme that at 1990 prices would cost tens of millions of pounds.

Throughout the whole of the disturbance I harboured a secret that only a few people knew about. You will recall that at the beginning of my story I explained how I had come to be posted to Strangeways, and of the problems of buying a house and moving my family ready for the start of the school year.

The house that I bought needed work, including a new kitchen, that my wife had set her heart on. Together we had agreed on what we wanted, and having measured up we went off to a branch of MFI just up the road from Strangeways, and ordered and paid for the kitchen, complete with all the electrical appliances. The price was a good one, too good to miss, but I was not ready to install it, so with my managers agreement it was delivered by MFI into the Works Stores, to be held there until I could arrange leave, and fit it. It was delivered 2 days before the riot kicked off, and spent the whole time in the Works Stores, while mayhem reigned all around.

About 2 months after the end of the disturbance I managed to book a week's leave in order to fit the new kitchen. On the first day I hired a skip, and ripped out the old kitchen, hacked all the tiles off the walls and at the end of that day all that was left in the kitchen was the stopcock for the water, and the electrical outlets, everything else was gone.

Because Strangeways was to be effectively reduced to no more that 10 prisoners in the hospital wing, and the rest would become a building site, staff were deployed on detached duty far and wide, and all Strangeways staff were offered the opportunity of a posting of their choice, an offer that for many was too good to be missed. Unfortunately, my wife and family had never really settled to life in Manchester, and the worry and concern to them from my involvement with the disturbance did not help the situation. In addition, I had not been able to sell my house in Lincoln, and whilst HMPS were paying the interest on my bridging loan, I was unable to get insurance cover as I was considered a financial risk, so I felt very exposed financially.

I had heard that an additional PO (Works) position had been created at Lincoln, where I had moved from, and had made enquiries through the personnel department at Strangeways regarding a move back there.

As I stood in my, by now completely stripped kitchen in Bury, the phone rang, and my wife called to say that it was the prison. It was in fact personnel, calling to tell me that my posting to Lincoln was approved, when did I want to take up post? I now had a choice, install the new kitchen, and never get to use it, or cut my losses. I immediately contacted MFI and explained my situation to them, and they agreed that they would give me a full refund on any unopened boxed, and as I had not opened any of them, that was a full refund. Having returned this to them, I then purchased a cheap contract kitchen from B&Q and fitted this instead.

Two weeks later myself and my family returned to Lincoln, and moved back into the house that we had left, and never sold. My children returned to the school that they had left a year earlier, back into the same group of children they had grown up with, and they and my wife were happy. I too was happy, but tinged with a good deal of sorrow as I had enjoyed my time at Strangeways, and not just the disturbance. It was a great place to work, and I enjoyed every minute of the 15-months that I worked there, so there was also an element of regret on my behalf.

As it turned out we lived in the house in Bury for 365-days. I was however still in the same financial situation. As you will appreciate, the early 90’s saw a real slump in the housing market, and as a consequence just as I had been unable to sell the house in Lincoln, I now found that I could not sell the house in Bury, and therefore clear the bridging loan. My move back to Lincoln was a paid move, but it took considerable explanation, and negotiation to sort out the financial package. The bank suggested that the simplest thing to do was to continue to pay the mortgage, and bridging loan, on the house in Bury, and sort out the finances when the house sold.

I did not manage to sell the house in Bury until late 1992, two and a half years after moving out of it, and by the time I did sell it I had moved on from Lincoln, having been promoted to Governor 5 as Head of Works at HMP Stocken. In order to sell the house I had been forced to reduce the price to £15,000 below what I had paid for it. So to be able to clear the mortgage on that house, and repay the capital of the Bridging Loan, in 1993 I needed to mortgage the house in Lincoln, that technically I owned, for almost £20,000 more than I had taken out as the original mortgage when I first bought it in 1983. Despite several promotions and posting that followed, I never again moved house, and indeed I still live in that very same house in Lincoln.

I did return briefly to Manchester, when I was called as a prosecution witness in the trial of 4 of the main perpetrators of the disturbance, and I have been since visited the city. But from the day I walked out of Strangeways to return to Lincoln, I have never returned to the prison.

However, it was a pleasure, and a privilege to work there and it is a prison that will always have a place in my heart, and in my memory.

It is funny how you hang on to certain keepsakes in life, often for no other reason than the fact that you are loathe to part from them. For my part, I have for years maintained a small file containing some memories of that period in 1990, when for 26 days everything just went mad. I have a copy of the plan, drawn up by John Slater, for retaking the prison. I have copies of the memo’s that I submitted after the event, and a copy of the transcript of my debrief. I also have an A4 sized pencil drawing created by a member of staff at Strangeways, and given to me when I left. I sometimes just look at it, and smile at the memory of those days.

GRAHAM MUMBY-CROFT

The last five rioters come down in the cherry picker.