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Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


The Strangeways Riot and My Even Smaller Part In lt


I was reading with interest Graham Mumby-Croft's account of his role in the Strangeways riot during 1990. lt reminded me of the small part I played at the start of the riot. I was watching the 9pm news on April 1st when the first item was the story of how the prisoners at Strangeways had managed to get on the roof of the prison and set alight to the wing. lt showed flames and fires on the roof and several prisoners with masks demanding reform. The prisoners had taken over a wing causing extensive damage.

I was at that time a works P.O serving at Full Sutton Prison. As I watched at the devastation taking place at Strangeways the phone rang. lt was my area Manager, Graham Harper, informing me that the staff at Strangeways had lost the prison and staff were being drafted in from around the region. The boiler house had shut down and there was no heating for the staff. At Full Sutton we had around 50 heaters that had been placed in the new quarters before the prison opened in 1987 and were now in storage. He asked could I get the works van and take the radiators to Manchester where they were to be used to heat the accommodation in the staff stand down area. Seeing this as a bit of an adventure, "ok", I said, "I'll be there in around 4 hours". "Good", he said, "there'll be staff there waiting for you".

I arrived at Full Sutton just before it was locked down for the night at 10.00pm. After collecting the van from inside the prison I went to the works which is positioned outside the prison to load the radiators in the van. Off I started with 50 radiators rattling away in the back of the van over the Pennines to Strangways Prison. All roads to Strangeways had been closed with Police control and on approaching the prison I was stopped by the police and told I had to turn around as there was a major incident at the prison. I said who I was and had been instructed to deliver radiators to the prison. "Oh! Mr. Woolhouse", he said, “we’ve been expecting you, follow the police car." I suddenly felt very important following the police car with blue lights flashing to the back of the prison. On entering a yard in the prison I was surrounded by works staff unloading the radiators and fitting three pin plugs to the radiators without plugs.

"Thanks mate", they said "we've been waiting for these." I was there for just 10 minutes and set off back across the moors to York wondering what would happen with the riot. lt turned out the riot lasted 25 days with 1prisoner killed,147 officers and 47 prisoners injured. lt was the longest prison riot in British prison history. Many reforms came out from the riot in the Woolf Report, including ceasing slopping out, in cell sanitation, single cells and the introduction of wing phones. All of which took many years to introduce. Whenever I hear about the riot at Strangeways, I always think of the works van with 50 radiators clattering away in the back going over the Pennines at midnight to do my very small part in the Strangeways Riot.

Another interesting event I can recall is hearing Graham Mumby-Croft at a works conference in the 1980's (year not known). lt was at the annual Works conference at Loughborough during September which was attended by senior staff from works departments. I remember Graham standing up holding which must have been the first prototype of a laptop which was like a small suitcase. He gave quite an inspiring talk about how computers were to be the future and we should all embrace this new technology. I was most impressed with Graham's speech. I think Graham reverted to discipline later to become a Governor. However it was some 15 years or so later before a computer appeared on my desk.

JEFF WOOLHOUSE,