Foreign inmates on the increase at Midlands prisons
The number of Eastern European prisoners in jails that serve Shropshire has risen by more than 70 per cent in the past year, it has been revealed.
In 2013 there were 120 inmates who declared themselves as coming from one of 13 designated Eastern European countries, as opposed to 69 in 2012.
And prisoners from Romania topped the table with 43 inmates serving time in HMP Featherstone, HMP Oakwood, HMYOI Brinsford and HMP Birmingham last year – an increase of more than 25 per cent on 2012.
The Ministry of Justice statistics, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, also revealed the number of Polish inmates has swollen by 125 per cent since 2009.
At HMP Oakwood, near the M54, which opened in April 2012 as part of a reorganisation that saw the closure of Shrewsbury's Dana jail, 27 Eastern European prisoners served time last year out of a total prison population of 1,587. The number represents an increase of 22 from 2012.
And it was a similar story at HMP Featherstone, close to the Shropshire border, with 19 convicts from Eastern Europe compared with just six in 2012.
