Guards Worried About Waking Killers (UK Prisons)
Guards Worried About Waking Killers
By Alex Watts
Sky News Online reporter Updated:15:27, Monday November 19, 2007
Prison officers are wearing slippers as they patrol at night - so they don't wake up some of the country's most infamous murderers and paedophiles.
Child killer Ian HuntleySteel-toed boots and other heavy shoes have been abandoned in favour of soft-soled footwear to prevent inmates being disturbed.
The move has been introduced in high-security Wakefield jail as well as other prisons across the country.
The softly-softly approach ensures child killers Ian Huntley and Roy Whiting as well as serial killer Mark Hobson can sleep soundly during round-the-clock checks.
David Ward, Prison Officers' Association branch chairman at Wakefield, said it also means staff can listen in on conversations between inmates.
Advertisement
They then report any useful information to the security department.
He added: "Staff are wearing slippers and trainers on night shifts so they don't disturb prisoners.
"It's a two-fold approach, first so we can overhear any interesting conversations. Also, so we don't disturb the prisoners."
Mr Ward - who has been an officer for 17 years - said that because of the heavy-duty vinyl floors, steel toecaps would echo round the corridors at night.
Prison Officers' Association national spokesman Glyn Travis confirmed that the soft-shoe approach is used in other prisons around the country.
