The prison is facing another round of claims of extensive and serious failings and calls for an independent review from a leading figure in the local People’s Trust campaign group.
His letter is published in today’s Guernsey Press, along with a reply from Deputy Leadbeater, in which he pledges to tackle any problems at the prison but hits back at a small group of people who he accused of repeatedly misrepresenting events at Les Nicolles.
‘This letter contains a series of allegations and inferences and highly inflammatory language which, in my view, does not reflect the full or fair position,’ said Deputy Leadbeater.
‘Repetition does not turn speculation into fact nor does co-ordinated amplification convert allegation into evidence.
‘If there are failings, they will be identified. Where lessons must be learned, they will be learned.
‘If change is required, it will be made. But that will happen through proper process and not through trial by media and not through narrative-building that risks causing further harm.’
The letter includes detailed claims about leadership, governance and safeguarding at the prison and raises concerns that prisoners are at risk and about perceptions of conflict of interest.
In his response, Deputy Leadbeater brushed aside political criticism, which he accepted as part of his role, but was unhappy with the effect on other individuals connected with the prison and their families.
‘None of them benefit from partial information, conjecture and insinuation being recycled in the public domain,’ he said.
‘All this risks prolonging suffering and re-traumatising those at the centre of deeply distressing events, and that alone should give us all pause for thought.’
He told the Guernsey Press Politics Podcast last month that an independent review of the prison would be considered by Home Affairs once the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman had completed an investigation into two recent deaths in custody.