Feltham Prison Labelled 'Unacceptably Violent' A young offenders' institute in England has been classed as an "unacceptably violent place" by inspectors. HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that Feltham Prison and Young Offender Institution in west London had an "unprecedentedly high" level of staff using batons, some "very serious" daily fights and the "unacceptable" use of prolonged isolation. The institute, which holds up to 762 offenders, is split between children and young people, mostly aged 16 or 17, and young adult men, aged between 18 and 21. Chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick said: "Feltham as a whole is an unacceptably violent place. Despite excellent work in some cases, staff were unable to prevent a high number of very concerning incidents that carried a significant risk of serious injury. In my view staff were sometimes overwhelmed by the challenges they faced and as a consequence, some of their responses were unacceptable. The report found that the buildings were covered in gang graffiti and on average there were almost two fights or assaults every day. Many young people said they were frightened and didn't think that staff could keep them safe, while young adults were self-harming at a high rate and did not having their emergency cell bells answered quickly. CCTV footage watched by inspectors showed staff putting themselves in harm's way to protect young people and using force to break up fights. Feltham is used to house young adults who have been remanded in custody by the courts. Michael Spurr, chief executive of the National Offender Management Service, said: "I have already announced that from the autumn Feltham will no longer hold young adult remand prisoners. This will increase stability and provide greater flexibility in the management of this group of prisoners. But Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, called the report "the worst of its kind we have seen in a decade." He added: "If you want to see the effects of keeping hundreds of troubled boys cooped up in a prison, you need look no further than Feltham." Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan MP said: "With shocking levels of violence such as these witnessed in Feltham, it's all the harder to punish and reform offenders, and stop them returning to a life of crime on their release."