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Scrubs officers suspended after brutality claims

The officers at the Victorian jail in west London will receive full pay pending the outcome of a criminal investigation begun on Tuesday by the Metropolitan police.

The announcement comes after prisoners said they had been subjected to systematic beatings.

An interim report released on Tuesday disclosed "serious questions" to be answered in five of the cases, said Tony Pearson, the Prison Service's Director of Security.

The Metropolitan Police have now launched an official investigation into the allegations of mistreatment of prisoners at the jail.

Solicitors for several prisoners have accused prison staff of beatings and intimidation.

Last week, prison service investigators seized documents from the jail as part of their probe into allegations of brutality.

A dossier containing allegations of serious assaults on eight inmates has been compiled by London solicitors Hickman and Rose, who say they believe it represents only "the tip of an iceberg".

The allegations date back as far as October 1996 and include accusations of racism, beatings and intimidation of prisoners.

The announcement of the suspensions and the police investigation comes the day after the arrival of a new governor at the troubled prison.

Stephen Moore takes charge of a jail which has been without a permanent governor since the end of last year.

He was previously in charge of the medium-security Albany prison on the Isle of Wight.

Mr Moore fills the gap created when the former governor Joe Mullens left Wormwood Scrubs prison for a private sector jail last December.

Michael Gordon, the current acting governor, reverts to his previous position of deputy governor.

Relevant Stories

Documents seized in Scrubs probe (22 Mar 98 | UK)
Straw finds prison claims 'disturbing' (19 Mar 98 | UK)
Prison probe after abuse allegations (19 Mar 98 | UK)

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