A Parkhurst inmate with pro-IRA sympathies was found with chemicals, bomb-making material and a crude Molotov cocktail on 27th April 1996 – 30 years ago today.
What made the incident so serious was not just what officers found inside the cell, but the obvious question it raised: how had a volatile prisoner with Republican sympathies been allowed access to the ingredients and reading material for bomb-making inside a high-security jail?
Officers entered the cell after hearing what was described as an explosion. Inside, they found a small Molotov cocktail containing liquid believed to be white spirit, together with a battery and attached wires. They also discovered a smouldering device and, in addition, leaflets on bomb making.
Separate reports made clear the concern did not end there. The prisoner was also said to have had a so-called “bomb book”, while pro-IRA slogans had been scrawled across his cell walls. Taken together, it was a catalogue of warning signs that should have set alarm bells ringing much earlier.
Neil Mason, secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, left no doubt about how seriously staff viewed the discovery.
“An officer could have been seriously maimed by this device if it had exploded while he was looking through the viewing hatch.”
He also rejected any attempt to downplay what had happened.
“Whatever Mr Morrison says to play down the incident we view it extremely seriously.”
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That seriousness was underlined by the reaction at the top. Governor Max Morrison revealed that after the story broke in the newspapers on Sunday morning, he was ordered to personally prepare a report for Home Secretary Michael Howard.
Morrison insisted the incident had been blown out of proportion once it became national news, but for prison officers the central issue was far simpler and far more troubling. Why was an inmate with known Republican sympathies able to get hold of chemicals? Why was he allowed access to bomb-making leaflets and a “bomb book”? And why were pro-IRA slogans in his cell not treated as a glaring warning sign before matters reached this point?
