NEARLY 13 years of additional imprisonment were handed to inmates at HMP Hewell in 2016 and 2017 for breaking the rules.

A total of 2,220 additional days were imposed on prisoners at the Tardebigge prison in 2016, with a further 2,496 handed out in 2017, the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed today (August 13).

Across England and Wales, the total number of additional days handed down has more than doubled in three years – from fewer than 160,000 in 2014 to almost 360,000 in 2017.

It means that almost 1,000 years of extra imprisonment were imposed last year.

Figures in its report ‘The rising tide: Additional days for rule-breaking in prison’ show the disciplinary system is unsustainable and is fuelling overcrowding, the charity said.

Chief executive Frances Crook said: “The explosion in the use of additional days of imprisonment has been a catastrophe for the prison system.

“Rather than solving problems, it has created new ones – piling more pressure on the prison population and worsening overcrowding, which in turn leads to more drug abuse and violence.

“These figures illustrate the urgent need for reform. A prison that resorts again and again to further punishment is an unhealthy prison.

“Scrapping the imposition of additional days would make prisons safer, fairer and less likely to churn out people who go on to reoffend in the community. It has worked in Scotland and, with the right approach, it would work here, too.”

A Prison Service spokesman added: “The public would expect any prisoner who uses a mobile phone behind bars, who attacks prison staff or who smuggle in drugs to be punished and spend more time in prison.”