British government "dismisses" prison ship reports



LONDON, May 8 — The British government on Thursday dismissed as speculation reports that it was planning to commission three new prison ships to ease overcrowding in jails.
Newspapers said the plans followed three prison riots in a week that had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.


''We are considering a range of options,'' a spokeswoman for the Prison Service said when asked about the plans. But she denied that any decisions had been taken.
The Times said on Thursday that Prison Service officials had made inquires about hiring three vessels, each with a 500 inmate capacity, as part of an emergency package.
It said the Director-General of the Prison Service Martin Narey was holding urgent talks with Home Secretary David Blunkett about increasing capacity.
Narey described the situation as ''disturbing'' and said the service was doing its ''very best to hang on'' until extra capacity arrived.
One prison ship -- the ''Wheare'' moored at Portland in Dorset and holding 400 inmates -- is already in service.
Originally a troop ship in the Falklands, it was used as a floating jail in New York before being moved to Britain in 1997.
The shortage of spaces in British prisons has been blamed for three separate disturbances in a week.
Rampaging inmates at prisons in Nottingham, South Yorkshire and Shaftesbury caused thousands of pounds worth of damage in the past week, putting 82 cells out of action by lighting fires and smashing windows, newspapers reported.