Shropshire courts face more chaos as sickness bug outbreak forces prison into 'lockdown'

Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that four wings at HMP Hewell in Redditch, Worcestershire are not allowing people in or out due to the spread of the sickness bug.

However the Ministry of Justice has said that around 50 prisoners in two of the six house blocks have been affected.

HMP Hewell houses many Shropshire convicts and defendants on remand.

It has thrown several upcoming trials into doubt, including that of a man accused of multiple sexual assaults on a young girl.

The sentencing of a rural crime gang is also due to take place in the coming days, but that may also be affected by the outbreak.

In the morning session, Judge Richard McConachy KC was told that one wing was in "lockdown" with the possibility of another following suit.

However later on, barrister Robert Edwards said that he understood four wings were in "lockdown".

He said that the man he was representing in court was working as a reception orderly, and told him that out of the "rather large number of people that would normally come out of the prison, only four have been permitted to be released today".

“I think the court will have to deal with each case as they come along,” the judge said.

A spokesperson for the prison service said: “Staff are working with the UK Health Security Agency to manage a sickness outbreak affecting two house blocks at HMP Hewell. The rest of the prison is operating as normal.” 

This is another blow to the courts, which are already facing huge backlogs of cases due to a variety of reasons including the Covid pandemic, barrister strikes and a lack of available judges.