Jail hostile to spoken Welsh say ex-inmates

PRISONERS at Wales' largest jail have been told to stop speaking Welsh, according to former inmates.

- By ELLIE GOSLEY

Ex-prisoners thought HMP Berwyn in Wrexham would be a prison predicated on respect for Welsh-language rights but described an alleged hostility displayed by staff towards the language.

One man claimed the officers simply "hated it" when inmates spoke Welsh. The former inmates spoke to researchers from Cardiff and Liverpool universities, who concluded that they experienced "neglect of their language needs" and "overt interference" with their use of the language by prison staff.

Another former inmate said he was told not to speak Welsh during a supposedly private and confidential meeting.

"I was on videolink with my solicitor and I was speaking Welsh with him and the officer come in and told me to stop speaking Welsh or else I'd get done for it," Ieaun told the academics.

"And I was like: 'What do you mean? What? I am Welsh, I said, 'and he's Welsh'