'Worrying' state of 19th century prison housing Gary Glitter and other dangerous cons

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A prison holding Gary Glitter and hundreds of other sex offenders is failing to challenge their criminal behaviour, a watchdog warned.

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said there were "worrying weaknesses" at HMP The Verne.There are no offender behaviour programmes running within the establishment, and a "seriously understaffed and stretched" team of staff also meant high-risk inmates could spend years behind bars without "any challenge" towards their "dangerous" conduct.The claims were made in a report published on Monday.

Some officers even said they did not want to know what crimes inmates had committed because they "felt it might prejudice their response".This meant some staff at the low-security jail in Dorset were "not aware what offence mirroring behaviour might have been manifested by prisoners" so could not fully contribute to parole hearings, according to the findings.Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, is among more than 600 sex offenders serving time at the 19th century former citadel in Portland.

Earlier this year, he was ordered to pay more than half a million pounds in damages after being sued by one of his victims.The High Court heard the 80-year-old was sent back to The Verne after losing his latest parole bid for freedom, having temporarily been moved to another prison.The disgraced paedophile pop singer was jailed for 16 years in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.