Jail batterings have gone up – after chips were taken off the menu.

Trouble flared at one of Britain’s most infamous prisons after problems with deep fat fryers meant fewer servings of fries. The bizarre trend was revealed in a report out today (Wed) from inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board which said violence at HMP Wakefield has soared by 63% in the past year.

At the same time there were 84 complaints directly about the food served up from the jail kitchens – with availability of chips the most common gripe. Inspectors said chips are now served on a rota basis between the wings just once a week after up to six of the deep fat fryers in the kitchen conked out. The report states: “The kitchen has experienced long-standing difficulties with the fryers.

“For a large part of the year, five or six of the fryers were broken. This impacted the food offering provided by the kitchen; the cooking of chips was particularly problematic, much to the frustration of prisoners and staff alike. Mitigation in the form of rota basis was implemented to ensure that at least one wing per week was provided with an option for chips.”

The maximum security West Yorks jail, dubbed Monster Mansion, is home to some of the UK’s most high-risk murderers and sex attackers. Around 300 of the 740 inmates are serving life sentences, including serial killer Robert Maudsley, aka Hannibal the Cannibal, and Mark Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April Jones.

Others include murderer Jeremy Bamber, who murdered five – his mum, dad, sister and her two sons- paedophile Sidney Cooke, aka Hissing Sid, and Roy Whiting, who murdered Sarah Payne. Another inmate is paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, who jailed jailed for 29 years in 2013.

The report states that there were 272 violent incidents in the past year, compared to 167 the previous year – a rise of 63%. A total of 136 of the attacks were ‘prisoner on prisoner’, with the other 136 attacks on staff. Despite bullying, drugs and debt being the main drivers behind the spike in violence, there has also been an astonishing 2,644 official complaints made by prisoners over the year.

Reporting on the increase in violence, the report stated: “The total number of recorded violent incidents over the reporting period was 272 incidents, up from 167 last year – a 63% increase. There were 136 incidents of prisoner-on-prisoner violence..(and) there were 136 occurrences recorded of prisoner-on-staff violence.”

Lags across the country are normally offered a choice of fish and chips, often served up with mushy peas, on Fridays, a Christian tradition of not eating meat on Fridays which goes back centuries. In 2019, notorious inmate Charlie Bronson – now called Charles Salvador – lodged an official complaint after not getting chips with the fish dinner – instead being served croquettes.

Writing to pal Rod Harrison, Salvador said: “You won’t believe this…Friday Fish and chips…no chips here, only fish with croquettes. I’ve slammed in a complaint.” He added: “I just can’t believe it – it’s tradition…English. Every jail in UK has fish ‘n chips on a Friday.” The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.

Serve the food you really want to eat by signing up for our tips and recipes and never be bored by your cooking again