A former Prison Governor has said that frontline prison staff do not have the experience or support to challenge controlling behaviour and fear being called racist if they do challenge Muslim gangs.

Former Head of Security and Operations at Wormwood Scrubs Vanessa Frake-Harris said there was “strong evidence” prisoners convert to Islam because of power dynamics inside prisons.

Speaking on GB News, Vanessa Frake-Harris said: “This isn’t a new thing. It has been going on for quite a while and that’s probably because of the number of Muslims that are coming into custody and there is quite a high proportion of Muslim prisoners.

“There is strong evidence to suggest that because they do convert to Islam as a response to controls of power and space in a jail, particularly in the high security estate.

“I think when you’ve got large numbers of male prisoners entering into custody searching for a meaning, and a certain belonging, that gangs enable this sort of thing, and it does go on.

“I think [prison] usually mirrors society so in an inner-city jail, like in London or Birmingham, yes, [dominant Muslim gangs] would be prevalent, that’s just natural.

“But I think, unfortunately, the frontline staff to deal with this lack a religious competence, they lack the leadership support and authority to spot and challenge behaviour and control issues like this, with obviously a fear of racism following them around.

“That is worrying and I think we should be concerned with that.”