1990 Strangeways Prison riot April, and 40 prisoners held a prison officer hostage for twenty-four hours after taking over a hall at HM Prison Shotts on 10 April. On 12 April, two teenage remand prisoners at HM Prison Swansea barricaded themselves into their cell for seventeen hours, and on 22 April between 80 and 100 remand prisoners staged an eighteen-hour rooftop protest at HM Prison Ashfield in Pucklechurch. On 2 April newspapers reported a weekend of "anti-authority violence", as in addition to the Strangeways riot the Poll Tax Riot had occurred in London on 31 March. Reports of the violence at Strangeways included kangaroo
HM Prison Ashwell report of Ashwell cited concerns about prisoners' vulnerability, race relations and the quality of work and training at the prison. In the same year an inmate at the prison escaped from guards while receiving treatment for tuberculosis at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. The prisoner was recaptured days later In July 2008 a new £6m wing with an additional 64 cells was opened at Ashwell Prison. The new wing increased the overall capacity of the prison to 619 inmates. A major riot at Ashwell Prison began on 11 April 2009. During the riot, a three-mile police perimeter was put in place,