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
Pudu Prison siege crisis inside the prison walls grew and anxiety increased. Large crowds began to gather outside of Pudu Prison every day, eager to find out what was going on inside. The high-rise buildings in the neighbourhood became watch towers for the public. The other prisoners there could see what the security forces were doing and planning in the canteen. The Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was supposed to leave on an official overseas trip, stayed on in the federal capital to ensure the matter was resolved without bloodshed. This was conveyed to the police forces on scene