Decision Report 201204823

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained that a prison failed to deal appropriately with his property (a canvas belt and house keys). He said these went missing after he arrived at the prison. He also said that after he was transferred to a second prison, the belt was found but not the keys.

During our investigation we inspected the many cards on which Mr C's property was listed, and found no evidence to show that he ever had house keys. Mr C told us that after he complained, the prisons internal complaints committee allowed him to check his belongings. He said that he saw his belt at this time. However, we noted that the list he signed then did not record any belt. Mr C provided us with evidence to show that he had a belt after he moved to the second prison. On balance, we considered there was evidence showing that the belt was identified later, as staff had originally seen the canvas belt as part of Mr C's rucksack strap, which we considered a reasonable explanation.