Jails watchdog bans St George pins: English national flag could be 'misinterpreted' as a racist symbol

icWales
Oct. 04, 2005

Prison officers who wore a St George's Cross tie-pin have been ticked off by the jails watchdog.

The English national flag could be "misinterpreted" as a racist symbol, Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said in a report on Wakefield prison.

The pins had been bought by officers at the top security jail to support a cancer charity.

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A section on race relations in Ms Owers' report said: "We were concerned to see a number of staff wearing a flag of St George tie pin.

"While we were told that these had been bought in support of a cancer charity there was clear scope for misinterpretation, and Prison Service Orders made clear that unauthorised badges and pins should not be worn."

As one of her formal recommendations Ms Owers said: "Staff should not wear unauthorised tie pins."

Brian Caton of the Prison Officers' Association said: "If the only problem the chief inspector found was tie pins carrying the Cross of St George, which is after all the English national flag, then there can't be a lot wrong with Wakefield prison.

"Staff at this establishment are among the most professional in the Prison Service and deal with some of the most difficult, damaged and dangerous inmates, including some of the country's most high-profile criminals."

Soham killer Ian Huntley, last week handed a 40-year tariff for murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, is among inmates at Wakefield, where serial killer Harold Shipman killed himself in January last year.