The delay in sacking married couple Simon Thistlethwaite and Lorraine Hollick from the Prison Service was condemned by opposition MPs and the Government's anti-racist watchdog, the Commission for Racial Equality.
The couple were suspended in July 2001 for allegedly intimidating black staff. Their prison quarters backing on to Holloway jail in north London were raided by police who found one room decorated as Hitler's bunker.
The case will cause deep embarrassment for the Home Secretary David Blunkett and his head of correctional services, Martin Narey, who have pledged a zero tolerance policy on racism in Britain's jails.
Senior officials within the Prison Officers Association are known to be deeply uncomfortable about defending Thistlethwaite, who worked at Pentonville jail in north London, and Hollick, a Holloway officer, who face a disciplinary tribunal this year.
Documents show that, in June, prison service staff were making preparations for the couple to return to work, even though Hollick refused to work with black staff.
Notes of a meeting held on 1 June 2004 taken by Prison Service official Steve Hynd and show that the authorities at Pentonville were discussing 'possible career options' with the two officers after the police dropped the criminal case against them. Thistlethwaite and Hollick made it clear that they wanted to retire on medical grounds, but this was not the only course of action open to them.
The notes state: 'Lorraine indicated a lack of trust due to the pressures brought about by all what (sic) has happened. Feels ill at ease and could not work with a black officer.' Despite this overt racism, one of the options discussed by prison staff was a 'return to work plan'.
Hynd indicated that his 'desire was to get both Lorraine and Simon back to full duties if that was practical'. He also confirmed that the area manager was 'content' for Hollick to be offered a post at Pentonville.
In July this year the Home Office ordered an inquiry into the couple, which belatedly concluded that the officers were racist and that it was 'not acceptable for a Prison Officer to keep such items on display in their property'.
The inquiry, carried out by senior investigating officer Ted Butt, recommended that both officers should be charged with serious unprofessional conduct for bringing discredit on the Prison Service.
Butt's report was the result of interviews with Thistlethwaite and Hollick, during which they admitted they owned the racist material, although they continued to deny they were racist.
In his conclusion, Butt wrote: 'There is no doubt at all, that a room (toilet), was used as a room to display German and SS material. It was known by the occupants as "Adolf's Bunker Room".'
During the interview, Thistlethwaite also admitted to being the owner of the 'nigger hunting licences' found by the police, an extreme right-wing magazine called Strike Force and a record by the neo-Nazi band Skrewdriver.
The Commission for Racial Equality has pledged to raise the case at a meeting with the director of the Prison Service, Phil Wheatley.
Prisons Ombudsman is investigating further allegations of racism at Holloway.
Colin Moses, the first black chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said the delay in dealing with Thistlethwaite and Hollick was a disgrace. 'The prison service must now make a point of turning paper policies into real policies,' he said. The Prison Service said it remained committed to rooting out racists among prison officers and had dismissed 15 members of staff since 2001. A spokeswoman said attempts to deal with the case had been hampered by the time taken by the police to decide to drop the criminal case.
By Martin Bright posted 29 September 04
Related:
Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".
Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.
A life inside: Erwin James
This is my last prison column. After 20 years, I'm free. I just didn't expect it to happen with so little ceremony.
End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
UK: It has housed some of Britain's most notorious women prisoners, including Moors murderer Myra Hindley, serial killer Rose West, Diana Mosley, aristocratic wife of fascist leader Oswald Mosley and, most recently, Maxine Carr, girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley.
UK Miscarriages: Loss of innocence
Can anyone comprehend what it is like to spend years in prison for a crime you didn't commit? Eric Allison tracked down those still haunted by the experience - the victims of miscarriages of justice, and their families.
Prison service 'on brink of a race crisis'
Britain's jails are plagued by a culture of racism among a hard core of officers and have been rocked by allegations that black prisoners have been made to fight white inmates, [prisoners], for the amusement of warders, according to the union chief in charge of 33,500 officers.
How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal prison notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.
Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America: Part One BY LAURA MIRSKY.This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America.
UK: The injustice of jail
UK: Give or take Alcatraz, few prisons have a grimmer reputation than Holloway. The former chief inspector, David Ramsbotham, once declared it too disgusting to assess. Others have called the jail's cockroach-infested blocks the worst in the country. Holloway, its image pitched somewhere between Dante's Inferno and the penitentiary wing of Fawlty Towers, has never seemed a candidate for a good slammer award.
Belmarsh prisoners consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim prisoners released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism, [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], has [said], his fellow prisoners are suffering such 'severe mental problems' that they constantly consider suicide.
Revolving door: Criminal Law System
UK: They are just the opposite of master criminals. Indeed, in the words of Nick Davies in his latest three-part Guardian series on the criminal justice system, [? criminal law system], their criminal careers reflect "the same muddled inadequacy as they handle the rest of their lives". They were nearly all born and raised in chaos.
How the Prison Service Works
1.Abuse and torture inmates at HMP Wormwood Scrubs
2.Take years to admit a regime of violence and torture.
3.Settle 46 claims, paying 1.7 million to prisoners.
5.Carry on as before.
4.Keep 11 of the 14 prison officers responsible in their jobs.
Prisoners must get right to vote, says court
UK: The government will be forced to lift a ban on prisoners voting dating back to 1870 after the European court of human rights ruled yesterday it breached a lifer's human rights.
Cherie calls for women to be kept out of jail
UK: Cherie Booth today launches an impassioned attack on the jailing of women, warning of a 'cycle of poverty and crime' spiralling down the generations unless more female criminals are spared prison.
Blunkett charges miscarriage of justice victims 'food and lodgings'
UK: WHAT do you give someone who's been proved innocent after spending the best part of their life behind bars, wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn't commit? An apology, maybe? Counselling? Champagne?Compensation?
Prison needle cleansing programme
The Department of Health and the Prison Service appeared to be at odds last night over a needle cleansing programme designed to protect prisoners from blood-borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis.
England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures. The imprisonment rate of 141 per 100,000 makes the countries the prison capital of Europe for the second year running.
Don't put mothers behind bars
If we are to arrest the soaring prison suicide rate among women, we need to look at alternative punishment.
UK Prison Abuse: Guards Holding Nooses
'We will kill you. We will get away with it... we've done it before' Prisoners tell of hanging threats by officers holding nooses.
K K K in the UK
In the documentary it is alleged an officer dressed in a Ku Klux Klan mask at a training centre in north-west England. An undercover reporter from the BBC also claimed to have taped racist comments by some officers.
Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.
My Sarah was smart and talented - Why did she die in jail?
LONDON: Sarah Campbell was just 18 when she killed herself [? committed suicide,] one of seven women to die in jail this year. Our correspondent asks why so many women kill themselves in prison [? commit suicide in prison.]
