DEVASTATING riots at Rochester Prison last year may have been caused by massive overcrowding, a report published today reveals.

A prison officer was taken hostage and damage, estimated at around £100,000, was caused when at least 30 young inmates went on the rampage in October. Prisoners piled a 40-foot barrier to barricade themselves into B Wing and the riot was only broken when the prison service dispatched its Tornado Response Team, a unit specially trained in control and restraint.

Prison chief Martin Narey, who later visited the scene of destruction, blamed the violence on "some volatile and dangerous young men who seem intent to cause trouble".

But a report by HMP Board of Visitors, the prison's watchdog, has pointed the finger at overcrowding.

In its annual report, it said prison bosses had put more than double the licensed numbers of youth offenders in B Wing. The wing received, during the second half of the year, a considerable number of convicted YOs (youth offenders),it said.

"At times the numbers exceeded 30 in an establishment licensed to hold just 11.

ÒThere is clearly an issue here for population management, who were responsible for ordering the transfer of drafts of convicted YOs to Rochester. The riot and significant damage inflicted on the wing on October 18 was possibly a direct consequence of these transfers, as the ringleaders are thought to have been prisoners closely involved in the earlier rioting at HM Youth Offending Institution Dover."

However, the board paid tribute to the professionalism of the staff in the way they subsequently dealt with the disturbances. The riot lasted for eight hours during which time almost all the internal fabric and furnishings of the wing were destroyed.

During the turmoil, an officer was grabbed by the rioters and taken hostage. "The officer who was taken hostage displayed tremendous courage and fortitude in what must have been a terrible ordeal," the report stressed.