A STRANGEWAYS prison rioter won a High Court test case yesterday that could lead to many Category A inmates having their top-security classification downgraded.

Mr Justice Munby ruled that Alan Lord, a convicted murderer, had been “wronged” by the Prison Service during the annual review of his Category A status.

The judge also said he feared that other inmates may have been “treated as shabbily and unfairly” as Lord.

Under the regulations of the annual security classification review, prisoners do not see reports by prison staff but a “gist” summarising the contents. Lord’s lawyers said that the system prevented him from making representations because of the standardised form of the “gist”.

Lord also challenged under the Data Protection Act the Prison Service’s refusal to let him see the full report.

Mr Justice Mumby said that the “gist” was neither satisfactory nor fair and that other evidence suggested that what happened to Lord was not an isolated or unfortunate error.

The Prison Service said that a review of what information could be given to Category A inmates during annual reviews of their classification had already been carried out.

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