Staff fired over sex with detainee at Yarl's Wood immigration centre
Two male staff members at the Yarl's Wood immigration centre in Bedfordshire have been sacked for having sex with a female detainee.
A 23-year-old Roma woman reported having sex with the two men to police.
A third employee at the Serco-operated centre was also dismissed for failing to take any action when the female detainee reported the two men.
The news was announced by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick following a surprise inspection.
However, inspectors found no evidence that a "wider culture of victimisation or systematic abuse" had developed following the allegations of abuse at the 400-bed centre, he said.
Mr Hardwick said: "We were concerned to find that two staff had engaged in sexual activity with a female detainee, something that can never be less than abusive given the vulnerability of the detained population, and these staff have rightly been dismissed."
Yarl's Wood holds mainly single adult women but also holds a number of adult families and there is a short-term holding facility for men.
Inspectors concluded that more female staff were needed urgently as there were not enough for a mainly-female establishment.
They also found that a number of women at the centre - where none of the detainees have been charged with an offence - were detained for long periods, including one for almost four years.
(continued, and did they build joy division in England's green and modern land?)
