originally published by: The BBC
1st April 2010

The riot at Strangeways was a catalyst for prison reform, an ex-inmate said on the 20th anniversary of the uprising. Paul Taylor, who helped to spark the riot on 1 April 1990, said the 25-day struggle persuaded the government to improve conditions for all prisoners.

He claimed inmates resentment at “decades” of brutality turned a planned peaceful sit-in into a full-scale riot. Governor at the time Brendan O’Friel said major improvements had been made in the three years before the riot.

Prisoner David White, 46, died as a result of injuries sustained during the rioting. Prison officer Walter Scott died after suffering a heart attack.

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