‘Freezing’ prisoner cries down telephone to girlfriend over lack of heating in cell
Natalie Hannan broke down in tears as she spoke of the anguish her boyfriend is going through in a ‘freezing’ prison cell, while allegedly being denied access to his jumper and warm socks
The girlfriend of a prisoner has revealed her partner is being left freezing in a segregation unit with no heating, sparking a desperate plea for help.
Natalie Hannan says her boyfriend Amar Magid, 36, has been crying on the phone to her because of the intense cold in the segregation unit at Holme House prison in Stockton. She claims the heating is broken, and he has been denied access to his jumper and warm socks.
Hannan said: “He’s got a T-shirt and a jacket. They won’t let him have his jumpers or fleeces – they’re in a prop box. His possessions were packaged up and he was moved. He’s stuck in segregation with no heating. He’s asked for the fleeces and some of his socks but they won’t give him them.
“The heating on his segregation wing is broken. He’s so cold, he says he can’t feel his feet.”
She said how she pleaded with prison guards to help Magid and added: “One of them went into his cell and realised how cold it is. She gave him another blanket, but the prison blankets are thin. He’s ringing me and he’s just crying because he’s so cold.”
Hannan, from Middlesbrough, told Teeside Live that her boyfriend was moved from the regular wing of the prison to the segregation unit after officers allegedly found drugs in his cell. Magid is due to be released on December 16.
Prison bosses at HMP Holme House have come out to say that all prisoners have been provided with extra blankets and promised to combat the heating issues “promptly”.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Segregation units are a safety measure used to maintain good order. The heating is being repaired promptly and additional clothing and blankets have been provided to all prisoners within the unit.”
Magid, also from Middlesbrough, was jailed in August 2022 for “warehousing” drugs. Police found £40,000 of heroin stashed in a dog kennel in the garden on a house in Darlington.
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