Prisons seek to maintain good order by a system of Rewards and Punishments.
The incentive scheme includes the ability to move past a basic prison regime to enhanced status which offers greater freedom and access to benefits such as television etc.
There is also a punishment system which is put in place for breach of prison rules, this can cover things such as poor discipline, failure of MDT’s (mandatory drug tests) and a variety of other matters leading up to more serious fights or acts of violence.
The system operates on the basis of Governor led sanctions and for the more serious offences review before an Independent Adjudicator which is usually an external District Judge.
Punishments can range from loss of privileges right up to additional days punishment (depending on the sort of sentence you are serving).
For Independent Adjudications it is usually possible to get Public Funding so you can be represented by a specialist solicitor. Time frames are short so if you are facing an independent adjudicator then you need to act very quickly.
With good representation you can often achieve positive outcomes whether this is a not guilty finding or if it is admitted conduct mitigating the penalty to be imposed.
We recommend you always seek legal advice.