[2] In April 2005, it was alleged that a wind turbine situated near Whitemoor Prison was being switched off in the early mornings because the flickering shadows it created annoyed inmates.

[5] A further inspection report stated, in October 2008, that staff at Whitemoor Prison felt that Muslim inmates were attempting to radicalise others held at the jail.

According to inspectors, officers tended to treat Muslim prisoners as extremists and potential security risks, even though only eight of them had been convicted of terrorist offences.

[6] Due to the concerns raised by this inspection, further visits by researchers from the Cambridge Institute of Criminology, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, were arranged between 2009 and 2010 to interview staff and inmates.

A number of non-Muslims and prison officers claimed that converts did so to join an "organised gang" and a "protection racket" which "glorified terrorist behaviour and exploited the fear related to it".

Non-Muslims would be visited by inmates with Islamic literature, who would tell them to "read this" and promise they would be safe from physical assault if they changed faith.

The Met Police said it was "deemed appropriate" its counter-terrorism command unit was sent to HMP Whitemoor "due to certain circumstances relating to this incident".

[13] The regime includes vocational training courses in the construction industry and furniture craft, and production workshops involve recycling work and a laundry.