{"id":56779,"date":"2025-12-18T13:54:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/?p=56779"},"modified":"2026-01-01T15:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:23:45","slug":"inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/","title":{"rendered":"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n

By Soanna Khan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales’ largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The findings emerged from a report written by\u00a0Robert Jones of Cardiff University and Gregory\u00a0Davis from the University of Liverpool, titled\u00a0 \u201cRights, Pains and Illusions: The Experiences of\u00a0 Welsh-Speakers at Wales\u2019 \u2018Flagship\u2019 Prison\u201d. In\u00a0this report, the researchers claim that the Welsh\u00a0 language at Berwyn was not treated with the\u00a0 same respect or equality as the English language.\u00a0They also conducted several interviews with\u00a0Welsh-speaking former inmates who had served\u00a0 at Berwyn between 2018 and 2022. In these\u00a0interviews, they found a consistent theme of the\u00a0Welsh language being policed by staff at Berwyn.<\/p>\n\n

In response to this report, a spokesperson for\u00a0 the prison said \u201cthere are occasions when prisoner communications are restricted to English\u00a0 for security reasons\u201d. Prisoners in Wales have a\u00a0 right to speak in Welsh. The Welsh Language Act\u00a0 of 1993 gave the Welsh language equal status to\u00a0 English in public business and the administration of justice. According to its Welsh language\u00a0scheme, HM Prison and Probation Service is\u00a0 committed to \u201cpromoting the rights of Welsh speaking prisoners\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Yet, several individuals report being confronted by prison staff whilst speaking Welsh with fellow prisoners in communal spaces and\u00a0prison corridors. In some cases, staff had interrupted prisoners\u2019 conversations, asking them to\u00a0 explain what they were saying. In other cases,\u00a0staff explicitly instructed prisoners to switch to\u00a0English. According to former inmate Gwilym, incidents such as these happened on a \u201cdaily\u00a0 basis\u201d. Several other inmates also remarked that they had experienced a greater acceptance of the\u00a0Welsh language in English prisons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

One former inmate interviewed by Jones and\u00a0Davis, Ieuan, revealed that an officer banned him\u00a0from speaking Welsh during a private meeting\u00a0with his solicitor and threatened to use force if\u00a0he didn\u2019t switch to English. \u201cI was on videolink\u00a0with my solicitor, and I was speaking Welsh with\u00a0him, and the officer come in and told me to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, or else I\u2019d get done for it. I\u2019d get\u00a0a nicking for it\u201d, Ieuan told the researchers. \u201cAnd\u00a0I was, like, shocked, and even my solicitor was… So, obviously, we had to speak English then\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cBerwyn is meant to be a Welsh-speaking jail\u201d,\u00a0 Ieuan also said, \u201cAnd it\u2019s far from that. It\u2019s 100%\u00a0not a Welsh-speaking jail\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Welsh-speaking prisoners also experienced\u00a0significant delays in sending and receiving letters written in Welsh. Former inmate Hefin told the researchers \u201c[My] pad mate, he sent a letter [in\u00a0 English], and it arrived within two, three days.\u00a0 My letter [in Welsh] takes two weeks, three\u00a0weeks, and if not [it will] go missing. It was\u00a0 pathetic. I stopped writing letters in the end\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The Welsh Language Commissioner, Efa Gruffudd Jones has told BBC Wales in a recent\u00a0article that the findings from this report \u201ccauses\u00a0concern\u201d, suggesting that \u201cthe basic rights of\u00a0 Welsh speakers are not considered sufficiently\u201d.\u00a0 She also said that she agrees with demands from\u00a0 the two researchers that \u201clinguistic rights [of\u00a0 inmates] are fully respected\u201d. Ms Gruffudd Jones\u00a0is scheduled to meet with the prison management\u00a0 team at Berwyn, which she hopes will be an \u201copportunity to discuss these matters and ensure that\u00a0 there is significant improvement in the provision\u00a0 [of Welsh language needs] in the future\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Soanna Khan Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales’ largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate … Continue reading Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":524,"featured_media":56780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[8286],"tags":[8927,939,1332,3854,2047,2080,1804,1817],"class_list":["post-56779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-berwyn","tag-language","tag-prison","tag-prisoners","tag-rights","tag-staff","tag-wales","tag-welsh"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh - Gair Rhydd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales' largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh - Gair Rhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales' largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gair Rhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gairrhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T13:54:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-01T15:23:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"179\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gair Rhydd Digital\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gair Rhydd Digital\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gair Rhydd Digital\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a50dcf0571b54703a71573a3bd83008\"},\"headline\":\"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-18T13:54:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-01T15:23:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":636,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/image-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"berwyn\",\"language\",\"prison\",\"Prisoners\",\"rights\",\"staff\",\"wales\",\"welsh\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh - Gair Rhydd\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/image-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-18T13:54:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-01T15:23:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales' largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/image-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/image-1.png\",\"width\":179,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"Two inmates behind bars, appearing in discussion.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gair Rhydd\",\"description\":\"Cardiff's Student Newspaper\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Gair Rhydd\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/GR-Blue-Solid-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/GR-Blue-Solid-Logo.png\",\"width\":2192,\"height\":565,\"caption\":\"Gair Rhydd\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/gairrhydd\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/gairrhydd\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a50dcf0571b54703a71573a3bd83008\",\"name\":\"Gair Rhydd Digital\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4c98b8b2c099ff72bf4cc80d8884c7373af3da3a5a10be6eabd881b31aacfd8e?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4c98b8b2c099ff72bf4cc80d8884c7373af3da3a5a10be6eabd881b31aacfd8e?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4c98b8b2c099ff72bf4cc80d8884c7373af3da3a5a10be6eabd881b31aacfd8e?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Gair Rhydd Digital\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/author\\\/digitalmedia\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh - Gair Rhydd","description":"Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales' largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh - Gair Rhydd","og_description":"Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales' largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/","og_site_name":"Gair Rhydd","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gairrhydd","article_published_time":"2025-12-18T13:54:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-01T15:23:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":179,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Gair Rhydd Digital","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gair Rhydd Digital","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/"},"author":{"name":"Gair Rhydd Digital","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#\/schema\/person\/6a50dcf0571b54703a71573a3bd83008"},"headline":"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh","datePublished":"2025-12-18T13:54:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-01T15:23:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/"},"wordCount":636,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png","keywords":["berwyn","language","prison","Prisoners","rights","staff","wales","welsh"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/","url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/","name":"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh - Gair Rhydd","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png","datePublished":"2025-12-18T13:54:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-01T15:23:45+00:00","description":"Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales' largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the prison would dem onstrate respect for Welsh language rights and\u00a0accommodate towards inmates\u2019 language needs.\u00a0Yet, inmates report being punished for speaking Welsh and being forced to speak in English,\u00a0with prison staff displaying an alleged hostility\u00a0towards the language.\u00a0\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png","width":179,"height":350,"caption":"Two inmates behind bars, appearing in discussion."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/inmates-told-to-stop-speaking-welsh\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inmates Told to Stop Speaking Welsh"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/","name":"Gair Rhydd","description":"Cardiff's Student Newspaper","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#organization","name":"Gair Rhydd","url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/GR-Blue-Solid-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/GR-Blue-Solid-Logo.png","width":2192,"height":565,"caption":"Gair Rhydd"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gairrhydd","https:\/\/x.com\/gairrhydd"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/#\/schema\/person\/6a50dcf0571b54703a71573a3bd83008","name":"Gair Rhydd Digital","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c98b8b2c099ff72bf4cc80d8884c7373af3da3a5a10be6eabd881b31aacfd8e?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c98b8b2c099ff72bf4cc80d8884c7373af3da3a5a10be6eabd881b31aacfd8e?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c98b8b2c099ff72bf4cc80d8884c7373af3da3a5a10be6eabd881b31aacfd8e?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Gair Rhydd Digital"},"url":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/author\/digitalmedia\/"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1-153x300.png",153,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"large":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"canard-post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"canard-featured-content-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"canard-single-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"canard-logo":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1-46x90.png",46,90,true],"mailpoet_newsletter_max":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1.png",179,350,false],"crp_thumbnail":["https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/image-1-150x150.png",150,150,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Gair Rhydd Digital","author_link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/author\/digitalmedia\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Soanna Khan Welsh-speaking prisoners at Wales’ largest prison have been told to stop\u00a0speaking Welsh, according to former\u00a0inmates. HMP Berwyn in Wrexham holds the\u00a0largest number of Welsh-speaking prisoners of\u00a0 all of Wales\u2019 prisons, with 84 inmates registered\u00a0as Welsh speakers in 2024, according to Ministry\u00a0 of Justice figures. As such, former inmates at\u00a0HMP Berwyn thought the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56779"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57165,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56779\/revisions\/57165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}