TWO prison officers who inflicted “brutality and violence” on young people at Medomsley Detention Centre in Co Durham in the 1970s and 1980s were jailed today.

Brian Greenwell, 71, and Alan Bramley, 70, were convicted at Teesside Crown Court.

A witness said that Mr Greenwell, who worked at the centre from 1973 to 1988 as a chef and discipline officer, had dragged a semi-naked detainee from the toilets because he had not prepared food quickly enough.

Another said that Mr Bramley, who worked there from 1973 to 1977, punched him because he was a Sunderland Football Club fan.

A former detainee said he was on anti-depressants for 30 years because of his “hell on earth” experience at Medomsley.

Judge Howard Crowson said: “Many [victims] had experienced brutality and violence at the hands of prison officers, but nobody wanted to hear about it.

“In those days, any complaint was likely to be regarded as further evidence that the trainee was anti-social, that he had not learned his lesson and was complaining about appropriate treatment.”

Mr Greenwell was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Mr Bramley for 18 months.

Three former Medomsley officers were sentenced earlier this month. Christopher Onslow, 73, for eight-and-a-half years, John McGee, 75, two years and eight months, and 67-year-old Kevin Blakely two years.