VIOLENT lags are stroking and feeding goats in NHS-funded animal therapy sessions.

They pet pygmy goats Karen and Faye in courses to teach them to “take responsibility for others” at category B HMP Swaleside in Kent.

David Spencer, research director of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “It beggars belief.”

Critics have blasted therapy sessions where vetted lags feed and care for pygmy goats Karen and Faye in a farm area of the jail grounds.

The NHS-funded scheme at category B HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, is thought to be costing thousands.

David Spencer, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “It beggars belief that anyone would think this is a reasonable use of resources.

“Category B prisons house serious criminals. Does anyone really think that petting a few goats is going to keep them on the straight and narrow?”

Harry Fone, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “Equipping inmates with skills to get work on the outside is one thing, but wasting taxpayers’ cash like this really takes the biscuit.”

The scheme involves inmates at Swaleside’s Personality Disorder Unit with mental health problems not serious enough to be treated in the hospital system. It is claimed the sessions help lags “focus” and are a “positive social activity”.

Swaleside inmates include Tony Smith, 47, who beat his six-week-old son so badly he had both legs amputated.

A spokesperson for NHS England said: “Local prisons and health services make decisions on what mental health services to provide in their local area.”
Peter Saunders, of child abuse victim support group Napac, backed the scheme, saying: “Introducing the care of animals can have a therapeutic benefit.”