UPDATE: Bedford prisoner claims he was 'savagely' beaten by guards

The unnamed man, who is serving a sentence for drug dealing, said he had nothing to do with the riot and was waiting to be let in his cell when the chaos erupted.

His long-term partner said he was moved to another prison regardless.

She claimed: “They got him at around 7.30am on Monday morning after the riot. They didn’t let him take anything, they didn’t even let him brush his teeth or nothing. “When they got him in a van they started beating him up. They all had steel toe cap boots on and his arms, legs and head are covered in bruises. It was prison guards and police officers who attacked him.”

“They moved nine of them up to a prison up north and they did it to all of them. It’s ridiculous, they weren’t even involved in the riot.”

The prisoner says the riot began when inmates became angry over their social time out of their cells being cut from an hour to 30 minutes.

His partner claimed: “They got let out for showers, to make phone calls and socialise but it got cut short and they weren’t having it.

“They got angry and it kicked off. That’s about it.

“My boyfriend also said that there weren’t any knives used and the prison officers ran away when they realised they couldn’t handle the situation.”

Meanwhile a woman claiming to be a worker at HMP Bedford took to Facebook to brand rioting prisoners ‘cretins’.

The woman posted on two public Facebook sites in the aftermath of the violence.

She claimed to have worked at the prison for 15 months and said she was “glad” to be off on the night.

She labelled the prisoners “knuckle dragging cretins” in a public Facebook post.

In another page she posted a number of comments airing complaints that prisoners have “rights”.

She said: “Come work in HMP Bedford and see what we have to deal with. Having worked there the past 15 months, I can tell you now that 99% of the prison population are not these special snowflakes you are talking about.”

She added: “I have seen about three prisoners that should have been receiving mental health treatment instead of imprisonment.

“And then there is you...who is giving them excuses. I have gone through mental health problems...I have gone through abuse...I have gone through major trauma...but I don’t go out committing crimes.

“One day, crime will visit you...and then you will change your tune very quickly.”