Mas d'Enric prison broke recidivism protocol for inmate who killed staff member 

The inmate who killed a cook at Mas d'Enric prison in March had punched another inmate four months before the killing.

The incident was not considered "critical" by the treatment board and the inmate was not sanctioned for it, the ARA newspaper revealed. 

The inmate was evaluated 14 times since his imprisonment in 2016 using the RisCanvi algorithm, a program that determines the likelihood of recidivism. 

The last evaluation was on July 13, 2023, with no evaluation after he was involved in a fight with another inmate on October 31, 2023. 

The Catalan justice department and Mas d'Enric staff have confirmed that protocol was broken, as a new RisCanvi assessment should have been made after the October incident. 

The inmate was suspended from working in the prison kitchen after the fight, but was allowed to return in early January 2024.   

He later killed a female kitchen staff member on March 13 and took his own life the same day. 

The killing sparked staff protests in Catalan prisons, some of which were blocked for days, leaving thousands of inmates confined.

RisCanvi recividism assessment 

The RisCanvi program has been used in prisons for nearly 15 years to assess inmates' risk of reoffending upon release.   

Inmates are typically interviewed by professionals every six months to analyze their progress. The results are entered into RisCanvi, which provides an estimated level of risk (high, medium or low).  

There are two reasons for a new RisCanvi assessment, in addition to the mandatory ones: "the first occurrence of aggressive behavior" within the prison and "a significant change in attitude or behavior".   

The inmate's physical altercation, the first since the beginning of his sentence in Mas d'Enric prison, qualified him for a new RisCanvi assessment.  

There is no guarantee that the prisoner would not have been allowed to go to the kitchen if a new recidivism assessment had been carried out.

Prison sources have told ARA that the person in charge of conducting the assessments was on leave when the physical altercation occurred, and no one told the other prison staff that the assessment was to be conducted.