Belfast firm KRW Law, which is instructed by a number of a number of sentenced and remand prisoners detained in the Roe House segregated wing, issued a statement following reports that the wing was put into lockdown on Wednesday.

Roe House houses republican prisoners and tensions between the prisoners, the Prison Service and the Prison Officers Association have been a feature of the separated regime for a number of years.

In a statement, KRW Law said violent tensions had “erupted again between staff and prisoners with allegations of verbal abuse against prisoners and the use of restraint, lock down and segregation”.

A control squad of prison officers allegedly “danced all over” one prisoner while others came to his assistance and were placed in segregated accommodation.

The statement added: “Lawyers from KRW LAW LLP will be accessing their clients as soon as possible to take instruction on the current position in Roe House.

“We will be requesting an independent investigation and recommending complaints to the Prisoner Ombudsman and the IMB.

“We will be alerting both Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross who are monitoring conditions at Roe House.

“We will be seeking meetings with the Northern Ireland Prison Service and, if necessary, the Minister for Justice.”