A better diet in prison may be the key to solving behaviour and psychiatric problems, Governor Lord Waddington said last night.

Lord Waddington said: "If we fill people with junk food, hamburgers and all that rubbish, it's not surprising there may very well be a connection.'' The Governor added that a charity in Britain had won support for its research into prison diet and behaviour.

He said: "Generally, many people would think there is a clear correlation between what people eat and how they behave.

"In certain prisons they are following different diets and they are getting better behaviour in prison.'' Lord Waddington, a former UK Home Secretary, the British minister in charge of prisons, was speaking as Commissioner of Prisons Ed Dyer delivered the second annual Dick Wilkie Memorial Lecture at Government House.

Mr. Dyer said: "Historically, there have always been certain diets and foodstuffs which have an effect on the behaviour of adolescents and children -- it's perhaps something which could be looked into.'' But he added: "Violence is a problem with a small number of the prison population -- if food is a problem, we would expect it to affect more people.'' The Wilkie lecture was organised by The Bermuda Mental Health Foundation, which has already raised $1 million to buy two homes to offer supported life in the community for people who might otherwise be in institutions or living rough.

Earlier, Mr. Dyer told the audience at Government House that the mentally ill in Bermuda were "being sold a little bit short''.

And he called for more halfway houses set between the prison system and St.

Brendan's psychiatric hospital to help the mentally ill cope better with living in the community.

Mr. Dyer said: "I would welcome any avenues in that area and I would be quite happy to do my bit to advance that.'' He added there were prisoners in the system who would be better cared for in a hospital setting -- but pressure of space meant the prison service had to cope as best it could.

And Mr. Dyer said there should be alternatives to prison for the mentally ill who commit minor offences because of the risk of their becoming institutionalised. He added: "Quite a few people have left prison in the past and they are not able to cope as well as they did before they went in.

"But I don't believe we have adequate space in the community to house people who have poor social skills and problems which will not allow them to live a life in Bermuda where they can be self-sustaining.'' Mr. Dyer questioned if Magistrates had access to enough information before sentencing mentally ill people who fall foul of the law.

Governor From Page 1 He said: "There is an absence of appropriate information so the Magistrate when making a decision, even if the decision is guilty, the response does not necessarily have to be to be a prison sentence. No-one should collect a prison sentence because of a lack of advice.'' Mr. Dyer said there were almost 30 people in the prison system receiving psychiatric care, with six needing drug treatment for their conditions.

He said: "I think we should look at training our staff in psychiatry as well.

That will probably make life a bit easier for them, too.

Mr. Dyer added: "We do manage people with psychiatric problems, but my feeling is they don't get the full benefit of things they would get in a full-blown psychiatric hospital.'' One Mental Health Foundation house is already open and catering for six residents, who get support from St. Brendan's staff, and another house has been bought.

The Foundation, a registered charity, is currently trying to raise another $200,000 to cover a bank bridging loan.