Wandsworth Prison unsafe and inhumane - watchdog report

A men's prison in south-west London has been deemed "unsafe and inhumane", a watchdog report has warned.

HMP Wandsworth has seen "no real progress" in the past year and reflects "the failures of the prison system as a whole", its Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said.

The report was written before the alleged escape of Daniel Khalife from the prison.

HM Prison Service said it had taken action to address the issues raised.

The IMB report covers the year from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2023.

It found that years of underinvestment in the site, facilities and staff at the prison had led to an unsafe environment where "violence levels continue to rise".

The report stated that during the past year, staff shortages had undermined the prison's ability to function effectively, with the number of available officers rarely reaching above 50%.

It reported that assaults had risen by more than 20% in all areas, including assaults on staff.

Of the 524 assaults on prisoners by prisoners, 301 were referred to the police.

The IMB warned that conditions at the Category B prison "remained inhumane", with the Victorian buildings continuing to deteriorate.

Overcrowding was also raised as a concern by the monitoring board, with most men sharing cells designed for single occupancy.

In two wings of the prison, there were only 11 shower stalls for 265 men, the board noted.

Chris Atkins, a filmmaker and former inmate at Wandsworth Prison, called the report "thoroughly depressing".

The published author, whose book addresses reoffending rates, said poor prison conditions created an "endless cycle" of crime.

"Because prisons are so badly run, so dysfunctional and so inhumane, you have spiralling levels of reoffending," he said.

"Eighty per cent of all crimes are reoffences, so because of that, you have more victims being made.

"People would walk out of Wandsworth on the Friday... and they'd be back in again on the Monday, straight back to their own cell."

Tim Aikens, IMB chair at HMP Wandsworth, said: "Recent events at Wandsworth have demonstrated the shortcomings of the prison system that the IMB has been highlighting repeatedly for many years.

"Prisoners are being failed and most have a severely reduced chance of rehabilitation upon release.

"We are told there is significant investment in the prison system, but we see little evidence of this in Wandsworth."

Elisabeth Davies, the national IMB chair, told BBC Radio 4 that the issues at Wandsworth were reflective more widely of the issues facing Victorian-era prisons.

"None of these issues are unique to Wandsworth and none of these issues are new," she said.

She highlighted Pentonville in north London as another prison with severe overcrowding and low staffing levels.

Ms Davies added: "It's about taking the Wandsworth report as a tin opener moment for the wider prison estate."

The board added that the prison's new multimillion-pound healthcare centre remained unused more than a year after its scheduled opening date.

A spokesperson for HM Prison Service said it had increased frontline staffing at the prison by almost a quarter in the past six years.

They said the government was spending more than £8m on new CCTV for the prison, "tougher" gate security and specialist staff with dogs.

New windows had been installed and roofs repaired, the spokesperson added.

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