Wandsworth prison is crumbling, overcrowded and vermin-infested, with inmates living in half the cell space available when it was first opened in 1851, according to a report published on Thursday.
The south London prison’s independent monitoring board identified a litany of failings in its annual report, concluding that “the prison is not safe” and “conditions remained inhumane”.
The number of deaths at the prison more than doubled from four to 10 in the space of a year, with six of them self-inflicted. There were almost 1,000 assaults at the prison and a similar number of self-harm incidents during the board’s inspection period from June 2023 until May 2024.
The prison’s roll call of famous prisoners includes Oscar Wilde, Ronnie Biggs, Boris Becker and Pete Doherty. Last September, Daniel Abed Khalife, a terrorism suspect, escaped from the jail by clinging to the underside of a lorry leaving the site.
The board raised concerns about the overcrowded conditions many of the prisoners live in, with most cells occupied by two prisoners. The cells were built for one person 173 years ago.
In a response to the findings, government officials accepted that housing two prisoners in such cells was “never desirable”, but added: “Unfortunately this longstanding practice continues to be necessary across the prison estate to accommodate all those committed to custody by the courts.”
The report said that faeces from the prison’s endemic rat population had been found in the crumbling shower blocks and pigeon droppings were scattered on the landings, though it added that recent attempts to control vermin had achieved some success.
On a Sunday in May this year, a wing housing 122 men had available just 50 blankets, 25 sheets, 30 towels and no underwear.
The board checked on the progress of 11 key problems from 2023 and found there had been no change with eight of them and only significant progress in the area of the distribution of medication.
Along with the assaults and self-harm incidents, force was used against prisoners on 1,874 occasions and batons were drawn on 52 occasions.
Gate security had been tightened, but the board believed this led to an increase in drones used to deliver contraband to prisoners, with 261 instances. A total of 564 mobiles were confiscated, up from 343 the previous year, and there were 344 drug-finds, up from 260 the previous year.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) recently issued an urgent notification about the prison due to “failings in almost all aspects of the prison’s operation”.
The chair of the prison’s monitoring board, Matthew Andrews, said: “For HMP Wandsworth and the men whose treatment we monitor, this year has been as bad as any in our memory and, by many measures, worse.
“The recently released report from HMIP was highly critical but said little that surprised us. Many of the same issues had been raised in previous annual reports and ignored by the Ministry of Justice.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The new government inherited a justice system in crisis and has been forced to take action and get a grip of the situation across the prison estate, so we can lock up dangerous offenders, protect the public and make prisons safer for hard-working staff.
“Earlier this month, the lord chancellor announced that the prison service is deploying extra specialist staff and will redirect £100m to be spent over five years at HMP Wandsworth to ensure immediate action is taken to improve conditions.”
