A “shocking” level of chaos at scandal-hit HMP Wandsworth was the result of sustained decline that happened “in plain view of leaders”, a report by the prisons watchdog has concluded.
Prison staff displayed an “inability to account for prisoners during the working day”, despite an investment of almost £900,000 since Daniel Khalife’s alleged escape in September 2023, a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) found.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it was deploying extra specialist staff and redirecting £100 million from across the prison service that will be spent over five years to “deliver urgent improvements” at the southwest London prison.
Tooting Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, who has campaigned for improvements at the jail, said: “These game-changing new funds will be vital in addressing the challenges at the prison.”
The report, published on Tuesday, noted that HMP Wandsworth had come to be “symbolic of the problems that characterise what is worst about the English prison system”.
HMIP issued an Urgent Notification in May after a “catastrophic inspection” found alarmingly high rates of self-harm, dangerous levels of violence and nearly 50% of prisoners taking drugs.
The report concluded that HMP Wandsworth was “not safe” and 10 self-inflicted deaths had occurred since the last inspection, with a “high and rising” rate of self-harm.
The inspection, which took place from April 22 to May 2, found that the prison was “severely overcrowded” with 80% of men sharing cells designed to hold one person.
At the time of the inspection, the prison held 1,521 men, despite HMP Wandsworth having a baseline operational capacity of 979 men.
Around three quarters of men reported spending more than 22 hours a day in “appalling conditions” in their cells, the report noted.
Inspectors carrying out two random roll checks were unable to verify this because “record keeping was so poor”, with staff unable to account for where prisoners on their wings were.
There was a degree of despondency amongst prisoners at Wandsworth that I have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector
The report also found that more than half of men said it was easy to get drugs and the smell of cannabis was “ubiquitous”.
It concluded that “inexperience across every grade of operational staff” was preventing them from “bringing about much needed change”.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said: “The level of chaos we found at Wandsworth was deeply shocking.
“The prison population crisis has undoubtedly compounded the pressures on the jail, but the appalling conditions at Wandsworth did not appear overnight and are the result of sustained decline permitted to happen in plain view of leaders in the jail, HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) and the MoJ whose own systems clearly identified the prison as struggling.”
Mr Taylor added: “There was a degree of despondency amongst prisoners at Wandsworth that I have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector.
“Many well-meaning and hard-working leaders and staff persevered at Wandsworth, but they were often fighting against a tide of cross-cutting, intractable problems that require comprehensive, long-term solutions.
“For this troubled prison to begin to recover, Wandsworth needs permanent experienced leaders at all levels who are invested in the long-term future of the prison to improve security, safety and guide their less experienced colleagues.”
The MoJ said other measures it was taking to bolster prison security and safety included the deployment of specialist security and drug staff and the introduction of new leadership.
It added that advanced violent reduction training sessions would be made available to staff, as well as “regular beefed-up drug searches” and improved access to rehabilitative services.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “This is the reality of a prison system in crisis. Cells are overcrowded, infrastructure is crumbling and our hard-working prison staff are at risk of violence and harm.
“Our staff deserve better and we are taking immediate action at HMP Wandsworth to do what is necessary to protect the public, lock up dangerous offenders and make prisons safe for the brave staff who work there.”
Khalife is accused of fleeing custody while being held on remand over spy charges. He allegedly strapped himself underneath a food delivery lorry and was arrested a few days later.
The former soldier denies all the charges against him and is due to stand trial in October.
Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said it was “hard to remember a report as scathing, emphatic, and utterly devastating” as “today’s appraisal of the chaos in Wandsworth”.
Ms Coomber added: “The root cause is the fact that Wandsworth is one of the most overcrowded jails in the country – with room for fewer than 1,000 men, while being asked to hold more than 1,500.
“But this report also lifts the lid on a shocking failure of leadership and culture. It underlines the need for a radical overhaul and work towards a more humane and effective response to crime.”
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said HMP Wandsworth was “emblematic of a system that has been running on fumes for many years, through our overuse of prison and chronic underinvestment in the prisons estate”.
The chief executive of the social justice charity Nacro, Campbell Robb, said the report highlighted alarming failings “from dangerous levels of overcrowding, to soaring rates of violence and squalid conditions reminiscent of a Victorian workhouse”.
