The escape of a suspected terrorist from HMP Wandsworth last week proves the point that critics of English and Welsh prisons have been making for some time with rising desperation. Overcrowded, dirty jails with demoralised staff are unable to fulfil their purpose of rehabilitating prisoners. They are also a danger to inmates, staff and the public. Daniel Khalife, who was on the run for four days, was recaptured in west London on Saturday. Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, has ordered an investigation into how the former British soldier managed to flee by strapping himself to the bottom of a catering delivery truck. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police chief, believes the escape must have been planned, possibly with help from inside the prison, and 150 counter-terrorism officers were involved in the search.
It seems likely that mistakes were made in Wandsworth, and individuals may be culpable. The placement of a man accused of involvement in espionage in a category B prison, rather than at high-security Belmarsh, will be examined. So will the decision to employ him in the kitchen – a “plum job” usually offered to prisoners serving long sentences, according to John Podmore, a former governor. But Mr Chalk’s promise to leave no stone unturned and find out “who was on duty” did not inspire confidence. Instead, the panicked ministerial reaction was a disturbing example of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.
With a population at 171% of its certified capacity, Wandsworth is the second most overcrowded prison in the English and Welsh estate – just behind HMP Durham. A previous escape from Wandsworth took place in 2019. But problems are not limited to one or two “failing jails”. After an inspection, the issuing of an urgent notification is the most serious step inspectors can take, requiring an action plan from the government within 28 days. In an unprecedented deterioration, three separate urgent notifications have been issued in the past five months – one of them about Cookham Wood, a youth prison, which was found to be full of homemade weapons.
Of course, public concern – and that of politicians and the security services – is highest when prisons are revealed to be incapable of performing their most basic task, of keeping people locked up. But as well as punishing criminals, jails are supposed to help them change. Amid current levels of violence, overuse of solitary confinement and lack of purposeful activity, experts warn that inmates are more likely to be made worse. Earlier this year, a German court refused a British extradition request on the grounds that detention conditions were unacceptable.
The number of prison officers has climbed by 3.2% since last year, to 22,426. Over the same period, the number of prisoners rose by 7% to its current total of 87,124 – not far off the all-time high of just over 88,000. But perhaps more alarming than the raw numbers is the fact that – as in police forces, schools and hospitals – experienced staff whose jobs were cut under austerity are proving difficult to replace. The new people hired by recruiters, when ministers belatedly recognised the harm caused by depleted workforces, are not like-for-like replacements. Rapid turnover and difficulties around retention are now acute issues across the public sector.
Whether a lack of experienced staff was the specific cause of Wandsworth’s failure remains to be seen. But the past week’s events are rightly piling the pressure on the Conservatives over their atrocious record on prisons and elsewhere.
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