HMP Wandsworth, the London prison where a terror suspect escaped last year, has been described as 'inhumane' by its independent monitoring board. In its annual report published Thursday, the board said the prison was 'not safe' and that conditions remained 'inhumane', with cells built for one prisoner in 1851 now housing two.
Deaths at the jail more than doubled from four to ten in a year, six of which were self-inflicted. There were almost 1,000 assaults and a similar number of self-harm incidents between June 2023 and May 2024. The board found faeces from an endemic rat population in crumbling shower blocks and pigeon droppings on landings.
On one Sunday in May, a wing housing 122 men had only 50 blankets, 25 sheets, 30 towels and no underwear. Force was used 1,874 times and batons drawn 52 times. Gate security had led to a rise in drone-delivered contraband, with 261 drone incidents and 564 mobiles confiscated, up from 343 the previous year.
The board checked 11 key problems from 2023 and found no change in eight. Matthew Andrews, board chair, said: 'For HMP Wandsworth ... this year has been as bad as any in our memory and, by many measures, worse.' The Ministry of Justice said it had inherited a crisis and was redirecting £100m over five years to improve conditions.
