Exclusive: Ministry of Justice Gambled With Lives in Dartmoor Prison Radon Scandal
In a shocking revelation, the Ministry of Justice knowingly exposed hundreds of prisoners and staff to dangerous levels of cancer-causing radon gas at HMP Dartmoor, despite repeated warnings about the toxic environmental hazard. As Britain's prison overcrowding crisis intensified, officials made the deliberate decision to fill the ageing Victorian facility, built on granite bedrock that naturally emits radioactive gas, putting human health at severe risk.
Systematic Failure and Deliberate Risk-Taking
The government's desperate scramble for prison cells led to what has been described as a "catastrophic failure" by spending watchdogs. Evidence shows that measurements from 2020 already indicated unacceptably high radon levels, yet in 2022, officials signed a £100 million 25-year lease for the facility. Taxpayers are now footing a £68 million bill for improvements to an unusable site, plus £1.2 million on radon mitigation efforts.
One former inmate, identified as Adam, received a personal letter from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service confirming he had been exposed to five times the annual safe limit of radon gas. The correspondence warned of potential symptoms including loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, breathlessness, and coughing up blood-tinged phlegm.
Growing Legal Action and Health Consequences
Approximately 750 former inmates and staff have joined a class action lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice, seeking at least £60,000 each in compensation. The legal action, led by solicitor Mladen Kesar of Kesar and Co, alleges that authorities "knew it was dangerous and couldn't care less" about the health consequences.
Among the claimants is a former NHS staff member who believes his exposure to radon at Dartmoor caused an unexplained drop in his fertility. His blood test results reportedly resemble those of individuals sterilized by radiation exposure in mining operations. Another former senior prison officer served at the site for 18 years but left after completely losing trust in HMPPS due to what he describes as systematic deception about the radon threat.
Historical Knowledge and Systematic Deception
Radon monitoring at Dartmoor dates back to 2007, with some readings from that period already exceeding regulatory thresholds. Despite this historical knowledge, staff and prisoners were consistently kept in the dark. Former prison officer Mark McKay, who served as health and safety representative for the Prison Officers Association, recalled that when he raised concerns about extremely high kitchen readings, he was "laughed off and decried" by management.
One particularly disturbing revelation came from a governor who referred to a prisoner in A wing by saying, "Oh, he's got to go because we've cooked him," indicating the individual had exceeded his annual exposure limit in mere days or weeks.
Chaotic Evacuations and Ongoing Investigations
The evacuation process was described as "ad-hoc" and "all over the place" by those who witnessed it. Prisoners were moved in and out in what one officer called "doing the hokey cokey" with human lives. Some elderly and frail inmates, who needed assistance with basic mobility, spent extended periods locked in cells with dangerously high radon concentrations.
The Health and Safety Executive has launched a criminal investigation into how prison leaders handled the radon crisis, with their completed report currently under legal review. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice is conducting 42 investigations at sites across the prison and probation estate, including at 15 other prisons where radon concerns have emerged.
Broader Implications and Institutional Failure
This scandal exposes fundamental failures in how the Ministry of Justice manages environmental risks within the prison system. Radon gas, a colourless, odourless natural substance formed when uranium in rocks decays, is responsible for over 1,100 lung cancer deaths annually in the UK according to the UK Health Security Agency.
The decision to finally evacuate Dartmoor only came after health watchdogs "more or less told" the government to move people out because radon levels breached health and safety regulations. Even now, with the prison essentially stripped and empty, the government continues paying approximately £4 million annually for the unusable facility under the terms of their ill-advised lease.
As the legal proceedings advance and the HSE investigation concludes, this case raises profound questions about institutional accountability, prisoner welfare, and the ethical responsibilities of those managing Britain's overcrowded prison estate.
