Wandsworth jail has been affected by workers shortages, prisoner overcrowding, graffiti, garbage and squalid situations – and now it’s on the centre of a political storm.
The escape of 21-year-old terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife has triggered a nationwide manhunt and questions over how he was in a position to slip out, apparently clinging to the underside of a lorry.
Read extra: Fears develop as safety stepped up – manhunt newest
The final time HMP Wandsworth was inspected was June 2022. Sky News takes a more in-depth have a look at what life is like for inmates and workers there.
One of UK’s most overcrowded
HMP Wandsworth is a Category B males’s jail in southwest London, in-built 1851.
It has an official capability of round 1,600 throughout 5 wings, however inspections have persistently discovered it to be overcrowded with between 60% to 80% extra inmates than it was designed for.
The most up-to-date report by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) mentioned it “remains one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country with most prisoners sharing a cell built for one”.
National chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) Mark Fairhurst informed Sky News that the final time he visited Wandsworth there have been solely 69 jail officers on responsibility for greater than 1,600 inmates.
Read extra:
Calls for unbiased inquiry into escape
Why wasn’t he banged up in Belmarsh?
Category B means Wandsworth takes prisoners straight from native courts – who’re both awaiting trial or have been sentenced – and ones which might be long-term or high-security.
There is a Category C resettlement unit inside Wandsworth the place much less violent inmates can work and research earlier than they’re launched.
As nicely as lavatory and canteen services there may be additionally a visiting corridor, gymnasium, sports activities corridor, library, religion room, school rooms and workshops.
Prisoners have telephones of their cells – though they can not obtain incoming calls.
Those with privileges are supplied studying alternatives in barbering, catering, bike restore, gardening, development and radio manufacturing.
According to the web site prisoners even have the prospect to hitch a choir, yoga and mindfulness lessons.
‘Dirty, graffiti lined cells with no home windows’
The newest inspection of the jail was carried out in June 2022.
It discovered residing situations for prisoners to be “very poor”. They had been typically housed in “dirty, graffiti covered cells, some of which had no windows”.
Inspectors additionally described “cleaning cupboards being in disarray” and “large amounts of rubbish in exercise yards attracting vermin”. Piles of litter had been additionally seen “on wings” and “thrown from cell windows”.
Prisoners on one wing needed to bathe in “squalid conditions”, with many inmates not getting access to showers on a Friday.
The jail hospital “did not meet infection prevention and control standards”, however half of the psychological well being unit cells had been within the means of being refurbished.
Prisoners spent an excessive amount of time of their cells, with greater than half of the inhabitants unemployed, which meant they had been locked up for 22 hours a day.
By distinction, there weren’t sufficient work alternatives attributable to overcrowding and schooling attendance was poor.
‘Crazy failure’
Former HMP Wandsworth inmate, David Shipley, informed Sky News that his expertise of the jail was that it was “appallingly run, chaotic, and understaffed”.
He mentioned the jail formally had a full complement of workers, however that round a 3rd are on sick go away at anybody time, that means “effectively, they were grossly understaffed every single day”.
He mentioned throughout his time there, workers had been unable to keep up a primary regime – that means they had been unable to supply all prisoners time outdoors or a bathe on daily basis.
“They would regularly lose prisoners, for sustained periods of time – half an hour, an hour, an hour-and-a-half – and they would invariably be found around the prison,” he added.
Asked if Khalife ought to have been held elsewhere, Mr Shipley mentioned: “Certainly, had he been housed at a prison like Belmarsh, which is built for people facing much more serious charges, I don’t think he would have escaped.
“Wandsworth shouldn’t be a very sturdy or safe surroundings, and definitely to place somebody like that within the kitchens is a loopy failure.”
‘Increased ranges of violence’
Since the earlier inspection in 2021, ranges of violence had elevated.
According to the inspector workers “lacked confidence in challenging poor behaviour on wings”.
Chris Atkin, who served time for fraud in Wandsworth and wrote a e book about his experiences, informed Sky News he noticed “people attacking officers on almost a daily basis” and “dozens of assaults every day”.
“There were so many fights, the bells would go off constantly, which meant that another officer was down and needed help,” he mentioned.
But inspectors did discover that victims and perpetrators of crime throughout the jail had been usually supported and leaders had been implementing plans to enhance security.
While beforehand ranges of power utilized by workers had been described as regarding, there had been “substantial improvements” by mid-2022.
More jail officers had been utilizing their body-worn video cameras, however there nonetheless weren’t sufficient cameras to cowl all areas of the jail.
Previously the services for international nationals had been poor, with immigrant detainees spending too lengthy at Wandsworth. But this had “improved significantly” by the point of the final inspection – with immigration officers working full-time with the help of two charities.
Staff shortages ‘very excessive’
As a results of overcrowding, poor recruitment and retention, there weren’t sufficient members of workers per prisoner at Wandsworth on the time of the final inspection.
Mr Atkin informed Sky News that due to the degrees of violence towards officers, they’re typically absent from work attributable to “trauma and mental health problems”.
“The real problem is there aren’t enough officers, so they ask prisoners to do jobs that they should really be doing themselves,” he mentioned.
He defined that he was even requested to register the opposite prisoners on and off the wing, which might have made an escape straightforward.
In a press release after Khalife’s escape, basic secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) Steve Gillan mentioned: “Wandsworth is a typical example of what life is like for serving prison officers operating in a stressful and violent workplace with inadequate staff levels caring for over 1,600 prisoners at that establishment”.
His colleague Mr Fairhurst added that “chronic staffing shortages” and “lack of adequate training” has resulted in an “overcrowded” and “underresourced” jail.
At the time of the earlier inspection, the jail governor had left and an interim one was in place.
Notable inmates
As a remand jail in London, Wandsworth has been dwelling to some well-known and notorious inmates through the years.
These embody:
- Charles Bronson – long-term violent prisoner
- Julian Assange – Wikileaks founder and activist
- Pete Doherty – musician repeatedly arrested for drug offences
- Rolf Harris – late paedophile
- Max Clifford – late celeb agent convicted of indecent assault
- Boris Becker – former tennis champion convicted on fraud fees
- Ronnie Biggs – Great Train robber who efficiently escaped Wandsworth
- Ronnie Kray – late east London gangster
- Chris Huhne – former authorities minister jailed for perverting the course of justice over driving penalty factors
Source: information.sky.com”