Wandsworth prison put in special measures as risk of escape still ‘serious concern’

Prisoners could still escape from Wandsworth prison because of “significant” security weaknesses despite a jailbreak by a terror suspect, a watchdog has warned.

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, has issued an urgent notification to Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, for the jail in south London to be placed in special measures because of the failings in security and severe problems with overcrowding, drugs, violence and self-harm.

Mr Taylor – who previously suggested the jail should be closed – told Mr Chalk he was deeply concerned at his inspection findings and said the prison was “still reeling” from a “very high-profile” alleged escape in September last year.

Daniel 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.

Security remained a “serious concern” at the prison, with “chaotic” wings and staff across most units unable to “accurately account for their prisoners during the working day”, Mr Taylor warned as he described it as “unfathomable” that bosses had “not focused their attention on this area”.

The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) said the move “will be of no surprise to the Government”, in the wake of the prison’s boss Katie Price resigning ahead of the inspection report published on Thursday.

Mr Taylor said: “The poor outcomes we found at Wandsworth are systemic and cultural failures and stemmed from poor leadership at every level of the prison, from HMPPS (His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service) and the Ministry of Justice.”

Mr Taylor added that drug use at Wandsworth was “ubiquitous” among prisoners. “The level of drug use was very, very high. You smelled cannabis everywhere you went around the wing,” he said.

He said some of the “basic jail craft” required to run a prison had “gone by the wayside” because of the inexperience of staff. “The staff were very inexperienced...being led by very inexperienced staff with a management team which had some very inexperienced managers on it.”

Many “well-meaning and hard-working leaders and staff persevered” but they were often “fighting against a tide of cross-cutting, intractable problems that require comprehensive, long-term solutions”.

The “troubled prison” needs “permanent experienced leaders at all levels” to begin to recover, he said, warning: “Until this happens, the risk of a further catastrophe, a self-inflicted death or escape from lawful custody, is ever present.”

The PGA said staff at the jail were in an “almost impossible situation”, the governor at Wandsworth “decided to leave” earlier this year and “resigned during the inspection”, adding that this was “undoubtedly due in part to the personal toll that running a prison like Wandsworth in current times takes”.

‘Poor or non-existent’

The prison was “not reducing the risk of men reoffending”, the watchdog’s inspection carried out between April 22 and May 2 found. Relationships between staff and prisoners were “poor or non-existent”.

Most staff at every level were “very inexperienced”, and, despite being fully staffed “on paper”, more than a third of staff were not available for work each day, leading to additional restrictions on prisoners and “burnt-out prison officers struggling to keep things going”.

Edward Argar, a prisons minister, said the “deeply concerning report” shows the jail continues to face “significant challenges” and it was “clear that on top of the additional support we’ve already provided since September to improve safety and security, including nearly £1 million of upgrades, we need to go further still.”

Extra experienced staff will be added to the prison’s management team in the coming weeks to provide the “leadership, culture change and training needed to turn Wandsworth around”, he said, adding: “In the interim we are deploying more staff, including prison officers, to the prison and will set out further action shortly.”

Wandsworth is the sixth prison to be issued with an urgent notification since November 2022, joining Exeter, Woodhill, Bristol and Bedford jails as well as Cookham Wood young offender institution.

The notice effectively places the jail in special measures and means the Justice Secretary has to urgently produce an action plan for improvement before the watchdog carries out another inspection.