Multiple Security Failings Found in Wake of Prison Escape

An undated file photo of HMP Wandsworth in south-west London. PA

An audit identified a raft of security failings at the scandal-hit Wandsworth jail in south London after a prisoner allegedly escaped, according to a report.

HMP Wandsworth’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said the security audit identified “81 points of failure” and resulted in “long overdue” upgrades being made to CCTV cameras which had not worked for over a year.

A former soldier is awaiting trial for allegedly escaping the Category B prison while held on remand on charges of terrorism and breaking the official secrets act. Daniel Khalife, who has pleaded not guilty, allegedly strapped himself underneath a food delivery lorry in order to abscond last September.

The latest damning report comes in the wake of the Victorian jail hitting the headlines in June after a female prisoner officer, Linda De Sousa Abreu, was filmed having sex with an inmate. She is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of misconduct in a public office.

Wandsworth is one of the country’s largest prisons and has housed a number of high-profile inmates over the years, including Oscar Wilde, Ronnie Kray, and Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs—who famously escaped the facility and fled to Brazil.

More recent famous faces include Max Clifford, Gary Glitter, Boris Becker, and a number of MPs, including Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne—convicted of perverting the course of justice—and Labour’s David Chaytor, jailed for acts of fraud exposed in the expenses scandal.

‘Deeply Concerning’ Inspection

The prison watchdog has called for Wandsworth to be put into emergency measures after the “deeply concerning” inspection, which also found living conditions in the crumbling, overcrowded, vermin-infested prison to be “inhumane.”

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor wrote to then Justice Secretary Alex Chalk in May to issue an urgent notification for improvement after his report found a “shocking” level of “chaos” at the prison with staff unable to “account for prisoners during the working day.”

Earlier this month the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced it would be redirecting £100 million from across the prison service to spend over five years on bringing in “urgent improvements” as well as sending in additional specialist staff.

The latest findings from the IMB, published on Thursday, described Wandsworth as a “failing prison” which was “constrained by staff absence and hindered by underfunding and lack of support from the prison service.”

Its report said the alleged escape led to multiple reviews and action including the funding injection being made available for security improvements and “significant investment” in a bid to stop contraband being brought into the prison.

The MoJ is yet to publish the security audit—carried out last November—or the internal review, which made 39 recommendations, and has not confirmed whether any disciplinary action has been taken.

CCTV Did Not Work

The extra funding allowed for upgrades and repairs of the prison’s “antiquated” CCTV, including a new system installed in May this year in the visits hall to replace an old system, which had not functioned “for over a year.”

This upgrade “immediately led to an increase in the number of illegal passes detected,” according to the report—but the IMB said it may have also led to an increase in drones being used to bring in illicit items, with 261 instances recorded during the inspection period.

The report found it was “alarmingly easy” for prisoners to get hold of contraband with cell searches regularly finding phones, drugs, makeshift weapons and alcohol.

The IMB—largely made up of volunteers—concluded that the prison—which has since been placed under new leadership—was “not safe, with close to 1,000 assaults recorded either between prisoners or on staff during the reporting period of 2023-2024.

Severe Overcrowding

Ten self-inflicted deaths had occurred since the last inspection, with a “high and rising” rate of self-harm, while the prison was “severely overcrowded” with 80 percent of men sharing cells designed to hold one person.

Almost half of staff had been in their jobs for less than a year, which the report said “undermined attempts to make the prison run effectively,” with absence rates often reaching 50 percent.

IMB Chairman Matthew Andrews said: “For HMP Wandsworth and the men whose treatment we monitor, this year has been as bad as any in our memory and, by many measures, worse.

“The recently released report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons was highly critical but said little that surprised us. Many of the same issues had been raised in previous IMB annual reports and ignored by the Ministry of Justice.”

Previously, Taylor described his inspection of Wandsworth as “catastrophic” and symbolic of the “problems that characterise what is worst about the English prison system.”

He highlighted that an action plan made in the wake of the last escape in 2019 had not been completed, and that “security procedures had been neglected for a considerable time.”

The security audit resulted in the prison being handed the lowest grade of unsatisfactory.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The new Government inherited a justice system in crisis and has been forced to take action and get a grip of the situation across the prison estate, so we can lock up dangerous offenders, protect the public and make prisons safer for hard-working staff.

“Earlier this month, the new lord chancellor announced that the Prison Service is deploying extra specialist staff and will redirect £100 million to be spent over five years at HMP Wandsworth to ensure immediate action is taken to improve conditions.”

PA Media contributed to this report