Wandsworth prison is by far the worst I've visited

"The stern appearance of Wandsworth prison is enough to make grown people shudder. Based in leafy south-west London, the Victorian-era facility - with its gaunt brick walls and a dark intimidating entrance - is one of the largest in the UK. The inside is just as intimidating. Having visited several years ago, I was struck by the smell of urine from the gutters that line the cell blocks. I've been inside several prisons during my career but this was by far the worst."

"One serving prison officer from the jail described the security as a "joke". They told me: "It's crazy in there and mistakes are constantly happening. There is a real state of panic after this blunder and I'm thinking about whether I can take much more of this job when stuff like this happens and makes us look like idiots." An independent monitoring board report released last month said a third of staff are absent every day."

Wandsworth Prison is a large Victorian-era Category B facility in south-west London with gaunt brick walls, a dark entrance, and cell blocks that smell strongly of urine. The prison holds almost double the number of inmates it was designed for, producing severe overcrowding. Security weaknesses have included the escape of a detainee by hiding under a food delivery truck and the mistaken release of two prisoners in one week. Staff describe security as a "joke" and report panic after recent blunders. Monitoring found about a third of staff absent daily, and a May 2024 urgent notification cited assaults, overcrowding, and failures in staff accountability.

Read at www.bbc.com