Inmates residing at the prison from which Daniel Khalife allegdly escaped earlier this year illegally brewed nearly 2,000 litres of wine while serving time behind bars, a report has found.
A report commissioned by the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) following inspections conducted between June 2022 and May 2023 found a litany of issues with the prison campus at HMP Wandsworth.
Among the issues – which were discovered before terror suspect Khalife allegedly escaped and sparked a national manhunt – were confiscations of illegally produced alcohol.
A host of other damning findings contained in the watchdog report reflected the “failures of the prison system as a whole”, the authors confirmed.
The report has sparked calls for urgent action, with “little evidence” seen that HMP Wandsworth has improved despite investments touted by the HM Prison Service.
IMB investigators found that inmates were left in “inhumane” conditions, being forced to wait days for one of 11 shower stalls assigned to a prison population of 256.
Each male resident only had one hour in which they could queue and use the provided wash facilities.
Their cells were found to be in poor condition, with regular flooding and a lack of heating during the winter months.
They were also poorly attended by prison staffers, who were not on hand to apprehend residents of the prison who had successfully brewed 1,900 litres of alcohol while serving time behind bars.
The IMB reported that the alcohol was confiscated but factored into a wider contraband issue, with 330 mobile phones and 210 drug stashes also removed from inmates.
The report also discussed staffing conditions, finding they had suffered from a 25 percent increase in the number of assaults.
Up to 10 incidents were reported per week, and prisoners were also found to be increasingly suffering from self-harm, with an 11 percent increase and three self-inflicted deaths currently being investigated.
In one case, a vulnerable young prisoner suffering from mental health issues was kept isolated in “inhumane and unacceptable” conditions for 550 days before his transfer to Broadmoor Hospital.
Tim Aikens, IMB chair at HMP Wandsworth, said in a statement that conditions at the prison had “failed” its inmates.
He said: “Recent events at Wandsworth have demonstrated the shortcomings of the prison system that the IMB has been highlighting repeatedly for many years.”
“Prisoners are being failed, and most have a severely reduced chance of rehabilitation upon release.
“We are told there is significant investment in the prison system, but we see little evidence of this in Wandsworth.”
A spokesman for HM Prison Service said it had increased frontline staffing at HMP Wandsworth by almost a quarter over the past six years, with more than £8 million spent on new CCTV for the prison, “tougher” gate security, specialist staff with dogs, new window installations and roof repairs.
