Shocking Report Finds Wormwood Scrubs Prison Dirty, Unsafe and Rat Infested

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"Very concerning" inspection finds little cause for optimism about jail conditions

A shocking new report on conditions within Wormwood Scrubs Prison has found that it is dirty, unsafe and infested with rats.

The report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons describes the findings of what it calls "a very concerning inspection" of HMP Wormwood Scrubs.

It says: " Our announced inspection took place 18 months after the last inspection, when we also had serious concerns. Not nearly enough progress had been made.

"The prison, probably the most famous in the country, remained in a poor condition with unacceptably poor outcomes for the 1,258 adult men held, with much too little done to address their behaviour before they returned to the community."

The report goes on to detail staff shortages and poor industrial relations which contributed to deteriorating levels of safety with in the prison, with one half of the inmates saying they had felt unsafe at some time during their sentence.

The report says there have been some improvements to the environment but much remained poor, adding: " Many prisoners spent almost all day, and ate their unappetising meals, doubled up in a dirty, damaged cell with an unscreened toilet. Some prisoners had improvised a toilet screen with a torn sheet and stuffed paper in broken windows to keep out the weather.

" We found two prisoners on ACCTs (assessment, care in custody and teamwork case management for prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm) in cells in which jagged glass remained in the broken windows. It was a struggle to get clean clothing and bedding.

" The prison had a significant rat problem; we saw them every day and night we visited the prison and a large rats’ nest was very obvious in the grounds."

The report concludes: " Wormwood Scrubs is a prison that continues to fall short of expected standards, and at the time of our inspection there was little cause for optimism. We leave the prison managers and staff with a series of recommendations, many repeated, which we believe require immediate attention if the establishment is to begin to fulfil its responsibilities."

You can read the report in full here.

In response, Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust says: " This shattering report on London’s best-known Victorian jail reveals levels of Dickensian squalor which ought to have been consigned to the history books.

" Inspectors found deteriorating levels of safety, poor staff/management relations, high use of force, inadequate support for people at risk of suicide and self-harm and a prison awash with drink and drugs. Most men were locked up 22 hours a day and the prison was filthy and rat-infested.

" These inhumane, degrading conditions have no place in a modern justice system. No prison goes downhill overnight. Putting things right is a litmus test for a government publicly committed to reform."

 

April 18, 2016