HMP Wandsworth was found to have “81 points of failure” in the wake of an alleged prisoner escape, a report has said.
Daniel Abed Khalife is accused of breaking out of the Category B jail on 6 September last year, and allegedly used bedsheets to strap himself under a food truck to make his escape.
The former soldier was arrested three days later and has pleaded not guilty to escaping from lawful custody. He is due to stand trial in October.
An audit identified a raft of security failings at the jail following Khalife’s alleged escape, HMP Wandsworth’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has said in its annual report.
Published on Thursday, the report said a November audit identified “81 points of failure” – including “antiquated” CCTV cameras that had not worked for over a year – at the southwest London prison.
The IMB also called for HMP Wandsworth to be put into emergency measures over its “deeply concerning” findings, and described the jail as a “failing prison” which was “constrained by staff absence and hindered by underfunding and lack of support from the prison service”.
Its annual report added the prison was “not safe” – with around 1,000 assaults recorded either between prisoners or on staff – and noted it was “alarmingly easy” for prisoners to get hold of contraband, with cell searches finding phones, drugs, makeshift weapons, and alcohol.
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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.”
Khalife’s alleged escape also prompted multiple reviews and actions, including “previously unavailable funding” being made available.
The report noted a new CCTV system installed in May this year “immediately led to an increase in the number of illegal passes detected”.
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It comes after an inspection of HMP Wandsworth in May revealed “chaos” and “appalling conditions”, stemming from “poor leadership at every level”.
The prison was also the focus of a police investigation into a prison officer filmed having sex with an inmate; Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office at the end of July.
The government also confirmed a £100m funding package over five years, and additional staff, to deal with HMP Wandsworth, which it calls “one of the most troubled prisons in the country”.
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A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said after the IMB’s annual report: “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 £100m to be spent over five years at HMP Wandsworth to ensure immediate action is taken to improve conditions.”
