The chief inspector of prisons has described the sense of “helplessness” at Pentonville prison after the jail was put into special measures by a watchdog.
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, described “bleak” conditions at the north London prison, where he said inmates had been illegally detained longer than their release date and supervised by staff who were either reading books or asleep.
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Mr Taylor served an urgent notification on HMP Pentonville after an inspection discovered that 130 inmates – 20% of those eligible for release – had been held illegally after their release date in the last six months because staff “failed to calculate sentences accurately”.
The backlog in sentencing calculations also meant 10 prisoners had been released early “in error” between July 2024 and June 2025.
The watchdog’s report also found that 60% of prisoners were sharing cells that were designed for one person, many living areas were dirty and that there was a widespread infestation of mice and cockroaches.
Speaking to Sky News Breakfast, Mr Taylor said he had been forced to use the “rare” power of putting a prison in special measures because of the “chaos” at Pentonville.
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“This is a big, busy London reception prison, Victorian, crumbling,” he said.
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“But particularly worrying, we found new arrivals were coming into the jail with no bedding, no pillows. I came across a guy who had only half a mattress in his room on his first night in prison.
“We found prison staff who couldn’t account for where their prisoners were during the day. We found prisoners who were on constant watch, who were on suicide watch, being supervised by staff who were reading books, who were asleep in one case, and in one case, completely absent.”
Pentonville is the 10th prison to be issued with an urgent notification since November 2022, following Exeter, Cookham Wood Young Offender Institution, Woodhill, Bedford, Wandsworth, Rochester, Manchester and Winchester prisons.
The emergency measure was introduced in 2017 as a way to raise immediate concerns following an inspection, which requires a response and action plan by the justice secretary within 28 days.
In a letter to Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, Mr Taylor said arrangements for new prisoners’ first night at the north London jail and induction were “chaotic and even frightening”, with the majority of prisoners were locked in their cells for more than 22 hours a day.
Inspectors took emergency action after they found care of vulnerable prisoners under constant supervision was “shockingly poor”, with one prison officer found asleep, two were reading books and another was “completely absent”.
The “unacceptable practices” in looking after these prisoners, deemed at serious risk of self-harm, were a particular concern for inspectors given three suicides at the jail in 2025.
Mr Taylor told Sky News there was a sense of “helplessness” at Pentonville.
“There was a sense that this is Pentonville and there’s nothing we can do, and it’s all too difficult and just a lack of real morale amongst many of the staff members that we talked to, despite many of them doing a really good job in difficult circumstances,” he said.
“It was a pretty bleak place. It was very noisy. It was violent, drugs are getting into the jail and really it needs some proper grip from the prison service if it’s going to make progress.”
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A survey of prisoners also revealed 44% told inspectors they felt unsafe at the time of inspection, which the watchdog said was the highest figure recorded during his tenure as chief inspector.
Prisons minister Lord James Timpson said he visited the prison on Thursday, where the team is already working to urgently address the concerns raised by the chief inspector.
An action plan will also be published in the coming weeks to support the efforts.
Lord Timpson said: “This government will end the chaos we inherited in our jails.
“We are building 14,000 new prison places and reforming sentencing so our jails reduce reoffending, cut crime, and keep victims safe.”
