Prison walls so crumbly inmates can dig through with plastic cutlery
Prisoners are able to use plastic cutlery to dig through cell walls because of the poor state of UK jails, watchdogs have warned in their annual report.
The “dire” physical conditions were a “common concern” across the prison estate in England and Wales – and not just in ageing Victorian jails, said the report from the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) which acts as the “eyes and ears” of the public in scrutinising prisons.
One of the worst was Victorian-era Winchester men’s prison, built in 1849, where watchdogs reported “crumbling walls and roofs all over the prison, leading to leaks, flooding and slip hazards”.
So decrepit was the damp-sodden masonry that in one case a prisoner was able to use plastic cutlery to tunnel through the wall of his cell on to a prison wing landing.
“At Winchester, there were several occasions throughout the year where prisoners were able to damage and attempt to dig through cell walls, on one occasion through the wall to the landing, using simple implements such as plastic cutlery,” said the report, presented by Elisabeth Davies, chairman of the IMBs.
The IMBs said the conditions in Victorian prisons were “particularly dire” worsened by the fact that many of them had a high churn of prisoners who were sent by the courts on remand or awaiting sentence. This made it more difficult to maintain cells to an acceptable standard.
Security concerns
“In some prisons, maintenance was delayed even when it gave rise to security concerns. At Pentonville, a window-replacement scheme deemed extremely important for escape prevention had to be halted because the prison was too crowded for the cells to be taken out of use,” said the report.
Even at more modern prisons – and one “state-of-the-art” jail – IMBs raised “serious concerns” about the poor conditions. “At Woodhill, built in 1992, the showers were of an unacceptable standard and the concrete flooring in many cells was breaking up, making it impossible to clean,” said the IMBs.
“At Five Wells, built in 2022, the board reported significant design faults that had yet to be corrected; these included poor airflow on landings, leading to uncomfortably hot temperatures in summer months, and low mobility cells which could not be occupied for safety reasons.”
The report warned: “Poor physical conditions meant some prisoners were living in unacceptable conditions, sometimes without access to basic sanitation, which had serious consequences for hygiene and dignity. Some IMBs described living conditions as inhumane.”
Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, has previously suggested about 14 Victorian jails are so poorly designed, overcrowded and ill-equipped that they should be shut down if alternative buildings could be found.
The report also highlighted security breaches at immigration removal centres where migrants earmarked for deportation flights to Rwanda are being detained.
The IMBs disclosed four serious incidents of disorder at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedford, where 13 detained men escaped after a riot.
The report said there had been disorder, violence, or safety and security breaches at every male immigration removal centre in England last year.
It warned that widespread staff shortages across prisons had contributed to significantly low time out of cell for many prisoners, leaving them bored and directionless.
