24 Oct 2024
Winchester: A prison so broken that a man could remove his cell door
The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded today (Thursday 24 October) after HM Inspectorate of Prisons invoked an urgent notification for Winchester prison.
Inspectors visited the reception prison, in Hampshire, this month and found conditions so concerning that the Chief Inspector, Charlie Taylor, has written to the Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood MP.
The prison was unsafe, with very high levels of violence, self-harm and drug use. Conditions were filthy, with inspectors finding damp, mould, graffiti, damaged furniture, leaking roofs and broken windows. One man had been able to remove his cell door, and more than a third of the CCTV cameras were not working.
Most men got only two-and-a-half hours out of their cells each day, and the effectiveness of the education, skills and work available was graded ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.
Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Winchester is a prison so broken that a man could remove his cell door. It has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long. At the end of last month, it had room for fewer than 450 men – but it was being asked to hold more than 600.
“When conditions are so appalling that a wall can be prised open with plastic cutlery, and when violence, drug use and self-harm are rife, what hope is there for the men who spend more than 21 hours each day locked in their cells?
“There are many other prisons like Winchester. This is the fourth Urgent Notification since May, after Wandsworth, Rochester and Manchester, and there are likely to be more in the near future. This is why the government had no option but to take emergency measures to ease pressure on the system.
“It is time to put things right. The independent review of sentencing announced this week is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver a more humane and effective response to crime. We must grab it with both hands.”
Notes to editors
- The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world. It is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.
- The urgent notification letter for Winchester prison can be found on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/
- The crumbling infrastructure in Winchester prison and other jails was highlighted in a blogpost published on the Howard League website in May 2024: https://howardleague.org/blog/rats-flies-and-crumbling-walls-the-physical-state-of-prisons-is-getting-worse/
- For more information about prison overcrowding, read the explainer article ‘Why are prisons overcrowded?’ on the Howard League website: https://howardleague.org/why-are-prisons-overcrowded/
Contact
Noor Khan
Press and Public Affairs Officer
Tel: +44 (0)20 7241 7873
Email: noor.khan@howardleague.org
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