Pentonville jail unfit for prisoner rehabilitation - inspectors

One of Britain's oldest jails remains an "unfit" place for prisoners to live or to be rehabilitated, a watchdog report has warned.

Monitors at HMP Pentonville in north London found the prison's population far exceeded its intended capacity.

They also found pairs of prisoners were crammed into cells with unscreened toilets - where they ate and slept.

The Prison Service said "urgent action" had been taken and "major refurbishments" would "boost capacity".

A spokesperson added new rehabilitation programmes would also be launched.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said Pentonville and similar prisons "really struggled to fulfil their purpose".

The report said the "lack of privacy alone could not be described as decent or humane".

Pentonville's independent monitoring board (IMB) also highlighted "contract-related challenges", meaning there was often a lack of heating and hot water, and issues with vermin.

The report said there were "at least two occasions" when drain blockages caused sewage to erupt through a manhole at lower ground level, "causing extremely unpleasant conditions".

Moreover, there was a broken lift serving the vulnerable prisoner unit, which was an "accident waiting to happen", the report said.

"Some of the older, frail men had to navigate flights of narrow metal stairs to breathe fresh air; wing staff had to carry some of them on a chair, [which was] impossible with larger prisoners," the prison monitors said.

Pentonville's IMB chairwoman Alice Gotto said the board had, for the second year in a row, received more calls from prisoners than any other prison in England and Wales.

"Despite the hard work of staff and management, Pentonville remains an unfit place for prisoners to live or to be rehabilitated," she said.

Mr Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, said Pentonville was among other Victorian-era prisons that should ideally be closed.

"Wandsworth [prison] was built for around 1,000 prisoners and I think has 600 over; Pentonville was built for around 450 and I think there [are] about 1,200 prisoners in that jail," he told the Guardian.

Despite the inadequate infrastructure, he added the prisons likely "won't be closed any time soon".

The 2022-23 report found that 75% of Pentonville's population is on long-term remand and that there is a lack of focus on preparation for release.

The board said many prisoners were released directly from court having received no resettlement preparation and 40% of those released during the reporting year, from court or prison, were released with no accommodation to go to.

Despite the overcrowding and deteriorating conditions at the prison, the report highlighted a few successes, such as rigorous searching procedures having curbed contraband, and a neurodiversity unit benefiting prisoners with neurological disorders.

The monitors conducted their reporting between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, encompassing a full year of assessment.

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