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Violence and drugs: Chief Inspector of Prisons warns of serious failings in two prisons holding some of the most dangerous offenders

Published:

Chief Inspector puts HMP Woodhill into special measures and publishes shocking report about HMP Swaleside.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons has warned of serious failings in prisons holding some of the country’s most dangerous offenders after a damning inspection of HMP Woodhill forced him to issue a second Urgent Notification for the jail in under three years. The move to put Woodhill into special measures comes just months after a catastrophic inspection of HMP Swaleside – the full report of which is published today – and less than 18 months after an Urgent Notification was issued at HMP Manchester. All three jails are part of the long-term high secure estate (LTHSE) that holds some of the riskiest men in the country.

The most recent concerns also come in the wake of recent high profile, alleged murders in the LTHSE, and extreme violence towards prison officers which has resulted in serious injuries.

The LTHSE holds dangerous offenders serving very long sentences. Category B training prisons should play a vital role in working with these men to reduce their risk to the public when they get out. Instead, men are languishing in their cells and criminal behaviour is going unchecked by often inexperienced officers, the dealing and use of drugs is rife and there are frightening levels of violence, including some very serious assaults on both prisoners and staff. I am deeply concerned by the risk this poses to the public as increasing numbers of men are released directly from prisons like Woodhill and Swaleside into the community, with little work to rehabilitate them or reduce their future risk of harm.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Woodhill had the second highest rate of assaults of any category B training prison, surpassed only by Swaleside. The rate of prisoner-on-prisoner violence had increased by 23% and the rate against staff had increased by 45% since the last inspection in 2023, even though it had the highest rate of serious assaults against staff in the country at that time. At both jails, much of the violence was serious and around a third of all incidents at Woodhill involved weapons. Drugs, often brought in by drones, were contributing to the tension and instability at both jails, and many prisoners said they felt unsafe.

Both prisons were dirty, in need of major refurbishment, and profoundly failing in their roles as training establishments. At Woodhill, there had been hardly any education and training provision for a month, and although Swaleside had enough education places for its population, attendance was woeful. Prisoners at both jails spent far too long locked in their cells with nothing to do, adding to their frustration and fuelling drug-taking, poor behaviour and disorder.

While neither jail was overcrowded, population pressures elsewhere in the estate meant both prisons were now releasing increasing numbers of men directly into the community rather than transferring them to designated resettlement prisons. Many prisoners received limited support and measures to protect the public ahead of the release of men assessed as posing serious risk of harm were weak.

A new, experienced governor had been appointed to Woodhill six months ago. He had a clear understanding of what needed to be done and his immediate priority had been to try to stabilise the prison and bring a measure of predictability to daily routines. However, the problems at Woodhill are serious and have so far proved to be intractable despite support after our deeply concerning findings in 2023. I am in no doubt that the challenges the governor and his staff face will require sustained, significant support from the prison service if they are to succeed at this troubled jail.

This is the third Urgent Notification I have issued for a LTHSE prison within the past 18 months, raising serious concerns about the performance of these jails which hold some of the most dangerous men in the country.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Notes to editors

  1. The inspection of HMP Woodhill took place between 2 and 12 March 2026. The letter announcing the Urgent Notification (UN) at HMP Woodhill and the debriefing paper were sent to the Secretary of State on 17 March 2026. The Chief Inspector of Prisons had previously issued Woodhill with a UN in 2023.
  2. The Urgent Notification process was introduced in 2017 and is a means of raising immediate, urgent concerns following an inspection which requires a response and action plan from the Secretary of State within 28 days. A full report from the inspection is still published in the normal time frame of within 14 weeks of the inspection. The Urgent Notification is supported by the evidence of the debrief from the inspection, which is presented to the governor, and which outlines the key issues which will be explored in more detail in the full report once published.
  3. We invoke an Urgent Notification by writing to the Secretary of State for Justice within seven calendar days of completing an inspection setting out our concerns. We also tell the governor of the prison that we are doing so. The Secretary of State then has 28 days following publication of the Urgent Notification to reply to us setting out an action plan of improvement. Find out more about Urgent Notifications: Urgent Notifications and IRPs – HM Inspectorate of Prisons
  4. The inspection team assesses the establishment’s performance against the applicable healthy establishment tests using the following judgements: 4 – outcomes for prisoners are good, 3 – outcomes for prisoners are reasonably good, 2 – outcomes for prisoners are not sufficiently good and 1 – outcomes for prisoners are poor. In this inspection, the scores were Safety – 1, Respect – 2, Purposeful activity – 1, Preparation for release – 1.
  5. The inspection of HMP Swaleside took place between 1 and 11 December 2025. The letter announcing the Urgent Notification at HMP Swaleside and the debriefing paper were sent to the Secretary of State on 15 December 2025.
  6. Swaleside was the third prison in the long-term high security estate to be issued with an Urgent Notification. The other prisons were Manchester and Woodhill (2023).
  7. HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
  8. Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.