HMP Pentonville

What we found (Back to top)

Inspectors found that 44% of prisoners in the jail felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, with the ingress of drugs driving high levels of violence. New arrivals at the prison received shockingly little support despite often high levels of risk and need; some were locked in induction cells without bedding, pillows or cutlery, and others were scattered across the jail with staff unable to locate or identify them.

Poor relationships between prisoners and staff were affecting the rest of the population; there was a noticeable lack of empathy and care, and 50% reported that they had been bullied or victimised by staff. There was a lack of support for those who self-harmed, and inspectors found staff reading, asleep or entirely absent while they were meant to be supervising very vulnerable men. Tragically three prisoners had killed themselves at the jail this year alone.

Wings were dirty, noisy and chaotic, with a pervasive smell of cannabis and infestations of mice and cockroaches. Most prisoners spent more than 22 hours a day locked in poorly ventilated, overcrowded cells, with little chance of getting to work or education. Many of those who did have an activity space failed to turn up, and the low numbers in work after release attested to the fact that little was being done to help prepare them for employment.