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Many prisoners at Pentonville illegally imprisoned beyond their release date in chaotic, unsafe conditions

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The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, has issued an Urgent Notification to the Secretary of State for Justice after an inspection of Pentonville uncovered a prison in a state of disarray, where many prisoners were being detained unlawfully after their release date in appalling conditions, with wholly inadequate support.

Significant backlogs in sentence calculations meant some prisoners were being released early in error and, shockingly, many more were held after they should have been released. The prison was chaotic, with staff often unaware of who prisoners were or where they were located. This created deeply unsafe conditions, particularly for men who had just arrived at the jail, were at their most vulnerable and should have been helped to settle in. Forty-four per cent of prisoners surveyed said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, the highest figure recorded in a reception prison in recent times.

There was a widespread lack of care for prisoners at imminent risk of self-harm. Inspectors found staff, who were supposed to be looking after those prisoners who required constant supervision, reading books, asleep and in one case completely absent. Although there had been three suicides this year, there had been little learning from deficiencies identified by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

Prisoners lived in squalid conditions. Cells were dirty and missing essentials such as bedding, furniture and pillows, and ineffective allocation to activities meant most men spent more than 22 hours a day locked up with nothing to do. Levels of violence were high, much of it driven by the easy availability of drugs in the jail. Inspectors observed some highly committed members of staff, but others seemed to have given up, were failing to challenge poor behaviour and were unwilling to help prisoners.

Pentonville is an overcrowded, inner-city, Victorian prison with a record of poor performance over many years. Too many of its staff have become disillusioned about the possibility of improvement or their capacity to affect change. Yet many of its shocking failures are firmly within the control of leaders. The governor will need significant support and investment from HM Prison and Probation Service to strengthen his senior leadership team, re-focus on the basics and put in place effective oversight and assurance systems to turn this failing prison around.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor

Notes to editors

  1. This inspection took place between 30 June and 11 July 2025.
  2. Read the letter announcing the Urgent Notification at HMP Pentonville and the Pentonville debriefing paper sent to the Secretary of State on 16 July 2025.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Winchester is the tenth prison to be issued with an Urgent Notification since November 2022. The other prisons are Exeter, Woodhill, Bristol, Bedford, Wandsworth, Rochester, Cookham Wood YOI, Manchester and Winchester.
  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.