This is the evidence submitted by the Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign (WPIC) to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee inquiry into Prison culture: governance, leadership and staffing.
1. Summary
1.1. This submission presents some of the major issues facing prisons in England and Wales, and explains how these impact on the recruitment, training and retention of prison officers and governance issues. As well as presenting relevant national statistics, it includes examples based on WPIC’s local knowledge of HMP Wandsworth as well as selected quotes from involved parties.
1.2. The submission shows that the role of prisons and of prison officers is increasingly challenging. The prison population has expanded and aged considerably, staffing levels are lower (many experienced officers left following austerity cutbacks), more prisoners suffer from poor mental health, illicit drugs and other contraband are more pervasive, and the levels of violence and self-harm have increased.
1.3. Staff culture needs to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of both the workforce and of prisoners. Prisoners come from many diverse cultures and speak a variety of languages. It is important that bullying, misogynistic, racist or other discriminatory behaviour is not tolerated and is called out when it occurs. Prisoners have a range of talents which could be put to better use to create more positive, rehabilitative regimes.
1.4. The approach taken to staff recruitment and development needs to adapt. The skills required of prison officers are becoming more wide-ranging, but recruitment remains focussed on young, inexperienced and lowly-qualified people. Regular learning is essential, but on-the-job training is given a low priority while operational capabilities remain stretched.
1.5. The “stop-start” nature of recruitment in recent years (due to changing levels of Government funding for the prison service) has created great imbalances. Greater scrutiny of new staff is required to ensure they are suitable. At present half of prison officers have less than 5 years’ experience, so new staff will largely be supervised by others who have not even experienced the more open regimes which existed pre-Covid. Many of the recruits will in future be competing for more senior roles at the same time, which will not be helpful for staff retention.
1.6. Most of this submission focuses on staffing but in section 13 we have raised issues about the role of a prison governor and HMPPS. Based on our experience of two very different governors at Wandsworth Prison over the past year we propose that HMPPS’s standards for appointing and appraising governors should include reinforcing a culture of respect and care amongst prison staff and engaging with the local community.
1.7. We believe there is a case for greater governor involvement in infrastructure projects as well as recruitment. Our earlier submission to the committee of 6 December makes the case that greater involvement of a prison’s senior management in the planning and construction of infrastructure projects might help deliver projects fit for purpose and avoid the sort of delays we have seen around the new health centre at Wandsworth Prison.
1.8. We have experienced HMPPS as an organisation where decision-making is centralised and there is a lack of accountability. Letters are not answered and lessons are not learnt from inquests. Behind all these issues lies the effect of a culture of secrecy that impedes proper disclosure and discussion of important matters of public interest.
1.9. We urge the committee to consider the perspective of families as well as prisoners in this and future inquiries. The voice of families is not heard enough in discussions about criminal justice. Families have a vital role to play in rehabilitation and reducing reoffending but our experience is that they are often frustrated rather than supported by the prison system.
2. Prison Population & Staffing Levels
2.1. The graph below shows the prison population since 1980. Some of the changes during this time which have impacted today’s prison environment are listed below.
2.2. Politicians of all parties expressed shock when the number of prisoners reached 40,000 in the late 1970s, yet successive Governments since then have created new offences and lengthened sentences in order to appear to be “tough on crime”.
2.3. The Conservative Government in the 1980s instigated a policy of “care in the community”, reducing the number of hospital places for the mentally ill. The required increased level of community support did not materialise, so more mentally ill people have been imprisoned.
2.4. The Labour Government in 2005 introduced “indeterminate sentences for public protection” (IPPs), but these were applied much more broadly than originally intended and have resulted in some prisoners remaining in prison for many years longer than expected.
2.5. The judicial system is holding more people on remand in prison before their court cases, and there are longer delays before hearings, creating extra need for local prison places.
2.6. Longer supervision periods following release and new monitoring technology has led to more recalls, often for breaking licence conditions rather than for committing a crime.
2.7. Although the Covid-19 pandemic caused a short-term dip, the number of prisoners has since begun to rise again and is predicted to reach 100,000 by the end of 2028 [1]
2.8. Not enough new prison cells have been created in new or existing prisons to accommodate growing prisoner numbers. Plans to build new prisons have often faced delays, so many older Victorian prisons are still being used despite increasingly dilapidated conditions. Many prisons suffer from overcrowding, with two or more prisoners living in cells originally intended for one. The prison system nearly reached full capacity in mid-2024, requiring the early release of some prisoners through the End of Custody Supervised License (ECSL) scheme.
2.9. Up until 2010 the number of prison staff rose as prisoner numbers increased.
2.10. The graph below shows full-time equivalent operational staff numbers from 2010 to 2024:
2.11. Austerity cutbacks to prison budgets led to a 30% decrease in the number of prison staff between 2010 and 2015, although the prison population remained stable during this period.
2.12. Additional prison staff were recruited in 2017-19 (as austerity conditions were eased) and also in 2024 (in response to rising prisoner numbers), but staff numbers in 2024 remain 10% lower than they were in 2010.
3. Staff Recruitment
3.1. The educational or practical qualifications required to apply for a job as a prison officer in England and Wales are less stringent than those in many other European countries. [2] Whereas physical requirements such as fitness, good eyesight and a lack of visible tattoos are stressed, much less emphasis is put on qualities such as being fair and non-judgmental, having good negotiation skills and being willing to learn. The word "caring" is mentioned once. In practice a substantial part of the role of a prison officer is to look after the welfare of a large number of people from a wide range of backgrounds, many of whom may be suffering from physical or mental health issues.
3.2. There is a high turnover of prison staff. There should be greater rigour in the selection process to exclude those who are poorly suited to the role, while greater incentives may be appropriate to retain and motivate the best. HMPPS's recruitment process is highly centralised, so perhaps consideration should be given to providing more autonomy to Governing Governors in the selection process.
3.3. Although experience levels within the workforce would be expected to increase over time, prisons have struggled to recruit and retain enough suitable candidates. Some reasons given for this have been the long working hours, poor/dangerous working conditions, relatively low wages, poor public perception of the role and a high retirement age (prison officers have a normal pension age linked to the state pension age (SPA), which is currently 68).
3.4. Giving evidence to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry on the Prison Operational Workforce (7 February 2023) Mark Fairhurst, POA National Chair said:“We feel that recruitment is not fit for purpose. For example, you do an online assessment and then you do a job simulation, which is assessed via Zoom. It is not relevant to prison officer work. You could be, for example, a manager in a shopping centre dealing with complaints from angry customers. There is no interview process at all. For such a responsible role, there is absolutely no interview panel. You are getting people in charge of prisons – governors – who don’t know who they’ve actually recruited because they never get to see them face to face or put them under pressure in an interview panel. For such a responsible job, I just don’t get it. We could save a hell of a lot of money by scrapping job simulation and reinvesting in interview panels, so that governors can see who they are recruiting. You can learn from someone, face to face – how they react when they’re under pressure. We don’t have any of that.”He also made the following comments about pay:“I don’t want to work until I’m 68. I want decent pay competitive with other public sector services. I want protective equipment in place. I want support for new recruits. I want to stop feeling undervalued and unsupported. We have closed grades who very rarely get a pay award that matches Fair and Sustainable. These are the most experienced people who have kept the ship afloat for decades. They just feel so unwanted and undervalued…..”
4. Staff Experience
4.1. The graph below shows the experience levels of prison officers in March 2014 and March 2024, measured by the number of years of work within prisons.
4.2. Due to a recruitment freeze from 2010, by 2014 there were only 6% of staff with less than 5 years’ experience. At that time 66% of staff had over 10 years’ experience.
4.3. A Voluntary Early Departure (VED) scheme encouraged many more experienced officers to leave the prison service during the mid-2010s. In 2024, over 50% of all prison officers have less than 5 years’ experience of prison work, and only 26% have over 10 years’ experience.
4.4. Mark Fairhurst,(POA National Chair) gave the following evidence to the Justice Select Committee's inquiry on the Prison Operational Workforce on 7 February 2023:“Since 2010 we have lost near enough 100,000 years of experience. We have never recovered from that. I don’t think we ever will.”
4.5. The inexperience of HMP Wandsworth’s workforce is the first of the Priority concerns in the 28 August 2024 Action Plan[3], which states: “Inexperience across every grade of operational staff made it difficult to bring about much needed change or sustain any progress. Most leaders were temporarily promoted and new staff were learning from inexperienced frontline managers. Senior leaders were not visible on the wings.”
5. Staff Training
5.1. Initial training of new recruits is short when compared to that in other countries. It involves a 2 week induction in the prison where the officer starts working, followed by a 7-week (or 8-week) course at a special off-site training centre. [4] The emphasis of training appears to be on security issues and control and restraint techniques. Whereas 'softer' skills such as how to look after people in custody and how to de-escalate challenging situations are covered, the high levels of violence and self-harm experienced in prisons such as HMP Wandsworth would suggest that more can be done to create a less confrontational and more rehabilitative prison environment.
5.2. There is recognition by policymakers that improvements in training are required. Lord Timpson, the Minister for Prisons, told the House of Commons Justice Committee: [5]“I have just finished a significant review into prison officer training. Now I am in this role, I hope that a number of my recommendations will be put in place. A lot of that is around much more in-depth training and training around the softer skills, not rushed training but more in-person training and a lot of training around how we support people, de-escalate problems and have a long-term vision for training, so that when someone joins they have a really strong, clear idea, if they are ambitious, how quickly they can progress through the organisation. It is something I am passionate about.”
5.3. Given these problems with inexperience and morale the 28 August 2024 Action Plan submitted by HMPPS in response to HM Inspector of Prisons’ April/May inspection of HMP Wandsworth and Urgent Notification, made the following commitment: “Working with HR colleagues, a programme of training will be developed to upskill both substantive and temporarily promoted managers to ensure that they have the correct skill set to support and manage the wider staff group, as well as being able to provide assurance and challenge regarding overall performance of duties.”
5.4. We question how HMPPS can train new managers of prison officers without standards for the prison officer role, or the necessary appraisal systems in place. Two exchanges before your Committee in your evidence session of 19 November 2024 with Prison Governors’ Association representatives, cause concern. In Question 14 Carl Davies noted a lack of standards and information about performance and in Question 15 Tom Wheatley said that appraisals are not done routinely.
5.5. The sections of this report which follow examine features of the current prison environment which present particular challenges for recruitment and training: the ageing prison population, mental health problems, deaths in custody, the prevalence of drugs and violence and staff behaviour issues.
6. Ageing Prisoners & Disabilities
6.1. The graph below shows the age profile of prisoners in England and Wales in June 2010 and June 2024:
6.2. There has been a significant ageing of the prisoners’ profile over this period. Under 25’s made up 29% of the prison population in 2010 but just 13% in 2024. Over 50’s, on the other hand, made up 10% of the prison population in 2010 but this rose to 18% in 2024.
6.3. This ageing has significant effects on the prisons where the older prisoners are held, including Category C and D prisons (less on local prisons such as HMP Wandsworth).
6.4. Older prisoners are more likely to suffer from medical problems. Officers do not have access to medical records, so they may not be aware of conditions which are not obvious. Training is required relating to communication with medical staff on these matters. Hospital visits may be required more frequently than for younger prisoners, which require escort staff and therefore has resourcing implications. Palliative care may be required for prisoners who are close to death.
6.5. Officers may benefit from better understanding of physical conditions such as deafness, blindness/partial-sightedness, spinal conditions, asthma, diabetes etc. Many of these conditions require special adjustments/equipment or careful monitoring of diet or of the living environment. In some cases there may need to be a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP), which is a document that outlines how a person with a disability or other circumstance that may affect their ability to evacuate a building will be evacuated in an emergency.
7. Mental Health Issues and ACCT Training
7.1. The graph below shows the proportion of prisoners who have self-harmed once or more during each year from 2010 to 2023. The rate has doubled from about 7% to 14%:
7.2. Increasingly prison officers have to deal with prisoners suffering from mental conditions. Hospital wings within prisons are too small to cope with all of these cases, and the number of available places in secure hospitals for sectioned prisoners are limited.
7.3. IMB reports show that the number of ACCTs opened at HMP Wandsworth (to support prisoners who are at risk of self-harm or suicide) was 1,086 in 2023/24, double the number a decade earlier (536 in 2013/14). Inquests often reveal failings in how ACCTs are administered: checks may be infrequent, predictable or lack meaningful interaction, reviews do not always involve mental health staff, refresher training may be infrequent.
7.4. Giving evidence to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry on the Prison Operational Workforce (7 February 2023) Mark Fairhurst, POA National Chair said:“We see more and more things that we never used to. We deal with more self-harm and more self-inflicted deaths, and we deal with more prisoners who have mental health conditions. We are not trained to deal with them. We do not get any mental health training whatsoever. Before the pandemic, we used to get a three-hour session on mental health awareness. I have been in the job for 31 years and I have never been mental-health trained. I haven’t even done that course. They expect us to learn in 3 hours what a mental health nurse goes to university for, for 3 years. We have no training whatsoever.”
8. Deaths in Custody
8.1. The graph below shows the number of prisoners who have died in prisons in England and Wales during each 4-year period since 1980, categorised either as natural or non-natural:
8.2. The number of deaths has risen much more rapidly than the size of the prison population. Non-natural deaths are mostly either self-inflicted hangings or drug overdoses (intentional or accidental). The main influence on the number of natural deaths is the aging prisoner profile, although Covid-19 has also affected the most recent 4-year period.
8.3. In line with the trends shown above, the number of deaths at HMP Wandsworth in the last 4 years was higher than in any other similar period. WPIC members attended the inquest for a Polish prisoner who died in 2021[6]. The following extract of evidence given to the coroner illustrates ways in which new staff training can impact such cases :“On the night Piotr died, only one support officer was on duty on his wing of over 200 prisoners. That support worker had had only two weeks training ever and no first aid training, he was on his first overnight shift. Not surprisingly, he was too frightened to enter the cell and gave the wrong emergency call code. The ambulance was delayed by 20 minutes because of failures at the gate.”
8.4. Deaths in custody have a traumatic effect on those who live or work in the prison, especially on staff who manage the situation. More effective counselling should be made available to those who are involved. Lessons must be learned to prevent future deaths.
9. Drugs & Violence
9.1. The graph below shows that the number of serious assaults by prisoners (on staff and on other prisoners) has risen significantly in recent years, apart from a temporary drop during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-22 when prisoners were mainly kept in their cells. One factor driving this increase is higher drugs usage, which may lead to erratic behaviour and to prisoner disputes over debts.
9.2. Serious assaults against prison officers may result in higher staff turnover, more use of force incidents and a worsening of the staff-prisoner relationship. Training needs to emphasise skills which can be used to de-escalate challenging situations.
9.3. Over the past decade there has been a sharp increase in the usage of harmful new psychoactive substances such as spice, leading to more deaths from overdoses.
9.4. According to Amy Rees, Chief Executive of HM Prison and Probation Service: [7] “The main routes are: prisoners smuggling it in themselves, so we have tried to do enhanced gate searching and security in our most troubled sites; throw-overs— literally trying to throw it over where there is netting or whatever that you can get it through; drones; and to a much smaller extent sometimes by staff or partners who work with us.”
9.5. It is important that all staff recognise the damaging effects of drugs on both prisoners and their work colleagues. Checks on staff coming into the prisons need to be enhanced to prevent this route of drug importation.
10. Staff Behaviour
10.1. Reports suggest that more needs to be done to ensure that prisoners and staff members are all treated fairly and with respect within the prison environment.
10.2. The HMIP 2024 inspection report for HMP Wandsworth recorded in paragraphs 4.1/4.2: “In our survey, fewer respondents than at similar prisons said that staff treated them with respect (41% versus 69%), and that there were staff they could turn to if they had a problem ( 47% versus 71%).” “Relationships between staff and prisoners were generally distant and ineffective.”
10.3. Mark Fairhurst, Prison Officers’ Association (POA) National Chair, made the following observations when giving evidence to the Justice Select Committee's inquiry on the Prison Operational Workforce on 7 February 2023:“I am not saying all prison managers are bad people – I have worked with some fantastic prison governors – but the majority of them now are over-promoted, inept and bullies. The most revealing part of the staff survey will back that statement up. Staff are feeling bullied and intimidated by senior managers. If you’re a disabled member of staff trying to get a reasonable adjustment, it’s like trying to move heaven and earth. God forbid if you put a grievance in. Most staff refuse to put grievances in because they’re scared of the repercussions from higher up the food chain.”
10.4. The report “Voices from the Inside” [8] included this quote from a prisoner at Wandsworth: “Sometimes you just don’t want to come out of the cell because the officers some of them they’ve got such an attitude. I’m a very strong believer of speak to people how you want to be spoken to, I’m never rude. The things they say and the way they talk to people is just, yeah … it’s not a good place to be. We are from the Traveller community, they’re so racist. I thought racist was mostly against black people, but in this place if you’re a Traveller or a gypsy, you might as well say you’re finished.”
10.5. A lack of empathy is also seen in What’s App conversations between prison officers at HMP Wandsworth reported in The Times on 24 October 2024. Officers mocked a suicide, joked about assaulting prisoners and made homophobic and misogynistic comments. [9]
10.6. A recent, well-publicised example of an inappropriate behaviour between a female prison officer and male prisoners at HMP Wandsworth may have done much damage to the recruitment and working conditions of female recruits, who form a vital part of the workforce and need to be provided with a safe and respectful working environment. [10]
11. Recommendations: Recruitment & Training
11.1. Recruitment should be conducted on a continual basis to avoid creating imbalances in the experience profile of prison staff. Better planning is required to anticipate future needs based on prison population projections.
11.2. All staff should receive regular ACCT refresher courses, which should include information about lessons which have been learnt from inquests and self-harm incidents.
11.3. Skills need to be continuously enhanced throughout a prison officer’s career. This should include not only self-defence / use of force training, but also learning about improving personal interaction, negotiation and de-escalation skills. There needs to be better understanding of complex needs of prisoners with autism, learning difficulties, poor understanding of English, ADHD, PTSD, psychosis or physical disabilities. Pay and conditions need to reflect the increasing skill requirements of the role, which will improve retention and allow skills to be passed down from more experienced officers.
11.4. Greater attention should be given to the reasons experienced prison officers give for quitting the service. For example, Alex South (who worked for 10 years at HMP Whitemoor, HMP Wormwood Scrubs and HMP Belmarsh as an Officer, Senior Officer and Custodial Manager) gave some of her reasons for leaving as follows: “I saw the ugliness of prison in sharp clarity. Particularly when I transferred to a rat-infested inner London jail, where the prisoners stuffed Brillo pads into the jagged holes in cell windows in a desperate attempt to keep the rain out. Budget cuts and an early retirement scheme drained the prison of crucial resources and even more crucially, the experience of long-term staff. As staffing dropped, violence soared, along with riots, self-harm, suicides and murders.” [11]
11.5. Whistleblowers need to be encouraged to come forward in order to root out bullying and other abuses of power. Currently prison culture often encourages secrecy and cover-up, ostracising those who speak out. This is counter-productive.
11.6. Prisoners, prison volunteers and those providing education or medical services within prisons all have an interest in prisons being run smoothly and safely, not just HMPPS staff. Greater efforts could be made to involve these groups and listen to their perspectives so as to maximise their contributions.
11.7. Training should emphasise the importance of dealing respectfully with the families of prisoners, many of whom report poor experiences when visiting, trying to get phone numbers added, delivering clothes or contacting the prison with safety concerns.
12. Training: Questions for Consideration
We encourage the Committee to consider the following when reviewing current and future staff training programmes:
12.1. Initial training syllabus and content:
Is training classroom-based, online or on the prison wings and landings?Are participants tested to ensure that they have absorbed key learning?Are all new recruits being trained in first aid? Does the training address corruption and explain whistle-blowing procedures/protections?
Has the CSAAP (Correctional Services Advice and Accreditation Panel) been involved in accrediting the training? (This independent body of academics and expert practitioners reviews programme design, quality assurance, and evaluations)
The “Unlocked Graduates” scheme was set up in 2016 to inject new ideas, insights, and energy into the rehabilitation of prisoners. Is this learning being utilised across the prison? The prison service has recently launched a new prison officer training programme called Enable, which is being piloted in a few select sites. Is this proving effective?
12.2. Upskilling of managers
What plans are there to enhance ongoing training for prison officers?How can “best practice” be recognised and spread more widely within prisons?How can external agencies with relevant areas of expertise participate in training?
12.3. Changing prison culture
How will HMPPS training plans balance the teaching of security processes with the need to improve respect and care for prisoners? How can HMPPS encourage effective leadership which calls out discrimination or inappropriate behaviour?
How can officers be encouraged to show greater empathy with prisoners? Should new recruits be asked to experience a 24 hour prison cycle from within a prison cell? Will learning emphasise to new recruits the fundamental principals such as that: people are sent to prison as a punishment, not for further punishment; prison should mean loss of liberty but not loss of identity; a key aim of prisons and of its staff is to rehabilitate and reform offenders?
13. Governance Issues
13.1. The Role of a Governing Governor
We have witnessed the impact of two very different governors at Wandsworth Prison over the past year. The first resigned just before the Urgent Notification in May 2024. Based on our own experience and reports from other prisons too, we believe it is critical for a prison governor to set consistent standards of behaviour, encourage a culture of respect and engage with the local community. We recommend that these skills and attributes should be taken into account in the standards HMPPS use to appoint and appraise governors.
13.2. Governor autonomy
Prison Governors / Directors should be given a greater say in the recruitment process for new staff, in order to ensure that they meet requirements. At present many new recruits leave within the first two years and there is a high rate of sickness and absenteeism, suggesting that current selection methods could be made more rigorous. Governors also need to have a greater say over major infrastructure projects within their prisons, as these are often subject to significant delays and run over budget. As an example, a new health centre at HMP Wandsworth was originally scheduled for opening in October 2021 but is now due to open early in 2025. Further information about this is in our earlier submission to the Committee of 6 December. We do not know how the health centre was commissioned but it seems highly likely that the specification failed to take account of the detailed operational needs of the prison. More detailed involvement from the prison’s senior management might have produced a more satisfactory outcome.
13.3. HMPPS
Our experience of HMPPS is of an organisation where decisions are centralised and where there appears to be a lack of direct accountability and responsiveness. For example, we have written detailed letters to HMPPS with specific questions which have not been answered. We have also noted that the Ministry of Justice / HMPPS have failed to respond promptly to Prevention of Future Deaths reports. In the last inspection report of HMP Wandsworth[12], HM Inspectorate of Prisons was critical of HMPPS leadership but this point was not covered at all in the Government’s action plan in response to the Urgent Notification for the prison[13]. Poor performance can at least partially be attributed to decisions taken higher up in the organisational hierarchy, so it is important to ensure that such issues are also being addressed.
13.4. Culture of secrecy and defensiveness
When our campaign was formed as a result of revelations by the then Quaker prison chaplain, Liz Bridge, the audience asked “How can things have got so bad? Who must have known? Why did they not act?” There appeared to be at Wandsworth a general culture of fear at speaking out. Staff and volunteers were given to believe that the Official Secrets Act prevented them from saying anything outside the prison about what went on there. It takes immense courage to whistle blow.
Our experience as WPIC since then has confirmed that HMPPS does not welcome external influence and finds it hard to respond to or even recognise points put to officials about the situation they are responsible for.
The IMB and the Chief Inspector of course report to the public but their recommendations have also often been batted away in defensive responses. This is how inhumane practices that would not be tolerated in other parts of the public service have been able to continue for so long. We hope the Committee will consider this wider cultural issue and how HMPPS can be encouraged to become a more open service.
[1] Source: "Prison Population Projections 2024 to 2029, England & Wales" (published 5 December 2024) - Table 4.1, central projections.
[2] Advert for prison officers to work in HMP Brixton or HMP Wandsworth (August 2024): https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/15007274
[3] Submitted by HMPPS in response to “April/May 2024 inspection of HMP Wandsworth and Urgent Notification” published by HM Inspector of Prisons
[4] For details of training in the UK, see: https://prisonandprobationjobs.gov.uk/roles-at-hmpps/prison-officer/prison-officer-training
[5] 19 November 2024, HC369 Q29 https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/15028/pdf
[6] “Why did Piotr die?” (Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign, 5 Aug 2024):https://www.wandsworthprisoncampaign.co.uk/post/why-did-piotr-die
[7] ‘Corrupt staff aren’t the main source of drugs in jails’ (Inside Time, 30 Dec 2024)https://insidetime.org/newsround/corrupt-staff-arent-the-main-source-of-drugs-in-jails
[8] “Voices From The Inside” (Rona Epstein, Nov 2024): https://issuu.com/voicesfromtheinside/docs/voices_from_the_inside_rona_epstein
[9] “HMP Wandsworth prison officers made vile jokes about inmate's suicide”(The Standard, 25 Oct 2024): https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hmp-wandsworth-prison-officers-suicide-whatsapp-jokes-b1189983.html
[10] “Prison officer who was filmed having sex with inmate convicted” (CPS, 7 Jan 2025): https://www.cps.gov.uk/london-south/news/updated-sentence-prison-officer-who-was-filmed-having-sex-inmate-convicted
[11] “Why I quit” (Alex South, The Guardian, 10 July 2023): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/10/prison-officer-cuts-staff-attrition
[12] “Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wandsworth by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (22 April–2 May 2024)” (HMIP, 6 August 2024): https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_reports/hmp-wandsworth-3
[13] “HMP Wandsworth Urgent Notification” (HMIP, 9 May 2024; responses/action plans shown at the bottom): https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_reports/hmp-wandsworth-urgent-notification