Inside ’inhumane’ HMP Wandsworth, inmates openly smoke drugs and ’sleep with guards’
HMP Wandsworth has been slammed yet again as the fallout continues from the viral video that allegedly showed a guard sleeping with an inmate in one of the cells inside the prison
HMP Wandsworth recently sent the internet into meltdown after a video circulated of an alleged prison guard having sex with an inmate in one of the cells.
The video was shared thousands of times, seen by millions, online, with police quickly launching an investigation into the video which appeared to be filmed by another inmate. Officers soon arrested and later charged Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, of Fulham in southwest London, for misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan Police confirmed.
"Guys we’ve made history, this is what I’m telling you," said the pal making the explicit video. At one point in the footage, someone appears to try to come into the cell, leading to the man filming saying to the person on the other side of the door "Give me a minute, one second." The prisoner filming tells his friend to carry on and then pans the camera round momentarily and, while grinning, says: "This is how we roll in Wandsworth."
Following the charge, a former inmate and former volunteer at the prison have spoken out about the hideous conditions in the infamous category B prison in the capital. Speaking to The Sun, ex-prisoner David Shipley described the prison as "the worst run organisation" has has ever seen and blames stressed, inexperienced and overworked staff for turning a blind eye to drug taking as well as other activities. An ex-chaplain at the prison, Liz Bridge, told the newspaper how it is far from a "holiday camp with lots of free sex" with the prison being a place of "desperation" with a lack of washing facilities that result in prisoners struggling to keep themselves clean.
A screenshot from the video that went viral from inside HMP Wandsworth ( Image: X)
The prison has been the subject of a recent scandal that hit headlines up and down the country as terror suspect Daniel Khalife escaped the jail and sparked a search which gripped the nation in September last year. The 22-year-old ex-soldier, who was working in the prison kitchen before he escaped, is believed to have clung to the underside of a food delivery truck using torn up bedsheets.
He was caught just three days later in West London. Following the escape of Khalife last year Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officer’s Association (POA), told the BBC Wandsworth prison is "chronically overcrowded and understaffed" blaming it on "crippling" government budget cuts. He said: "They only had 69 prison officers on duty, during this escape they should have had at least 120 prison officers on duty."
Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, of Fulham, was charged with misconduct in public office ( Image: Facebook/linda.desousaabreu)
But that very week of Khalife’s escape also saw another inmate fighting for his life after being stabbed during a row with another prisoner. A report into the prison, published a month after the two incidents, found there were more than ten assaults on staff every week.
The report also found that prisoners seemingly have easy access to contraband, with 1,900 litres of illicitly brewed alcohol being confiscated across the year. More than 300 mobile phones and 210 drug stashes were found, with drones being used to get goods over the prison walls.
A photo from inside the crumbling HMP Wandsowrth ( Image: Justice Inspectorates)
Both drugs and phones are used as currency in the prison, with inmates going to great lengths to get their hands on them, claims Liz Bridge. She told The Sun: "How do drugs and phones get in? How long is a piece of string?
"The prison authorities say drones. The ex- prisoners say corrupt staff - officers, workmen, nurses, support workers - the list is endless. The profit margins are extraordinary - a mobile will sell for £500 to £1000 in the prison, with similar margins on tobacco and all drugs. A dealer will be prepared to pay very large sums to anyone who works in the prison to act as a courier."
Ex-prisoner David says the report reflects what he dealt with after he was jailed in 2020 for fraud. “Everyone focuses on the drugs, the violence, the squalor but I think what often gets missed is that Wandsworth is the worst run organisation I have ever seen,” he says. It would be comedic if it wasn’t so grim."
The damning report found that HMP Wandsworth was overcrowded with "very poor" living conditions and inmates kept in filthy cells for up to 22 hours at a time. Photographs released that year show piles of litter building up, cells full of graffiti and there were broken windows across the grounds.
Inside Wandsworth Prison where inmates like Daniel Khalife were locked up with no windows ( Image: Justice Inspectorates)
There was also a serious hygiene problem as inmates could only wash their clothes once every two weeks and bedsheets were being used to stop bird poo from falling through the netting, MyLondon reports. While steps were taken to control vermin, rubbish continued to be thrown from cell windows
The prison wings are often filled with fumes of cannabis and spice, with officers often turning a blind eye, claims David. He says: “There would often be situations where those smells were coming from a particular cell and officers would just walk past and ignore it because it is too much effort, and if someone is sitting quietly smoking drugs they aren’t causing a problem. On paper Wandsworth is fully staffed but on any given day about a third of the staff are sick or absent for some reason. So in reality they aren’t fully staffed."
Inside the run down HMP Wandsworth ( Image: Justice Inspectorates)
In the latest report, which hammered the prison for being "unsafe and inhumane" with severe overcrowding, vermin and an increase in violence among prisoners. Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, was given an "urgent notification" about the conditions inside the prison and, in his report, wrote that the environment in the prison was characterised by a "degree of despondency he had not come across in his time as chief inspector".
Mr Taylor continued to write: "There had been 10 self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection, seven of which had occurred in the last 12 months. The rate of self-harm was high and rising, and yet around 40% of emergency cell bells were not answered within five minutes."
It was also found that 70 per cent of inmates reported feeling unsafe, and overall violence had increased since the last inspection. A Prison Service spokesperson told The Sun: “We’re improving conditions at HMP Wandsworth by increasing staffing levels and undertaking upgrades such as new CCTV and windows, roof repairs and refurbished healthcare facilities.”
The spokesperson went onto say that "staff corruption is not tolerated" and "the overwhelming majority of our prison staff are hardworking and honest and we are dedicated to rooting out those who are not".
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