Seven suicides at Wandsworth jail as conditions decline even further

A scandal-hit prison branded the worst in England and Wales has seen a further collapse in its conditions with seven suicides by inmates over the last year, a damning report has found.

- Rajeev Syal

HMP Wandsworth, from which a terror suspect escaped and where a prison officer was filmed having sex with an inmate, will receive £100m from the lord chancellor in the wake of findings from the prisons watchdog, the government announced.

In May, a catastrophic inspection of the south London jail led Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons, to demand that the then lord chancellor, Alex Chalk, invoke an urgent notification for improvement.

Today, the full report from that inspection details the extent of the problems uncovered in April and May this year. They include: Forty per cent of emergency cell bells were not responded to within five minutes.

Self-harm levels rocketed among prisoners. This included an incident when staff were oblivious to a prisoner in crisis who had self-harmed in his cell until inspectors brought it to their attention.

● Overall rates of violence, including serious assaults, were increasing and use of force was higher than most other reception jails.