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HMP Wandsworth has come under fire this week over the missing prisoners scandal, with a major dual manhunt launched after it emerged that two inmates had been mistakenly released from the high-security institution - but it isn't its first time in the news, as the scandal-hit prison has a long reputation of poor conditions and governance extending back years. The London Metropolitan Police and Sussex Police are currently searching for two prisoners - 24-year-old Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif and 35-year-old fraudster William "Billy" Smith - who were mistakenly released on October 29 and November 5. Police have released photos and footage of the pair while searching for them in London and Surrey, and launched a public appeal in an effort reminiscent of the operation to find Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu, who was mistakenly freed last month. But while Kebatu's release went down as an unfortunate mistake, the latest errors have directed a spotlight on HMP Wandsworth's already embattled operations - with the institution having seen a slew of publicly documented failings. In 2024, less than a year on from the escape and recapture of terrorism suspect Daniel Khalife , a report on conditions the South London prison by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) reported "failings in almost all aspects of the prison’s operation". The inspectorate found that its infrastructure was crumbling, it was infested by vermin, and inmates were living in half the cell space available when the building was first opened in 1851. Violence and drug use were also rampant, the report found, while security was dysfunctional, with critical monitoring equipment like CCTV cameras at the prison found not to be working. Pictures submitted with that report showed rats scurrying around dark, cramped spaces, smashed wooden desks, scuffed and nearly crater-riven floors, and flooded corridoors. Other photos posted by the Justice Inspectorate showed broken windows, torn carpets, scattered rubbish and brown stains on the floor. Inspectors found that "committed men and women" staffers at the prison were often coming into work fearing that they may be assaulted. David Shipley, a former inmate who served time for fraud in 2020, told Sky News the findings at the time were no surprise, and said Wandsworth "has been chewing people up for years and years and years". He said during an interview following the release of the initial report: "It does nothing good, it doesn't do anything that makes people less likely to reoffend, and it does a huge amount of harm." The former inmate added: "The problem, I think, with Wandsworth is that it's just a place for ruining human lives and potential." The prison's image wasn't helped when, in June the same year, footage went viral on social media showing a woman in uniform involved in a sex act with a prisoner in a cell . In the footage, another inmate, who was filming the prison romp, could be heard saying off-camera: "This is how we live at Wandsworth, bruv.” The married guard, Linda De Sousa Abreu, was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment in 2025 after she pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. Despite public pressure since the initial report was released, more recent findings from the Independent Monitoring Board found there remained a series of failings around staffing at the prison. The report, released in October, found the prison was starting to recover, but continued to "be inhumane and unfit for purpose", with the level of staffing absences described as "unacceptable". It found that "a prison holding close to 1,500 men was often being run by fewer than 85 officers", with replacement staff being drafted in from other prisons helping to alleviate "some pressure in the short term" without a "long-term beneficial impact". Among the staff at the prison were some who had just over two months of training, and were noted as "unwilling or incapable of pulling together as a team". Those staffing shortages had a direct impact on prisoner health, the report added, with inmates found to be "frequently denied sufficient time out of their cells". Some prisoners, it added, were locked inside for up to 22 hours per day. As noted by the previous report, the level of conditions remain "inhumane", with the issue of overcrowded cells making another appearance in 2025. The report says: "Living conditions lacked decency, as two men were required to share cells designed for single occupancy." A Prison Service spokesperson responded to the report saying: “We are pleased the IMB has recognised the progress being made at HMP Wandsworth. But we know more needs to be done, which is why we have increased staffing levels and are investing up to £300million to improve conditions and keep prisons safe and secure.”
