Wandsworth Prison: What life is like at jail from where terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife escaped

Wandsworth prison has been plagued by staff shortages, prisoner overcrowding, graffiti, rubbish and squalid conditions – and now it is at the centre of a political storm.

The escape of 21-year-old terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife has triggered a nationwide manhunt and questions over how he was able to slip out, apparently clinging to the underside of a lorry.

The last time HMP Wandsworth was inspected was June 2022. Sky News takes a closer look at what life is like for inmates and staff there.

One of UK’s most overcrowded

HMP Wandsworth is a Category B men’s prison in southwest London, built in 1851.

It has an official capacity of around 1,600 across five wings, but inspections have consistently found it to be overcrowded with between 60% to 80% more inmates than it was designed for.

The most recent report by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) said it “remains one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country with most prisoners sharing a cell built for one”.

National chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) Mark Fairhurst told Sky News that the last time he visited Wandsworth there were only 69 prison officers on duty for more than 1,600 inmates.

Category B means Wandsworth takes prisoners straight from local courts – who are either awaiting trial or have been sentenced – and ones that are long-term or high-security.

There is a Category C resettlement unit within Wandsworth where less violent inmates can work and study before they are released.

As well as bathroom and canteen facilities there is also a visiting hall, gym, sports hall, library, faith room, classrooms and workshops.

Prisoners have phones in their cells – although they cannot receive incoming calls.

Those with privileges are offered learning opportunities in barbering, catering, bike repair, gardening, construction and radio production.

According to the website prisoners also have the chance to join a choir, yoga and mindfulness classes.

‘Dirty, graffiti covered cells with no windows’

The latest inspection of the prison was carried out in June 2022.

It found living conditions for prisoners to be “very poor”. They were often housed in “dirty, graffiti covered cells, some of which had no windows”.

Inspectors also described “cleaning cupboards being in disarray” and “large amounts of rubbish in exercise yards attracting vermin”. Piles of litter were also seen “on wings” and “thrown from cell windows”.

Prisoners on one wing had to shower in “squalid conditions”, with many inmates not having access to showers on a Friday.

The prison hospital “did not meet infection prevention and control standards”, but half of the mental health unit cells were in the process of being refurbished.

Prisoners spent too much time in their cells, with more than half of the population unemployed, which meant they were locked up for 22 hours a day.

By contrast, there weren’t enough work opportunities due to overcrowding and education attendance was poor.

‘Crazy failure’

Former HMP Wandsworth inmate, David Shipley, told Sky News that his experience of the prison was that it was “appallingly run, chaotic, and understaffed”.

He said the prison officially had a full complement of staff, but that around a third are on sick leave at anyone time, meaning “effectively, they were grossly understaffed every single day”.

He said during his time there, staff were unable to maintain a basic regime – meaning they were unable to offer all prisoners time outside or a shower every day.

“They would regularly lose prisoners, for sustained periods of time – half an hour, an hour, an hour-and-a-half – and they would invariably be found around the prison,” he added.

Asked if Khalife should have been held elsewhere, Mr Shipley said: “Certainly, had he been housed at a prison like Belmarsh, which is built for people facing much more serious charges, I don’t think he would have escaped.

“Wandsworth is not a particularly robust or secure environment, and certainly to put someone like that in the kitchens is a crazy failure.”

‘Increased levels of violence’

Since the previous inspection in 2021, levels of violence had increased.

According to the inspector staff “lacked confidence in challenging poor behaviour on wings”.

Chris Atkin, who served time for fraud in Wandsworth and wrote a book about his experiences, told Sky News he saw “people attacking officers on almost a daily basis” and “dozens of assaults every day”.

“There were so many fights, the bells would go off constantly, which meant that another officer was down and needed help,” he said.

But inspectors did find that victims and perpetrators of crime within the prison were generally supported and leaders were implementing plans to improve safety.

While previously levels of force used by staff were described as concerning, there had been “substantial improvements” by mid-2022.

More prison officers were using their body-worn video cameras, but there still weren’t enough cameras to cover all areas of the prison.

Previously the facilities for foreign nationals were poor, with immigrant detainees spending too long at Wandsworth. But this had “improved significantly” by the time of the last inspection – with immigration officers working full-time with the support of two charities.

Staff shortages ‘very high’

As a result of overcrowding, poor recruitment and retention, there were not enough members of staff per prisoner at Wandsworth at the time of the last inspection.

Mr Atkin told Sky News that because of the levels of violence against officers, they are often absent from work due to “trauma and mental health problems”.

“The real problem is there aren’t enough officers, so they ask prisoners to do jobs that they should really be doing themselves,” he said.

He explained that he was even asked to register the other prisoners on and off the wing, which would have made an escape easy.

In a statement after Khalife’s escape, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) Steve Gillan said: “Wandsworth is a typical example of what life is like for serving prison officers operating in a stressful and violent workplace with inadequate staff levels caring for over 1,600 prisoners at that establishment”.

His colleague Mr Fairhurst added that “chronic staffing shortages” and “lack of adequate training” has resulted in an “overcrowded” and “underresourced” jail.

At the time of the previous inspection, the prison governor had left and an interim one was in place.

Notable inmates

As a remand prison in London, Wandsworth has been home to some well-known and infamous inmates over the years.

These include:

Charles Bronson – long-term violent prisoner
Julian Assange – Wikileaks founder and activist
Pete Doherty – musician repeatedly arrested for drug offences
Rolf Harris – late paedophile
Max Clifford – late celebrity agent convicted of indecent assault
Boris Becker – former tennis champion convicted on fraud charges
Ronnie Biggs – Great Train robber who successfully escaped Wandsworth
Ronnie Kray – late east London gangster
Chris Huhne – former government minister jailed for perverting the course of justice over driving penalty points