Violent and rotting Winchester prison fails inmates, report says

Parts of the prison collapsed during the year, inspectors said

A prison is struggling with crumbling masonry and an "underlying volatile atmosphere", an inspection has found.

Parts of the Winchester jail collapsed during the year, its Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said.

Overcrowding, drugs and high levels of violence were also undermining efforts to rehabilitate prisoners, it added.

The Prison Service said violence had fallen significantly since the report but it recognised the need for "further strong action".

In its annual inspection, the board said the prison, which was removed from special measures by the government in November 2019, remained an "extremely challenging environment".

"In July 2020 a large chunk of masonry, approximately two to three feet long, fell from the roofline of B wing and smashed on the ground," its report said.

Part of a wing remained closed after a lightning strike in August 2021 and inmates had damaged weak walls and windows, it added.

The jail, mainly built in 1846, is a category B and C men's prison

The control room also suffered from "repeated influxes of rats", the IMB reported.

"Despite the hard work of staff, the levels of prisoner-on-prisoner violence are the highest among comparator prisons, and the second highest for assaults on staff," it said.

However, the jail was praised for keeping Covid levels at bay, with "comparatively few cases and only two deaths of prisoners".

Work has started to replace a much-criticised segregation unit and the main wings were being refurbished, the report added.

The IMB said improved care of vulnerable inmates contributed to a year with no suicides.

Winchester IMB chairman Angus Somerville said: "Levels of violence, drug use and self-harm exacerbate the strain on safety, creating an underlying volatile atmosphere on the main wings."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "While the Board praised the professional way the prison was run during a uniquely difficult year, the need for further strong action has been recognised.

"Violence among prisoners has fallen significantly since the time covered by this report, and we are tackling assaults on staff by a small minority of prisoners with better training which is already having an impact."

The jail, mainly built in 1846, is a category B and C men's prison as well as a young offender institution.