Three inmates killed themselves at a jail where guards who were meant to be on a 24-hour watch were asleep, reading or absent, a watchdog has revealed.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor placed HMP Pentonville in London under special measures in July due to a series of ‘comprehensive failures’.
In a report published today, he linked a lack of monitoring for mentally ill prisoners to recent deaths.
‘The care for some of the most vulnerable was appalling and so far in 2025 three prisoners had killed themselves,’ he said.
‘We found that staff did not know the name of the prisoners they were supervising, one officer was asleep, and others were reading or completely absent when they should have been caring for some very vulnerable men.
‘The doors were kept shut, with staff conducting their observations through a plastic screen.’
Mr Taylor previously revealed that inmates at the Victorian jail were being let out early or late because staff had ‘failed to calculate sentences accurately’.
Data showed ten prisoners had been released early ‘in error’ between July 2024 and June 2025.
In addition, 130 inmates – 20 per cent of those eligible for release – had been held after their release date in the last six months.
It opens the prospect of criminals being able to bring compensation claims for being released too late.
The inspection was carried out from June 30 to July 11 and the Ministry of Justice said action had already been taken to improve conditions in the prison.
Mr Taylor’s report went on: ‘Wings were dirty, noisy and chaotic, with a pervasive smell of cannabis and infestations of mice and cockroaches.
‘Most prisoners spent more than 22 hours a day locked in poorly ventilated, overcrowded cells, with little chance of getting to work or education.
‘Many of those who did have an activity space failed to turn up, and the low numbers in work after release attested to the fact that little was being done to help prepare them for employment.’
The report found there had been 454 assaults on prisoners and 260 on staff over the year – equivalent to more than two a day.
The causes of violence were said to be ‘frustration, gang-based conflict and the influence of the illicit economy’.
The Category B, or medium security, jail was opened in 1842 and holds 1,200 men.
Mr Taylor described its interior as ‘crumbling’ and ‘squalid’, with an infestation of mice and cockroaches.
He found the occupational capacity had risen from 1,115 to 1,205 and, as a result, more than 60 per cent of prisoners were sharing cells that were suitable for one person.
Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: ‘It is no secret that large London local prisons such as Pentonville and Wandsworth face major problems – but the details in this report are appalling and represent a new low for an overcrowded and under-resourced public service that stands on the brink of collapse.
‘It is a sign of how serious the systemic issues are that these prisons continue to face these intolerable challenges and ”comprehensive failures”.
‘The government needs to drastically reduce the number of men in Pentonville, and provide significant investment to help leaders to run a decent and safe jail.’
The Ministry of Justice said: ‘This is a deeply concerning report that further underlines the prison’s crisis inherited by this Government.
‘We are already taking urgent action at HMP Pentonville – detailed in our comprehensive action plan published in August – including strengthening leadership, additional training for staff and significant refurbishment of wings.
‘Our work will continue at rapid pace to get standards back up to where they should be.’
It comes at a time the behaviour of prison employees is under intense scrutiny following a series of affairs between staff and prisoners.
Last week, a former prison cashier wept as she was jailed for having a sexual relationship with an inmate who had bragged about their illicit fling before a fellow convict reported them.
Yolanda Briggs, 52, from Boston, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and was given an eight-month sentence at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.
Briggs, who had worked in the prison service for 24 years, had sex with Allan Collins in the staff mess at HMP North Sea Camp men’s open prison in Freiston on several occasions in 2024.
She even met up with him while he was out on day release and took him to her home for an intimate session.
The court heard that Briggs was flattered by the attention she received from the prisoner, who is four years her junior and made her ‘feel wanted and alive.’
She was caught out after the prisoner bragged to fellow convicts about their affair, prosecutor Connor Stuart told the court.
However, despite her prosecution the pair have maintained their relationship and plan to be together when they are both finally freed.
The hearing, during which the defendant sobbed throughout, was told she still sent her lover money to help and support him.
