A Kent prison has been named as the worst in the country.
During an unannounced inspection, HMP Swaleside on Sheppey was found to be rife with drug smuggling, staff-prisoner relationships, and inmates locked up all day with nothing to do.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor told KentOnline it was the worst score he has given since being in his post and it is the jail he is most worried about.
A full and damning report from the visits carried out between December 1 and 11 has been published today.
Mr Taylor said: “It shows a prison that’s in a complete state. We found it was unsafe, risky, and some of the conditions around the place were really poor.
“Despite staff really trying their best, they were very strained and inexperienced. The regime was terrible.
“Certainly, we have some big concerns about the jail.”
The Chief Inspector says there wasn’t a level of control needed “in a jail like Swaleside with the nature of the men it holds”.
The Category B prison near Eastchurch, at the time of inspection, contained 879 men, most of whom were serving long or indeterminate sentences.
Mr Taylor said: “The effect of drugs in Swaleside is really serious – a lot of drones unfortunately, bringing drugs into the prison.
“What happens with drugs is you get debt, and when prisoners get into debt, if they don’t pay up, that gets settled with violence. There was quite a lot of that going on.
“Also, there were some gang issues in there between rival postcodes in places like London – people making weapons in order for self-defence or to go on the offensive.
“If prisoners think they can push the boundaries, then they will push the boundaries.”
Inmates were also found to be getting no or little support to progress with their sentence.
Meanwhile, staff were left inexperienced, under pressure and lacking in confidence.
Mr Taylor said: “If staff don’t give the appearance of being safe and projecting that sense of authority, then prisoners pick up on that as well, and it increases their anxiety, again feeding into the volatility of the atmosphere.
“Those going in there every day to work and those people should be safe and going home to their families every evening.
“But also, all of the guys in Swaleside are coming out at some stage, and the question has to be, what do we want them to be like when they come out?
“Do we want them to be more violent? Do we want them to continue in the cycle of criminality that some of them are caught in?
“If we want those positive things, then it has to be a jail that operates effectively.”
In December, KentOnline reported how the Chief Inspector had called on the government to take urgent action at the jail, which has one of the highest rates of violence in the country.
He issued an Urgent Notification to the Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy, which requires him to respond with an action plan within 28 days.
The publication of the inspection report on HMP Swaleside today (March 19) follows HMP Woodhill being put in special measures. It also comes less than 18 months after an Urgent Notification was also issued at HMP Manchester.
All three prisons are part of the long-term high secure estate (LTHSE) that holds notorious criminals and those serving life sentences,
Mr Taylor said: “We’ve seen some murders in other high-security jails around the country as well, so it does feel like there’s a fragility in these jails, which really should be the most robust in the country.
“It is something that we’re pushing very hard with ministers, and I think they know that we’re concerned about this.
“The prison service knows, and they’re concerned themselves – they want to fix the issues that we found at Swaleside and at some of these other high secure prisons where you really have to have order and control in those places for them to be safe, secure places to work and live in.”
