Pentonville prison is “shockingly horrible” and “not fit for purpose”, according to a recently released ex-inmate.
Daniel Brown, 30, told Islington Now of “extreme overcrowding”, drugs and violence inside Pentonville. Brown was released from Pentonville in July 2022 after three separate stints totalling two and a half years.
Pentonville conditions ‘neither decent, nor humane’
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) released its annual report into Pentonville last month, labelling conditions inside as “neither decent, nor humane.”
Brown, while recounting his time in Pentonville, said: “You wouldn’t put dogs in those conditions. But, somehow it’s OK to put a human being in it.”
Describing conditions inside a cell, he said: “It’s normal to see smashed windows, graffiti on the walls, destroyed mattresses, lack of hot and cold running water and electricity, cockroaches and mice.”
The IMB noted: “the lack of privacy alone could not be described as decent or humane.”
Brown said that the prison needs redevelopment. He stated: “You are in the cell for 23 hours a day, and if the cell has no windows or running water, with water leaking through the roof- you can’t use your time meaningfully.”
He added: “If you go in there with a drinking and drug problem, you’re going to continue. The prison is swamped with drugs.”
Knives and drugs ‘still widespread’
While the IMB reported that levels of contraband were declining, Brown said drugs and weapons were still prevalent. He talked about how drones brought in spices, cannabis and knives.
Recounting the horrors, Brown added he saw knives, homemade razor blades melted into a toothbrush, and even somebody’s face sliced open.
The IMB report noted that the prison had “normalised an hour out of cell per day as the regime for many, and on weekends it is even less time”. Brown experienced this regularly, explaining that short staffing would lead to frequent “skeleton crews”, meaning no time out of the cell. He said that cell “lockdowns” meant prisoners could only access the shower every three days.
Overcrowding is a major issue in Pentonville
On overcrowding, Brown said: “There are people with mental health issues, and even people for something as trivial as shoplifting. This did not address their issues. The overcrowding was extreme.”
Brown added: “How do you expect someone to address their re-offending when they’re in a cell no bigger than a bathroom with two men? It has a detrimental effect on your mental health.”
Alice Grotto, the IMB Pentonville chair, said: “For the second year running we received more calls from prisoners to the IMB helpline than any other prison in England and Wales. Despite the hard work of staff and management, Pentonville remains an unfit place for prisoners to live or to be rehabilitated.”
As of September 2023, Pentonville’s prison population stood at 1,189, according to government data published by the Ministry of Justice. Pentonville’s maximum operational capacity of prisoners without serious risk to safety, security, good order and proper running is 1,205.
