Overview

• Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor served an urgent notification on July 17–18, placing Pentonville under special measures for systemic management failures
• Prisons Minister Lord James Timpson visited the facility and vowed targeted investment as the Ministry of Justice readies its mandatory 28-day action plan
• Sentence computation errors led to ten inmates being released early in error and 130 being held beyond their lawful release dates between July 2024 and June 2025
• Inspectors found that 60% of prisoners are forced to share cells designed for one person, many cells lack basic bedding and furniture, and there is a widespread rodent infestation
• Poor supervision of vulnerable inmates has been linked to three suicides this year and a prisoner survey recorded 44% of inmates saying they felt unsafe