Justice Secretary David Lammy and former Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited HMP Wandsworth on Thursday to launch a six-month independent review of the prison system, aiming to find long-term solutions to chronic problems including drug smuggling via drones, severe overcrowding, and security failures.
Wandsworth's troubled history
HMP Wandsworth, one of the UK's most notorious prisons, has been the scene of multiple scandals in recent years. In 2023, Daniel Khalife, a spy for Iran, escaped by strapping himself under a delivery truck. Two years earlier, prisoners celebrated an emergency release scheme outside the gates. Last year, prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was jailed for having sex with an inmate, and in November, a sex offender and a fraudster were accidentally released due to clerical errors.
The prison holds 1,430 inmates in cells designed for 894, according to its latest inspection. Conditions have improved since a "catastrophic" 2024 inspection prompted an extra £100 million in funding and a reduction in prisoner numbers.
Drugs and drones
Governor Andy Davy said drones are a major problem, especially in good weather. "If the weather is good we get absolutely peppered, usually between two and four in the morning," he told Lammy and Rudd. Controllers can be miles away, using cameras to direct packages to specific cells.
During the visit, officials examined five intercepted drone packages. One contained smaller bags marked with prisoners' initials; another was covered in fish hooks for easy retrieval. A third package held skunk cannabis and rolling tobacco worth thousands of pounds, along with phone chargers and SIM cards. Some packages have included Allen keys to dismantle windows for larger deliveries.
HMP Wandsworth has seen a drop in drone incursions from a high of 131 in 2025, according to a senior staff member. This is attributed to a policy of "ring-fencing" an officer to stay outside on clear nights, using bright lights to blind drone cameras. However, prisoners connected to gangs have faked self-harm or overdoses to draw staff away from drone-disruption duties.
Overcrowding and heat
About a quarter of England and Wales' prisoners are held in Victorian-era jails like Wandsworth. In 35°C heat, inmates are often confined to cells for 22 hours a day without fans or air conditioning. They can buy handheld fans for £15 via electronic kiosks, but those without jobs receive only 50p per day.
Rudd said she wants to address underlying issues such as addiction, which has affected her own family. Her former husband, writer AA Gill, was an alcoholic, and their son Alasdair has written about his struggles with ketamine and cocaine. "Addictions are certainly not the only problem, but helping to address addictions and get free of them will keep the public safe," Rudd said.
Cross-party approach
Rudd, who served under Boris Johnson until 2019, said she was surprised to be offered the role. "I got a call from David Lammy six weeks ago, out of the blue. I had to check with [fellow ex-Tory minister] David Gauke that this was [Lammy's] number and I wasn't being spoofed," she said.
The review will focus on security, public safety, and tackling drugs and gangs, but must work within the Ministry of Justice's existing budget. "My challenge is to extract the expertise from the people who have it. I'm not going to become an expert in six months," Rudd added.
