A report by HMP Pentonville’s independent monitoring board (IMB) described conditions as squalid and said dilapidated windows were exacerbating a drug problem at the Victorian prison in north London. The category B prison was holding 380 more men than the Prison Service deemed it suitable for, the IMB said. Last year’s report on the prison raised concerns about the risk to safety from the prison’s old windows. “The age and condition of Pentonville prison presents maintenance challenges, which our people work hard to overcome. We do not recognise the reference to a six-month backlog of work.”A Prison Service spokeswoman said the jail had been through a “very challenging” time, but changes were being made.

Source: The Guardian July 28, 2017 10:30 UTC