Prison governor slammed for failing to front up in public meeting to explain Wandsworth’s dire state

By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter

The new governor of HMP Wandsworth has been slammed for failing to turn up to a public meeting on the state of the troubled prison.

Andy Davy would have faced questions about conditions at HMP Wandsworth from the public, including families of current inmates, if he had turned up to the meeting held by Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign (WPIC) on Wednesday night, as he had promised.

Mr Davy, however, told organisers on Tuesday he would no longer be attending the meeting, where he was due to be grilled on what had been happening inside the crisis-hit Victorian prison since he took over as governor last year.

Campaigners, ex-inmates and families were outraged by Mr Davy’s failure to turn up to the meeting, which they described as laying bare a lack of accountability in the prison system. An ex-inmate at the meeting said it was ‘indicative of what’s wrong’ with HMP Wandsworth, which is a category B men’s prison.

He said: “There is a serious lack of leadership in the prison and it’s indicative tonight that the governor didn’t have the guts to show. It’s outrageous and it just shows you that, in the prison system, they have so much power. You have no idea to be in prison how much power these people have over our lives, and yet they have no accountability whatsoever.

“People die in prison, people are beaten up in prison, and nobody, nobody, is held accountable and when you think about the justice system, if you commit a crime you’re held to account, the state takes away your freedom, they put you in a prison. But the state has a responsibility and the people that work in prisons should also be held accountable.”

Former governor Katie Price resigned from HMP Wandsworth ahead of an urgent notification placing it in special measures in May last year. Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, found rising rates of violence and self-harm at the severely overcrowded prison during the inspection.

Mr Taylor outlined in a letter how inmates were suffering in ‘very poor’ living conditions at the filthy prison, which had inexperienced staff at every level. There had been seven suicides at the prison in the 12 months leading up to the inspection.

The inspector said: “The poor outcomes we found at Wandsworth stemmed from poor leadership at every level of the prison, from HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service] and the Ministry of Justice, leading to systemic and cultural failures that have led to this shocking decline. There was a degree of despondency amongst prisoners that I have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector.”

He added that security remained a significant concern at the prison. There was the high-profile escape of former soldier Daniel Khalife on the underside of a food delivery truck in September 2023, which sparked a frantic nationwide manhunt. A former prison officer was also jailed for 15 months in January after she was filmed having sex with an inmate in a cell.

Former chaplain Liz Bridge set up WPIC to put pressure on leaders to improve conditions at the prison last year. Members pledged to continue this work at Wednesday’s meeting.

In previous responses to WPIC’s demands, the Prison Service said it was improving safety and conditions at HMP Wandsworth by recruiting new staff, providing extra training in suicide and self-harm prevention and carrying out major upgrades – including new CCTV, windows, roof repairs and refurbished health facilities.

The Prison Service has been contacted for comment over Mr Davy’s failure to turn up to the meeting, where he was expected to explain what he had been doing to improve conditions at the prison since taking up the post.