A jail where George Best, Pete Doherty, Oscar Wilde were banged up has been branded ‘inhumane’ in a scathing report.
Rats, mice, cockroaches and flies continually infest Pentonville Prison because it is in such a poor state.
A report said the crumbling fabric of the jail and poor conditions were a serious concern.
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The damning findings were made by prisons watchdog the Independent Monitoring Board.
It added as well as living with vermin, inmates were sharing cramped and sometimes damp cells built for single occupancy.
The report slammed conditions at the 180-year-old jail in Islington, London saying it was not ‘not decent or humane’.
And it urged the Government to spend money on addressing the problem, as reported by Need To Know.
The report said: “The Board was particularly concerned about the condition of the cells in the care and separation unit, where men are segregated, some of which have damp walls and frequently blocked drains.
“Pentonville was built in 1842 to accommodate 540 prisoners in single cells.
“By the end of March 2025, the unlock figure was 1180, with two men living in cells originally built for a single prisoner.
“These 12 x 8ft cells had a bunk bed, a table and a chair, although there was not always adequate furniture for both occupants of a shared cell.
“Cells had a toilet, but not all had effective screening.
“Furthermore, the crumbling fabric of the building was susceptible to continual infestations.
“This was evidenced in the shutting down of the kitchens in April 2024 for 14 weeks due to a rat infestation.
“Blitzes by a pest-control company provided only temporary respite with rats frequently being found behind boxed-in pipework in the cells.
“Vermin including rats, mice and cockroaches were also a problem for staff, affecting work and rest areas.
“The rat infestation in the main kitchen was a major issue for the first three months of the reporting year.
“Following the prison’s failure to listen to repeated warnings by the Board as early as November the previous year, we reported the situation to the environmental health officer at Islington Council.
“The following day (10 Apr), the prison closed the kitchen and when the environmental health officer inspected the next day, he fully supported the decision to do so.
“Temporary kitchens were installed and a works and vermin extermination plan implemented.
“The conditions in which prisoners must live are inhumane and contribute to
mental health issues, self-harm and violence.
“Will the Minister commit to providing additional financial resources to HMPPS to enable urgent improvements to the fabric of the prison, and if so, when?
“When will the Minister provide adequate financial resources to HMPPS to enable offender management units to cope with the extra work involved in implementing initiatives aimed at reducing the prison population, as well as
fulfill their day-to-day responsibilities?”
Pentonville holds Category B/C adult males remanded by local magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court, and those serving short sentences or beginning longer sentences.
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