WANDSWORTH Prison is “unsafe and inhumane,” but the conditions are “by no means unique,” the head of a monitoring scheme said today.

Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) national chairwoman Elisabeth Davies revealed that more than half of recent escapes have been from local prisons — where inmates are sent first.

An IMB report painted a bleak picture of conditions at the south-west London prison, from which former soldier Daniel Khalife allegedly escaped last month, with 1,584 inmates held in a building designed for 961.

The jail, one of the most overcrowded in the country, faces chronic staff shortages, rising violence and inmates able to obtain contraband from drone flights or goods being thrown over the wall.

Mr Khalife is accused of escaping from Wandsworth on September 6 by strapping himself to a lorry, which he denies.

The IMB report found that the prison is unsafe, with 1,048 assaults on staff by inmates in the year to May 2023 and chronic shortages of officers, half of whom are unavailable.

Prison Officers Association general secretary Steve Gillan said: “The POA have been warning government about the lack of investment not just at Wandsworth but all round the prison estate.

“This is a damning report by the IMB but not surprising.

“Prison staff and my members want to do a good job and rehabilitate those in our care, but this government has literally vandalised not just the prison service but the whole criminal justice system. They need to be held accountable.

“That is why the POA have been calling for a public inquiry into the state of our prisons and, indeed, the whole justice system.”

Howard League for Penal Reform communications manager Robert Preece described the report’s findings as “no surprise,” adding that Wandsworth was “only one example in a system that is failing across the board.”

He said: “Prisons create conflict, thwart human potential, put a strain on police and hospitals and cost a fortune.

“The sensible way to protect the public is to ease pressure on a system that has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long.

“Reducing the prison population would save lives, protect staff and help more people to move on from crime.”

A  spokesman for the Prison Service said that it had “already taken decisive action to address the serious issues” raised in the report.