Last inspectedMarch 2025Full inspection, unannounced
Source: HM Inspectorate of Prisons report published 17 June 2025; visiting details from GOV.UK · last checked 29 October 2026
Latest inspection
At its last full inspection (March 2025; report published June 2025), inspectors found outcomes for prisoners were poor for safety and respect; not sufficiently good for purposeful activity and preparation for release. It held 836 people at the time, against an operational capacity of 888. An independent review of progress was published in June 2026.
Safety: not sufficiently good · Respect: not sufficiently good · Purposeful activity: poor · Rehabilitation and release planning: not sufficiently good Read our story
Nottinghamshire Police acted after a senior coroner urged officers to consider charges over the deaths of three men in March 2023, weeks after Sodexo took over the prison.
Raymond Wallace died after taking synthetic cannabinoids. His death was the fourth of five linked to drugs at HMP Lowdham Grange in a five-month period.
A progress review found drug supply down and staffing restored at the Category B prison. Inspectors also reported a 79 per cent rise in use of force and higher self-harm.
A jury found that Adam Diesa-Green died by misadventure after taking the synthetic cannabinoid, and said illicit drugs were widely available in the prison at the time.
Prison News staff
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