Last inspectedMay 2024Full inspection, unannounced
Source: HM Inspectorate of Prisons report published 19 August 2024; visiting details from GOV.UK · last checked 29 October 2026
Latest inspection
At its last full inspection (May 2024; report published August 2024), inspectors found outcomes for prisoners were poor for purposeful activity; not sufficiently good for safety and respect; reasonably good for preparation for release. It held 985 people at the time, against an operational capacity of 985. An independent review of progress was published in February 2025.
Safety: not sufficiently good · Respect: not sufficiently good · Purposeful activity: poor · Preparation for release: reasonably good Read our story
Safety: reasonably good · Respect: not sufficiently good · Purposeful activity: not sufficiently good · Rehabilitation and release planning: not sufficiently good Read our story
Jamie Graham, 28, died of acute cardiac failure caused by synthetic cannabinoids and cocaine shortly after his release. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman made no recommendations.
Inspectors rated the overcrowded reception prison poor for purposeful activity and found a thriving drugs market, but said new leadership gave cause for cautious optimism.
The inspectorate's report on HMP Durham, published in March 2022, credited leaders with a sharp fall in violence but found short-staffed health care, crowded cells and too many men locked up.
Prison News staff
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