Last inspectedJuly 2025Full inspection, unannounced
Source: HM Inspectorate of Prisons report published 30 September 2025; visiting details from GOV.UK · last checked 29 October 2026
Latest inspection
At its last full inspection (July 2025; report published September 2025), inspectors found outcomes for prisoners were poor for safety, purposeful activity and preparation for release; not sufficiently good for respect. It held 1,189 people at the time, against an operational capacity of 1,205. An independent review of progress was published in April 2026.
Safety: poor · Respect: not sufficiently good · Purposeful activity: poor · Preparation for release: poor Read our story
The Chief Inspector of Prisons formally told the Justice Secretary of urgent and significant concerns. The government must respond publicly within 28 days. Read our story
Safety: not sufficiently good · Respect: not sufficiently good · Purposeful activity: poor · Rehabilitation and release planning: not sufficiently good Read our story
A rehabilitation course for young men at HMP Pentonville, praised in the House of Lords and by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, has ended after a national panel withheld approval.
The 33-year-old died four days after being remanded to HMP Pentonville in July 2023. A jury found a failure to refer him for mental health care among the failings.
Inspectors found the north London prison unsafe and chaotic, with men locked up for more than 22 hours a day and some held past their release date. The findings led to an Urgent Notification.
In July 2025, the Chief Inspector of Prisons used the Urgent Notification process at HMP Pentonville after finding sentence miscalculations, chaotic first nights and shockingly poor care for men at risk of self-harm.
Prison News staff
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