News
News in brief: October 2026
14 shorter prison and justice stories from October 2026, gathered in one place.
Prisons
Reporting of record on prisons across England and Wales — presented without partisan framing, checked twice before publication.
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Unlocked Graduates closes after six years of training prison officers
The charity, which says it recruited 900 officers who went on to work in 38 prisons, shut after withdrawing from a Ministry of Justice bid it found unworkable.
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HMP Forest Bank released 825 men homeless in a year, official figures show
A prison-by-prison breakdown from the Ministry of Justice shows 14,970 people left prison in England and Wales without a home in the year to March 2026, about one in six of all releases.
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HMP Bedford improves but has highest violence rate of any adult male prison
Inspectors found the category B reception prison had made good progress and now ran a much better regime, but violence, drugs and poor living conditions held it back.
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Fylde MP calls for open prison arrivals who fail drug tests to be sent back
Andrew Snowden told the Commons that prisoners who fail a drug test on arrival at HMP Kirkham should return to closed conditions. The prisons minister pointed to a review led by Amber Rudd.
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HMP Chelmsford safer and better led than most reception prisons, inspectors find
Five years after an Urgent Notification, inspectors found the Essex prison had cut violence, self-harm and drug use, though health care and time out of cell still fell short.
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Water failure at HMP Barlinnie leaves two wings without taps or toilets
Prisoners on two wings of the Glasgow jail went without running water, flushing toilets and showers for at least a week, prompting a short inspection and renewed warnings about the ageing prison.
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Garth prisoner took his own life after failed video calls with his children, PPO says
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has called for an urgent report on the video call system at HMP Garth after the death of Patrick Clayton.
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Staff shortages leave cells empty at four English prisons, MoJ figures show
Hundreds of prison places are unused for lack of staff while the Government releases 4,500 prisoners early to ease the capacity crisis.
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HMP Stocken slips back as inspectors find sewage, vermin and rising violence
Outcomes worsened in three of four areas at the expanded East Midlands training prison. Inspectors found capable leaders, but only two of 15 earlier concerns fully resolved and three self-inflicted deaths since 2023.