A former inmate of HMP Wandsworth reports on prisoners suffering from sadism, squalor and grotesque inefficiency

A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner
CHRIS ATKINS
(ATLANTIC BOOKS, 336 PP, £16.99)
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Chris Atkins is a film-maker whose documentary work includes the controversial and acclaimed Taking Liberties and Starsuckers. In 2016 he was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. He spent the first nine months in HMP Wandsworth where he kept a detailed diary.

Prison statistics are stark. Since 1990 the prison population has almost doubled and now stands at over 83,000. Between 2010 and 2014 the number of core operational officers was reduced by 25 per cent. There are no basic entry qualifications for new recruits and they have only 12 weeks of training. Violence and drugs are widespread and in 2019 instances of self-harm among prisoners reached a new high of over 60,000. Mental health referrals for officers have increased by 25 per cent in the last three years.

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