How corrupt are Britain’s prisons?

Two recently-released prisoners have lifted the lid on corruption and sexual harassment in Britain’s prisons. Beatrice Auty, who was imprisoned for money laundering, said that she was harassed by a male prison officer at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey. A former officer, Lee Davis, who spent two years in prison for corruption, also told the BBC of a culture where staff routinely use their knowledge of security measures to smuggle contraband inside.

The company that runs HMP Bronzefield, said that, while it cannot comment on individual cases, ‘where complaints are received about any employee, we undertake all appropriate investigations and take necessary actions as needed’. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice’s response to the report suggests that this could be a case of a few bad apples.

‘The overwhelming majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest,’ the MoJ said in a statement, ‘we’re catching more of the small minority who break the rules.