Russell Brand’s grim reality inside ‘squalid’ London prison where he faces 10 years

Russell Brand is serving a 10-year-and-six-month sentence at HMP Wandsworth after being convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. The London prison is reported to have assessed him as needing a cell alone for his safety, while its conditions have drawn scrutiny over whether the overcrowded, ageing facility can provide safe and humane accommodation.

A report by the prison’s Independent Monitoring Board described conditions as unsafe, unsanitary and squalid. Wandsworth holds 60% to 80% more prisoners than it was designed for, many in shared cells intended for one person; staff shortages leave about a third of staff absent or unavailable on an average day. A heating failure last winter saw temperatures reportedly fall to 12C, while the prison has also faced escape, mistaken-release and staff-misconduct incidents.