Moment mass brawl breaks out between prisoners at Wandsworth jail

Hatty Collier18 May 2016
WEST END FINAL

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This the shocking moment a mass brawl broke out between inmates in the grounds of Wandsworth Prison.

An air ambulance was called to the south London prison after a male inmate was allegedly beaten and stabbed during the fight.

The brawl was sparked by a row over drugs between two rival gangs in one wing of the prison about two weeks ago, the BBC reported.

In the footage, one prisoner is cornered by up to 11 other inmates and repeatedly kicked as he lies on the ground.

Peter Clarke, the new chief inspector of prisons, told the BBC: "The biggest single challenge in our prisons is violence, levels of violence in our prisons are unacceptably high.”

He added that there were more than 20,000 assaults and 32,000 incidents of self-harm in prisons across the UK in the last year.

Asked whether he thought some prisons are not fit for purpose, Mr Clarke said: “If the purpose is to develop an environment in which meaningful rehabilitation and resettlement can take place, then again some of these prisons are failing, there's no doubt about that.

"So yes, some prisons are not fit for their purpose."

The sharpest rise was at Wandsworth prison, according to a freedom of information request from the Ministry of Justice.

The Standard has approached the Ministry of Justice for comment about the footage.

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