Windows at crumbling UK jail are still broken EIGHT YEARS after two lags escaped through them
JAIL windows used in a double escape and to smuggle in deadly weapons are still broken after eight years.
Urgent repairs were ordered at Pentonville after a hunting knife was sneaked in.
It was used to stab lag Jamal Mahmoud, 21, at the North London jail in 2016.
In the same year, James Whitlock, 32, and Matthew Baker, 29, went on the run after cutting through bars outside their cell window and climbing onto a roof.
The cell mates then used a bedsheet to abseil over the prison gates and had stuffed their beds to fool prison staff into thinking they were still asleep.
A report by the Independent Monitoring Board has now found the windows have still not been properly fixed.
It read: “The subsequent urgent investigation recommended 800 insecure windows and security grilles be replaced as a priority, but eight years later, this is yet to be completed.”
The report also revealed inmates are being bitten by rats and venomous spiders in several of the UK’s crumbling jails.
Lags have reported cockroach infestations, dead rodents rotting in wings, bed bugs and sewer leaks.
Latest figures show the prison population is back above 86,000 — despite the Government letting out thousands of offenders early in a bid to free up space.
Board chairwoman Elisabeth Davies said: “You only have to step into some prisons before being struck by the urgent need for significant investment.
“The problem, however, is not only the lack of funding, but also the inefficient spending of what little money there is. Prisoners are enduring appalling conditions across the board.”